Day 7: Back to Work (Sunday)

It is strange getting up, getting ready, and going to work on a Sunday especially the sense of how Sunday isn't the Holy Day of the week here (Friday is).

We caught the staff bus about a 10 minute walk from our apartment.

Orientation wasn't like any normal orientation I've been to. It lasted about 3 hours and focused more on Egyptian culture. A few important things I learned:

• Don't stick your hand out for a hand shake unless the other person initiates it
• As women, don't give men eye contact while you're walking on the street
• If going to Downtown Cairo, women must dress even more conservatively than here in our location

The most incredible part of the day was lunch provided by the school. The school cafeteria has 2 local restaurants/kitchens that sell food. Think of it like this: Your cafeteria has 2 food options from your local mall's food court.

Approximately 50 new staff members are sitting around eating when the school director (the guy we had our interview with and hired us) begins saying something like this, "I hope you're enjoying your lunch. While we're all down here I'm going to start singing and if you happen to know this tune, I would like you to join in." He starts singing.....make a guess....what do you think? Happy Birthday. I think my face became as red as a cherry. Him and his wife had even purchased two different kinds of birthday cake.

I couldn't believe how kind they were to do this. It completely made Saturday's disaster nothing. I'm blown away! This staff has been so welcoming and genuine about anything we need.

The rest of the day was given as time to work in our classroom. Sweet! I'm not used to having so much time in the classroom already.