The Ick Releases Us

Well, I think everyone survived the ick. My icky feeling never turned into more than just a slight ick, and no one else seems to have contracted anything else.

Today was a bit slower, alhamdulillah. Arabic class was a bit hectic, but fun. We learned how to talk about ourselves, which is always rather fun. Learned how to say Egyptology in Arabic, which was new even for those of us who've had the language before.

Then we were free! Came home and lazed around, watched some tv. (Avatar in Arabic! Whoo!) We watched a bit of BBC and I realized just a little bit more why people in this part of the world see America the way they do. They were talking about unemployment in America so they interviewed a few people in a town in Delaware somewhere that has a 13% unemployment rate. The first was a young woman who had just graduated from college and had to move back in with her parents because she couldn't find a job. Of course, they live in a beautiful suburban home. Here there's an unemployment rate of 9-12% and if you can't find a job, you don't usually have the luxury of comfortably sitting on your couch, or driving your nice car around town to find work. You just have to do whatever you can to make money.

Read this article about the Zabbaleen, the trash collectors who literally live in the landfills.

Most Americans, through no fault of their own, have no idea what poverty actually means. You see a homeless man on the street digging through the trash and you think that's poverty. But if he tried, in many cases, he could easily find a job. And even if he can't, he doesn't starve. It's not like that everywhere.

Anyway, hm, didn't mean to be a downer. :-) The weather continues to be perfect. It gets a bit chilly at night, but it's nothing a long sleeved t-shirt won't cure. I'm happy to report that I've seen lots of cans of catfood and tuna left on the streets for the cats and kittens. :-P We even have one that lives in the garden at our institute.

There was a lecture tonight about mummification of animals, but I decided not to go. Just need a little down time now and then. Besides, the description said there would be some disturbing images, and that it "wasn't suitable for vegetarians" which sounds a bit too intense for me! :-)

So now I'm sitting on the balcony with Sandra. I'm drinking apple tea and she's reading, and we're listening to the music of Cairo: the call to prayer from who knows how many minarets, the honking of car horns, the party boats, the distant sound of a train. Oh, Cairo, Cairo.