Down At the Farm

somewhere near Alexandria, Egypt

From The Alexandrian Farm

It hardly looks like the Middle East at all! It's so good to get out of the house, out of Cairo, do something different for a change. I keep telling people in the CASA staff and faculty that I'm a country girl, that I didn't just live in a village in Jordan, but grew up in a village in Amish country, too! (Not that Arabs have any idea who the Amish are.... Maybe that's the problem?) They still don't seem to comprehend just how much I dislike life in Cairo, or how much the sheer massive size and chaos of the city scares me. But today was a breath of fresh air in more ways than one!

There were horses and camels to ride. We went for a walk around the farm, and I got some nice bird pictures; just as when I took all those bird pictures in Luxor and Aswan, taking them made me think of Grandma and her birding, so I hope she enjoys them! We played a rousing but dusty game of soccer. I love playing soccer with the CASA Fellows and staff. Even the best players, like Erin who plays for Penn State, always pass the ball to everyone on their team, even the lousy players like me. We're competitive, but only in that way that makes it more fun. We also played another game, like a less violent Red Rover. Kristine stood in the middle and held out a scarf and called out numbers. When they heard their number, one player from each team ran for the scarf. If you could grab it and get it back past one team's line or the other without the other person catching you, you scored. It was fabulous fun!

Then we had a barbecue dinner with more meat than I've seen on one dinner plate in a long time! Kebabs, shish tawook, kofta and a big, juicy lamb chop for each person, plus sides! It was a lot of hours on the bus to get there and back, but it was so worth it!

From The Alexandrian Farm