I am very excited. I am going on a trip to the country of Egypt, which is in the northern part of the continent of Africa. I will be back before too long to share my adventures with everyone! While I am in Egypt, I will be meeting with other principals and visiting schools to see how children learn and teachers teach in a country so far away from the United States! The children in Egypt all speak Arabic when they start school, but begin to learn English as their second language in the first grade. I will also be visiting colleges, museums and some remarkable ancient sites, like the Great Pyramids of Giza and the temple of the mysterious Sphinx! Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page to see some interesting photos and read some fascinating facts!



Monday, December 6, 2010

Interesting sights along the desert highway....

Here are two more photos of unusual things I saw while driving through the Sahara Desert.  First, there were small fruit stands in the middle of the desert, with men selling oranges to those working or driving by.  Second, there were more little road stands with men selling head scarves and walking canes.  Hmmm....why do you think it would be important to have fruit, head scarves and walking canes in the desert?  Hint:  a head scarf is worn by working men to cover their head, hair, nose, mouth and neck.  Only their eyes can be seen...
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3 comments:

  1. maldermanDecember 6, 2010 at 2:39 PM

    Dear Mrs. Napolitano,

    When we went to OCCC today we learned about the brain (they had a brain made out of Jello), there was a food pyramid, dinosaurs and frogs in gooey, yucky oobleck, scooters, and a pretend hospital (we got to wear masks). We even got to sit in a real ambulance!

    James thinks that the men wear the head scarves so they can keep out the sand and the sun. The fruit has lots of vitamin C.

    Do the things at the bazaar cost a lot of money? What is the name of the other book you bought?

    We have a mummy joke for you (thanks to Elizabeth): What is a mummy's favorite music? Rap !!

    Have fun!

    Love,

    Room 7

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  2. Mrs. Donna NapolitanoDecember 7, 2010 at 7:36 PM

    Dear Room 7: I am so glad you had fun at the Wellness Fair. I know the students at the college work really hard to put together all the fun things that you were able to do.
    James is absolutely right about the head scarves- they keep the sun and sand and wind out of the worker's eyes, mouth and hair! Oranges do have a lot of vitamin C. They also provide natural sugars and water from their juices.
    The things at the bazaar weren't too expensive. But..you have to keep exchanging American dollars for Egyptian pounds. Did you know that 100 Egyptian pounds are about equal to twenty US dollars? So that means 50 Egyptian pounds are equal to 10 dollars, 25 pounds are equal to 5 dollars and 5 pounds are equal to one dollar!
    The other book I bought for our library is called "My First Words". It is a dictionary of Arabic words and what they mean in English.
    Love, Mrs. Napolitano
    ps...Elizabeth, that is a great joke!

    ReplyDelete
  3. mhoffmannDecember 8, 2010 at 10:05 AM

    Dear Mrs. Napolitano,
    We are sorry that we did not read your blog yesterday, but Mrs. Hoffmann was out sick.
    We think the scarves protect you from the hot desert. The scarves keep the sun and blowing sand off your face. The walking sticks help you walk when you get tired. If the wind is strong it will help you move faster. Eating fruit gives you energy to walk.
    Have you eaten any other interesting foods since your dinner?
    Love,
    Room 4

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