2009-2012: A Glimpse of Egypt: where a part of me still lives

Pyramid of Gizah

2009-2012: A Glimpse of Egypt: where a part of me still lives

I should have started that blog 6 years ago but... no excuses... I was enjoying Cairo too much to do it ! The story started when I was on vacation in Japan in August 2009. On a trip around Okinawa I received an email from a school in Cairo that ask me to work there as physical education teacher. I was really enthusiastic about working abroad and avoiding a position in "Argenteuil", far much less exotic. I send messages to the French Ministry of Education, went back to France, sent more emails and... 15 days later... I was in Cairo with my limited knowledge of the country : there were Pharaos that built pyramids, Alexandria is close to the sea and even If love Stargate i know I won't see any Goa'uld.

My experience of Cairo started right after I landed. I had the chance to meet Ahmed Bahaa and couchsurfed for few days before the schoolyear starts.

Ahmed Bahaa, my host in Shorouk !

3 Days after, welcome to "L'Ecole du Sacré Coeur Ghamra" (Sacred Heart School) to meet my new colleagues and sister bosses. Then started the first real teaching experience for me in Egypt, first real teaching experience in my life. Why Real ? Because for the first time, I was put in a position where the students like their teachers and respect them for what they are. All my egyptian students were so kind to me that I really appreciated working for the Sacré Coeur and the other school "Mère de Dieu". I don't know if it's related to the fact that they are religious schools or it is just different in Cairo but my classes were never authoritarianism. Ok... some friends told me they were all teenage girls and I was a young male teacher... No... It's not only that ! I was feeling like John Keeting (Robin Williams) in Dead Poets Society. I was dedicated to my work and appreciated by my students. I just needed to seize the day ! It went like that for 3 years. A very great professional experience.

Check A P.E teacher in Cairo for more detail

Mère de Dieu du Caire !

Aside from school, I started a capoeira group in this huge town that had a very basic experience of my favorite martial art. With my German flatmate Aaron "Robocop" we contacted some egyptian guys that used to train several years ago. This how we met Ahmed Fouda and Amr Yehia in a Park (Shabab el Gezira) and initiated the talks about me giving classes. Slowly Naçao Capoeira Cairo grew up and more members came, friends of friends and foreigners students. The group started training in the studio Amad Edin, became later "Olorum Bahia Capoeira Cairo" and moved to a new place in Attaba. That group was to me much more than a sport circle. Those members became brothers and sisters with whom I shared a lot. We had so much fun training, drinking asab and beers, vacation trips to Nuweiba... That would be hard for me to forget a name if I have to write them all but my first egyptian students and friends will stay in my heart forever : Hecham "calorento", Kamal "Gente Boa", Nasser "Presidente", Zi "Ouriça", Deyaa "Meinha", Amr "Lerdo", Rammah "Comico" for the first generation and all the others that came after. That would be too many names as I think more than 250 people went to my class during the 3 years I thought in Cairo ! But all of you guys and girls know that I left with a part of you. Passoka took the lead of the group and became the first Contre-Mestre in Egypt !

check Capoeira in Cairo: a second family for more details.

The capoeira team !

What was also good with Cairo was its nightlife. You have to know that Cairo is a fascinating city that never sleeps. I heard that Egypt's government is facing a backlash from businesses and the public as it vows to impose new nationwide rules closing shops and restaurants early. Despite the fact that the Minister Mohhamed Mahsoub said that "Egyptian life has turned nocturnal. Egypt should not be a nocturnal state, but a morning state like all countries" all egyptians continue to hang out at any time of the night. You can take a cab around any place around midnight to see groups of people chating around a glass of tea, smoking shisha. Then you go yourself get food somewhere, or have an haircut. Yes, now it's past midnight and you can get a haircut ! My mum was on vacation in 2010 and was surprise to see people everywhere under the bridge that offer popcorn and disco boats playing loud shaabi music. I told her... "but mum, Zharma (traffic) is all day long. But night too..."

When we were the one partying, we were having rooftop parties, costume parties, Jazz club nights, After 8 drinking and dancing sessions, El Horreya beer tour... that made Cairo's nights MAGIC !

check Cairo's Nightlife for more details

Night Life !

My stay in Egypt also allowed me to explore the beauty that the country offers. Every break was a moment for traveling in and around Cairo. I had the chance to visit of course the great Pyramids of Gizah, those of Sakkara, Alexandria, Louxor, Aswan, the white desert, Ras Mohamed - very close from Sharm el Sheikh and soooo much better -, Nuweiba in Debouin Camps, scuba diving in Dahab, Hiking Moses Mount, Ain Soukhna at Lobo's, sandboarding in wahat el bahareya... So many good trips, so many smiles and pictures... I just regret I have not had time to visit Siwa Oasis. Not the only thing I missed but one of them.

check Egypt: Best escapes for any break for more details

Egypt's beauty to explore with friends !

I stayed in Cairo for 3 years and each one of them had something special. The first year started with the Swine Flue (H1N1). The government decided to kill all the pigs in Egypt (dammit!). People in my school were crazy about hygiene and kept cleaning their hands with that bad smell Dettol wipes. Then came the year of the revolution where a lot of my friends, the first who said that their fellow countrymen won't do the same as in Tunisia, were standing for a new start. Even after Moubarak stepped down, Tahrir was not the same. People became proud of being Egyptian or at least, they were less afraid of standing to claim for their rights. Still the elections that followed let a weird flavor and People had to choose between the beast and the devil as they use to say : Morsi Vs Shafik. Morsi became president... Life was a little bit different in Cairo but we could still continue our daily lives. The feeling was different. You could hear people talking politics in the subway while under Moubarak, it was more a "taboo". I had talks with my students that were trying to be the future that Egypt needs.

check Egyptian revolution for more details

Hasta Siempre !

I was still teaching PE, playing capoeira and drinking beers at El horreya Cafe but by March 2012 I knew my time had come to turn a page and go some place else. At first, I was planning to move to New York and eventually work in Brooklyn or Princeton but life never flows how we would like and I ended up accepting a job in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa !

It was hard to leave Cairo but at the same time, part of my head was already gone and it was time for me to prepare myself for something new, for a fresh start.

Check Djibouti : 2012-2015