Neighborhood vignette and school

We are well into our third week here and truly getting settled. I began teaching at AUC on Wednesday (my schedule is Sunday and Wednesday--the weekend here is Friday and Saturday). The 8:30 AM class is tough on everyone. I have to depart Maadi on the 7:15 bus, and the students themselves are barely conscious. Ironically, the topic is deconstructing advertising photography, so everyone needs to bring their A-game. Time will tell! My next class is the art history survery at 11:30 (aka, Darkness at Noon). The students are all engaged and willing to talk, but unfortunately, none of my books were ordered for either course, and my academic materials remain at the Embassy, wrapped in red tape. The Fulbright director here, the wonderful Bruce Lohof, is working on springing the boxes (since it's not just me, it's all the Scholars) but I have little expectation of seeing them before the middle of next week at the earliest. That means I must essentially invent classes from the little I remember, not so hard with photography, but really hard with the survey. It's been 10 years since I taught it.

Mel is a pillow nut

Harris and I have enjoyed making our flat more comfortable. One nearby shop sells beautiful fabrics and goods made by a coop in Upper Egypt, and I can't resist showing a few of the pillows we got. They can all come home with us.

Road 200 

38 Road 200, our door

Vegetable vendor cart (donkey-powered)

We are also learning our way around the area. Our street, Road 200, is lined with fancy apartment buildings and a number of soldiers since the Philippine Embassy is a few doors down. Our apartment building is easily the most modest on the street, but the neighboring buildings class it up (or maybe emphasize its modesty). Touches of old Cairo remain on the street- particularly the donkey-drawn carts of vegetables and propane tanks, each accompanied by boys who shout out the wares (in Arabic, of course).

"Walk Like an Egyptian": it's not just a song by the Bangles, it's a technique. At first, I was frozen with fear walking here since one is usually obliged to walk in the street, as sidewalks rarely exist. That means dodging cars and potholes, cracks and rocks, mounds of dirt, and at night, it's even more exciting since drivers only turn on headlights when someone is coming. Though complacency means certain death, we are getting better at dodging cars and know that the little horn tootle behind us means a car is coming. I now carry a tiny LED light on my keychain to light the way home as it gets dark.

Today is Friday, and we are hosting a colleague, an actor-director working at AUC, Mark Mineart, for dinner. Our housekeeper Kiki will do the cooking, insh'allah, and it will be good. Then I must create something for classes next week out of thin air. BTW, we have heard from Annie, who is taking care of the cockatiels, that all goes well, and also that our house suffered water and wind damage from Hurricane Irene. No snail mail has arrived yet, but by local standards, it's still early. All our best to everyone.