Talking to a Child.. meeting the mother.

Yesterday was the big Mother's Day Concert at the school where I work. It was great. The kids have been practicing for so long. The kids have been trying so hard. I was so proud of my students. They're so tiny and cute.. and they did an amazing job.
Many mothers came up to me after the concert to ask about their children and to thank me for the results they see in their children. The kids are doing so well.
It was nice talking to all the parents...
The mother of the child from my last post also came up to talk to me. It was awkward. She knows that I know that she beats her child. She knows I am the reason the issue became huge. She knows I am the reason that everybody knows. I am the reason the owner of the school threatened to take some sort of action if it ever happens again.
Awkwardly enough, the woman thanked me. She cried. She told me that she did not realize how out of hand it had gotten. She thanked me for making her son feel safe and loved. She thanked me for protecting him, even if it from her.
I do not know if I believe her. I just know that I am happy that her child feels safe. I am happy she knows that I will do it all again if he ever goes through that again.
I am happy that I did something for this child...

Talking to a child...

So, I have a student who is quite naughty. He is the class clown.
He is always talking. He hardly ever uses his chair. He has to be reminded myriad times to do his work.

Well.. I wrote a letter to his parents to ask them to talk to the kid...
The letter says:

Dear Parents,
I am writing to inform you of Mohamed's behaviour in class. He is constantly disrupting the class. He talks at inappropriate times. He is always playing with something. He runs around the class room.
His behaviour makes it difficult for himself and other students to benefit from being in class.
Please speak to him about these issues and the importance of proper behaviour in class.
Thank you,
Nora


and...
This is the reply that I got.....


Miss Nora,
Thank you very much for your time and effort with Mohamed. I spoke with him and he promised me that he will behave himself in class. Please inform me if there are anymore problems with him and his behaviour.

Thank you,
Maha


And this is how the message was delivered.....

Note:
The pictures have been removed for privacy purposes...
The kid had:
a black eye
a hand shaped bruise on one cheek
a bruise inside his ear
a cut under an eye

What do you think?

Do you think that men should be allowed to divorce their wives in Egypt through a text message? This is the question facing the Islamic heads of Egypt.

I think it makes it too easy for chicken-shit men.

Read the article here...

Pagen Culture

I was taking my brother in law to Lucille's and as we drove past the Supreme Court he said...

"For an Islamic country Egyptians sure do take pride in pagen culture."

I thought it was brilliant.

:o)

(Mechanical Crowds.. no mention of driving in this post!)

My driving log...

Yesterday I woke up and found a message from a friend reminding me that Lucille's is serving breakfast all day...
So, naturally I cannot pass up Lucille's and we make plans to go there. I decide to be the nice older sister and invite my brothers to join in on the festivities....
I leave Zamalek and head to Mohandessien to pick up my friend. From there we go to Heliopolis to pick up my brothers. From Heliopolis we head to Maadi to enjoy Lucille's. After we eat it is back to Heliopolis to drop off my brothers. We dump them and back to Mohandessien it is. I leave my friend and we make plans to meet in an hour. I drive back to Zamalek and shower and head back to Mohandessien to pick her up because her car is at the repair shop. We then head over to Dokki for a pot luck and a friend's going away party. From Dokki it is all the way to Kattamaya to meet another friend. After Kattamaya it is back to Zamalek.

So, to recap that...
My driving log yesterday was...

Zamalek-Mohandessien-Heliopolis- Maadi-Heliopolis-Mohandessien-Zamalek-Mohandessien-Dokki-Kattamaya-Zamalek

Holy Shit!!!
No fucking wonder I do not think Cairo is a big city anymore!!!!!

New favourite quote...

A chat with Insomniac ended with her telling me to...

"drive safely, not egyptianly"



I personally think that brilliant is the only way to describe it!

Mixed Marriages

Marriage is hard.. or so I hear. It is the attempted union of families, paradigms, lives, people, hearts, pasts, and so much more. This seams an impossible feat to pull off...
Failure is guaranted when you add to this equation the element of different cultures and different religions.... or that is how it seems it should be.
I cannot really see any mixed marriages that work. I only see people suffering from the pressures thrown on them by the differences. I only see people struggling so hard to try to meet in the middle. I only see people questioning whether love is in fact all it takes.
One of the few lasting mixed marriages I knew of is coming to an end. It is coming to a bitter end full of resentment and hatred stemming from the bottling up of emotions for years. Negative emotions felt because of how different the people were. Now it is a broken family full of confusion, pain, and hatred.
I have little hope for myself because being a product of a mixed marriage means that any marriage I attempt will in fact be a mixed marriage.
I have lived a unique life... and I think that I will never find someone who is similiar to myself. I do not think that I am willing to fight the fight required to make any marriage work.
I do not see it as being worth it anymore.
I only see the confusion and the pain....