I just returned this morning from Cairo along with 14 energetic 6th, 7th, and 8th graders and Miss Shadia, the school's elementary P.E. teacher, who has been at Schutz for 33 years. This weekend the EMAC (Eastern Mediterranean Athletic Conference) Middle School Sports Festival was held at the British International School which is located in a northern suburb of Cairo. Last August, when the teachers signed up to teach or coach different events/sports I volunteered to chaperone this event. What attracted me to helping out in this endeavor was the fact that it was a non-competitive activity in the sense that there were no trophies awarded, no official scores taken, and that the athletes chosen to participate were not necessarily the best athletes from a given school. We chose students who have a good academic record and have had a history of being "good sports", but we did also look at their athletic ability.On Wednesday, Feb. 4, after school, we drove by bus from Alex to Cairo and arrived there at about 8:00. Each of the athletes/coaches were hosted by families who send their children to BISC(British International School Cairo). I stayed at Dan Dorrin's apt. Dan is a Chemistry teacher at BISC and is from Ireland.The Festival is a three day event. There were four other schools participating in it. (Cairo American College, a huge school with about 2,000 students, The American Community School of Amman, Jordan, The American Community School of Beirut, Lebanon, BISC, and Schutz American School. During the Festival three sports were played. On Thursday the focus was on basketball. Each of the four teams played each other during the course of the day. The next day, Friday, it was soccer, and on Saturday we completed the tournament with a round of volleyball games.Now, of course, even though it was not a trophy event, and there were no scores taken, the competitive blood did flow. Schutz American School with its small enrollment of only 260 students, has a David vs. Goliath complex when it comes to playing the "home state" rivals, BISC and Cairo American School. Both of those schools have many more students then we do. Well, the boys' team just about cleaned the slate against all opponents, ending up with a 10-1-1 record, and the girl's team played at about .500 level.We were able to take a quick trip to see the pyramids during one of the mornings. Each evening the students would be picked up by the host families and taken home for an evening of entertainment. We called each home at 10:00 p.m. to make sure the students were in bed or at the hosts' home.All in all it was a very enjoyable, but also, VERY exhausting weekend for both students, and ESPECIALLY for the two 55 year old coaches.
A Familiar Sight For All Teachers: A Ride On A Bus
Our athletes sitting on the bleachers-British Int'l School-Cairo
Waiting For the Next Game of Basketball
Miss Shadia---32 Years at Schutz-Coach, P.E. Instructor and Friend to Each of the Students
Boys Warming Up For a Game
Wiping His Face or Smelling His Armpit
Three Middle School Dudes
The Coach With Some Sage Advice
Three Girls Who Could Care Less About the Game
The Six Girls Who Made Up the Schutz Line-up
The front of the new British Int'l School- Cairo 
A Big Pile of Old Rocks
Horse and Carriage Near the Big Piles of Rocks
A Smilin' Camel Near Piles of Big Rocks
A Different Pile of Big Rocks
Another View of That Same Pile
People Standing on the Big Pile of Big Rocks
My, See How Big Each Rock in That Big Pile of Rocks Really Is
More Rocks
Three Piles of Big Rocks
Old Man Wearing SVDP Jacket in Front of Big Piles of Rocks
Lots of Sand, Camels, and Peopl
One of Our Students With Tourist Trapping Adorning His Head
Same Student Down for the Ten Count---Taking a Nap on Bus
Soccer Action
Water Break
Two Pools---Both Heated-The Large One an Olympic-Sized 50 meters in length. British Int'l School-Cairo
Happy Girls
Another Water Break
Boy and Girl Talk
Mr. Omar-A Guy With a Big Pile of Hair
The Coach and One of Her Students
The Boys' and Girls' Teams
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