23

I turned 23 on March 13th and after having a wonderful time in the desert cooking out, I met my parents and Tessa in Germany for spring break.

It snowed.



And it was green.



And now I'm back in Cairo and it was 99 degrees today.

Spring

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
- Psalms 100: 1-2

My favorite thing about spring is everyone's humming at work.




I know this picture is not in focus -- but look how small our kitchen is.

The Ancient Food Pyramid

Today at THW:

"Why do you think they made it a food pyramid?"
- "Because we're in Egypt"
"Why do you think they made it a pyramid in America?"
- "Because they love Egypt so much."

So next time you see a food pyramid, remember how much you love Egypt.

Spring retreat: The Western Desert

For those of you who were wondering what you do in the desert for 3 days...

Hope

A couple weeks ago I was teaching and the florescent light decided it wanted to be a strobe light for an hour until it finally blew out. It made this ridiculously loud bang and well, I screamed. The kids just looked at me and I laughed, but they didn't budge. They actually didn't even laugh at me. They just looked up to ask how to spell the next word.

Nothing phases these kids. They are the embodiment of expectation. They expect lights to blow up, they expect me to look like an idiot and try to make them jump around, they expect to come to class and to learn.
My girls are the same way with God. They expect Him to work in monumental ways, to move mountains, to restore their health. And, they're not surprised when it happens.

I have really been seeing that when I expect and humbly ask for things, it not only allows me to see His work, but it allows Him to do even more amazing things.

I've been praying that the confidence in the girls that I work with and the kids I teach is built up. And every day I can see it happening. At school, I have one kid who two weeks ago wouldn't talk to me or look at me and this week he was reading and answering questions. The girls, who complain about walking five minutes to work, spend an hour doing aerobics with me (or at least sort of). They're each making choices, and make sure that they're teaching me things.

When I expect things, and ask humbly for them, I'm prepared for things to shift, I'm prepared for God to provide in extreme amounts, and I'm not shocked. I don't scream. I'm not surprised. It's then I can best live (or try to) with a thankful heart, continuously praising and glorifying Him.

Social Stats

I've been doing a lot of research on women in the workforce in Egypt and am surprised at how interesting statistics are. Not only for the information that it gives you, but (at least in this UN report discussing social statistics in Egypt (2003)) in the information that it knows that it lacks. There are so many factors here that no one can actually put numbers on. Whether it is just impossible to get the numbers (like in how many street children are out there) or the numbers are incorrect because some families do not find it necessary to inform surveys (as in disabled family members).

The most interesting thing that I found was that Egypt seems to be promoting women in the workforce and has begun to pave a way for women of all social statuses to be culturally accepted in these settings. This is so refreshing since I am reading Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks and her book gives flesh to some of the most conservative and fundamental parts of the Middle East - in reference to women.

Even though Egypt seems to be progressive here, there is still the problem of not having enough jobs. (My host family went down to Luxor over Christmas and had a felucca driver who had his BA in English literature. And, another friend of theirs told us he just hired an accountant to be a playground attendant.) So many people are qualified for the open positions it is difficult to secure a position.

If you have access to JStor, there is also a really interesting article (yet verrrry academic) by Judith Tucker, Egyptian Women in the Work Force: An Historical Survey. I mean, if you're interested.

I'm kind of reading a lot. If you've got any interesting suggestions, let me know!

Oh, also, read these if you're interested in the border conflict.
(from NY Times and Reuters)

Pictures of what happened

Egypt putting back up blockade
Stopping the block of Supplies

shiny things

I'm still posting these kinds of posts so you can still see what I'm doing.

:)

This is what I do for a lot of my day...