Arabic Class & Fast Food

I passed my Arabic Class final test yesterday so will be moving on to the next level.  I really like my class.  It's with Berlitz.  The teacher is really good and we like her.  Below is a photo of our class with the teacher.  Only 3 students!  It's nice because we have a lot in common though we represent four countries among us:  the teacher is from Egypt, one woman is from Turkey, another from Uganda, and me.  We all have children who are in the 4-7 age range.   The teacher tries to have us be speaking Arabic as much as possible, but is also very nice about answering questions that come up about Egyptian culture.  We will start another class with our same group of four next week.  I'm going to try to start studying more so I can make more progress.

Here's a sign for you to read in Arabic. 

Here's what it is in a way you'll recognize it:

Cameron loves for us to go to McDonalds once in a while because they have a climbing structure.  With there not being parks or playgrounds here (except when you pay to go somewhere), the playground at McDonalds serves an important role.

The McDonalds in Maadi is always booming... very popular with Egyptians.  American fast-food places are sometimes a little more upscale here.  Pizza hut is a nice night out for families, couples, etc.  There's also Hardees, and KFC.  Delivery is a big thing here so you see many motocycles scooting around from McDonalds, Pizza Hut or Egyptian restaurants.

I feel a little guilty going to McDonalds when we are in a culture so rich in and of itself without being Americanized, but we only go once in a while and spend much of our time seeing Egyptian culture in other ways.  Our favorite restaurant is actually a Chinese/Thai restaurant a few blocks from our house called Wen.  It's run by a very nice Egyptian family (-- the mother is Chinese though; she's the cook).  They have a couple small kids, one Cameron's age, and they are always running around the restaurant when we go.  They always have a TV on at the restaurant and they play cartoons so Cameron likes that.  It's kind of funny to see Tom and Jerry or the Road Runner in Arabic.