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

Wow! We have been really busy!

Hi Everyone!  What a busy weekend I had!  We visited two colleges so far- The University of Cairo and Alexandria University.  We met with experts on Ancient Egyptian History and experts who specialize in teaching English to Egypt's students who speak only Arabic.  We went to the Alexandria Library and I bought two books for our library that are written in Arabic- one is the Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle!
  Yesterday we went shopping at the Khan El-Khalili Bazaar.  It has been in existence for 600 years and used to be a watering stop for caravans of people riding horses and camels!  Today there are hundreds of little shops selling souvenirs, rugs, jewelry, oils and scarves.

It was a very, very colorful marketplace!
     Today we rode our bus through the Sahara Desert to travel from Cairo to Alexandria.  We saw many interesting things and people along the way!
     We saw tall structures that looked like honey combs.  They were not for bees, however.  They were "pigeon towers".  Farmers raise pigeons for food in the desert like our farmers raise chickens.  The towers are their homes that they can fly in and out of.  The flowers in this photo were the only bit of color we saw in the desert.  They are called bougainvillea. The green plants in the photo are able to grow because of irrigation systems on the farms.

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4 comments:

  1. maldermanDecember 6, 2010 at 2:40 PM

    Dear Mrs. Napolitano,

    How do the pigeons get in and out of those little holes?!?! WOW!

    Love,
    Room 7

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mrs. Donna NapolitanoDecember 7, 2010 at 7:38 PM

    Hi Room 7...the holes in the Pigeon Towers aren't really that small. They are about the size of a hole in a regular bird house. The towers, however, are very large. They are between 30 and 40 feet tall and are made of clay.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownDecember 8, 2010 at 3:16 PM

    Messiah want s to kniow what you bought at the Khan el-Khalili market. Imaan wants to know if the place is beautiful. Samantha likes the stuffed camels. Xavier says the bird houses look interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Grammer FamilyDecember 12, 2010 at 11:56 PM

    awww.... hope you brought home a few of those cute and colorful camels...glad you had fun!

    ReplyDelete

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