Good afternoon from Cairo!! Here is a long-overdue lengthy entry for you all!
The school update:
This past week has gone by very quickly.... AUC classes started about a week ago, and I have been in this confused whirl of studying and running around crazy ever since. My schedule has shuffled around like 3 times at least and is going to change again *hopefully* tomorrow. The Arabic program that I am signed up with is very intense. They expect me to be doing 4-5 hours of studying every night, which is kind of not what I had in mind. I am having no time to dance which is one of the top priority reasons I came to Cairo in the first place... not to mention that if I am constantly studying, I am definitely not going to have tome to explore here much at all. Soooo... I just talked to the director of the program and I am meeting with the international student office tomorrow to adjust things. I am going to try to just take a couple of regular Arabic classes, through the regular study abroad program, so that my life will be more sane.
Some pics of campus (photo credit to Katie, my roomie who left :( during the revolution):
The life update:
I love my life here... It's so easy going, and I love not having too many responsibilities. Now is the time for me to live it up and do everything I've dreamed of. I'm enjoying an intoxicating dose of freedom.
Friday after the prayers there was a big march thing to try to get tourists to come back to Egypt. Christina and I went with a friend from the university and it was really fun. We were quite late, so missed the actual march, but ended up wandering around for a while, then randomly getting into a horse-drawn carriage and riding around Zamalek. So funnn!!! The carriage had speakers, and our friends were playing patriotic Egyptian music and singing along. It was amazing. Christina kept comparing it to the parade float scene in Ferris Buehler. haha!!
Here are some pictures (photo credits to Christina... I'm lazy about taking my own pictures!):
That's me in the flag! :D (and my friend Hassan, who put the flag on me)
Our Carriage in the traffic!
Come to Egypt people!! Seriously. It's awesome and things are super cool now:
Finally, a picture that I meant to upload earlier, from the night Mubarak stepped down, in Tahrir:
The apartment update:
Seriously. F*** the internet here. It keeps magically appearing and making me really happy... then disappearing again and breaking my heart. WTF. rawr.
Anyways... on a happier note, here is a picture of Janet, our apartment "mascot" that I mentioned in my last blog entry. I honestly have no idea what her problem is or why she is apparently eating her foot or why she is such a whore... but oh well. Some things in life are better left as mysteries:
Christina and I after a successful cooking endeavor in our Cairo kitchen:
Sketchy "corner couches" - we have vowed to never sit in them. Note the build-in stereo system... Maybe someday we will see if it actually works!
The living room (it's actually bigger than it looks):
The view from my bedroom:
The cravings update:
Aaaaaghgah. I miss salad so much!!!!! I would pay so so so much money to go to mad greens right now and get the following: spring mix lettuce and spinach, mandarin oranges, croutons, citrus chicken, almonds, avocado, blue cheese, tomato, balsamic vinaigrette. YUMMMMMMMM!!
There is a pretty decent salad bar on campus, but it just isn't the same......
Also, I really miss smooth organization and punctuality. I'm pretty good at being easy going and just going with things... but I swear.... If the internet guy tells me 6pm and shows at 10:30pm asking for money one more time, I'm seriously going to go crazy!!!!!!!
Mexican food.
Clarity.
A more varied wardrobe from which to choose my outfits everyday.
Yes, these things would be very nice to have here.
Other thoughts:
I have never been in such a constant state of confusion before in my life. If I tried to imagine the most random, ridiculous, and unpredictable things that could possibly happen to me in the next 24 hours, I guarantee that they would pale in comparison with reality. My life here changes so quickly - often it's like I'm hanging on for the ride - with a huge grin on my face of course. I don't know what causes this feeling, but I think it's likely a consequence of Egypt and my mind both going through crazy revolutions.
I miss you guys all so much.... Come visit me. Pwease??
The school update:
This past week has gone by very quickly.... AUC classes started about a week ago, and I have been in this confused whirl of studying and running around crazy ever since. My schedule has shuffled around like 3 times at least and is going to change again *hopefully* tomorrow. The Arabic program that I am signed up with is very intense. They expect me to be doing 4-5 hours of studying every night, which is kind of not what I had in mind. I am having no time to dance which is one of the top priority reasons I came to Cairo in the first place... not to mention that if I am constantly studying, I am definitely not going to have tome to explore here much at all. Soooo... I just talked to the director of the program and I am meeting with the international student office tomorrow to adjust things. I am going to try to just take a couple of regular Arabic classes, through the regular study abroad program, so that my life will be more sane.
Some pics of campus (photo credit to Katie, my roomie who left :( during the revolution):
The life update:
I love my life here... It's so easy going, and I love not having too many responsibilities. Now is the time for me to live it up and do everything I've dreamed of. I'm enjoying an intoxicating dose of freedom.
Friday after the prayers there was a big march thing to try to get tourists to come back to Egypt. Christina and I went with a friend from the university and it was really fun. We were quite late, so missed the actual march, but ended up wandering around for a while, then randomly getting into a horse-drawn carriage and riding around Zamalek. So funnn!!! The carriage had speakers, and our friends were playing patriotic Egyptian music and singing along. It was amazing. Christina kept comparing it to the parade float scene in Ferris Buehler. haha!!
Here are some pictures (photo credits to Christina... I'm lazy about taking my own pictures!):
That's me in the flag! :D (and my friend Hassan, who put the flag on me)
Our Carriage in the traffic!
Come to Egypt people!! Seriously. It's awesome and things are super cool now:
Finally, a picture that I meant to upload earlier, from the night Mubarak stepped down, in Tahrir:
The apartment update:
Seriously. F*** the internet here. It keeps magically appearing and making me really happy... then disappearing again and breaking my heart. WTF. rawr.
Anyways... on a happier note, here is a picture of Janet, our apartment "mascot" that I mentioned in my last blog entry. I honestly have no idea what her problem is or why she is apparently eating her foot or why she is such a whore... but oh well. Some things in life are better left as mysteries:
Sketchy "corner couches" - we have vowed to never sit in them. Note the build-in stereo system... Maybe someday we will see if it actually works!
The living room (it's actually bigger than it looks):
The view from my bedroom:
The cravings update:
Aaaaaghgah. I miss salad so much!!!!! I would pay so so so much money to go to mad greens right now and get the following: spring mix lettuce and spinach, mandarin oranges, croutons, citrus chicken, almonds, avocado, blue cheese, tomato, balsamic vinaigrette. YUMMMMMMMM!!
There is a pretty decent salad bar on campus, but it just isn't the same......
Also, I really miss smooth organization and punctuality. I'm pretty good at being easy going and just going with things... but I swear.... If the internet guy tells me 6pm and shows at 10:30pm asking for money one more time, I'm seriously going to go crazy!!!!!!!
Mexican food.
Clarity.
A more varied wardrobe from which to choose my outfits everyday.
Yes, these things would be very nice to have here.
Other thoughts:
I have never been in such a constant state of confusion before in my life. If I tried to imagine the most random, ridiculous, and unpredictable things that could possibly happen to me in the next 24 hours, I guarantee that they would pale in comparison with reality. My life here changes so quickly - often it's like I'm hanging on for the ride - with a huge grin on my face of course. I don't know what causes this feeling, but I think it's likely a consequence of Egypt and my mind both going through crazy revolutions.
I miss you guys all so much.... Come visit me. Pwease??
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