A Kid's Life In Egypt

Did you know? Egypt has the longest recorded history.

Did you know? Only 4% of land in Egypt is good for farming, most of which is on the Nile River

Did you know? The pyramids in Egypt are the largest and oldest stone structures in the world.

Did you know? The approximate population of Egypt is 54 million.

Al salaam a'alaykum (hello in Egyptian) my name is Kerula. I am 10 years old and I live in Cairo, Egypt. My country is located in the northeast corner of Africa and a small part called the Sinai Peninsula is located in Asia. Cairo is also the capital of my country and is the largest city in all of Africa. My country is very dry and most of it is covered with desert. Because of that, most of our people live near the Nile River. My country is also very hot. We are known for our scorching hot summers! The average daytime temperature is over 100 degrees.

I go to primary school. Kids go to primary school from ages 6-12. I learn cooking, sewing, and embroidery. Only half of the kids in primary school go to general school (I hope I will be able to go!). In the first two years of primary school we learn reading, writing, and math. In the third year of school we learn science and Quran. Quran is the book of Islam religion. The most common religion in Egypt (even though I don't follow it) is Sunni Muslim (which is part of the Islam religion). The remainder is Coptic Christians.

The main language spoken here is Arabic, and most of the people living in my country consider themselves to be Arabs. There is are also a small number of people called Bedouins. They are nomads (have no permanent home) and wander in the desert. Nowadays most of them have settled and become farmers.

The country's military consists of 71.1% army, 3.7% navy and 25.2% air force (Yikes!). Cha-ching-Cha-ching

Each week I get 100 pounds. There are 100 piasters to a pound and 203.4 pounds to a U.S. Dollar. There are 2.3 pounds to a Canadian dollar.

We have many natural resources. Some natural resources are salt, iron ore, phosphates, limestone, manganese. We also turn petroleum into chemicals, fertilizers, and plastic. Most people find it surprising that we grow oranges in my country. We also grow cotton, rice, and sugar cane.

This afternoon, I had a simple meal made of bread and ful or fool (broad beans). Tonight for our evening meal, each person in my family will dip their bread into a large bowl of hot vegetable stew. Yum! To drink, we have sweetened coffee and tea. Sometimes we even drink the milk of sheep, goats, and buffaloes!

Some popular games are marbles and hide-and-seek. I like to play these with my friends at school. The most popular sport in my country is soccer. To have fun, we also visit the bazaar, market place, to purchase things and to see our friends.

I get around by taking the train. Sometimes when my family goes on vacation we take a boat, plane, or a camel. I like to visit the tombs of the Pharaohs. Sometimes the tombs have names like Nakht, Ramose, Sennifer, and Rekhmire. The Great Pyramids of Giza are another great place to visit. The first pyramid was built in 2650 B.C. The biggest pyramid contains 2 million blocks that weigh 2.5 tons each!!! It covers 13 acres of land and is 450 feet tall.

The Sphinx has a head of a man and the body, arms, legs, feet, and tail Sphinx of a lion. The Sphinx is 240 ft. long and 66 ft. high. The Sphinx lies near the King Khafre Pyramid. It used to be facing open desert but now that lots of buildings are in Egypt, it is just facing buildings.

Well I had better rap things up, bye!!