Many people wonder what it is like to teach in a foreign country. I have had the opportunity to teach in the United States, Ukraine, and Egypt, and I would say that Egypt was by far the most difficult. Yet, at the same time, you will gain valuable skills that will equip and challenge you in ways that you have never imagined.
Nile Union Academy is a five-year boarding school on the edge of Cairo. The school is surrounded by mosques, minarets, and local neighborhoods. It is truly an interesting place to experience! It is the kind of place that most people in the US never get to see, nonetheless experience.
Life in Egypt is far different than life in western countries, and the same can be said about life in the classroom. Classroom management is trickier. Students have the desire to go to the western world but don't really know exactly how to go about it. Cheating is a problem. Life is often about power and asserting dominance, especially for young men. But, once you get past these walls, you begin to know the students who are not so much different than youth anywhere else in the world.
They love sports, competition, and are hungry to know about God. I used to joke and say that I thought I could understand what Moses felt like when he lead the Israelites and mixed multitude out of Egypt. Sometimes you wonder if you are doing anything at all. The mental aspect can be a real challenge. There were many days I wondered, why in the world am I here?
The honeymoon stage will end. You will sometimes wake up and ask yourself how you will get through another day, another week, another month...
And then, there are other days when you wake up to the call to prayer and are once again in awe that you are waking up in Egypt.
Nile Union Academy: A Memoir is available on Amazon.
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