This Week's Tidbits - June 21

This Week’s Titles:

• Teaching Troubles
• Crying and Smiling Children
• Journey to the Center of Hai al-Asher
• Homework Vs. Lesson Planning Vs. Sleep
• Professor Lo and the Eternal Battle For Interwebs
• The Birthday Party
• Street Fighter: The Victorious
• The Twilight Saga: Cairo (cause the kids at I the Egyptian are routinely getting bitten)

Songs of the Week:

• “Hot ‘n Cold” by Katy Perry
• “Down” by Jay Sean
• “Jump On It” by Apache

Quotes of the Week:

• “What do you mean by Hello Kitty drugs?” –Zuri, befuddled by her teacher’s story
• “Where’d the blondes go?” “Where the pigs went.” –John, on how beautiful blondes like Andy aren’t seen around here because they continually stop traffic
• “Don’t lose your stuff, or else it will end up on some old man’s Christmas tree,” –Hannah, on the moral of story she read in her Arabic class
• “I freakin’ love unicorns…I probably shouldn’t have admitted that…It’s like 10 Galleons a hair.” –Brendan
• “Pregnant is just a dot away from being camel.” –John, on spelling Arabic words
• John’s Vader Voice, in Arabic: “Luke, I am your father.”

Favorite Moments of the Week:

• Street Fight in Khan el-Halili
• Zuri Eating in Class
• Moana Caking
• Zoe’s Birthday
• Working at the NGOs
• Coptic Cairo
• Lecture with Raymond
• Teaching Time to St. Andrew's Students
• Teaching "Ninja" to the Kids at I the Egyptian

Today's Tidbits - June 13 and Beyond

Today's Titles

• The Group Gets Busy
• There's A Bat In The Air Conditioner -or- Night Bird In The Air Machine
  
• Brendan vs. Getting Knee Capped, Dance Moves And His Shirt
  
• Pecos Bill : Tornado :: Yasin : Taxi Cab
• George vs. The Nail
• It's About To Get Crazy

Quotes of the Day

• "Zoe, you know the direction?" - Prof. Lo, after all of us were already in the van
• Wild Zubat appeared! -- Air Conditioner used Fan Blades! -- It's super effective! -- Wild Zubat fainted!
• "Always smile at a man with a gun." - Mark Schleifer
• "Power is an aphrodisiac." - Henry Kissinger
  

Songs of the Day

• "Easy Love," by MSTRKRFT
• "Buy You A Drink," by T-Pain
  

Favorite Moments

• The group learning how to Apache
• Watching World Cup games at the Four Seasons and the koosheri place
• Zoe explaining how to learn languages
• The Arab Academy group discussing swine flu in Arabic
• Floating on the Nile, reflecting back on our week
• Mark Abdullah Schleifer illustrates the reasons behind and consequences of conflict coverage in journalism
• Visiting and observing classes at St. Andrew's
  

DukeEngager of the Day: John, for his heroic patience with children

Today's Tidbits - June 6

Today's Titles:

• Everyone Delivers
• Arabic 2 vs. the Placement Exam
• Andi vs. Invalid Wells Fargo Phone Numbers
• Nusaibah vs. The Stationary Store
• Fernando and Moana's Embassy Adventure
  

Songs of the Day:

• "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel
• "Apache" by Sugar Hill Gang

Anonymous Quotes of the Day:

• "What's the news, Fat-mah?"
  
• "You're lucky not to be a refugee."
  
• "I bet your father is part of the NRA."

Favorite Moments:

• Receiving the magic coffee wand (and the coffee with it!) at Arab Academy
• Meeting a soon-to-be-Dukie (who was way too nice to us!)
• Comparing ICS Majors to car dealerships ("Everything's pre-approved!" - John)
  
• Fry sandwiches
• Crown pizza (Pizza Hut + Cream Cheese)

DukeEngager of the Day: Zuri (who hopefully is feeling much better now)

Today's Tidbits - June 4

Today’s Title:

• The Group Vs. Taxis
• Darn Those Apricots!
• Rap Like An Egyptian
• The Battle Against Jet Lag
• Vodaphone!
• There’s A First Time For Everything: Street Food

Songs of the Day:

• “Every Day I See My Dream” by LMFAO
• “I Want To Get Married But I Don’t Have Money” by the 3 Egyptian Rappers at the Concert

Quotes of the Today:

• “You Arab?” to Fernando by Mall Security Guard
• “You have the worst Arabic I’ve ever heard!” to Ruba, by Native Speaker
• “I just don’t understand you Egyptians” by Ruba, as a response to Native Speaker

Favorite Moments:

• Wust El Balad Concert
• Taxi Rides (on our own!)
• Street Food Adventures
• Sleeping, then Napping

(Former) DukeEngagers of the Day: Cosette and Andrew

Today's Tidbits - June 3

Today’s Title:

• Hillary Vs. the Arm-Wrestler
• Professor Lo Vs. Directions, Part Two
• Orientation Day
• Professor Lo Does the Sorority Squat

Song of the Day: “Carry On My Wayward Son” by Kansas

Favorite Moments:

• Max and Ahmed wrestling
• Hillary arm-wrestling
• Witnessing our first traffic accident (which is shocking in that we didn’t see one sooner)
• Eating at an Italian restaurant in Cairo that played 80’s jams
• Meeting the three NGOs
• Riding the subway
• Ordering Pizza

Quote of the Day:

• “Is Andi okay?” – to Andi, by Prof. Lo
• “Oh Look, Those Are Pyramids. No big deal.” – Anon.
• “I Don’t Ride Elevators That Don’t Have A Picture Of Cherie Berry” – Max
• “Do you speak al-Engleezee? [Pause] Ah sweet.” – John

DukeEngager of the Day: Moo-see-bah, err, Nusaibah…

This post is brought to you by Mohamed Magdy, even though he doesn’t know it.

Today’s Tidbits – June 1 and 2

I’m not sure how well this idea will play out, but bear with me: I want to try and keep the blog fresh by adding a little special something everyday. That special something is the new section titled “Today’s Tidbits” (sorry but I love alliteration). I want to have little things that will define our day in ways pictures, videos, and postings won’t. That being said, I now present you with the maiden voyage of “Today’s Tidbits”.

If today had a title, it would be:

• Professor Lo Vs. The One-Way Streets
• “Just Push It”
• It Wasn’t Me

Song of the Day:

• “It Wasn’t Me” by Shaggy
• “Sandstorm” by Darud

Favorite Moments of the Day:

• Getting lost going from the airport to the apartment
• Learning that when you park in Cairo, you should leave your car in neutral so people can push it if it is blocking the street
• Arriving safely.

Toughest Cross-Cultural Interaction:

• Buying fruit
• Crossing the street