September in Cairo

So far the highlight of this month is that the weather is cooler, comfortable but warm in the day and cooler in the evening. The dust remains.

The other big event this month is the start of Ramadan, the Muslim annual fast (nothing passes the lips from sunrise to sunset). Sure there is feasting for most of the night but you try to get through a long hot day without a cuppa (cup of tea/coffee) or a sip of cold water!!! I am glad that it is not me having to fast. Although we are told that Muslims are supposed to take the fast without skimping on their normal duties we hear that opening hours and getting things done gets rather random. Bracing ourselves.

We also learnt that through the history of Cairo there have been many ways that tried to let everyone know the times of sunrise (stop eating and drinking) and sunset (start eating and drinking). One of these is the firing of a cannon from the citadel, which still happens but since the city is so big it is now televised so everyone can hear. The other is by lighting decorative lanterns at sunset and extinguishing them at sunrise. This tradition has continued and the city is currently decorated with these lanterns. In fact, like a Christmas tree is one symbol we use for Christmas, the lantern in Egypt is a symbol for Ramadan.

Another tradition is for a man to go around the streets banging a drum before dawn to wake people to prepare food to eat before sunrise. Mostly this has died out, however in Maadi (the area we live) we have the dubious fortune of still being able to experience this at 1am each morning during Ramadan! We are hearing him but it is not too loud were we live. I learnt all these things and more on a trip to the Lantern's and Tent-maker's market in Old Cairo with some Egyptian teachers who are kind enough to take us on cultural trips. I got some great photos. The tent-makers come into the Ramadan equation by making special, brightly printed fabric which is used to decorate shop fronts etc during the month.
Ramadan ClothDate Seller at Entrance to the Tent-maker's Market. Dates are an important Ramadan food.

These markets are near the old gates and walls of medieval Cairo.

Bab Zuweila (Zuweila Gate) This month I was able to help a few days in the Nurses' Office at the school with screenings (height, weight, vision, hearing and lice). My job was mainly vision screening. It was good to get to know the nurses (there are 3 permanent staff) a little and get a bit familiar with the quite extensive health services they offer. I hope to do more of that as they have a need for nurses. The most memorable moments of the screening were; when a grade 5 student sat down in the chair for his vision test and announced "His Majesty has arrived", and when a pre-schooler, after correctly identifying many circles, squares, houses and apples on the chart, calmly told me that the shape I was pointing to was cat food! Good times.

We have begun Arabic lessons. Our teacher is head of the language department at the school and is an accomplished linguist. He was actually offered a big job with the US government last year as an Arabic linguist but decided to keep teaching. He is a great guy and s skilled educator so we are honored to have him as our teacher. As a linguist he is a purist so is determined to teach us Classical Arabic (writing and universal in the Arab world) as well as Egyptian Arabic (spoken in Egypt). Like learning to write English and speaking Australian (maybe). We have learnt the alphabet (which included standing up and making the shapes of the letters with our bodies - it felt silly but by the end I could remember a lot of it). We now know some numbers and are starting to recognise the letter in written Arabic (which joins all the letters together like cursive writing).

The flurry of activity that kicked off the school year for Marc has settled down and he is finding a pace in his new job. He is liking it, the school and his colleges a lot. He is coaching JV Boys Volleyball and playing in a softball League which is keeping him busy and fit after school hours. There has also been the occasional golf outing (see the photo). He will be heading to Kuwait with the Volleyball team in a few weeks.

Marc and his golf tournament team

We are looking forward to two long weekends in October. Although Marc has to host SAT exams in the middle of the first weekend we are looking forward to exploring places around Cairo together, which Marc has had no time to do so far. On the second weekend we are hoping to go by train to Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast for a few days. Neither of us have been there before and it was the site of the second Wonder of the Ancient World in Egypt, the Lighthouse of Alexandria.