Under the Egyptian Sun

Yesterday was definitely the hottest day yet, reaching nearly 100 degrees. Not only have you people in America been having a strange and extreme winter, but we've been having one here in Cairo as well. Temperatures usually never reach this high in the winter here. And a couple weeks ago there was an intense thunderstorm that flooded the streets and hail also coated the ground in some places. Most Egyptians had never seen hail before so a lot of them thought it was snow.It was pretty amusing.
So it's just daily life here now, I can't think of much of anything new to write about. I am still awed by the fact that I'm in Egypt though, so the newness hasn't worn off yet completely. My day usually consists of going to teach an English class and then going to my Arabic class, each of which are 2 and a half hours long. Some days I don't have English classes though, so I just go to Arabic.Either way, I never have to wake up earlier than 10. Which is a really good thing because at night I stay up late sitting and talking or playing cards with my host family. Last night we were up until 2 I think. I have no clue how my host mom gets up early for work everyday! Oh, and I also just started taking a kung fu class! It's a lot of fun and my friend Michelle does it with me.
I definitely really feel like Egypt is my home now and I'm going to miss it so much. I really think the thing I love the most about Egypt is the people here. They are incredibly friendly and Cairo is a very safe city because of them. I remember when I was telling people that I was going to Egypt, many of them were afraid for me or something because they thought it would be unsafe. Why? There is no difference in safety between Cairo and any other city in the U.S. In fact, I've read articles that state that Cairo is much safer than many major cities in the U.S. Another thing that I've noticed here that I really want to write about to dispell stereotypes is how accepting and peaceful everyone I've talked to is. For example, even though the majority of Egyptians are Muslim, there is a minority of Christians here, and whenever anyone explains this to me, they say how both the Muslims and Christians live as one. There is no hostility between them or anything of the sort. Another thing I've noticed from people that I've talked to that are Muslim is that they are just in general extremely accepting of others' beliefs. They would never tell you that your belief is wrong and they do not try to force their religion on others. From my experience, the majority of Muslims that I have met here are so much more accepting and peaceful than the majority of Christians that I have met in America.. from my experience. And also from what I've noticed, people here follow their religion much more strictly and it plays a bigger part in their daily lives than what I've seen in America. These things are just my observations from my experiences. But hopefully this will change a few people's prior misconceptions about the middle east and Muslims.
Oh and this past week I also visited the Citadel, an ancient Islamic place and it was incredibly beautiful. I will post pictures.:)
We also went to Azher Park and I saw some grass and trees!!! It was really exciting.