My mother made a call and arranged it before I even arrived in Cairo. She was even embarrassed to make the call, to tell her former classmate Sherry that her own daughter, a Columbia University graduate, wanted to teach English for less money than she pays the maid in New York. My monthly salary is roughly what a dog-walker in Manhattan makes in a week, but here it is enough for several months’ rent. More money than he’ll ever have in one go, but what can I do? Who is to blame?
