May 19-22, 2010The four-day trip to Fayoum was definitely not the typical tourist trip - we did very few sightseeing, but it was still one of my favorite trips!
Our major reason for going was to volunteer by painting an orphanage, so we spent our mornings working on that project, 
and after lunch we usually had some freet time and then went on short outings in the evening to different sites in Fayoum.
and after lunch we usually had some freet time and then went on short outings in the evening to different sites in Fayoum. We visited a Coptic Monastery the first day; 
rode small, rickety row boats on a choppy lake the next day; andd saw the 'Four Waterwheels' in downtown Fayoum the next day. We stayed overnight in a Catholic compound that was in a small farming village outside of 'downtown' Fayoum. It had a preschool but I'm not exactly sure what the rest of the gated complex is used for, but the simple rooms and meals were more than sufficient for us.
rode small, rickety row boats on a choppy lake the next day; andd saw the 'Four Waterwheels' in downtown Fayoum the next day. We stayed overnight in a Catholic compound that was in a small farming village outside of 'downtown' Fayoum. It had a preschool but I'm not exactly sure what the rest of the gated complex is used for, but the simple rooms and meals were more than sufficient for us.Fayoum is about two hours by car from Cairo, and there's a large salt-water lake there as well as a few ancient sites, but it is not very touristy at all, and appeared to be almost completely agricultural based.
We were the only foreigners I saw the entire time, and since we were such a large group (of Americans), our bus was escorted by two police cars filled with armed soldiers everywhere we went! We definitely attracted a lot of attention!
We divided up into small groups to complete the painting project, so each group drew a small mural on a large wall surrounding the playground area, and some of us also helped to paint some animals in one of the rooms inside the orphanage. (photos: beginning the project, writing 'peace' in Arabic above our mural). We never actually interacted with the children there, but they spent the entire morning of our first day yelling 'hello, what's your name' from the windows (photo).
I thoroughly enjoyed this project because it's beens such a long time since I
've been able to do 
anything artistic, and a lot of other people in the group got really into it, too, which was fun! (photos: the finished wall, posing in front of the leopard/cheetah I drew).
've been able to do 
anything artistic, and a lot of other people in the group got really into it, too, which was fun! (photos: the finished wall, posing in front of the leopard/cheetah I drew).One of the best parts, though, was our free time. There was a small soccer field next to the Catholic compound, so we played lots of games of capture the flag, which was one of my favorite elementary school games during gym, and a few of us played soccer with some Egyptian AFS volunteers from the Fayoum chapter. 
At night we played Mafia as a big group which always ended up being hilarious and very entertaining. A couple people brought a guitar and eukalele, so we were treated to some beautiful music and singing, as well! 
So we definitely had a lot of good bonding time as a group, and the last night I didn't go to bed til 4am (and we had to get up for volunteering at 8am!), but it was all worth it because this is our last trip together before we leave! (photos: playing 'capture the flag', playing Mafia in one of our rooms)
At night we played Mafia as a big group which always ended up being hilarious and very entertaining. A couple people brought a guitar and eukalele, so we were treated to some beautiful music and singing, as well! 
So we definitely had a lot of good bonding time as a group, and the last night I didn't go to bed til 4am (and we had to get up for volunteering at 8am!), but it was all worth it because this is our last trip together before we leave! (photos: playing 'capture the flag', playing Mafia in one of our rooms)The last day of language classes is June 6th, so after that I will have more time to just explore the amazing city of Cairo and its environs, so I am really really excited! I'll continue volunteering 20 hours a week until I leave, so I will still have some sort of schedule.
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