This is the watercolor I painted for Carole as a part of her going away scrapbook. Jen got several old YAV's to write letters to Carole and send photos from their time here with her. This was my contribution. It is made with acutal water from the Nile. Well, technically speaking anyway. All water that comes from the tap in Egypt was Nile water at some point, right?

Jennifer and Teri working studiously on a gingerbread house.

Our Christmas tree. It's a tall cedar tree.

Stephen played guitar and Jay played the piano as we sang Christmas carols.

Sarah joins in on the gingerbread house construction.

Dick and Lynn. Lynn is our new site coordinator.

Naadia watched as the gingerbread house was made.

Jennifer made a plate of chocolate covered strawberries that we utterly demolished.

Jennifer with her Sweedish-style Santa hat. I didn't think of it until just now, but she probably got it from the Sweedish social workers that live near her in Alexandria.

The completed gingerbread house.

Carole had just received her scrapbook.

Here we are posing with our gifts. Sarah got me colored pencils, oil pastels, and a drawing pad. Other gifts of note... Teri was very excited about her can of Dr. Pepper, her favorite drink that is really expenseive here. Sarah got a scarf and a dust mask (ha-ha!). I gave Stephen an inlaid cross.

These are two Egyptian ladies I work with at The Synod of the Nile. Jackline is in the middle. She just finished a two-week stint in the hospital after having some kind of throat surgery. She only speaks Arabic but has managed to teach me many words, mostly nouns an verbs. I did manage to figure out posessives with her help, though it is still difficult for me. Eva is sitting on the right. She also teaches me Arabic and knows a limited amount of English. I think sometimes she doesn't know what to make of me. I try the same type of pantomime communication that I use with Jackline, and she looks at me like my hair is on fire.

Hani (pronounced Hay-nee) is another worker at the Synod. He doesn't speak a lick of English and I can barely understand his Arabic. I understand it when he says "Il ham dur lallah" [Thank God] and the word "Ghada" [Lunch], because he asks me what I want to eat every day. Sometimes the other guys at the Synod playfully act like they are roughing him up, but I always say, "La, la, la... Hani kwyais owie." [No, no, no... Hani is very good.] One day he randomly mentioned that he likes George Bush and then flexed his arm muscle as if to say, "He's a tough guy." I was polite said "nosi-nos." [Half and half.]