Back to reality and school on Sunday May 4. Linda and Nora were able to start catching up on their sleep after finishing school and exams. Nora has now officially graduated from NSCAD, although she choose being in Egypt with me instead of graduation ceremonies. She has now a degree in Graphic and Product Design.
Oh I forgot to mention our visit to the carpet factory/school on the way between pyramids. We suspect the guides get a cut on articles we purchase at places they take customers so they schedule side trips to ‘museums’, ‘schools’ and ‘factories’ where tourists often buy articles.
The carpet ‘school’ was well worth the visit in terms of viewing beautiful work, learning the culture of Egypt and especially for Peggy to see weavers at work, since she herself is a weaver. The looms which are manned by children, who go to carpet school and learn to make carpets, but not to read or write, brought tears to her eyes. The families there are large and children have to help support the family. The children sit on a bench in a spacious well lit area and their fingers are blurred as they fly tying knots in silk or wool. The owner told us they make about 500 LE a month on a carpet they would sell for about 3000. I suspect the figures may be doctored to sound good to our conscience. I also suspect he took us to one of the better school (they are many clustered in that area), and in reality many would be what we consider ‘sweat shops’ but when it is a way to live they are happy to be working. I will post pictures on the web album when I get a chance.
Every evening after school the girls and I went exploring in the little crowded shops near where I live. There are so many restaurants and tiny places just filled to overflowing with Egyptian crafts. The Bedouin women from Siwa are skilled at embroidery/cross-stitch and spend months on cushion cover sized squares of stitched patterns they create for next to nothing, (about 150 LE which is about $25 retail.) they are beautiful pieces of work).
The little shops have Pashminas for next to nothing, Bedouin embroidered article of many types, brass, leather clothing and crafts, Egyptian cotton clothing, sheets and bedding, pottery, soap, carvings, jewelry, silver and the list goes on. Every day we find new places.
Going out to eat cost about 1/5 of what it does at home so I have taken the girls out every night, to experience the restaurants of Egypt. The food is very good, but often the servings are too big, it is best to order appetizers and than you get a reasonable sized meal. This s true, especially when you don’t have a son or husband to finish off the leftovers.
Wednesday after school we rushed off to the Cairo Egyptian Museum to show Linda the mummies. We took a cab to the Metro and took the Metro down town. Linda got a whirlwind tour of the Museum and in 1 ½ hours she had enough. You can only take all the amazing antiquities in small doses before you get overloaded. I have been there three times and like to go for short periods of time.
Note to Peggy and Alice: After exiting the Museum we decided to take a walk down Talat-Harb Street. Who should we meet but the same hustler, we encountered last trip. He was still was pretending he was a teacher and wanted to show us a good ‘Government store where we could get good ‘Essence’. These fellows patrol the downtown area, watching for unsuspecting tourists, are very friendly and offer to give directions to your destination but their destination differs in that they lead you to a shop where they get a cut of what is sold and the articles are shoddy. We walked the crowded street close to the Metro stops and it didn’t take the girls long to decide they had had enough, for we were hassled by too many overly attentive Egyptian men. It is a very difficult place for young Western girls, I understand why our young teachers are so cynical about the men here.
Linda left for the airport with our driver, at 2:15 AM on Friday morning. We all stayed up till she left and I went to the airport with her. I did get to see her off but couldn’t keep my eyes open either on the way to the airport or on the way back. She packed all she could take for me and my closets are pretty bare, for Alice and Peggy took a lot as well. I was going to run into the terminal with her, but the police were next to our van with a wheel lock ready to put on if we stayed any longer (It costs a lot to get then off). Time to go!
Back to reality and school on Sunday May 4. Linda and Nora were able to start catching up on their sleep after finishing school and exams. Nora has now officially graduated from NSCAD, although she choose being in Egypt with me instead of graduation ceremonies. She has now a degree in Graphic and Product Design.
Oh I forgot to mention our visit to the carpet factory/school on the way between pyramids. We suspect the guides get a cut on articles we purchase at places they take customers so they schedule side trips to ‘museums’, ‘schools’ and ‘factories’ where tourists often buy articles.
The carpet ‘school’ was well worth the visit in terms of viewing beautiful work, learning the culture of Egypt and especially for Peggy to see weavers at work, since she herself is a weaver. The looms which are manned by children, who go to carpet school and learn to make carpets, but not to read or write, brought tears to her eyes. The families there are large and children have to help support the family. The children sit on a bench in a spacious well lit area and their fingers are blurred as they fly tying knots in silk or wool. The owner told us they make about 500 LE a month on a carpet they would sell for about 3000. I suspect the figures may be doctored to sound good to our conscience. I also suspect he took us to one of the better school (they are many clustered in that area), and in reality many would be what we consider ‘sweat shops’ but when it is a way to live they are happy to be working. I will post pictures on the web album when I get a chance.
Every evening after school the girls and I went exploring in the little crowded shops near where I live. There are so many restaurants and tiny places just filled to overflowing with Egyptian crafts. The Bedouin women from Siwa are skilled at embroidery/cross-stitch and spend months on cushion cover sized squares of stitched patterns they create for next to nothing, (about 150 LE which is about $25 retail.) they are beautiful pieces of work).
The little shops have Pashminas for next to nothing, Bedouin embroidered article of many types, brass, leather clothing and crafts, Egyptian cotton clothing, sheets and bedding, pottery, soap, carvings, jewelry, silver and the list goes on. Every day we find new places.
Going out to eat cost about 1/5 of what it does at home so I have taken the girls out every night, to experience the restaurants of Egypt. The food is very good, but often the servings are too big, it is best to order appetizers and than you get a reasonable sized meal. This s true, especially when you don’t have a son or husband to finish off the leftovers.
Wednesday after school we rushed off to the Cairo Egyptian Museum to show Linda the mummies. We took a cab to the Metro and took the Metro down town. Linda got a whirlwind tour of the Museum and in 1 ½ hours she had enough. You can only take all the amazing antiquities in small doses before you get overloaded. I have been there three times and like to go for short periods of time.
Note to Peggy and Alice: After exiting the Museum we decided to take a walk down Talat-Harb Street. Who should we meet but the same hustler, we encountered last trip. He was still was pretending he was a teacher and wanted to show us a good ‘Government store where we could get good ‘Essence’. These fellows patrol the downtown area, watching for unsuspecting tourists, are very friendly and offer to give directions to your destination but their destination differs in that they lead you to a shop where they get a cut of what is sold and the articles are shoddy. We walked the crowded street close to the Metro stops and it didn’t take the girls long to decide they had had enough, for we were hassled by too many overly attentive Egyptian men. It is a very difficult place for young Western girls, I understand why our young teachers are so cynical about the men here.
Linda left for the airport with our driver, at 2:15 AM on Friday morning. We all stayed up till she left and I went to the airport with her. I did get to see her off but couldn’t keep my eyes open either on the way to the airport or on the way back. She packed all she could take for me and my closets are pretty bare, for Alice and Peggy took a lot as well. I was going to run into the terminal with her, but the police were next to our van with a wheel lock ready to put on if we stayed any longer (It costs a lot to get then off). Time to go!
