Just Breathe

Phew, what a whirlwind day!  If a day of mostly relaxing can be considered "whirlwind."  

First of all, I had my Egyptian history exam.  I either did really well, or REALLY poorly.  I suppose I'll find out soon enough.

Afterwards, I just went for a walk.  Bummed around the shopping street for a while.  Found the inner courtyard of the public library.  Perfect spot, because there's sunlight, but very little wind.  And in Holland, the sun is warm, but the wind is NOT.  :-)  I read about a hundred pages of Lolita.  I had known that the book was controversial somewhat because of its sexuality, but I assumed it was the usual kind: Lolita, in my mind, was a black haired Paris dancer who seduced the innocent British narrator into a wild and sultry world of smoky sex, dark alleys, clouded opium dens and unmistakeable love.  (Maybe I should write my own Lolita!)  Wow, was I wrong.  She's actually 12.  The main character is a pedophile, and Lolita is just a little girl.  That being said, it's really quite an amazing book so far!  I'm enthralled by Nabokov's style and humor!  I can't wait to read more, even though I know there can ONLY be tragedy ahead.  Wow.

Anyway, after enjoying the heat of the sun for a time (I managed to get a weird tan, of course) I went to an ISN-R dinner.  And had a major blast.  Ate food catered by Eazie, the awesome Asian take-away place in town (black bean tofu!) and had great conversation with Jan, Alexej, Carlos, and new friends, Liz (Holland/America) and Sissy (Holland.)  After a good five hours of hanging out there, we went to Proost to play pool and dance.  There were a LOT of us there: all the ISN girls, and the various committees they had working for them.  Lots of dancing (salsa and merengue with Carlos), lots of pool, lots of chatting, awesome.  Nothing but good times.  Happily, most of the people there tonight (with the horribly sad exception of Jan) will still be around next year!  

And now... I have no school to think about until the end of August!  This is the first time since I arrived last year that I have felt completely able to simply: Relax.  Aaahhh.  :-)

How to Be an Explorer of the World

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Almost Done

"With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, she shall have music wherever she goes."

Haven't updated in a while because I haven't been doing much besides studying.  My Egyptian exam was Monday.  No grade yet, but I feel great about it.  My Egyptian art history exam is tomorrow.  I'm not feeling particularly optimistic about it, since most of my time has been dedicated to Egyptian and Koos.  But, I know I can slam it on the retake, so I'm not too worried.  It's just a matter of time.

Yesterday, Koos and I went downstairs to feed the ducks.  There are tons of ducks who live in the canal near the building, including 8 baby ducks.  Well, 5 of them are now adolescent ducks, but we were there when they were born.  The two of us stood there and fed them little bits of bread, and they wandered around under us, often stepping on our feet, once nibbling on Koos' besocked foot! (Ok, I might have dropped a piece of bread on his foot on purpose...)  Koos, however, decided that he too wanted to pick up a baby duck (this is the same duck family as the one I picked up not too long ago.)  So, he waited for his moment, and snatched up a duck, who promptly started screaming, effectively freaking out every single duck on the lawn, including me.  Everybody except me ran straight to the water.  It was HILARIOUS to see 20+ ducks looking at you in complete shock!  Duck was released unharmed (with a bit more of a bounce than expected, but unharmed) and the feeding resumed, a tad more inhibited, but soon enough I had duck feet on mine.  Koos and I just couldn't stop laughing.  :-D

Koos also discovered a song that I have heard of all my life, but have never actually heard, and it explained a few things about my relationship to my parents.  It's called Ahab the Arab and it is a ridiculous song by Ray Stevens.  It makes fun of Western stereotypes of Middle Eastern folks, and is probably horribly culturally insensitive (just listen for his version of "Arabic") but it's still rather funny.  It's about Ahab, the Arab, sheikh of the burning sands, who is having an affair with Fatima, the best dancer in the Sultan's harem.  This song was hugely popular back in the 1960s, and apparently my parents have heard it a lot.  I never had.

My parents used to call me Fatima when I was being lazy, or wanting them to wait on me.  I always just assumed they thought I was acting like a pampered princess, but the reference seems to come from this song.  Ahab goes into Fatima's tent and finds her eating all sorts of stuff, typically Middle Easter, and typically Western (pomegranates and cola, for example) "lying on a zebra skin, with rings on her finger and bells on her toes and a bone in her nose, ho ho."  I've heard this line a hundred times in my life, and never knew where it came from!  Crazy!

Koos left EARLEEE this morning for Frankfurt to meet up with his friend, Lize, from South Africa.  I've spent my day reading articles, and cleaning, and such-like.  I've been listening quite a bit to Dan Carlin's podcasts.  He does Hardcore History which is a pretty rockin podcast about history.  He's not a historian, but I like the way he handles the themes. He also does Common Sense which is a political show.  I've only heard one episode of that one, but I like it.

Today has been off and on sunny, off and on rainy.  Next week I'll be joining Koos and his friends in Belgium.  Life is good.

Tomorrow, my work is DONE for the semester.  I have exams at the end of the summer, but for a few months, I'm FREEEEEEEEEE!