Hello Cairo Gang!

My days at AIS Egypt have ended and my days at ACS Beirut have begun. At least culture shock won't be so unexpected here, having survived it once.

Orientation is well done here. I am settled into my apartment. It's a little smaller than my living room on 206 in Maadi was. Small, but cozy. I do have a large second story patio, though, like Rob, Ron, Filipa's place on Road Nine.

The school is cramped for space and there's lots of vertical-ness to it. Several storied buildings, rooftop playgrounds and lots of nooks & crannies to get lost in. It has a great view of the Med. although my particular apartment overlooks the K-2 Playground.

The city is fabulous. The food is scrumptious. And the shopping is convenient. Haggle-free, modern department stores which serve sushi in their upscale "food court". I bought a microwave, blender, coffee maker, showerhead, and BBQ grill...all for $124 USD. (Although 193,000 Lebanese lira sounds a lot more fun, like I'm rich or something)

Can you hear me sigh? Whew! I am so settled in here and glad to be here.

So, sign up now for visits. My apartment can hold one or two people max, but there are plenty of reasonably priced hotels in the neighborhood. I'll set it all up, just let me know when.

My workweek is Mon-Fri. My first day off is Monday-Friday of American thanksgiving week. No three day weekends even!!! But classes don't start until Sept 16 and we have three short weeks in October for staff development and parent conferences.

(I almost complained that we had to work on Oct 6th, but apparently only LEBANESE liberation is important here.)

Check-out www.stu.cds.com for more stories.

Hope to see many of you soon. Keep me posted.

Stu