"Welcome to my family"

"Do you have a headache?" George asked.
"No" I replied, quizzical.
"Well, I will give you one" he joked.
I had to grin.

Meet George: the dedicated Mennonite Central Committee staff member and PPIC-Work accountant that picked me up at the airport at 2:00 this morning, and showed me apartments tonight after his long day of work. An ideal Egyptian tour guide, George knows the history behind the ornate architecture that whizzes past us as we weave through traffic, and shares openly about his life and family.

It's Ramadan - the lunar month of fasting in the Muslim world - so everything is altered. Lazy afternoons turn into frantic traffic jams as sunset approaches... full-bellied horns blaring again at 9:30pm. If you time things wrong restaurants will be fresh out of your favourite dishes as almost happened to us tonight; but, on the other hand, shops are open past midnight and people linger on the streets. It's a beautiful time to come!

Perhaps I'm just seeing Cairo through the rosy glow yet... the first 24 hours have certainly been gentle! Richard (the director of PTE and overall coordinator of PPIC-Work who splits his time between Egypt and Canada), arranged for me to come just after his arrival in Cairo, and put me up in a nice hotel until we get the apartments settled tomorrow. Once we have the logistics sorted, I'll continue familiarizing myself with the project by reading all the background materials I can get my hands on, meeting the staff, and tapping Richard's wealth of knowledge a bit more.

I have tremendous respect for Richard. He has a thoughtful, gentle, spirit and is extremely dedicated to this work. I really appreciate his collaborative and responsive approach to programming, and the way he seeks to sensitively reinforce local systems instead of asserting Western ideas. I think that's incredibly important in this line of work.

Oh, and on the subject of work, the first thing on the agenda for tomorrow is moving into my new flat!! I will actually be staying in George's old flat for a time - perhaps even permanently. I'm hoping to find someone to share the space (and cost) with, but in all other respects it seems perfect! George has been incredibly generous with his time - taking me by the MCC office so I could meet some young Mennos tonight, arranging for me to attend a couple of events this week, and making sure I have food and money as needed. When he called tonight to confirm plans for Thursday I thanked him again for his support and he responded with the best words in the world: "Welcome to my family!".

What a wonderful way to start out here!