Christmas in Cairo

I’m pretty sure being in Egypt makes me closer to Jesus than everyone else in the States so, Hah!

I was originally really excited about skipping out on all the Christmas shenanigans…the insane last minute holiday shopping, Christmas music played everywhere you go, excessive holiday cheer, juggling family gatherings…but Christmas here pretty much felt like every other day of the year, and I found myself missing home a little.

Well, I guess Christmas wasn't completely forgotten this year. For about a week there were some street kids selling the creepiest Santa masks you've ever seen. I also asked my students' parents to send Christmas decorations so I could decorate my classrooms. That got me a whole lot more than I bargained for. I got streamers and ornaments galore, as well as other random party favors like party hats and balloons which said “happy birthday”. One mom was particularly generous and made a trip to the school so she could deliver a life-size fake Christmas tree. She said she thought this year would be difficult for me being away from my family and friends so she wanted to make me feel at home…aaawwwww.

On Christmas Eve we threw together a last minute dinner party with some friends and then went down to the British Club for drinks. Definitely an “old fart” bar. We befriended the bar owner, a spunky white haired British chap dubbed “Uncle Mike” by friends. Being the youngest and probably the drunkest group of people at the bar, we took to the dance floor shakin’ it to tunes like “if you think I’m sexy” and Cher’s “do you believe in love after love”. “Uncle Mike” offered us free seats at the big Christmas dinner the next day, but admittedly, none of us felt very good, so we had a very late dinner with friends at a little Italian place in Zamalech. All in all, a pretty decent Christmas.