First week

Ebony outside the Maadi community Church

What to do with your old organ pipes

This is where I go to church! On a Friday the chairs are out and we sit under the fans in the tent.

Maddy and her friends ready for a wild weekend of fun (and sand )

We have reached the end of our first week at school, because the students had a staggered start Maddy started on the Monday while I started on the Sunday. Lots of firsts this week, meeting the students was interesting, they are very good natured and polite, but just as lively (and noisy) as kids everywhere.

Our day this week started with leaving for the bus at 6:45 am, when we would walk to the roundabout (20 mins slow walking, don't walk fast you get very sweaty) and get on the school bus. The buses hold about 40 people but not that many travel on them, maybe 15 ish on our morning bus. So the bus leaves 7:15 am and takes 20 - 30 mins to reach the school depending on the traffic. School starts at 8 am so students wait in the playground for the assembly when the Egyptian national anthem is played and the flag is saluted by 4 of the year 12.

There are 6 lessons in the day in 2 blocks of 3 with a 55 min break in the middle, thankfully the school is reviewing this.

My teaching load is 4 classes plus meetings, Maddy has much more interesting days. She studies French and Arabic (both of which are new to her) as well as classic lessons such as art, drama and PE. There are no music lessons as the Egyptian Government do not recognise it as a qualification.

The day ends at 3:15 when we get on another bus for home. With this being the first week we have travelled on a number of buses to get home and have finally been sorted out with bus 63. Starting Sunday this bus will now pick us up from our door at 6:45 am and drop us back between 4 and 4:30pm.

Today when we got home we had to go straight back out again to take Maddy to the church for the 'Fall Retreat' at Beit el Wadi Sports camp in Wadi El-Natroon. We were the only parents waving the kids off! Maddy gets back Saturday 3:30pm when we will collect her from the church. Her friends were all there and it looks like their going to have a good time.