Letter from Dora Giffen to her family, October 14, 1925

American Mission, Fayoum, Egypt.
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 1925.

Dear ones:
It is the sewing period now, - the last period in the afternoon, - and I am sitting down here at the desk in the office. I have nothing very pressing to do; am just down here should need for my presence arise. Often in the afternoon the girls need disciplining the worst, and I don’t want the teachers to use the ruler at all. I use it more than I like to, but it just has to be done. We have this minute put a little girl, who seems too little to hold a needle, into the kindergarten class with the smallest girls in school; and her heart is broken. We have gotten some kindergarten materials from the U.S., and have a good teacher – one who studied kindergarten under Miss Mason in Alexandria. Also have small chairs and are getting tables this week, so we are quite well equipped. I thought the little girl would be tickled to death to get to do paper cutting and folding, card sewing, and the like; but she must feel it is belittling her dignity, for she isn’t happy.

Now I have just settled with two larger girls for cracking some glass in a window. They had not gone, when Nitocrees comes in and says she cannot crochet, and wants to do the sewing the class below her is doing. I try to shame her by telling her I fear she is lazy. Here come Badoor. She is class monitor for the speaking of Englihs, and she tries to tell me in her broken English that her class (1st year) just won’t speak it. We are trying a new system and hope by the end of this year that the girls will know more English than they do now. It takes close watching and Mufeeda Kamil comes to tell me she hears 2nd and 3rd years speak Arabic all the time. I have no doubt she speaks the truth but I ask her how well her class, the 4th year, speak it.

School is out. Hanim Sadik, a nice Mohammedan girl, who comes from Sennoris and who lives in the school from Mon. until Fri., comes to me to ask about her practice period. She is one of the ones who is taking piano lessons. I notice she speaks with difficulty, so I ask her what the trouble is. I guess it is only swollen glands; 2) I hope it isn’t the mumps. Just this morning Dr. Askren send over the word that one of our girls has diptheria. Her brother died of it last week.

I must run upstairs for some lemonade and ginger-bread, before Laura and I go out to buy some chairs for the school. You see I was not so idle, after all, during this last period.

A line or two before I go to bed. It is after 11:00 o’clock but I do want this to go out in tomorrow morning’s post in order to catch Friday’s boat. I hope to get a letter from you tomorrow. No letter has come since I last wrote. This is Helene’s wedding-day, I suppose. Just happened to think of it. I have not heard from her for an age. I think she has heard from me since I have from her.

When I went upstairs to get my lemonade this afternoon, no Mohammed was to be found, so I had our own lemonade to get and was as mad as hops. I knew he would pretend that he did not understand his orders. We went to look at chairs, decided to order ours from Alex., and returned home. Still no Mohammed. When he did show up, you better believe me I made him shake his leg (as the English say).

We were having Mr. and Mrs. Shaub over for supper and he Moh. Had failed to get my final directions about the supper. But we had supper almost on time. And then when I was taking the accounts after supper he tired to cheat me out of five piasters. I have, just a little while ago, finished adding up our accounts of so far this month, and find that Moh. Has probably cheated me out of another five piasters. Then yesterday Laura found him putting our sugar in his food, when he had declared he never did such a thing. He and we really ought to part company.

The Shaubs stayed quite a while after supper this evening and we talked, and sang, and played the piano, altho I am afraid I did most of the latter, since neither one of the Shaubs pretend to know much about music. They are quite nice.

Last Friday was the King of Egypt’s Ascension Day, a national holiday, so our school had it, too. Helen Noordewier and Mrs. Seiver, who is staying with Helen this month, came over on Friday morning to stay until Mon. morning, and we enjoyed their visit. Mrs. Seiver is from Aunt Dora’s church, and she certainly spoke highly of Aunt Dora and her family. Said it was she how was mostly responsible for her coming to the field. Laura and I liked Rachel Siever. We played tennis and did this and that while our guests were here. Rachel Siever’s sister married a cousin of Dr. Askren, so we had Dr. A. over to take supper with us on Sat. night, after which he took us on a nice long ride. We went thru Sennoris, - the first time I had seen the place. Dr. Askren surely is a boob, if you know that that means, - has no sense at all. We often wish he were somewhere else but here. Now lots and lots of love and a goodnight hug from your own Dora.