So we spent the weekend in Alexandria which was interesting. It's sort of like taking Cairo and putting in on the coast. Still a city, still super busy, still kind-of poulluted, still dirty, still fantastic and crazy....ha! We seemed to be having a series of strokes of good luck while we were there since we kept on running into the right people at the right time. First we went to check out the cities synagogue (interesting fact, there are about 30 jewish people in the entire city) which turned out to be closed. Yet in the last second we ran into a man who worked inside the synagogue who took us on a mini-tour. It was amazing. I felt like i had walked out of Egypt and into some secret little tiny country. The synagogue was sitting on a bit of land that was completely gated in and covered in manicured plants, trees, and flowers. It was pretty great. Then we wanted to go to a beach but the beaches were COVERED in people. I mean Coooooooovvveeerrreeeddddd. You couldnt even see the sand. It was one of the most upsetting things i had ever seen. So we kept on walking down the coast until we saw this really nice seperate beach with very few people. We tried to get on it but alas- it was a private yacht club (fancy fancy fancy!). No matter what we did- from smiling to beggining to baksheeshing- we couldnt get on the beach. We were about to give up whennnnnnnnn a man asked us where we were from and lucky for us he was from New Jersey (!) and a member (!!!). He got us onto the beach for 50 pounds (about 10 dollars) and we spent the rest of the day swimming in our very sexy Egypt-approved bathing attire. In case you were were wondering that would be a black bathing suit under black gauchos and a black tank top.
Well it's back to Cairo in all it's glory and I've just realized that in a week I only have three weeks left (Eeeek!) so I'm gonna have to start some major major sightseeing. Yesterday night we went to a mosque (on the advice of a sufi HIba met in Alex) where we were quickly shuttled out of our shoes and into the womens section. Once there we were told to sit and sat around watching women pray, sing, and talk. It was pretty awesome.
Well I'm off to finish lesson planning- three classes today!
Sharon W.
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Dear Sharon,
Did you see the harbour in Alexandria?
Funny, as I am reading your lines about the beach and lesson planning I realize that we did the same thing just many, many miles apart. Your sister and I spent the weekend in Long Beach and now I am sitting on the computer to plan lessons for the week. Love, Mommy
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