Our professor told us at the start of the trip that the third week of our program was always the most exhausting and disheartening. I'm fairly certain he was wrong; this week has been the most difficult by far. Today's struggle centered around Ana Al-Misri. Organizationally, things there have been worse than ever. We still don't have a specific project or schedule worked out with their administration, and our primary contact has been M.I.A. after her driver's license was revoked last week (I think she got into a car accident with a cop?). Anyway, showing up at the building is always a little awkward now, since there often aren't any staff in sight; instead we just wander around til we find kids or someone who speaks English, and then we get started. The past few days, only the youngest kids (ages 2 - 9) have been at the center, so our group to entertain is much smaller. The last time, I had befriended a new kid, and he was very excited to see me when we walked in. For the first hour and a half of the morning, he was grabbing my hand and dragging me around the room to play at the different stations. (On a side note, there was a group of 6-year-old boys having a tea party for a while and playing with baby dolls... so not what I'm used to). Everything was great with my new friend (whose name I don't actually remember - probably Mohammed/Ahmed/Abdullah) until snack time, when he continually lifted one end of the table the kids were eating at so that the drinks almost spilled. I guess this wasn't that bad a thing to do, but a large part of the program at Ana Al-Misri is adjusting from life on the streets (e.g. always wearing shoes, not snatching food from each other, etc)... so tipping over tables where people are eating isn't really acceptable. I told him to stop, that it was not good behavior, etc, all to no avail. Finally I took his hands and held them until he said he was sorry. This totally demoralized him, and he looked sulky and wouldn't talk to me for about half an hour. In the meanwhile, he hadn't eaten his snack, so the others all tried to pounce on him and take it, and I ended up getting pulled to the ground (yes, by 6-year-olds - to be fair there were a lot of them) in the middle of trying to break up all the fights that ensued. Then came my efforts to make up with my friend: at first he wouldn't even listen to me, and once he did we ran into language barrier issues. Eventually I said, "I don't understand because I don't know a lot of Arabic words. I'm sorry. Are we friends again?" Not my most effective disciplinary tactic, but I was getting desperate. A lot of the really cute ones there don't even look ashamed or upset when you scold them. They just laugh adorably... and what else can I do but let them go when I barely speak their language? Once all the animosity and hurt feelings were gone, the whole group went up to the TV room, which always starts off wild (too many crazy kids in too small a space) but eventually results in nap time. The kids were going crazy as usual, tackling each other and jumping on me (all standard), but at one point this resulted in a dog pile on my lap. One kid bit me (again) and another started joking that I was a toilet that he was sitting on. At the same time, I happened to glance over toward the window, through which one of the other students from my program was climbing into the room - the door was jammed. I came pretty close to freaking out; there was no way I was going to stay trapped in this room with these adorable little monsters biting and pretending to poop on me until a locksmith drove out into the middle of the desert to set me free. However, my friend, noticing I was actually angry, said, "Miss, chalos (meaning "enough"), and they all calmed down. They started to fall asleep slowly, a few with their heads in my lap, and half an hour later I left them napping on the rug (the door was mercifully unjammed by one of the staff). As usual for Egypt, the end of the experience was oddly rewarding, but I wish there weren't so many bites along the way. Luckily I won't return to Ana Al-Misri until Saturday, and in sha Allah, (God willing) by then my attitude and their organizational skills will have improved slightly. Ma salama!
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