Chaos in the Streets

Cairo Jazz Club with some buddies

View of the Nile from a club where I'm teaching yoga

It's been awhile! The Cairo life has been keeping me busy with teaching English, the environment, and now yoga. Since October the weather has graced us with a reliable breeze and cool nights. Deathly heat for 6 months makes one grateful for autumn's heavenly mid-70 degrees F.

Teaching various adult classes and private students has me running around the city like a madwoman. I frequently metro 30 minutes south of my home or cab west across the Nile to instruct yoga and English lessons at various language/fitness centers and in people's homes. And the environmental education center where I work on Mondays is 30 miles or so outside of Cairo on an organic farm filled with olive trees. The center has amazing resources and curricula for all ages but man, chasing little kids through the trees and trying to force facts into their squirmy little brains is exhausting work. All the teachers there are really motivated Egyptians my age and it's impressive to see how organized and fun these fieldtrips are for the kids. Even the 8-year-olds immediately commented on how fresh the air is out there. All our lungs need a break from Cairo from time to time.

My 6-year-old French students, Emma and Matilde

In general, teaching (specifically yoga) has really pushed me to be fast on my feet and more confident leading groups of people, often older than me. It's still a daily challenge to act like an authority figure on any subject, but each time a class goes well or a student improves, I feel invincible. I teach beginners English classes at an American non-profit community center, so I get to see people progress from a simple 'hello' to being able to express themselves. As a foreigner living in Cairo, I can appreciate how empowering it is to work on a language. I just started Arabic lessons with an awesome tutor who is doing a free trade for yoga lessons. Result!!! And my roommate Noelle and her French friends are teaching me French. Consider me an avid linguaphile.

Halloween! Cab driver, cats, tourist policeman

In case anyone's wondering how I became a yoga teacher (as I ask myself constantly), one of my more assertive Egyptian guy friends brought Ryan and me to the gym with him a couple months ago and after watching me practice some yoga, got the crazy idea that I should be an instructor. He pressured me into talking with the gym's fitness center and after a very honest interview (I've never taught yoga before but I'd like to. Please have me!) I now instruct three different classes in a couple of their branches. It's a blast but so out of my league. I'm terrified and in awe of the center and their incredible instructors, but after each class my students seem sufficiently fooled and leave me feeling gracious and refreshed.

Watching the Egypt-Algeria game at a local bar

Another noteworthy update is the World Cup madness. Egypt played Algeria Saturday night to quality for the World Cup and - let me emphasize this - although we still haven't qualified, we won the chance to quality (another game with Algeria) which was cause enough for mayhem in the streets from evening until dawn. I posted pictures, but it's hard to describe the spirit in the streets. Flags, dancing, 3-foot-high flames from torches, people jumping onto cars and riding on the tops of trucks, piling onto motorcycles, all screaming, honking and clustering the streets. At one point we became engulfed by the mob and once it got a little touchy Anthony and John pulled Lindsey and me to the outskirts. I expect the Egypt-Algeria game on Wednesday will be just as chaotic, considering my yoga class that night was canceled because of course, everyone in the city will be watching the match.

Mob madness in a main city square after we won against Algeria