Diving!!!!

It’s the night before we leave for Sharm el-Sheikh in the Red Sea and my whole class is bursting with excitement. We had a one-day weekend last Friday, which a few of us spent SCUBA diving around artifacts in the Alexandria harbor, and after a few days of practice teaching in schools, we get a four-day weekend to savor the beaches and coral reefs of the Red Sea.

Diving in the Mediterranean Sea was quite a new experience; unfortunately this time of year has very low visibility. Ryan and I, along with three of our classmates, sunbathed on the boat until we reached the sunken Italian fighter airplane from WWII. We leapt into the frigid water and tried not to hyperventilate into our regulators. Ethan and I (the certified divers) linked arms with our guide who swept us seemingly blindly down 15 feet and around the artifacts, miming their identities. I nearly went cross-eyed in the low visibility, only able to see sand and tiny shell fragments float in front of my mask until suddenly a hazy boulder appeared feet from my head. Luckily my guide was very emphatic about motioning around each object and scraping the barnacles away to reveal metal airplane wings or red granite columns. We vaguely made out the holes in the airplane for loading and firing guns, as well as the large pitchers, kitchen table, and cooking basin from Cleopatra’s Palace at our second dive site. Ryan’s guide wasn’t nearly as helpful at identifying objects, which Ryan took personally because of their initial conversation together. Once bobbing in the water all geared up, Ryan’s guide (21 years old and reminiscent of an Egyptian-colored Michael Phelps) asked him if he was single or married (common first question in Egypt), and Ryan explained that he and I are together. The guide said, “I think you are friends, only friends.” It was a statement, not a question. Their tension told me that accepting the guide’s offer to teach my friends and me Arabic would be a bad idea.

Teaching has been surprisingly enjoyable so far. Last week we did one-on-one student tutoring, which I was needlessly nervous about because my 18-year-old student (my instructor’s nephew) was easy-going and a lot of fun. Ryan’s student, who I briefly met the first day, arrived early the second day and we ended up having a fascinating conversation for over an hour before he asked me if he could give me a gift - a bracelet with rhinestone charms spelling VICTORIA. Oh boy. I had told him Ryan and I were together before he gave me the bracelet but after he apparently bought the bracelet. Since then he has respectfully wished Ryan and I the best, and after that day’s lesson he and a friend treated my friends and me to the Alexandria library and took us to an incredible restaurant! The library is immaculate, with lit bookcases as far as you can see below the slanted roof, and modern art placed on each floor. We dined on fresh-caught seafood such as squid, shrimp and eel (!!) with our usual Egyptian sides of pita bread and hummus and other dips. It appears Ryan’s student’s affection has shifted targets, as he now sends Ryan texts of poetry about how special their friendship is. Our friend said that’s common here, probably an illustration of the close male friendships here (holding hands, expressing emotions).

This week our bus took us farther than the usual 30-minute ride to the city center. Instead we traveled over an hour to Abu Qir, a district on the Nile delta. The first day I taught seven very quiet and behaved 12-year-olds, and today I taught 30 very energetic 10-year-olds. I was really nervous about managing the bigger class, but once I stood in front of the class (who fortunately spared me the Are-you-an-alien? looks), it felt very natural to direct and interact with the kids. They enjoyed my dialogue model “What are you afraid of?” and mastered the new words I taught them. After class two girls handed me “I love you, please come back soon Miss Tori” notes, and all the kids surrounded me to shake my hand. My instructor had warned that we might be treated like celebrities to kids who may not have seen a foreigner before. It was difficult to squeeze out of the classroom. I was relieved to make it out alive and felt exhilarated for not having collapsed over being responsible for a bunch of children. After class I broke our newfound rule: Do not compliment someone in any way that could elicit a gift from them. I told a fellow teacher that she had a beautiful necklace, and she said, “It’s yours.” I protested to know end but she wouldn’t have it; she pushed the necklace onto me and I thanked her profusely. I’m going to bring her a bracelet when we return tomorrow, so I can try to repay my debt. It’s so hard to accept the Egyptian gift-giving, because it is so sudden and selfless. One day our cab driver took us to the wrong destination and some people on the sidewalk immediately started talking to us in swift Arabic, asking us what we needed. Meanwhile the cab driver came back to give Ryan the cell phone he’d forgotten in the backseat! With Noelle’s knowledge of a few key Arabic words, she explained that we were meeting friends at a restaurant. These strangers helped us figure out where to go, then took us to a bus and rode with us to the restaurant to make sure we arrived! We tried to tip them for their help, but they refused and went back to their lives as if they hadn’t just taken a 10-minute bus ride completely out of their way to help some young dumb white students on the street.

Ryan and I are planning a trip with four of our classmates to the Nile River towns of Aswan and Luxor once our program is up at the end of the month. We may take a 10-hour train ride south and make our way north via a Nile River cruise. Afterwards Ryan, Noelle, Tom and I are hoping to live together and teaching English in Cairo, plus some Arabic lessons on the side. I’ve realized that I love language so, so much. I am constantly hungry to learn more and more Arabic. Noelle shares the same passion and is a kindred spirit that I am so lucky to have around.

Guess I should head to bed now. Can’t wait to catch up with friends and family at home! Egypt is so crazy and awe-inspiring; I wish I could paint the picture…the litter everywhere…the horse-drawn carts of tomatoes, oranges, eggs…the constant greetings of “Salem” (peace)…the sharply echoing Call to Prayer several times a day over loud speaker…all the women with pretty head scarves…the men sitting back at shisha bars or milling about in the streets or busing to work…all the striking light and dark brown eyes…the vibrant Mediterranean beaches…the dirt roads and potholed streets…the ankle-breaking divots in crumbling sidewalks (always watch where you’re walking!), the towering apartment buildings standing atop shoulder-to-shoulder shops that look like adjacent one-car garages. I’ll post some more pictures when I get the chance!