The temperature is currently 100 degrees fahrenheit here in Cairo. We watched it climb up since Thursday - 80, 85, 95...100. Fortunately, it'll be going back down again next week, but this is definitely an unpleasant reminder of just how hot it gets here during the summer. I wonder how hot our Peace Corps country will be?? (No, we still don't know where or when we're going.)
Things have slowed down a little for me (at the moment), but everyone else is super busy this last week before Spring Break. Did you know that Easter is next week? I was rather surprised to walk into church on Friday and see it all decorated with Palm branches and realize it was Palm Sunday (or Friday in this case) and that means Easter is in a week! There's just no sign of it here - no decorations, no coloring eggs or Easter cookies, no Easter basket supplies being sold in the stores, no spring weather (it should be in the 60s I think)... It reminds me of Christmas in Rwanda, where there was really nothing to mark the coming holiday. I had to keep reminding myself by playing Christmas music on my iPod. It's weird when you strip a holiday of all the commercial things we usually relate to that day. It comes and goes a lot more quietly.
Things have slowed down a little for me (at the moment), but everyone else is super busy this last week before Spring Break. Did you know that Easter is next week? I was rather surprised to walk into church on Friday and see it all decorated with Palm branches and realize it was Palm Sunday (or Friday in this case) and that means Easter is in a week! There's just no sign of it here - no decorations, no coloring eggs or Easter cookies, no Easter basket supplies being sold in the stores, no spring weather (it should be in the 60s I think)... It reminds me of Christmas in Rwanda, where there was really nothing to mark the coming holiday. I had to keep reminding myself by playing Christmas music on my iPod. It's weird when you strip a holiday of all the commercial things we usually relate to that day. It comes and goes a lot more quietly.
Apparently the Coptic Christians here fast from all meat and meat products (like eggs and milk) for 55 days before Easter. I've heard it said that the Copts actually fast more than the Muslims, in spite of the long month of Ramadan (a Muslim holiday which requires fasting from all food and drink every day for a month - you can break your fast after sundown each day though).
Dan (Dylan's dad) has been here visiting for the last week or so, and will be going back to Afghanistan on Tuesday (he works for CARE there). He'll be back again in a little over a month for Abby's graduation from CAC on June 3rd! Abby has officially decided to go to Wheaton College by the way. I knew Dylan and I would be a good influence on her. =)