Alexandria: 2 - Schutz

Schutz American School
The two high school years I spent in Alexandria where some of the best of my life. That is when I fell in love with the city of Alexandria, and with Egypt and its people...and that is one of the reasons I wanted to bring Jake here after he graduated from High School. So...we made a pilgrimage to Schutz American School...with more than a litttle trepidation on my part and a quite a bit of anticipation.

As we drove the narrow, dusty street that lead to the front gate of the school, a wave of familiarity washed over me. My mind struggled to remember details from those days long ago, when Jimmy - our driver - would drop us off and pick us up from school...driving up and down the same street that I was now checking out from the back of the taxi, with Jake at my side.

At the gate, the guard that sat outside was still there, like in the old days...and the gate itself was a lot like I remembered as well. We arrived late and the school was about to close...and there was no one there but a gatekeeper. We explained to him that I had attended that school and he let us wander in and take a look at the buildings. I walked up the driveway and was surprised to see how little things had changed. The basketball court on the left was till there...as was the cafeteria with the boarding rooms above it. At he top of the driveway there were a couple of round cement tables with benches around them...and I remembered sitting there long ago discussing politics and Camus with my friend, Milan Palian. The building that housed the classrooms where we studied Middle Eastern history and philosophy was also mostly unchanged. The pool was also virtually the same. However, the place that I had hoped would not have changed at all was the one that had changed the most...and that was the tennis court. There I played long games of tennis with Milan under the Egyptian sun...on a court that was surfaced in tiles...and was the fastest surface I have ever experienced. Today, they've turned it into a multi-sport facility...and it has a roof to shield the athletes from the sun.

The visit to Schutz was a highlight for me. I enjoyed sharing he experience with Jake and walking him through some of the places I had spent so much time in at his age.