tamer.mahmoud's blog

Today is the Amazing Race! This year, Kenyan delegates join US delegates for
a long fun-filled day of Amazing Race in downtown Nairobi. Whoooo!

The teams are: The Elephant! The Clever Chameleon! Yes, We Can!

The CRAZY ride...

July 22, 2010

All of the American delegates have experienced their first Kenyan
transportation (Matatu). Our first ride was on the KBS (Kenya Bus Service),
it was a pretty bumpy ride. Throughout the bus trip Greg and I treated the
ride as a roller coaster. We were waving our hands in the air and shouting
for joy. Through that experience, we earned so much attention! Most of the
delegates were able to take tons of pictures throughout the downtown of
Nairobi. Read more »

Greg's Reflection: I was sitting next to Georginia throughout this
particular dining experience... And let me tell you, boy I was in for a
surprise! Georgina and I were looking through the menu contemplating what to
order. I'm particularly aware of how Americans like to “supersize” their
dishes.. So I was feeling rather confident that these dishes were... quite
small. However, Georgina and I agreed to order the same dish... We were so
tempted by the sound of “Special Kinjera” (some kind of beef and feta on
top of a large tray of flat Injera). Mmmm.. Boy did it sound good. Read more »

>
> Ethiopian Restaurant
>
>
>
> We, GRO delegates/ staff went to an Ethiopian Restaurant with two Deaf
> Kenyans. The Ethiopian restaurant is a restaurant that cooks the customary
> food of Ethiopia. We enjoyed our time there while getting to know each
> other, along with two Deaf Kenyan. Incredibly, I had never seen so much
> food. I expected a small plate (that they provided for an individual). I
> realized later on that the dishes were good for three or four people to eat
> together. The dishes were so huge that we all individuals couldn't finish it
> by ourselves. Read more »

Jan 8th:

Market full of jewel colors Read more »

The past few days we have been in India we have garnered stares from literally everyone on the street. Entire families, grandparents, children, wives & husands have followed us. They stop their day to day activities to come and watch us. They stare and stare and stare. When we take pictures they approach us from behind to see the images we've captured. They stand so close to us- something that would never happen in America where there is such emphasis on personal boundaries and space. Read more »

GRO... the first time I heard about GRO I did not know what it was. Now I look at GRO, now I am here, I see what GRO is. I learned there is a world with deaf people everywhere. They are poor or have no parents. There are deaf people who have no experience.  I learn from GRO then I teach deaf people. They can improve and become equal. Hearing people have experience, not the deaf people. I teach and work with them so they can be equal to hearing people. I want deaf people to grow. They can do it. Hearing people seem good with their lives and deaf people can’t have that? Read more »

I cannot believe its new year, 2010 already! It seems surreal that I'm starting my year in India. Today was pretty interesting day because of several pro and cons. Today, we managed to complete several days schedule for the camp with topics and activities.  But at same time, it was frustrating because I felt that some people was not taking this serious but we solved the problems and hopefully we all work together to improve our time management. Read more »

By Tamer Mahmoud, India 2009 Program Coordinator:

Here I lay, in a 1st class AC tier section of the train with the sun setting across the horizon of India while heading westard toward Mumbai.

The past week since I've touched India on 18 December 2009 (India date format) - I have been constantly on the go:

Searching for hotels, checking them out, understanding the local culture and customs, familiarizing myself with the landmark and just taking in what is perceived as foreign in my mind. Read more »