February 14, 2008
Inservice today and I did my presentation on Irlen Lens. www.irlen.com It went over very well and two teachers came to me later saying they had it, one severely. She felt so relieved to finally realize why learning had been so difficult for her. She was a perfect match.
After school 12 teachers packed up and went off to Al Fayoum. It is an Oasis about 100 Km from Cairo. We took two taxis and arrived there after dark. The accommodations are rustic to say the least. It was so good to get out of the city and the smog and breathe some clean air.
This place is in a very rural area. It is known for its pottery. About 30 years ago a Swedish visitor , who was potter recognized the clay in this region was perfect for pottery, so she set up a school to teach the people how to make pottery to sell. This little village now has many pottery shops and they also sell their goods in the city.
Friday four of us took a taxi out to Wadi Al Hittan, where there are fossils of whales just lying on top of the sand. There are fossilized bones every where. It was shallow sea that dried up, and left thousands of whale and other aquatic skeletons just being uncovered as the shifting sand erodes the landscape. Now this dessert does not have cactus, there is vegetation by the oasis but the desert is barren.
Friday evening we were entertained by 5 locals, They had a drum, pipes and their hands and voices. They were lively and played for more than 2 hours. An Egyptian lady (more liberated than most) did an impromptu dance to their music.
As we were eating dinner in the dining room a frightening figure came in dressed in local clothing with a large gun slung over his shoulder. We found out later the government requires tourist operators to have security on hand when he has foreign tourists. So our host recruits one of the local farmers to hang around his establishment toting his ancient rifle.
All the rooms of the ‘cabins’ we stayed in and dining room, were made of mud bricks, plastered over and whitewashed. The roof was held up by tree trunks, placed strategically holding up the roof made of palm leaves and mud plaster. I walked around the villages and the main mode of transportation is donkey and motor bike. Children work along with the adults and I was persuaded by a very savvy 7 year old to buy one of his wicker baskets. Women carry everything on their heads, cabbages, water buckets and bags of groceries. There are donkeys, water buffalo, goats, sheep, horses, cats, dogs and sheep everywhere. Whole families work in the fields together and I saw some picking chamomile flowers. Their living conditions are very primitive.
As we drove home we saw many boys and men standing by the road, near the oasis holding up strings of fish for motorists to stop and buy. Traffic included donkey carts, we even see that often in Cairo, busy 5 or 6 lane traffic with a donkey cart making its way through crazy traffic along with the crazies who run across the road in the middle of traffic.
The weather was lovely, have sunburn.
For pictures on this weekend go to http://picasaweb.google.com/colmac27
Sunday 17 February 2008
Weekend Feb 14-16 2008
February 14, 2008
Inservice today and I did my presentation on Irlen Lens. www.irlen.com It went over very well and two teachers came to me later saying they had it, one severely. She felt so relieved to finally realize why learning had been so difficult for her. She was a perfect match.
After school 12 teachers packed up and went off to Al Fayoum. It is an Oasis about 100 Km from Cairo. We took two taxis and arrived there after dark. The accommodations are rustic to say the least. It was so good to get out of the city and the smog and breathe some clean air.
This place is in a very rural area. It is known for its pottery. About 30 years ago a Swedish visitor , who was potter recognized the clay in this region was perfect for pottery, so she set up a school to teach the people how to make pottery to sell. This little village now has many pottery shops and they also sell their goods in the city.
Friday four of us took a taxi out to Wadi Al Hittan, where there are fossils of whales just lying on top of the sand. There are fossilized bones every where. It was shallow sea that dried up, and left thousands of whale and other aquatic skeletons just being uncovered as the shifting sand erodes the landscape. Now this dessert does not have cactus, there is vegetation by the oasis but the desert is barren.
Friday evening we were entertained by 5 locals, They had a drum, pipes and their hands and voices. They were lively and played for more than 2 hours. An Egyptian lady (more liberated than most) did an impromptu dance to their music.
As we were eating dinner in the dining room a frightening figure came in dressed in local clothing with a large gun slung over his shoulder. We found out later the government requires tourist operators to have security on hand when he has foreign tourists. So our host recruits one of the local farmers to hang around his establishment toting his ancient rifle.
All the rooms of the ‘cabins’ we stayed in and dining room, were made of mud bricks, plastered over and whitewashed. The roof was held up by tree trunks, placed strategically holding up the roof made of palm leaves and mud plaster. I walked around the villages and the main mode of transportation is donkey and motor bike. Children work along with the adults and I was persuaded by a very savvy 7 year old to buy one of his wicker baskets. Women carry everything on their heads, cabbages, water buckets and bags of groceries. There are donkeys, water buffalo, goats, sheep, horses, cats, dogs and sheep everywhere. Whole families work in the fields together and I saw some picking chamomile flowers. Their living conditions are very primitive.
As we drove home we saw many boys and men standing by the road, near the oasis holding up strings of fish for motorists to stop and buy. Traffic included donkey carts, we even see that often in Cairo, busy 5 or 6 lane traffic with a donkey cart making its way through crazy traffic along with the crazies who run across the road in the middle of traffic.
The weather was lovely, have sunburn.
For pictures on this weekend go to http://picasaweb.google.com/colmac27
