Pre-school and new friends

We’ve been here almost two weeks now. It feels like we’ve only been here a couple of days though.
Time has gone by fast, at times I feel like I have done absolutely nothing and then at times I am so busy it wears me out.

Most of our time we have been spending at the club, as Ramy does his Taekwondo there. Doing things here take much longer than at home. We don’t have our car here so our only means of transportation is the taxi. Most things are on the other side of town which requires us to spend about an hour in the taxi each way. Rather than going back and forth we just decide to stay at the end of town for the whole day.

On Monday we had an appointment at a German pre-school for Omar. Ramy wants Omar to go to a German school, as he went to a German school here in Egypt and it really is the best education here.
Getting there wasn’t too bad I thought, we arrived in Maadi within half an hour. The trick was finding the street. The taxi driver couldn’t find it, not even with the directions given directly on the cell phone. We spent another 30-40 minutes before finally arriving. This didn’t give me a very good feeling. If the taxi driver couldn’t find it with arabic directions, what would make him find it with just me and Omar in the car speaking only English?

The school was European looking. The owner, Frau Yasmine was really nice. They also had a garden outside with a sand box which Omar loved. He is supposed to start on April 1st. Classes are 5 days a week from 9am-2pm.
They only are allowed to speak German in school. They are pretty strict about it.
Omar doesn’t speak any German which obviously concerns me. Ramy thinks he will do fine, and the teacher said it will take about three weeks for him to adjust.
The reason Ramy wants him in this particular school is that it is one of two pre schools that prepares the kids for the actual German school which starts at age 4. This is the school Ramy went to and it is very hard to get into. Of the 300 kids that apply each year only 50 get accepted. Each child is required to take a test. Now, acing the test doesn’t guarantee you getting in. Children with German parents or children born in Germany, parents with a German back ground or children speaking German all have priority.
Omar is required to take this test in 2010. The teacher feels Omar will have enough time to master the German language by that time.
We will see, if he doesn’t like it after two months or if he doesn’t excel I will pull him out. Pre school is supposed to be fun not military school. This place looks like a lot of fun though, and the teachers are very nice. At least that part puts me a bit at ease.
For his first day we are only going to go for an hour and I get to stay with him, then slowly we increase the hours. So it won’t be totally shocking to him.
Will keep you posted on the whole school thing!

Yesterday we were invited to a birthday party for Ramy’s friends daughter who was turning three.
When we got there the house was full of little children and toys, Omar couldn’t believe his eyes. He was shy for about two minutes before getting into the crowd and forgetting about me.
He made instant friends with another two year old boy named Aly. The party lasted four hours which is very normal here. Most birthday parties last all day! So I have something to look forward to when it is Omar’s turn. At the party I met most of the moms, they were all part of a baby group, like the play group we have back home. I met about 9 or 10 and most are foreigners married to Egyptians. They told me they meet twice a week for play group and then twice a week for soccer.
After the party we went to the club as it was right around the corner. Omar took a nap in the stroller for about an hour before we headed to the soccer field. At the party some of the moms told me that they hired a private coach to teach their kids soccer. Normal soccer classes start at age four and because most of the kids are around age three they decided to get a private coach and split the cost.
Omar was just waking up when the class started so he watched for the first half hour. He then went over and participated for a little bit. He was pretty shy but was happy to see his friend Aly.
After soccer we walked over to the children’s area and Omar had lots of fun playing. He actually was laughing and having fun with the kids. Finally I saw the old Omar emerge. We stayed until it got dark and then went home for dinner. Omar was exhausted but happy and took a mini nap on the ride home.

For most of the afternoon I talked with Heather from Texas, another woman from the US and Mariam, Aly’s mom who is Egyptian but has a French back ground and speaks only French with her kids.
I finally feel a bit happy and not so lost after yesterday’s day out. I am glad I made new friends and am part of a play group again.
Being at the play ground with all the new kids made me miss the kids from Omar’s old play group. They all seemed so comfortable with each other, playing, and hugging. It made me so sad as this is how Omar was with his old friends.
I know everything takes time and we are one step in the right direction!