T
Woke up at 4h. Was only out of bed by 4h40. After blogging and morning slowliness, started going over stuff for today's test. By this time it was 6h20 I think... It takes me two hours to become productive. And even then, between 6h30 and 8h I probably only studied half the time. Made myself two coffees, thank you Michael, for bringing the Caffeine directly into my dwelling. Ah, and thank you as well for the high quality coffee you offered me on Sunday night.
I befriended a Norwegian at ILI today. I told him about Cairoscholars because him and some friends of his were looking for apartments through ILI which are total rip-offs. Showed him how to take the minibuses as well. 29 year old, seemed nice, will get to know him more during breaks tomorrow.
Also, after school suggested to the falafel man nearby school that he set up a delivery service with school...
Napped at home a while which didn't feel as refreshing as it should have. Must have awakened in the middle of a rem cycle or something.
Hung out with Chris for 2 hours at Bostan's behind cafe riche. good time, as usual, chatted, caught up. Him, Jordan, Scott, Ahmed, and Ashref went to Sinai this past weekend for two nights. They had a lot of fun it seems, from stories and fb pics. Gossip: Jordan and Ahmed made out, Jordan was super drunk, possibly went further.
Ate a lentil soup. So good.
I read a REALLY good article about Egypt + Facebook + Politics = something closer to free speech than what currently exists. I bought the Dustur –a weekend newspaper– because it was mentioned in the article as an opposition newspaper. Plan on reading through it tonight before sleep.
My relationship status on fb was approved today. I had a fun time clicking on our names back and forth between profiles. Quick link.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Cairo Day 144 Monday
Monday
According to numerous winter break European sources, I have lost weight. If you ask me, I've gained weight; my gut has matured quite nicely. If you ask the scale, I possibly did loose about 2 kilos. I don't know how people can tell this when the opposite is what meets the(my) eye.
Hence, the numerous-winter-break-sources' concern has been an excuse to get back to doing push-ups. This activity has been going on for about 5 days and seems to be coming along nicely, from what the bathroom 'mirror mirror on the wall' tells me.
Went to give an English lesson to my Muslim kids but they didn't show up... and I didn't have my cell phone on me, it died today because last night I decided to let it sleep next to me, but shouldn't have as this kicked me in the butt today. I waited at the culture wheel for and hour and a half which was spent studying for tomorrow's test.
Hung out at aamr's ahua for a good hour and a half at least. I swear, that guy can teach more Arabic than anyone. Plus, I get homework done too. And he's interesting, for an ahua guy. He studied two years in a agricultural college but then when the gov. placed him on a team to fix bridges, he quit and came to work at his dad's ahuah. This story is the epitome of Egypt, shit education followed by a shit job followed by a semi-shit job which encourages others' laziness.
But he's cool though, he knows how to deal with people. We exchanged numbers two weeks ago and he still has not called me! amazing for an Egyptian. And he doesn't bother me when I'm studying/don't want to be bothered. His brother, the other guy who works there isn't nearly as cool, mostly angry it seems, and I tend to avoid it when Aamr's not working.
According to numerous winter break European sources, I have lost weight. If you ask me, I've gained weight; my gut has matured quite nicely. If you ask the scale, I possibly did loose about 2 kilos. I don't know how people can tell this when the opposite is what meets the(my) eye.
Hence, the numerous-winter-break-sources' concern has been an excuse to get back to doing push-ups. This activity has been going on for about 5 days and seems to be coming along nicely, from what the bathroom 'mirror mirror on the wall' tells me.
Went to give an English lesson to my Muslim kids but they didn't show up... and I didn't have my cell phone on me, it died today because last night I decided to let it sleep next to me, but shouldn't have as this kicked me in the butt today. I waited at the culture wheel for and hour and a half which was spent studying for tomorrow's test.
Hung out at aamr's ahua for a good hour and a half at least. I swear, that guy can teach more Arabic than anyone. Plus, I get homework done too. And he's interesting, for an ahua guy. He studied two years in a agricultural college but then when the gov. placed him on a team to fix bridges, he quit and came to work at his dad's ahuah. This story is the epitome of Egypt, shit education followed by a shit job followed by a semi-shit job which encourages others' laziness.
But he's cool though, he knows how to deal with people. We exchanged numbers two weeks ago and he still has not called me! amazing for an Egyptian. And he doesn't bother me when I'm studying/don't want to be bothered. His brother, the other guy who works there isn't nearly as cool, mostly angry it seems, and I tend to avoid it when Aamr's not working.
Cairo Day 143 lemony penguins
Sun
Did homework all dandy day.
Alternated between that, blowing my nose, laundry, cleaning up a bit, and I should add, more blowing my nose (dislodging the sandpaper that is still stuck in there) and, sick, officially, the cough has kicked in.
To those powers at be who predicted this, congratulations, my awe for you has yet gone up another level.
Ah, and made myself two, or was it three, hot coco drinks. yummy.
Might I add, to make these blog posts more even,
Roger! :
Earlier this week, I noticed a small bar of soap was missing from the bathroom sink. Forgetting to ask andreas about this, I just started using the bar from the shower.
Thursday night, I forget to put the bar or soap back in the shower ( I hate starting the shower, being wet, and having to step out to get the bar from the sink).
When I come home, the bar of soap (green) is on the countertop, totally mutilated, with scratch and bite marks everywhere on it. along with a few hairs too. Roger! that prick, tried to take it away with him too! fortunately, it was a little too heavy I think...
grrr...
the next day I went out to the staircase to see how he could, if possible, come in from the bathroom window. Sure, enough, there's a nice, nifty ledge right outside of the window. Furthermore, I saw a piece of toilet paper which had gone missing two weeks earlier. (I'd rather not explain how I notice when toilet paper goes missing...)
Fucking roger, the clean rat,
but, respect.
I hope his farts aren't too bubbly or green or lemony.
Did homework all dandy day.
Alternated between that, blowing my nose, laundry, cleaning up a bit, and I should add, more blowing my nose (dislodging the sandpaper that is still stuck in there) and, sick, officially, the cough has kicked in.
To those powers at be who predicted this, congratulations, my awe for you has yet gone up another level.
Ah, and made myself two, or was it three, hot coco drinks. yummy.
Might I add, to make these blog posts more even,
Roger! :
Earlier this week, I noticed a small bar of soap was missing from the bathroom sink. Forgetting to ask andreas about this, I just started using the bar from the shower.
Thursday night, I forget to put the bar or soap back in the shower ( I hate starting the shower, being wet, and having to step out to get the bar from the sink).
When I come home, the bar of soap (green) is on the countertop, totally mutilated, with scratch and bite marks everywhere on it. along with a few hairs too. Roger! that prick, tried to take it away with him too! fortunately, it was a little too heavy I think...
grrr...
the next day I went out to the staircase to see how he could, if possible, come in from the bathroom window. Sure, enough, there's a nice, nifty ledge right outside of the window. Furthermore, I saw a piece of toilet paper which had gone missing two weeks earlier. (I'd rather not explain how I notice when toilet paper goes missing...)
Fucking roger, the clean rat,
but, respect.
I hope his farts aren't too bubbly or green or lemony.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Cairo Day 142
Sat
Woke up before 10. But then slept again from like 13h to 15h. Mind you, there is a horrible dust storm going on right now. It is just about impossible to go outside without having the feeling of dust/dirt/sandpaperbeingrubbedinyourthroat pasting the insides of every upper-body cavity. I didn't sleep well last night as a result of this...
Met with Michael at 18h. By this time the storm had cleared up. horray.
after our convo, I bought some coffee and he showed me how to make it, in my apartment. Nice guy.
Around 22h30 I met up with Nadah and went out for a Stella at hurayah. Nice time. Talked til 1h or so. She told me to come to see her sing at after 8, she sings there every friday night around 23h. Listened to music in her car on the way back home. good times.
Practically finished my cover letter for that internship in Arg. just hoping Jiongyi gets back to me soon with his final, master correction (the fourth person to do so ;)
ooooo I get byyy with a little HELP from my friends...
Woke up before 10. But then slept again from like 13h to 15h. Mind you, there is a horrible dust storm going on right now. It is just about impossible to go outside without having the feeling of dust/dirt/sandpaperbeingrubbedinyourthroat pasting the insides of every upper-body cavity. I didn't sleep well last night as a result of this...
Met with Michael at 18h. By this time the storm had cleared up. horray.
after our convo, I bought some coffee and he showed me how to make it, in my apartment. Nice guy.
Around 22h30 I met up with Nadah and went out for a Stella at hurayah. Nice time. Talked til 1h or so. She told me to come to see her sing at after 8, she sings there every friday night around 23h. Listened to music in her car on the way back home. good times.
Practically finished my cover letter for that internship in Arg. just hoping Jiongyi gets back to me soon with his final, master correction (the fourth person to do so ;)
ooooo I get byyy with a little HELP from my friends...
Cairo Day 141
F
I think I slept until 13h. Correction I did sleep, until 13h30, or fell in and out of sleep. My day was doomed from the beginning.
Did, I don't know what, oh, some hw. At 18h was at the culture wheel to administer my little dose of English to my Egyptians. Had them try to read an article from The New Yorker which was a little too hard, I think. Still fun though.
On the way home, in the minibus, I explained the differences between American and Egyptian culture. I explained to them how awkward it felt for westerners for them to pay for us every time we do something. The ramifications being, we don't feel comfortable hanging out among other misunderstandings. While it is also up to us westerners to be aware of this and understand it, it is also up to them to see it from our point of view. We, as westerners, are not used to, nor do we enjoy having to argue to pay for the bill.
They, I feel, were nicely enlightened by this and I think they will apply it to their future encounters with the western world...
Boring, went home, studied, slept. too much. god this blog is boring.
I think I slept until 13h. Correction I did sleep, until 13h30, or fell in and out of sleep. My day was doomed from the beginning.
Did, I don't know what, oh, some hw. At 18h was at the culture wheel to administer my little dose of English to my Egyptians. Had them try to read an article from The New Yorker which was a little too hard, I think. Still fun though.
On the way home, in the minibus, I explained the differences between American and Egyptian culture. I explained to them how awkward it felt for westerners for them to pay for us every time we do something. The ramifications being, we don't feel comfortable hanging out among other misunderstandings. While it is also up to us westerners to be aware of this and understand it, it is also up to them to see it from our point of view. We, as westerners, are not used to, nor do we enjoy having to argue to pay for the bill.
They, I feel, were nicely enlightened by this and I think they will apply it to their future encounters with the western world...
Boring, went home, studied, slept. too much. god this blog is boring.
Cairo Day 140
R
After school, I don't remember what I did. Oh right, I slept because I was exhausted.
Again, met with Michael at 6pm, and went over to a gathering of some friends of his at 8pm. This gathering was located in a russian collective apartment, for people itinerating through Cairo. It was run by a guy named Anton who has gone all over the world (save NA and SA) by hitchhiking. He was pretty cool. That same night he announced a trip to go down to Fayoum and hike back up through the dessert until they hit this road which would bring them back into Cairo. The thing was "bring blankets for the night and maybe water because the dessert is hot during the day" or course, all of this was said in the most typical russian accent you can imagine with the most horrendous grammar errors. This who little gathering was pretty awesome. They served up Russian soup, delicious. And the company was fun. Most of the people there had met from couchsurfers or another international website. Nice people, lots of Russians.
Went home in a taxi with a lady from the party who happened to live in the same freaking apartment as I. small world, big coincidence, nice lady.
After school, I don't remember what I did. Oh right, I slept because I was exhausted.
Again, met with Michael at 6pm, and went over to a gathering of some friends of his at 8pm. This gathering was located in a russian collective apartment, for people itinerating through Cairo. It was run by a guy named Anton who has gone all over the world (save NA and SA) by hitchhiking. He was pretty cool. That same night he announced a trip to go down to Fayoum and hike back up through the dessert until they hit this road which would bring them back into Cairo. The thing was "bring blankets for the night and maybe water because the dessert is hot during the day" or course, all of this was said in the most typical russian accent you can imagine with the most horrendous grammar errors. This who little gathering was pretty awesome. They served up Russian soup, delicious. And the company was fun. Most of the people there had met from couchsurfers or another international website. Nice people, lots of Russians.
Went home in a taxi with a lady from the party who happened to live in the same freaking apartment as I. small world, big coincidence, nice lady.
Cairo Day 139
W
Because Ivan had not finished his paper (out of solidarity, not to make him look bad being the only one who had not turned it in) and because mine could use a good beating by someone who knows arabic, I did not hand my paper in. No biggie.
Met with Atef, had him look over the paper.
We had an interesting talk about trust between our two cultures. He and I both feel (correctly) that I have a problem trusting him. This is true, I have an inherent problem feel 100% comfortable with him, or most typical Egyptians. I acknowledge this have tried to feel more comfortable to no avail. I attribute this to the fact that I had very little contact with Arabs growing up.
Then, did homework for like 2hours, met with Michael and did more convo partner time. (more, I only spoke Spanish with Atef...)
Went to bed late
Because Ivan had not finished his paper (out of solidarity, not to make him look bad being the only one who had not turned it in) and because mine could use a good beating by someone who knows arabic, I did not hand my paper in. No biggie.
Met with Atef, had him look over the paper.
We had an interesting talk about trust between our two cultures. He and I both feel (correctly) that I have a problem trusting him. This is true, I have an inherent problem feel 100% comfortable with him, or most typical Egyptians. I acknowledge this have tried to feel more comfortable to no avail. I attribute this to the fact that I had very little contact with Arabs growing up.
Then, did homework for like 2hours, met with Michael and did more convo partner time. (more, I only spoke Spanish with Atef...)
Went to bed late
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Cairo Day 138 New President Day/khaled day
T
Slept, could NOT get out of bed for the life of me. until about 9h. Oh, justified not going to Amiya because I have not paid for it yet and hadn't received confirmation of funds from my dad yet. Did hw at my other ahuah, my new main hang out place where all the guys think i'm really named musri and from Fayoom. last night as michael and I were walking to the place we chilled at, some random man, I guess from the ahuah called out "Mursi!" and smilled. feels good to be hollad at in the streets, not harassed though.
oh, and I was almost going to forget this: Khaled is the shit.
I repeat: Khaled is the shit.
In 2 hours worth of class today, I learned more grammar than in the past 3 months. No joke. He is amazing. just, to briefly explain, grammatical terms mean nothing to me in English or in Arabic. But in Arabic, whatever grammatical term you're talking about is derived from a word which has to do with its function, and the derivation usually is exactly what words look like when they have that function. i.e. this word, describing nouns when they come at the beginning of a sentence (btw "this book" is a sentence in arabic) is derived from the root "to begin" but I had never made this connection by myself. And the past three grammar teachers never had the wits to point this out. I fee like it's been 40 days of storm and finally Khaled said "khalaas, let there be light"
Did hw, well, for two hours, read about all the Orientalists on a list I can choose from. This was a significant waste of time given that I now only have tonight to write about 2-4 pages on one of them. Ended up choosing Sr. Edward Francis Burton. He's badass. He's also mentioned in http://artofmanliness.com/2009/01/13/sir-richard-francis-burton/ a blog to which I am now subscribed, in an amusing and trivial attempt to "become more manly". by the way, I'm already manly enough (next week's article is going to be about me, they already contacted me for an interview via skype), I'm just reading this blog to cultivate myself on cool dudes from the past. As rule number one goes, Burton was well rounded, and in his free time practiced hypnotism... my hero...
oh, and I predict, the future: I'll be up till about 3h writing the damned paper I've been procrastinating for two weeks now.
Slept, could NOT get out of bed for the life of me. until about 9h. Oh, justified not going to Amiya because I have not paid for it yet and hadn't received confirmation of funds from my dad yet. Did hw at my other ahuah, my new main hang out place where all the guys think i'm really named musri and from Fayoom. last night as michael and I were walking to the place we chilled at, some random man, I guess from the ahuah called out "Mursi!" and smilled. feels good to be hollad at in the streets, not harassed though.
oh, and I was almost going to forget this: Khaled is the shit.
I repeat: Khaled is the shit.
In 2 hours worth of class today, I learned more grammar than in the past 3 months. No joke. He is amazing. just, to briefly explain, grammatical terms mean nothing to me in English or in Arabic. But in Arabic, whatever grammatical term you're talking about is derived from a word which has to do with its function, and the derivation usually is exactly what words look like when they have that function. i.e. this word, describing nouns when they come at the beginning of a sentence (btw "this book" is a sentence in arabic) is derived from the root "to begin" but I had never made this connection by myself. And the past three grammar teachers never had the wits to point this out. I fee like it's been 40 days of storm and finally Khaled said "khalaas, let there be light"
Did hw, well, for two hours, read about all the Orientalists on a list I can choose from. This was a significant waste of time given that I now only have tonight to write about 2-4 pages on one of them. Ended up choosing Sr. Edward Francis Burton. He's badass. He's also mentioned in http://artofmanliness.com/2009/01/13/sir-richard-francis-burton/ a blog to which I am now subscribed, in an amusing and trivial attempt to "become more manly". by the way, I'm already manly enough (next week's article is going to be about me, they already contacted me for an interview via skype), I'm just reading this blog to cultivate myself on cool dudes from the past. As rule number one goes, Burton was well rounded, and in his free time practiced hypnotism... my hero...
oh, and I predict, the future: I'll be up till about 3h writing the damned paper I've been procrastinating for two weeks now.
Cairo day 137 24
Monday
Woke up at 5h to finish my paper. Class, productive. Ate 5 sandwiches total today. I think i eat to compensate lacking sleep. Minibused it on home. did 2 hours of hw which was not enough. left to go to kobbri al kaba and from there took a taxi with chris,jordan, scott to city stars mall.
City stars: huge mall. AMERICA, fuck yea! even smelled like an american mall. we had mexican food. oh, by the way, this was on the occasion of Chris' 24th birthday. He's OLD!
Scooted on back to Dokki to meet with with my affable french/arabic convo partner, michael. I was super tired and we chose an ahuah place which made things less efficient than Cillantro's the first time we met. Still nice though. Slept, could NOT get out of bed for the life of me. until about 9h. Oh, justified not going to Amiya because I have not paid for it yet and hadn't received confirmation of funds from my dad yet.
Woke up at 5h to finish my paper. Class, productive. Ate 5 sandwiches total today. I think i eat to compensate lacking sleep. Minibused it on home. did 2 hours of hw which was not enough. left to go to kobbri al kaba and from there took a taxi with chris,jordan, scott to city stars mall.
City stars: huge mall. AMERICA, fuck yea! even smelled like an american mall. we had mexican food. oh, by the way, this was on the occasion of Chris' 24th birthday. He's OLD!
Scooted on back to Dokki to meet with with my affable french/arabic convo partner, michael. I was super tired and we chose an ahuah place which made things less efficient than Cillantro's the first time we met. Still nice though. Slept, could NOT get out of bed for the life of me. until about 9h. Oh, justified not going to Amiya because I have not paid for it yet and hadn't received confirmation of funds from my dad yet.
Cairo day 136 I think I smell a Rat
Sunday
If only I were a Cat.
(with green eyes)
Woke up at 9. Wrote a week's worth of blog entries. Mad at myself for not being better about it.
By the way, we had a rat (Roger, Andrea's personal touch to him) in our apartment on Friday. Andreas called me, sort of hysterically as he had been startled by it upon entering and seeing it scurry into the kitchen. Using a carpet and and armed with brooms, we set up a barrier which would have led it outside. Unfortunately it was no where to be found anymore.
This was concluded by me suggesting that we clean up the apartment. I said this while we were in the living room and at that very same moment I notice a piece of Andrea's peanuts on the floor by the tv close to the rat's spotting. I think this perfect combination hit home... no food=no rat. well, I guess it was concluded by us cleaning the apartment, especially the kitchen. This reminded me of the coffee stain Karoline let fester under the garbage for god knows how long while I was gone. That girl is sorta clueless. I feel sorta bad for Hannah but I think they will get along.
If only I were a Cat.
(with green eyes)
Woke up at 9. Wrote a week's worth of blog entries. Mad at myself for not being better about it.
By the way, we had a rat (Roger, Andrea's personal touch to him) in our apartment on Friday. Andreas called me, sort of hysterically as he had been startled by it upon entering and seeing it scurry into the kitchen. Using a carpet and and armed with brooms, we set up a barrier which would have led it outside. Unfortunately it was no where to be found anymore.
This was concluded by me suggesting that we clean up the apartment. I said this while we were in the living room and at that very same moment I notice a piece of Andrea's peanuts on the floor by the tv close to the rat's spotting. I think this perfect combination hit home... no food=no rat. well, I guess it was concluded by us cleaning the apartment, especially the kitchen. This reminded me of the coffee stain Karoline let fester under the garbage for god knows how long while I was gone. That girl is sorta clueless. I feel sorta bad for Hannah but I think they will get along.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Cairo Day 135 Michael
Wandered around my neighborhood. Got foul from a car stand, something I enjoy doing once or twice a week. Didn't hear from Atef as I was supposed to so I responded to an email about a french-Arabic language exchange. With this guy named Michael (christian, no shit) who is learning French. The exchange went really well. I was a bitch about not speaking English and he got the point. he's pretty good at french, but once the basic introductory conversations were over, he did have more trouble than in the beg. did 30 min of only fr, 30 min of only arabic, 30 min of me speaking fr and him speaking only Arabic and the 30 min viceversa. Super effective. My voice was exhausted from speaking so much. Much more effective than with Atef, although I'm definitely going to keep the two, assuming Atef calls me back.
Apparently, had a meeting with Risala kids to speak English. Had no idea. There's a huge communication problem between Osama and I, which mostly stems from his English. This is the second time I've "stood them up". I've already requested to deal with Shayma, the girl Angela used to organize with because he english is better and she's the brains of their little operation. Only wondering if her being uber religious and not be able to shake hands with me is going to cause a little problem with me having her phone number...
Apparently, had a meeting with Risala kids to speak English. Had no idea. There's a huge communication problem between Osama and I, which mostly stems from his English. This is the second time I've "stood them up". I've already requested to deal with Shayma, the girl Angela used to organize with because he english is better and she's the brains of their little operation. Only wondering if her being uber religious and not be able to shake hands with me is going to cause a little problem with me having her phone number...
Cairo Day 134 trippin on shroons
Atef called me to re-invite me to his place. Super nice of him but I had a lot of hw and plans with Chris. He even had me talk to his mom! weird, but super cool, a nice opening up in our relationship!
Did homework all morning/afernoon. Then Chris came over and we watched two more episodes of Entourage. Then got Hawaoushy and Koshary (i still have some of the hot sauce left on my keyboard from a little explosive spillage) and finished the rest of the season. It actually was pretty good. Better than the middle with that weird episode where they start tripping on mushrooms in the desert.
Then went out, chilled until 22h15 I think. Went home, did more hw, a lot actually. Talked to La L after about her closure night out with man u.
Did homework all morning/afernoon. Then Chris came over and we watched two more episodes of Entourage. Then got Hawaoushy and Koshary (i still have some of the hot sauce left on my keyboard from a little explosive spillage) and finished the rest of the season. It actually was pretty good. Better than the middle with that weird episode where they start tripping on mushrooms in the desert.
Then went out, chilled until 22h15 I think. Went home, did more hw, a lot actually. Talked to La L after about her closure night out with man u.
Cairo day 133 so, what do you know!?
R
so, what do you know!
Ana, a girl from LP swim team and Anajah, a girl from LP Singers Choir are here on one of those rush-to-see-everything school trips. So we meet up, hang out at their hotel for a while, meet some of their friends and whatnot. Then start walking around town, got the some koshary and icecream. They were amazed at how cheap things could be if you were with a 'local'...
After quite some hesitation(only on Anajah's part), they finally that coming with me to Atef's in bumblefuck country side 30 minutes away by taxi would be better than going to a club with americans. hmm...
He made us tea and hawaoushy. Hung out on his rooftop. Had a very nice time. Anajah sang his and his friends the national anthem and, somewhere over the rainbow. Her voice is still just as freaking awesome! Mostly spoke Spanish actually, as our lingua franca (ana's mexican). This always marks as very strange to be using Spanish as an intermediary language.
Told Anajah (african american) about how blacks from Sudan are discriminated against because they take all the low class jobs. Asked her if she had noticed any of this. The answer was no but that she could imagine it and also that she didn't look african and that she's surrounded by a bunch of white people all the time.
so, what do you know!
Ana, a girl from LP swim team and Anajah, a girl from LP Singers Choir are here on one of those rush-to-see-everything school trips. So we meet up, hang out at their hotel for a while, meet some of their friends and whatnot. Then start walking around town, got the some koshary and icecream. They were amazed at how cheap things could be if you were with a 'local'...
After quite some hesitation(only on Anajah's part), they finally that coming with me to Atef's in bumblefuck country side 30 minutes away by taxi would be better than going to a club with americans. hmm...
He made us tea and hawaoushy. Hung out on his rooftop. Had a very nice time. Anajah sang his and his friends the national anthem and, somewhere over the rainbow. Her voice is still just as freaking awesome! Mostly spoke Spanish actually, as our lingua franca (ana's mexican). This always marks as very strange to be using Spanish as an intermediary language.
Told Anajah (african american) about how blacks from Sudan are discriminated against because they take all the low class jobs. Asked her if she had noticed any of this. The answer was no but that she could imagine it and also that she didn't look african and that she's surrounded by a bunch of white people all the time.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Cairo day 130 Welcome to Egypt
Monday,
Conversed with A for about two hours. After this we got some food by midan talat harb. There we saw a demonstration against the conflict in Gaza. Got pretty intense for only having about 70 people and being completely surrounded and subdued by police forces. A told me this was a planned demonstration, in coordination with the medias and the police, for the medias, to have some footage for international television, certainly not Egyptian television. The party who organized this protest is called "the tomorrow" and is quite opposed to the current rule. If the police had not been there, according to A, it could have grown into a MUCH larger protest against gaza, the gov, corruption, you name it e.g. revolution.
Then, a little bit later, A and I continued talking about revolution and corruption in this country and the need for change (obama=hero someone?) Basically, way more people would take part in such things but there are too many who are afraid. And rightly so... A was an student organizer for a political party back in A's azhar days. Way too many people that might have been a little too voiced in the ideas have not been seen again. A recounts parents coming into the city from the country side crying because they had not heard from their daughter or son in months... oooo how lovely a tourist site the prisons would be...
Conversed with A for about two hours. After this we got some food by midan talat harb. There we saw a demonstration against the conflict in Gaza. Got pretty intense for only having about 70 people and being completely surrounded and subdued by police forces. A told me this was a planned demonstration, in coordination with the medias and the police, for the medias, to have some footage for international television, certainly not Egyptian television. The party who organized this protest is called "the tomorrow" and is quite opposed to the current rule. If the police had not been there, according to A, it could have grown into a MUCH larger protest against gaza, the gov, corruption, you name it e.g. revolution.
Then, a little bit later, A and I continued talking about revolution and corruption in this country and the need for change (obama=hero someone?) Basically, way more people would take part in such things but there are too many who are afraid. And rightly so... A was an student organizer for a political party back in A's azhar days. Way too many people that might have been a little too voiced in the ideas have not been seen again. A recounts parents coming into the city from the country side crying because they had not heard from their daughter or son in months... oooo how lovely a tourist site the prisons would be...
Friday, January 9, 2009
Cairo day 129
Friday
Woke up at 10h on Jordan (and now Scott's) couch with a sleeping bag keeping me warm. I have NO recollection of going to sleep, which is kinda awesome. Hung out for a bit, watched an episode of southpark in which Cartman has a crazy twelve year old babysitter (turd), crazy cat in heat, and all this, well because, his mom's in heat as well. I was quite hungry, so set out on a hunt to find an open restaurant on Friday in Cairo. This wasn't easy until about 13h. Had the best taemia/cauliflower/potato sandwiches ever. and I mean ever. It had a been a long while since I had gotten lost in Cairo, wandering, exploring. and I must say, this was really fun, even being hungover. I wander through this really typical neighborhood, before, after and as people were coming out of their mosques. around 13h15 the streets literally flooded to life. Again, this was quite cool.
Read the news paper, wasted time and slowly made my way over to my rendezvous with Atef. For once I was not late. We've been getting really productive lately. Maybe that, or maybe it's just my Arabic getting better which is giving me that impression. Learned a few good expressions too. Then we got some food. My new favorite: lentil soup with butter. delicious. Then we got some delicious desserts, with cream on top. I taught Atef how to recognize a nice butt when he sees one. This was the best part, locking arms with an Egyptian while checking out the few uncovered butts, two totally contrasting, opposite things is somehow hilarious to me.
Might be watching Entourage with Chris tonight, when he gets back from bowling in Giza with some super wealthy Egyptian friends of his.
And that's a wrap for today!
dice? no dice. awww... c'mooon... Dice!
Woke up at 10h on Jordan (and now Scott's) couch with a sleeping bag keeping me warm. I have NO recollection of going to sleep, which is kinda awesome. Hung out for a bit, watched an episode of southpark in which Cartman has a crazy twelve year old babysitter (turd), crazy cat in heat, and all this, well because, his mom's in heat as well. I was quite hungry, so set out on a hunt to find an open restaurant on Friday in Cairo. This wasn't easy until about 13h. Had the best taemia/cauliflower/potato sandwiches ever. and I mean ever. It had a been a long while since I had gotten lost in Cairo, wandering, exploring. and I must say, this was really fun, even being hungover. I wander through this really typical neighborhood, before, after and as people were coming out of their mosques. around 13h15 the streets literally flooded to life. Again, this was quite cool.
Read the news paper, wasted time and slowly made my way over to my rendezvous with Atef. For once I was not late. We've been getting really productive lately. Maybe that, or maybe it's just my Arabic getting better which is giving me that impression. Learned a few good expressions too. Then we got some food. My new favorite: lentil soup with butter. delicious. Then we got some delicious desserts, with cream on top. I taught Atef how to recognize a nice butt when he sees one. This was the best part, locking arms with an Egyptian while checking out the few uncovered butts, two totally contrasting, opposite things is somehow hilarious to me.
Might be watching Entourage with Chris tonight, when he gets back from bowling in Giza with some super wealthy Egyptian friends of his.
And that's a wrap for today!
dice? no dice. awww... c'mooon... Dice!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Cairo day 128
Thursday regular good'ld day. I mean AWESOME day.
I woke up 7h45. was out of the bait by 8h08. Ate a banana on the way down. Sat at a coffee shop and talked to Amer for about 15 minutes. He invited me to a wedding tomorrow but I don't think he was serious. It's a shame because one of the topics that was assigned today in colloquial class was "different types of islamic weddings" oh, and wait... the best way to start a day: here it comes: be hearing a word that was randomly taught to you the night before by a different native speaker. In this case, the word was "mood" used by Atef, and then used again my Amer. It felt so good to be able to understand a random word like that.
Class was good. Felt like I did quite well in both of them today.
Learned that Khaled is tight with a friend of the author of three of my Arabic textbooks. This Author is freaking genius as far as arabic textbooks go.
After class I ate two chip sandwiches and one tomato/cheese sandwich at the local sandwich joint by my school. Then, on the way to the bus stop, I talked to one of its workers who was getting off work about his HORRIBLE IMAM who had just started saying the call to prayer in the mosque across the street. his voice, and the worker agreed with me 100%, is SHIT. he pronounces "allahu akbar" as allahu aenkanbar" and, really it sounds like he's in pain. I wonder if people even pray there. This was a good bonding moment between me and the man who makes my falafel sandwiches everyday.
OH! and THEN!!! the SAME godsend thing happened on the way home!
An expression I had JUST learned like one hour before in class was used by this guy I started talking to on the bus!!!
I've started thinking about what I'll be doing between Feb. 1st and 8th. Falafel is one of them.
came home, watched the rest of "paradise now". hwed a bit, talked to N briefly (hoot hoot for those who read this!), she's doing well in NYC it seems, and at 21h30 I'm going over to Jordan's to sit in on a power hour.
and a special shout out to my man B for forcing N to reactivate her fb! This link goes out to him! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4UVJM6m5po
I woke up 7h45. was out of the bait by 8h08. Ate a banana on the way down. Sat at a coffee shop and talked to Amer for about 15 minutes. He invited me to a wedding tomorrow but I don't think he was serious. It's a shame because one of the topics that was assigned today in colloquial class was "different types of islamic weddings" oh, and wait... the best way to start a day: here it comes: be hearing a word that was randomly taught to you the night before by a different native speaker. In this case, the word was "mood" used by Atef, and then used again my Amer. It felt so good to be able to understand a random word like that.
Class was good. Felt like I did quite well in both of them today.
Learned that Khaled is tight with a friend of the author of three of my Arabic textbooks. This Author is freaking genius as far as arabic textbooks go.
After class I ate two chip sandwiches and one tomato/cheese sandwich at the local sandwich joint by my school. Then, on the way to the bus stop, I talked to one of its workers who was getting off work about his HORRIBLE IMAM who had just started saying the call to prayer in the mosque across the street. his voice, and the worker agreed with me 100%, is SHIT. he pronounces "allahu akbar" as allahu aenkanbar" and, really it sounds like he's in pain. I wonder if people even pray there. This was a good bonding moment between me and the man who makes my falafel sandwiches everyday.
OH! and THEN!!! the SAME godsend thing happened on the way home!
An expression I had JUST learned like one hour before in class was used by this guy I started talking to on the bus!!!
I've started thinking about what I'll be doing between Feb. 1st and 8th. Falafel is one of them.
came home, watched the rest of "paradise now". hwed a bit, talked to N briefly (hoot hoot for those who read this!), she's doing well in NYC it seems, and at 21h30 I'm going over to Jordan's to sit in on a power hour.
and a special shout out to my man B for forcing N to reactivate her fb! This link goes out to him! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4UVJM6m5po
Cairo Day 127
Wednesday Coptic Christmas, national holiday, no school.
Cairo
woke up at 10h. did homework all day. except for a food break; made noodles with a delicious onion/tomato sauce. inspired by Chris. Was rather delicious.
Went out around 16h30. Had a great time wandering the streets around my flat. Met with Atef at 18h15. Had a productive session with him.
Also, on really shitty thing happened today. My dad double check with this a study abroad person about me being able to arrive late in BA. Turns out I can't. Didn't think that would be a problem. We'll see. Maybe I can get my tickets changed and leave earlier than was planned.
Cairo
woke up at 10h. did homework all day. except for a food break; made noodles with a delicious onion/tomato sauce. inspired by Chris. Was rather delicious.
Went out around 16h30. Had a great time wandering the streets around my flat. Met with Atef at 18h15. Had a productive session with him.
Also, on really shitty thing happened today. My dad double check with this a study abroad person about me being able to arrive late in BA. Turns out I can't. Didn't think that would be a problem. We'll see. Maybe I can get my tickets changed and leave earlier than was planned.
Day 126 Cairo
Tuesday
Cairo
Colloquial, again was good, not tip top, but good. I think I'm going to pay for two weeks and see from there. I have a feeling the teacher doesn't like me/has already placed me in a category.
Today we learned about dates. The fruit, that is. Khaled talked about dates for like 25 minutes. This was interesting, not at all boring, rather, super cool. We went on a tangent from Ibn Batuta -a traveler/explorer- (he traveled the desert on dates and water) to dates and the different kinds of dates and date trees and date production. haha
Did some shopping. Home for a bit, homeworked. saw Islam for 30 minutes at the ahuah. Came back home and did more hw. went to bed around 23h.
Cairo
Colloquial, again was good, not tip top, but good. I think I'm going to pay for two weeks and see from there. I have a feeling the teacher doesn't like me/has already placed me in a category.
Today we learned about dates. The fruit, that is. Khaled talked about dates for like 25 minutes. This was interesting, not at all boring, rather, super cool. We went on a tangent from Ibn Batuta -a traveler/explorer- (he traveled the desert on dates and water) to dates and the different kinds of dates and date trees and date production. haha
Did some shopping. Home for a bit, homeworked. saw Islam for 30 minutes at the ahuah. Came back home and did more hw. went to bed around 23h.
Day 125 Cairo
Monday, Cairo
First day of my last month of school.
Started off with the bad news that Media Arabic level two would not be offered this session. Bummer. Went to Colloquial level 5 to see how the teacher is, possibly to take the class depending on her. She's alright. Mostly, the cool thing is, there are only 5 people in the class, not like last semester's where there were about 10.
Had koshary with Ian and a friend of his. Regular back to school talk "how was your break" etc...
Formal Arabic, level 7 with Khaled. I can see why Angela had a crush on him.
I have a man crush.
He's an awesome teacher. I think for a teacher to be awesome one must be slightly infatuated with them.
Right from the start he captivated my attention. He speaks super clearly, uses words he knows we know/ words we don't but in context it is guessable.
The class is composed of Khaled, Ivan and Sonia. Ivan is studying Arabic here until he goes on to Bahrain to do research there on a fellowship. He seems kick ass. American of Mexican descent from California. Sonia, whom I know from my past two classes is here studying to improve her Arabic. She is British-Egyptian. She's 24 I think but looks like she's 20. She learned French in college and taught English at a university in Strasbourg, France for two years. I think she got bored of it and decided she should get back in touch with her roots and learn Arabic. Good for her.
In the evening, met up with Atef again. Then Sarah and her visiting friend sat with us. Met Chris' parents, who are both SUPER American. His dad did not like Egypt at ALL and couldn't wait to go back. His mom seemed to have been more relaxed and easygoing throughout their trip therefore seemed to have enjoyed it.
A hilarious excerpt from an email Chris sent me a week ago:
"though this shouldn't be shared, my mom told me that on their first night here my dad freaked out saying that he wanted to take me home with them when they return to the states b/c he's so worried. he also has recurring nightmares about having to return to egypt to claim my dead body."
Got home, did hw. lol.
First day of my last month of school.
Started off with the bad news that Media Arabic level two would not be offered this session. Bummer. Went to Colloquial level 5 to see how the teacher is, possibly to take the class depending on her. She's alright. Mostly, the cool thing is, there are only 5 people in the class, not like last semester's where there were about 10.
Had koshary with Ian and a friend of his. Regular back to school talk "how was your break" etc...
Formal Arabic, level 7 with Khaled. I can see why Angela had a crush on him.
I have a man crush.
He's an awesome teacher. I think for a teacher to be awesome one must be slightly infatuated with them.
Right from the start he captivated my attention. He speaks super clearly, uses words he knows we know/ words we don't but in context it is guessable.
The class is composed of Khaled, Ivan and Sonia. Ivan is studying Arabic here until he goes on to Bahrain to do research there on a fellowship. He seems kick ass. American of Mexican descent from California. Sonia, whom I know from my past two classes is here studying to improve her Arabic. She is British-Egyptian. She's 24 I think but looks like she's 20. She learned French in college and taught English at a university in Strasbourg, France for two years. I think she got bored of it and decided she should get back in touch with her roots and learn Arabic. Good for her.
In the evening, met up with Atef again. Then Sarah and her visiting friend sat with us. Met Chris' parents, who are both SUPER American. His dad did not like Egypt at ALL and couldn't wait to go back. His mom seemed to have been more relaxed and easygoing throughout their trip therefore seemed to have enjoyed it.
A hilarious excerpt from an email Chris sent me a week ago:
"though this shouldn't be shared, my mom told me that on their first night here my dad freaked out saying that he wanted to take me home with them when they return to the states b/c he's so worried. he also has recurring nightmares about having to return to egypt to claim my dead body."
Got home, did hw. lol.
Day 124 Ghent--> Brussels--> Luxor--> Cairo
Sunday Brussels-->Luxor-->Cairo
nice day. met a cool person on the airplane, shared a taxi with them back to Dokki. Ate two hawaushees and a koshary and chilled at two coffee shops on three occasions, mostly reading Le Monde. Did not do any homework as I should have but still feel productive.
Perhaps my only regret of this whole trip is not going to the Opera. :-)
nice day. met a cool person on the airplane, shared a taxi with them back to Dokki. Ate two hawaushees and a koshary and chilled at two coffee shops on three occasions, mostly reading Le Monde. Did not do any homework as I should have but still feel productive.
Perhaps my only regret of this whole trip is not going to the Opera. :-)
Day 123 Ghent
Saturday
Ghent
Quite a nice day, and a sad one, understandably, but positive, happy, plain old good as a whole, and referring back to the entry about my grandma, I only get sad when I know I'll never see someone again, which I don't feel is the case here.
Got some more xmas presents. Probably the most useful ones. A guide of Buenos Aires and a guide of Latin America! Totally going to start reading them like now.
And holly heraldry wreath! Chocolates! with alcohol in them! delicious!
Ghent
Quite a nice day, and a sad one, understandably, but positive, happy, plain old good as a whole, and referring back to the entry about my grandma, I only get sad when I know I'll never see someone again, which I don't feel is the case here.
Got some more xmas presents. Probably the most useful ones. A guide of Buenos Aires and a guide of Latin America! Totally going to start reading them like now.
And holly heraldry wreath! Chocolates! with alcohol in them! delicious!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Paris day 122
Friday
Paris
Woke up early, got out of bed late. Probably the best I've slept since I've been in France, although I've been sleeping like a baby on tranquilizers since I've been in France, so can't complain. That's probably due to the reduced nocturnal noise levels.
Cursorily organized a meeting place with Gwladys at Montparnasse. Of course I was 20 minutes late, but of course, I left about 20 minutes after Sophie advised me to leave... We talked, and talked, and talked more. Good times. and ate some too. good times, again. Then I took the metro to Oberkampf where I met Doumitra and Sophie at Doumitra's hotel (where she works, not her hotel).
We hung out at a cozy tea shop across the street from the hotel. Talked about what happiness is, as Sophie is super interested in that kind of stuff (wisdom too).
sophie-ryan.
doom-work.
gwladys-charles.
They accompanied me to la gare du nord. goodbyes... -they were great! hehehe
And now on my way back to Brussels where, I doubt I will see Nadine, because I'm out of credit. Plus I don't feel like getting something to eat yet. Going to Ghent for one night and then antwerp for a short night, then, Cairo for about 40 more nights... :ooOOOOoo
Have a small plan for ghent tonight. Involves a cool tree, a pizza places and a bench by some weeping willows along a river.
Paris
Woke up early, got out of bed late. Probably the best I've slept since I've been in France, although I've been sleeping like a baby on tranquilizers since I've been in France, so can't complain. That's probably due to the reduced nocturnal noise levels.
Cursorily organized a meeting place with Gwladys at Montparnasse. Of course I was 20 minutes late, but of course, I left about 20 minutes after Sophie advised me to leave... We talked, and talked, and talked more. Good times. and ate some too. good times, again. Then I took the metro to Oberkampf where I met Doumitra and Sophie at Doumitra's hotel (where she works, not her hotel).
We hung out at a cozy tea shop across the street from the hotel. Talked about what happiness is, as Sophie is super interested in that kind of stuff (wisdom too).
sophie-ryan.
doom-work.
gwladys-charles.
They accompanied me to la gare du nord. goodbyes... -they were great! hehehe
And now on my way back to Brussels where, I doubt I will see Nadine, because I'm out of credit. Plus I don't feel like getting something to eat yet. Going to Ghent for one night and then antwerp for a short night, then, Cairo for about 40 more nights... :ooOOOOoo
Have a small plan for ghent tonight. Involves a cool tree, a pizza places and a bench by some weeping willows along a river.
Day 121
Thursday
Lyon --> Paris
Difficult wake up. Looking forward to sleeping in the train. Had a enjoyable ride to the train station with Pyrrhus. Goodbyes always suck, although not as bad when you know you'll see the person again.
Now in the TVG about 30 minutes out of Lyon. Looking forward to getting picked up at the Paris Gare de Lyon by Sophie R. (for my few readers who might be confused).
Finally did end up getting a different cell phone from Pirus which is practical in itself although the phone isn't too great. I think it'll be a good opportunity to improve my memory by just memorizing all my numbers... (good luck!-)
time to take a nap in this lovely bundle for French technology...
Sophie picked me up at the train station. Walked our way over to her apartment. Chilled there for a while... until... more precisely SURPRISE!!! Bennet Smith arrives at 18h! Ben is so cool. He was here visiting Paris with his family for one week. We hung out a bit, watch a few episodes of Entourage, which, by the way, has gone bad, like not entertaining at all, the script seems to have changed from awesome to bad, right after episode 7. and the story writters changed around episode 4. sigh... petering out...
So we made some delicious pasta, well, Sophie made it, I just ate and critizised... but really, it was delicious. Had some wine too. Then we went out to meet Gwladys and a ton of European ex-study abroad students. Hung out at an Irish bar and talked, had fun, goofed off, some "what ifs" with Ben and Sophie who always have awesome just-as-ridiculous replies.
oh! and what a shame! Ben didn't get to see le centre Pompidou as we would have liked!
Lyon --> Paris
Difficult wake up. Looking forward to sleeping in the train. Had a enjoyable ride to the train station with Pyrrhus. Goodbyes always suck, although not as bad when you know you'll see the person again.
Now in the TVG about 30 minutes out of Lyon. Looking forward to getting picked up at the Paris Gare de Lyon by Sophie R. (for my few readers who might be confused).
Finally did end up getting a different cell phone from Pirus which is practical in itself although the phone isn't too great. I think it'll be a good opportunity to improve my memory by just memorizing all my numbers... (good luck!-)
time to take a nap in this lovely bundle for French technology...
Sophie picked me up at the train station. Walked our way over to her apartment. Chilled there for a while... until... more precisely SURPRISE!!! Bennet Smith arrives at 18h! Ben is so cool. He was here visiting Paris with his family for one week. We hung out a bit, watch a few episodes of Entourage, which, by the way, has gone bad, like not entertaining at all, the script seems to have changed from awesome to bad, right after episode 7. and the story writters changed around episode 4. sigh... petering out...
So we made some delicious pasta, well, Sophie made it, I just ate and critizised... but really, it was delicious. Had some wine too. Then we went out to meet Gwladys and a ton of European ex-study abroad students. Hung out at an Irish bar and talked, had fun, goofed off, some "what ifs" with Ben and Sophie who always have awesome just-as-ridiculous replies.
oh! and what a shame! Ben didn't get to see le centre Pompidou as we would have liked!
Lyon day 120
Wednesday
Lyon
woke up 9h, worked on my Argentine internship application some more.
RDV for thibault and I to get our haircuts. Pretty short, I like it, I think, makes me look more thin, I think, as short haircuts always do, which is neither a good nor bad thing in this case.
Didn't do too much the afternoon besides have a really delicious meal and work on the app more and goof off with pirus a bit.
The new year's was spent at Loic's. Antoine and Pirus were there which was the most important, along with Loic, Anne-Claire, and Elsa and some of her friends towards with beginning of the night. He also invited a good group of his friends from medical school. I had a really fun night. Antoine is his good old self which is awesome.
Speaking of awesome, received a really sweet text message from a special someone, which helped make my night.
And we didn't even smoke a sheesha! which, perhaps isn't a bad thing. It's funny how tuberculosis is such a deterrent to smoking while lung cancer isn't. Maybe it's the idea of catching a disease from someone else which does the trick.
Jeeze... we left around 4h40 after hanging out on the couch for a good hour.
It's too bad I didn't stay longer in Lyon. Maybe an extra night could have been worthwhile although there are still people I should see in Paris, and I did get to see everyone I wanted save, perhaps Mr. Z who I probably would not have seen anyway because he's probably in the U.S.
Lyon
woke up 9h, worked on my Argentine internship application some more.
RDV for thibault and I to get our haircuts. Pretty short, I like it, I think, makes me look more thin, I think, as short haircuts always do, which is neither a good nor bad thing in this case.
Didn't do too much the afternoon besides have a really delicious meal and work on the app more and goof off with pirus a bit.
The new year's was spent at Loic's. Antoine and Pirus were there which was the most important, along with Loic, Anne-Claire, and Elsa and some of her friends towards with beginning of the night. He also invited a good group of his friends from medical school. I had a really fun night. Antoine is his good old self which is awesome.
Speaking of awesome, received a really sweet text message from a special someone, which helped make my night.
And we didn't even smoke a sheesha! which, perhaps isn't a bad thing. It's funny how tuberculosis is such a deterrent to smoking while lung cancer isn't. Maybe it's the idea of catching a disease from someone else which does the trick.
Jeeze... we left around 4h40 after hanging out on the couch for a good hour.
It's too bad I didn't stay longer in Lyon. Maybe an extra night could have been worthwhile although there are still people I should see in Paris, and I did get to see everyone I wanted save, perhaps Mr. Z who I probably would not have seen anyway because he's probably in the U.S.
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