And tonight...Nairobi!!

We leave from Cairo tonight!! I AM SO EXCITED!!

This is our itinerary, we aren't staying at any of the lodges listed, we will be camping. I started my anti-malarial meds yesterday morning. I wasn't going to bother but apparently there is some new super-duper strain of malaria which can kill you in 24 hours so pills it is.

Kind of a funny aside here but you can walk into a pharmacy in Cairo and buy any pill over the counter. Valerie didn't need a prescription to get her anti-malarial she just walked in and showed them my bottle. Imagine the possibilities...

After a 6 hour flight we arrive at Nairobi (which is apparently also know as Nai-robbery). From there the four of us, jet-lagged and probably confused looking white people, will attempt to navigate our way to the hotel.

I think it is safe to assume that once we are on our way I probably won't have access to the Internet.

I will be in the Serengeti for Christmas morning. :)

Anyway best of the holiday season to all my friends!

The whale has been edited...

The whale has been improved upon. I think the new artistic sensibility comes from the theme of the morning after as the whale is now sporting red blood-shot eyes, and a boner. Really it was just a matter of time. See if you can spot the changes, sort of a fun wheres Waldo kind of game.

My favorite.

This kid is awesome. He doesn't do anything half way. His passion for everything is astounding. I wish I had some of his verve. I took this picture when he was goalie in a footy game, look at that concentration!

I'm just like the beatles*

When my students from last year saw me they screamed! They all came running at me, hugging me, and saying "Miss Naomi! Miss Naomi! Will you do drama with us??? We thought you weren't coming back! Look we can still do your dances!" I was so touched, it was really nice to see them all again.


*Except for the money, adoration of millions, and musical genius.

Its getting cold in here so put on all your clothes...

This morning when we arrived at school there was frost on the ground. We could even see our breathe in the cold morning air! WTF? The sun is out but there is a very dry cold that settles on Cairo at this time of year. The worst is being out in the desert. Guess where we are going after Tanzania and Kenya? The desert. Last time we went out into the Sinai desert at X-mas time it was frigid. The nights were so cold we slept in all of the clothes we had brought with us. Brrrr

In other news I hear my Canadian friends have snow...ha ha!

Total Loss

There is a brand of candy made in Holland called Total Loss. How do I know this? I spent 7 hours in the Amsterdam airport wandering around peering at things through a jet lagged haze.

So lets see where to begin...

My Aunt, Cousin and Clara the German exchange student arrived in Nanaimo on Friday. We spent the day showing exploring Nanaimo. We returned home only to discover that Jimmy had taken over the living room with some of his buddies in order to play some kind of online game. We giggled amongst ourselves, at the follies of geeks killing Zombies, as we went upstairs. Ha ha ha nerds, we laughed as we sat there watching youtube videos of the muppets (Danny boy and mahna mahna). Clearly we were much cooler. Saturday we headed down Island through Chemainus and Duncan and onto Victoria. We checked into the swan hotel down near the harbour and had dinner at the reef (go there!! Best food ever!!). That night we made our way out to Butchart Gardens to see their annual X-mas light display. About ten years ago Valerie treated Heather, Kim, Cameron and myself to the same adventure and we had always planned to go back. It was a bitter sweet evening. The lights and displays were delightful but there was a certain sadness that comes with all things related to Cameron. We left the island Sunday morning.

I stayed in Vancouver until Tuesday night when I flew out to Cairo via Amsterdam. I really like being back in the Gypt. I arrived at 2:15 am Cairo time and Valerie and I stayed up chatting until nearly 6am. I am not quite back on schedule yet, this morning I think I was awake around 4am. yesterday we went to a giant craft fair that was held at a local sporting club. To say the least it was a little strange. To be in a Islamic country walking around booths with home made christian X-mas trinkets was surreal. Some of the items on display: Italian designer knitwear, homemade cookies, Kenyan crafts, alabaster crafts, dollar store style X-mas trinkets, Bedouin jewellery, aprons made of fabric covered in ancient Egyptian designs, etc, etc. Almost all of Valerie's co-workers were there, they all had this week off in celebration of Eid.

I don't know whether or not I will get paid for doing any work at the school. There is a slight possibility I will be working with a sixth grade class for a week. I will be doing drama with at least two of the classes, Valerie's current class and her class from last year. There are a lot of new teachers at the school and they all seem pretty cool.

I have been offered a position teaching summer school again this summer and I am mulling it over.

Valerie has her sites set on positions for next year. I think the most likely scenario is her moving to Syria and working in Damascus. The owners of CISE are opening a new school there and she is hopeful they will consider her for one of the initial positions.

Exit, Naomi, stage right

Tomorrow at 6:30pm I shall be leaving. My flight routes through Amsterdam, I have about 7 hours in the airport. Usually with these trips I have so many last minute things to do and so much running around to get done. This time I have almost everything covered. I need to find some first nations cards and a book to read in Amsterdam but aside from that everything is ready. I will be in Cairo until the 19th and then we fly from there to Kenya, and then onto Tanzania from there. After Tanzania I fly back to Cairo for a few days and then home again, home again jiggedy jog. I don't know if there will be any work lined up for me over the holidays but I will be doing a stomp workshop with Valerie's class.

Funny

I know he has caused quite the fuss in Britain for his hijinks on the radio but I get a kick out of Russel Brand.

Africa!

I'm going to Africa in 6 sleeps!!!!