The Day of the Sabbath

Hello again! Today is Friday, the Sabbath day in Egypt. I went to church last night and this morning. Church is pretty much the same as North American church, only it takes place outdoors beneath a tent-type structure. The noticed the worship music seemed a bit behind the times. Lots of 80's songs. I found that sort of odd since most of the other styles and trends that are common in North America seem to have found their way to the expatriots of Maadi (expatriots are foreigners, such as myself). Anyways, at church Heidi and I were brought up front and welcomed. We had to say a few words, which I always hate doing cause I never have much to say to large groups of people. Oh well, I guess that's something I'll have to get used to. At least I wasn't nervous! I don't know why, but I wasn't. Probably too tired to be nervous. Anyways, we shook a lot of hands and were introduced to a ton of people. Very friendly folks here. Too bad I don't remember anyone's names.

After church today, Heidi and I ditched the youth pastor and went out for lunch with a bunch of the students. It was a lot of fun. We were all being really noisy and rambunctious. At first I thought we were gonna get kicked out, but then the waiters started joining in and fooling around with us. Then the manager came out, and I thought everyone was gonna get in trouble... but no! Even he joined in and started throwing cup lids around and stuff. It was hilarious. I had a pretty awkward moment there, though. See, I was teaching the kids how to make a rose out of a paper napkin, and then one of them dared me to give the rose to the waiter. I'm all about gaining acceptance from these guys, so I did it. Unfortunately, I think I now know that Egyptians can be gay too. The guy was so happy to get it from me that he got me to sign it. At first I thought it was just cause I was a crazy white guy, but then every time he saw us afterwards, he WINKED at me and gave me an odd seemingly more than friendly smile. Not only that, but he also started waving at me and bringing his friends out and whispering to them and pointing at me and stuff. Everyone else got a good laugh out of it. When it came time to pay, he made me come to the back to pay before anyone else. I thought it was just a prank all the students were playing on me, but they were just as wierded out by it as me. Anyways, I paid and got out of there as fast as I could.

I don't have much else planned for today. I hope to take my camera and to go exploring a little bit. If I do, I'll be sure to post some of the pictures here.