Learning French for Kids

I saw this while walking by a bookstore the other day in Cairo.  I don’t recall the kids in South Park speaking French, but I imagine Kenny can jump from his native English to fluent French and Arabic without any problems.  Around the corner was a book in Arabic with the faces of Hitler, bin Laden, and Bill Gates on the cover.  I’m not entirely sure what that was about.

Can’t wait to have my own personal translator here to fill me on all that I am clearly missing in the written Arabic word.

So I’ve got my connection back and I know people are eager for some more Egypt-related news.  At the moment I’m trying to get ahead caught up with school work.  I promise a tour of my neighborhood soon, but in the meantime here are some pics I snapped of a cool car I spotted on my way to the internet cafe a while back.

Aside from thousands upon thousands of Fiats and Vespas, there aren’t too many automobiles of interest here.  Aside from one T-bird, this is the only classic car I’ve seen, though I don’t recognize it.

My neighborhood seems to be suffering from intermittent blackouts.  My phone line is completely dead.  This being the end of Ramadan Eid holiday, tomorrow will be the soonest someone will be out to fix look at the line.  I am at the cafes again until then.  So in the interest of distracting myself from all the work I should be could have been doing, here is something else:

Until recently it had been around 10 years since I had gotten a real haircut (strictly DIY).  Finally, about a year or so ago, I decided it was time.  With a picture in hand of what I wanted, I ventured off to a barbershop near our apartment in NW Portland.  There I met Veronica, who was to be my first and only barber until leaving for Egypt.  I was thrilled with my new arrangement, and went in almost like clockwork for a trim every 3 weeks.  When I got here I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, having become dependent on the service of a professional.  After a couple of weeks my hair started getting a bit too shaggy for my liking, so I ventured out, with same picture in hand, to a nearby barbershop that had been recommended to me.  Long story short: I knew I was in trouble when he broke out the thinning shears.  So after my hair grew out again to something workable, I bought some clippers and shears and went to town DIY-style once again.  I’m actually pretty happy with the results (although I know now that I will never be able to match Veronica’s perfect old-timey fades).

the inspiration

the copy

This got me to thinking:  I should grow ought to be able to grow a mustache.  And with a bit more Dressel blood in me I would probably have the right ears.  This got me to thinking a bit more:  I’m not a thief, and do not aspire to be a bank-robber.  Here are the real inspirations:

the style                                             the love                                    the attitude

Phones, internet, and electricity are all nice, but I miss home for other reasons.

Now back to work the old fashioned way, with pen and paper.  I hope the lights are on.