A sense of history

After working hard all week we spent today touring some of Cairo. We went through the Cairo Museum of Egypt, had lunch at an Egyptian fast food restaurant (Falafel sandwich to go), explored the inside of the great Pyramid, rode a camel around the back side of the Pyramid, walked around the Sphinx and shivered through the sound and light show at the Pyramids in Giza—not to mention all the little stops along the way to buy trinkets from the street urchins and to look through interesting shops.

The highlight of the day for me was climbing up inside the great Pyramid to the Kings Tomb. The climb was steep in a small space with air that was close and slightly fetid. Although ventilation was sufficient, the confined space and the physical exertion of climbing made me feel as if all the oxygen around me was quickly becoming depleted. Those who were fit and enthusiastic raced ahead, others in the group (overwhelmed by the experience physically or mentally) turned back at the beginning of the large gallery and the entrance to the passage to the Queens Tomb. After gaining my breath and my bearings I continued on the stairs to the upper chamber.

I was very glad I pressed on. The Kings Tomb was a large, empty room with an open stone sarcophagus at one end--all the treasured having been long taken by grave robbers. The interior rock was dark grey and formed smooth walls and a very high ceiling. As I sat on the floor in the quiet room I was impressed with the sense of history contained in these walls. I found myself unusally thankful for the many contibutions Egyptian culture has made to our modern world. Amid all the trinkets and commericallism of the Pyramids I truely appreciated the awesomeness of their historic accomplishments for the first time.

Real-world project

Nothing like a real-world project to give you a taste of the real world! We have been working every waking minute on this project to meet high expectations for these materials. We have learned a lot about international projects, the team, and ourselves in the process. Egypt is a marvelous place for our students to test their international mettle as instructional designers due to the Egyptians courteous manners and their supportive guidance.

Meeting USAID

We were able to meet with USAID today. They were wonderful. They have a very nice building and everyone we spoke with was so friendly and wanted the project to succeed. We ate in their cafeteria (which was catered by the Marriott hotel) and had a chance to get to know the people who hired us.

We had our first look at the classrooms and equipment we'll be able to use for the instruction. They have any technological need you could ask for and plenty of space. We should have no problems there.

We were driven over by a USAID driver. I'm so glad we didn't try to rent a car as it is pretty crazy on those roads. The painted lines are much more a suggestion than a rule. It made me think of the song "walk like an Egyptian". Just picture someone jumping out of the way of a car and you've seen someone walk like a real Egyptian.

We are still doing quite well and looking forward to the rest of our team coming on Thursday.

Shopping for Food

After catching up on some sleep we walked around the local area to find a small grocery store for food. It was a fabulous cultural experience. Everyone has been so helpful and pleasant as we try to get our bearings.

So much is the same and yet different: For example a delightful local woman wearing a Hijab was giving out samples of yogurt in the cramped grocery story. (Uncanny that is was the same brand they had for testing at Sams club in Logan last week.) However, here we had to give our phone number to get the sample and she recorded how many containers we ended up buying.

We hope our efforts to understand cultural differences will help us create more culturally sensitive instruction.

Arrival

Our small group of 6 made it to the shuttle on time and made it to the airport with time to spare. Our flight left almost on the dot and the weather is wonderful for flying. I take it as a good omen for the rest of the trip.

At the moment we are in Cairo trying to collect ourselves. The travel took about 30 hours and it is now the weekend here in Egypt.

The first leg of the journey

In these few remaining days in the States, we have been putting the final polish on our courses and getting ready for the trip. As expected, there has been a flurry of work and last minute revisions, however we believe we are ready to begin the work on site and can't wait to meet with the people in USAID. Part of our group leaves today and the others will follow shortly.

Thanks to all those who helped out on the courses who will be staying home for this project! Most prominately: Amanda, Brad, Matt, and Mark. We hope to keep you updated via email while in Egypt.