Sufi Dancers!

Christopher has seen just about everything.

Tonight, A, K, Mommy, and I went out into DownTown to see the Sufi dancers.  First we stopped in at the Khan el Khalili, of course, but we didn’t find much of anything.  We got a little bit lost trying to find the building where the dancers are.  It doesn’t really stand out of a crowd much.  We wound up going into the Old Khan, where Egyptians shop.  It was very neat.  There were no little pyramids or rugs that look like they’re made of real cow skins.  Just shirts and shoes and stuff normal people need to buy all the time.  It seems to be built right on top of a pipe full of Mommy-doesn’t-know-what, though, so we won’t be going back any time soon.

Finally we just doubled back and found the dancers.  Sufi dancers are more often called “Whirling Dervishes” in the States.  They practice a type of prayer that involves music played on drums, string instruments, and a wind instrument that is like an oboe.    While they play this music in prayer, they dance.  All of the dancers are men.  They move together as one.  As they drum, they kick up their feet and twirl from left to right and right to left.  Near the end of the night, one of the men puts on brightly colored skirts over his clothes and spins and spins and spins.  Sometimes he would touch his head and sometimes he would touch his heart.  He spun for so long Mommy almost couldn’t watch anymore.  We had a really nice time. 

Here are some more pictures.

  

Remembering the Rainbow

Christopher can’t decide whether he wants to be blue or indigo more.

The spring play was yesterday and everything went though without a hitch.  The kids were in their costumes on time.  The songs all looked good and sounded better.  All of the parents in the audience were quieter than we’ve ever heard them. 

The play was about how everyone needs to remember that it is the things that make us different that are valuable.  The kids learned that everyone has their own special gifts, and that each is as important as the next.  We dressed as a rainbow to show that everyone together, being him or herself, can make something wonderful.

The second graders were blue, representing honesty, and indigo, representing thankfulness.  Mommy didn’t get to see almost any of the play because she was busy and because it went by really fast.  After it was all over, everyone was really glad about how nice it was and about how now we can all go back to having class!

Next time I’ll tell you about Mommy’s Literary Magazine. 

Laters,

Chris

Theatre Practice Day

Christopher takes center stage!

Yesterday was our last Saturday lesson of the year.  We spent almost the whole day practicing for the Spring play.  Even the preschoolers and kindergarteners had to come in to practice with the big kids.  They got to go home early, though. 

We learned where we should come on stage, and where we are going to be in between the times when we are on stage.  Mommy calls it the Second Grade Dressing Room.  We want to bring the classroom rug and stools and some beanbag chairs down for the day of the play so the kids have comfortable places to sit.  Yesterday we all sat pretty much on the floor.  We played Spelling List Hot Potato. 

Besides the play, interesting things that have happened this week include the fact that lunch has been moved an hour later.  We finally had daylight savings time here in Egypt and that means that the prayers are now at different times, since they go by the sun and not by the clocks.  This means the lunch prayer is an hour later.  So now lunch is too.  Luckily, Mommy’s students have always tried to eat their entire lunch at snack-time anyway.  They are not especially hungry at the old lunch time.  Mommy and the other teachers are pretty much starving, though.  They get up earlier and make breakfast.

I’ve got to go eat my toast before the Suzuki comes to pick us up.  Until next time,

Chris

Ma’adi and 6th of October City

Christopher loves shopping.  His mommy love it somewhat less.

Yesterday we went to Ma’adi.  It’s the part of Cairo we used to live in before we moved to be nearer to the school.  Mommy and the other teachers like to visit there whenever they need to walk around.  Yesterday, we really wanted a burger.  Our favorite burger place is called Lucille’s.  We like to go to Lucille’s even though Ma’adi is very far away from New Cairo where we live.  There is only one place to get a burger in New Cairo and that is the McDonald’s.  Lucille’s burgers are a lot better than McDonald’s.  We also got to meet up with A and Mr. D, because they live super close to Lucille’s.   We had a lot of fun there.

After Lucille’s, Mrs. M and Mommy and I went shopping.  We looked into every store ever on the whole of Road 9.  Road 9 is a really neat shopping district.  It’s only one street, but you can find almost everything there.  Mrs. M is getting a silver necklace with her name written on it in Arabic.  Mommy found some pretty black coasters in an alabaster store.  We can’t wait to serve somebody coffee on them. 

Today we went to the Dandy Mall in 6th of October City to hang out with F, the art teacher.  It was a long ride, but we got to do some more shopping.  We found a really nice little book shop.  If I hadn’t dragged her away, Mommy would still be there right now!  She bought a bunch of books for the kids at school, including a dictionary for the classroom.

I almost forgot!  The Science Fair was on Friday and it turned out to be a lot of fun.  Mommy had to judge the 4th and 5th grade projects.  Her favorites included an experiment to see if video games were useless, and the best amounts of baking soda and vinegar to make a giant fantastic mess of a volcano eruption.  We will announce the winners on Sunday or Monday at school.

The month of May is the time Mommy has set aside to work on the school’s literary magazine.  It should be very interesting.  Wish her luck!

Chris