Tanta.

Ok, I think I'll start by saying Tanta isn't in the desert. It's still pretty dry and dusty but there are trees, small dusty sorta sad looking trees, but trees none the less. Tanta is in the middle of the delta so all of the surounding country side is farms, mostly rice and corn. It really looks quite a bit like northen/central India. Tanta is considered to be a small town, I don't know why, it has three million people, but I guess in comparison to Alex and Cairo it is pretty small. For the most part we walk everywhere or take a cab. Everyone here walks in the street because the side walks are eather in bad shape, blocked by a car or shop, or they just don't like walking on them. Fortunetly my hosts always insist that I walk on their side farthest from the cars. My family is very nice though acording to the other Egyptian families I've met they are boring. The father, Ahmed, is very nice but doesn't really speak english very well. The mother, who so far is my favorite member of the family, speaks slightly better english but still not that great, but she's just so warm, loving, kind, and good natured. The eldest son Muhamed is cool but I don't see him much and he can be a little boring but i think he is the most intresting of the sons once you get talking to him, he's studieing to be a Zooligest, which is cool and untypical Egyptian. Abdulah is the next son he's pretty cool but he's studying Buisness in Cairo so I don't really see him much. Then comes Abdul Rakman, who speaks good english and is pretty cool, but he's stuborn and kind of a party pooper sometimes. He also yells at his little sister alot which i don't like. Abdul Aziz is the youngest son but he's spending the year in the US so I won't meat him He sounds like the most intresting one. From what I've heard and seen he's brilliant, an artistic genious (which his father says "learn a real skill, like engineering" about) and all and all the best at everything he touches. Then there is Rooba (11ish) who is kind of like her mother very friendy and fun loving, they laugh and smile alot more than the boys do, I like watching cartoons with rooba, they have tom and jerry on TV here which is cool. We live in a flat in a building on a corner that they own. there are two stories that are livable but everything happens in the flat on the second level. when you first walk in from the stairs there is a big living/dinning room. the table and chairs on the left and the couch and three lounge chairs on the right facing the wall. agenst the wall is the computer in the corner with a rocking chair to sit in (which is pretty cool). then to the right of that is a large cubord dresser thing with the TV and some books and papers and stuff. to the left of that is a little hall/room off of which are the three bedrooms, the bathroom and the kitchen. if you walk in the front door and turn 90 deg. to your left you're facing the wall with the tv. walk about fifteen feet forward and you're in the little room/hall. clockwise from your left is my room, the room where Abdul Rakman, Muhamed, and Abdulah (when he's home) sleep, then the parents and Roobas room, then the bathroom, then the kitchen is (if you turn 180 around) to the left of the opening you walked in through. Now mom was that in depth enough for you. love you all. take care. email me. (rennerlarson@gmail.com)