I just received an email from Nancy with a few questions so I thought that I would answer them in the blog because I assume more people are wondering the same things. I will take you through a day in my life.
7:40 am: I wake up in the morning after hitting the alarm clock about 5 times and wake up generally 20 minutes before school starts. I get dressed, go over lesson plans for the day and if the wind isn't blowing too hard and if I have enough money on my internet USB than I check my email.
7:59 am: I generally start the walk to school. By then most of the kids have arrived and unlocked the classrooms. Each period is 45 minutes which can seem really long or short depending on how much I have prepared for class. I always have 6th grade first, then 3rd and generally 12th is next except on Sundays where I have individual tutoring with one student.
10:15 am: We have our first break. We, the teachers, grab the food trays from the kitchen along with serving utensils and head out to meet 6th and 3rd grade at one of the tables in the main hut. We all sit down on the ground around the table and one or two of the teachers serve up the food and pass out bread. This is generally when we get visits from many of the cats hoping to score some food but the boys generally tend to lick their plates clean.
Pregnant Julie on a Bedouin rug in the main hut.
10:45 am: We resume class once again for another two and a quarter hours. I generally have a break at some point during this time unless it is Tuesday and then I have a double dose of project class. Currently in project class we are gearing up for the end of year performance. I've just started doing acting and improv games with the kids which they really seem to like. We are writing our own original score for the play as well. If anyone has any interesting game ideas I would love to hear them. If I do have a break I generally dedicate it to lesson planning or reading as well as a much needed cup of coffee.
1:00 pm: Lunch time! Again we go to the main hut to eat. Every student has one meal time a week where they are in charge of cleaning the table. We generally have water to drink but Tuesday is the ever so exciting juice box day so we are able to each take a juice box from the hostel refrigerator.
1:45 pm: Many times 3rd grade finishes before lunch and 6th grade is done most days by this time as well so most classes in the afternoon are dedicated to the 12th grade girls. We never have class after lunch on Thursdays. Lately they have been making coffee which helps them stay motivated as well as their thankful teachers (Mady and me).
3:15 pm: School is done for the day! I generally get some exercise after school that all started the week after I arrived. For two weeks we had two men, Samr and Ahmed here doing Tai Chi, chi gong and Capoeira with our student, Sohaila, Mady and me. This was really fun and they were really excellent teachers. After this, a German man, by the name of Martin, also did some Capoeira with us at Rock Sea camp which is about a 15-minute drive and also where one of our students, Roxy, lives (this is her parents camp).
I now do yoga every other day with Katrin, a fellow teacher and mother of two students and my neighbor. We generally do this at her chalet because she has a nice outside area with plenty of space. This week two of the students, Sohaila and Sarah, Mady and I have started Billy Blake's Boot Camp work out videos. We use one of the unoccupied huts and bring a laptop to follow along and laugh at the ridiculously things we are asked to do. If you don't know who Billy Blake is I suggest you look the man up.
There are two kinds of places to stay here at Basata, the chalet and the hut. We technically live in a chalet but ours is smaller than most. The biggest perk is having your own bathroom and of course, electricity. These buildings are a little further back from the water but still get an excellent view of the Red Sea. The huts are where most guests stay and many of the workers as well. They are made of bambo and have no electricity but they are right on the sea's edge. There are two bathrooms on either side of camp that have solar showers for all of the guests in the huts.
7:00 pm: If we decide to eat dinner, it is served at 7 pm in the main hut. Lately there have been 1-2 tables filled and this is when we can mingle with the guests if we so choose. Most guests are Egyptian or German (or German/Egyptian) but sometimes we get guests from other European countries and even the States.
Evening: Mady and I are pretty good at keeping ourselves busy in the evenings either with school work, reading or making future plans. I also spend some time on the phone with Matt, who calls the Mady's cell phone through Skype or chatting online (if the internet is working).
It isn’t too hot here yet but we have heard that in the summer it gets so hot that you cannot stand on the sand. A woman once burned her feet on the sand causing blisters to form on her soles. It has been a little cold at night but the day is always sunny. When I first arrived it was quite windy during the day but now it is really only windy late at night. There was talk of a sand storm but that never happened.
There are a good many animals including cats, dogs, geckos, camels and many ants, large and
small. I think the camels are my favorite. Last week we visited the camp of one of our students and I got to meet his camel and see one of the cats, Lotfi, we ousted from Basata a few weeks prior. Last week I sat down in the main hut to read. After about 2 minutes I felt a pinch, then another, then another. I looked down and realized that a guest had left some crumbs on the ground which attracted the small, biting ants and they were crawling all up my legs. I quickly got up and brushed them off my legs but I didn’t feel any better so I ran all the way back home, threw off my clothes and jumped into a cold shower. You can bet I will look down before I sit in the main hut from now on.
We have no TVs here, Mady and I share her cell phone that doesn’t always work, and we have slow but reasonably consistent internet. We have USB internet sticks that we pay for based on how many KB are transferred back and forth, though we are working on trying to pay an unlimited monthly bill instead. The whole camp is run on gas-powered generators that are turned off at various points during the day.
On the weekend, which is Friday and Saturday, I work on lesson plans for the week, study for the GMAT, wash my clothes all by hand and attempt to learn some Arabic. Arabic is quite a difficult language so we'll see how far I get in three months.
This is my life in Sinai. I love it. If anyone has any questions feel free to email or ask on the blog.
7:40 am: I wake up in the morning after hitting the alarm clock about 5 times and wake up generally 20 minutes before school starts. I get dressed, go over lesson plans for the day and if the wind isn't blowing too hard and if I have enough money on my internet USB than I check my email.
7:59 am: I generally start the walk to school. By then most of the kids have arrived and unlocked the classrooms. Each period is 45 minutes which can seem really long or short depending on how much I have prepared for class. I always have 6th grade first, then 3rd and generally 12th is next except on Sundays where I have individual tutoring with one student.
10:15 am: We have our first break. We, the teachers, grab the food trays from the kitchen along with serving utensils and head out to meet 6th and 3rd grade at one of the tables in the main hut. We all sit down on the ground around the table and one or two of the teachers serve up the food and pass out bread. This is generally when we get visits from many of the cats hoping to score some food but the boys generally tend to lick their plates clean.
Pregnant Julie on a Bedouin rug in the main hut.
1:00 pm: Lunch time! Again we go to the main hut to eat. Every student has one meal time a week where they are in charge of cleaning the table. We generally have water to drink but Tuesday is the ever so exciting juice box day so we are able to each take a juice box from the hostel refrigerator.
1:45 pm: Many times 3rd grade finishes before lunch and 6th grade is done most days by this time as well so most classes in the afternoon are dedicated to the 12th grade girls. We never have class after lunch on Thursdays. Lately they have been making coffee which helps them stay motivated as well as their thankful teachers (Mady and me).
3:15 pm: School is done for the day! I generally get some exercise after school that all started the week after I arrived. For two weeks we had two men, Samr and Ahmed here doing Tai Chi, chi gong and Capoeira with our student, Sohaila, Mady and me. This was really fun and they were really excellent teachers. After this, a German man, by the name of Martin, also did some Capoeira with us at Rock Sea camp which is about a 15-minute drive and also where one of our students, Roxy, lives (this is her parents camp).
There are two kinds of places to stay here at Basata, the chalet and the hut. We technically live in a chalet but ours is smaller than most. The biggest perk is having your own bathroom and of course, electricity. These buildings are a little further back from the water but still get an excellent view of the Red Sea. The huts are where most guests stay and many of the workers as well. They are made of bambo and have no electricity but they are right on the sea's edge. There are two bathrooms on either side of camp that have solar showers for all of the guests in the huts.
7:00 pm: If we decide to eat dinner, it is served at 7 pm in the main hut. Lately there have been 1-2 tables filled and this is when we can mingle with the guests if we so choose. Most guests are Egyptian or German (or German/Egyptian) but sometimes we get guests from other European countries and even the States.
Evening: Mady and I are pretty good at keeping ourselves busy in the evenings either with school work, reading or making future plans. I also spend some time on the phone with Matt, who calls the Mady's cell phone through Skype or chatting online (if the internet is working).
It isn’t too hot here yet but we have heard that in the summer it gets so hot that you cannot stand on the sand. A woman once burned her feet on the sand causing blisters to form on her soles. It has been a little cold at night but the day is always sunny. When I first arrived it was quite windy during the day but now it is really only windy late at night. There was talk of a sand storm but that never happened.
There are a good many animals including cats, dogs, geckos, camels and many ants, large and
small. I think the camels are my favorite. Last week we visited the camp of one of our students and I got to meet his camel and see one of the cats, Lotfi, we ousted from Basata a few weeks prior. Last week I sat down in the main hut to read. After about 2 minutes I felt a pinch, then another, then another. I looked down and realized that a guest had left some crumbs on the ground which attracted the small, biting ants and they were crawling all up my legs. I quickly got up and brushed them off my legs but I didn’t feel any better so I ran all the way back home, threw off my clothes and jumped into a cold shower. You can bet I will look down before I sit in the main hut from now on.
We have no TVs here, Mady and I share her cell phone that doesn’t always work, and we have slow but reasonably consistent internet. We have USB internet sticks that we pay for based on how many KB are transferred back and forth, though we are working on trying to pay an unlimited monthly bill instead. The whole camp is run on gas-powered generators that are turned off at various points during the day.
On the weekend, which is Friday and Saturday, I work on lesson plans for the week, study for the GMAT, wash my clothes all by hand and attempt to learn some Arabic. Arabic is quite a difficult language so we'll see how far I get in three months.
This is my life in Sinai. I love it. If anyone has any questions feel free to email or ask on the blog.
I love your blog, and it makes me so happy to read that you are liking the incredible experience. I'm not sure about the ants OR the camels, but I am looking forward to sharing everything else. And if you are seriously looking for dramatic games/activities, Mady can tell you how much I love inventing these kinds of things, so tell me more and I'll see what I can come up with for you and the kids! xx Susan
ReplyDeleteFor those of us who never had the nerve to venture out we thank you for sharing your adventures with us. I am so happy you are taking the time to gather memories and experiences that most of us will never have. But mostly I am thrilled that you are happy and safe! Thanks for the blog and enjoy the rest of your time there.
ReplyDeleteGreat pix by the way....xoxoxo Love from Jersey
Elisabeth Cam here, I have no idea how to become a follower, send it to my email.
ReplyDeleteLove the blog sweetie...sounds like you are having fun which is awesome. And the food from the last post made my mouth water!
ReplyDeleteOh and "washing clothes by hand" welcome to my world for the past 3 years...hahahaha. love you!!