TGIF [by Christine]

I haven't been so thankful for a Friday in a long time. Since we arrived in Alexandria I have been exhausted and though my body would not let me sleep in this morning, it is good to know that I will have 24 hours of not setting foot into the teacher's lounge.

Wednesday I taught my first class of rich Arab eight and nine year olds after observing only the class the day before. It was a mess (but the kids enjoyed it). Though I have quite the lesson with dinosaurs set up for them on Monday, I am glad to have a few days before making it through another four hour class with them. While I wish there was a lot of room for fun and games; every class must include reading, writing, vocabulary, listening, and speaking - but it is these kid's summer break and they hardly dig writing paragraphs about Europe and space exploration.

In other news, I really love Alexandria. Yeah, the call to prayer is nicer in Cairo -- and the City Victorious has better strawberry juice, but our cute flat overlooks quite the garden, which we only have to walk through to get to the teaching building. Also, about a ten minute walk from the beach you can feel the sea's breeze from just about anywhere.

Last night, Moataz, the IT guy took Jake and I around 'old Alexandria,' which included seeing the castle and a trip to an aquarium that was labeled even better than the Modern Art Museum in Cairo. I think my favorite was "Some Fish From The Mediterranean." Afterwards we ate dinner at the Grand Cafe and I finally tried cantaloupe sheesha - which rivals the actual fruit by far.

If we could only figure out where the heck to eat around here (and how to teach 13 eight-year-olds in the summer) then I think I would be set.

We'll see how the dinosaurs go on Monday.