Day Off

It has been quite the relaxing day. Nothing to do, and so I did just that. I spent the whole day reading a book Sandra let me borrow called Special Topics in Calamity Physics (Marisha Pessl.) It's quite the amazing book and I must suggest it to everyone who knows me and my reading habits well. It's worth it. Though be warned, it's about a girl whose father is a scholar, and so the main character (who I REALLY relate to) often quotes things (not in my beloved Chicago footnote style though) and so the book can get a bit dense, if not tedious to the reader who tends to prefer Dan Brown to Thoreau.

And that's been about it. I did notice two guys on the rooftops outside waving red flags as if communicating with each other. Still haven't unraveled that mystery. What else is there to say?

Sunset here isn't the color I had expected. In my dreams of Egypt (always at sunset) the sun fell from the sky in a vivid burst of orange that set the Nile on fire. In the skies of Cairo, the sun fades away into a muted glow long before it reaches the horizon, and by the time it sets, the Nile and the city are wrapped in a dusky purple. There must be a better word to describe this color. Decidedly purple with a hint of pink at the edges, to remind you that the sun never leaves this place. Dusty and old, but not sad or forgotten. Mauve? Perse? Heliotrope? Amaranthine? Cairo-at-Sunset?

So I watched the world turn Cairo-at-Sunset and combed my hair and imagined that somewhere in the squat little jumble of buildings there was an Arabian prince (the type who likes to dress himself up like a beggar and chat with the creatures that pop now and then out of oil lamps) was watching me and planning to carry me off to his grand palace in some lush oasis somewhere (I was thinking on something more like a 747 than a camel or a flying carpet, by the way) so I could be fed grapes and honey and lounge on pillows in the desert air.

And then, to pass the time until he shows up, I finished my homework.

Museum

Alhamdulillah, it's the weekend! I slept until 10 today and it was glorious. Apparently, I missed all the excitement completely though. Cathelijn called around 3:30am very worried about Steffie who was very ill. Apparently everyone went to the hospital at some point to get Steffie some help! And I just slept right through it all! She's fine now, so it's not a problem, but still.

Today, after the drama was over and I woke up, Kaz and Sandra and I went to the Cairo Egyptian Museum. Trust me, there is no real way to describe this place. It's something of a jumble, with stuff just sort of piled around. Tourists beyond imagining. People coming up to you asking if you'd like a tour. People asking the guides idiotic questions and the guides giving stupid answers. "No ma'am, that's not Nefertiti." "That symbol?" (the ankh) "It's the key of life." (Note for non-Egyptologists: the ankh symbol is a sandal strap. The Egyptians didn't use keys.) Don't even get me started on the crowds surrounding King Tut's junk.

But despite the rush of people (I think they need a Scholar's Night where no one but Egyptologists are allowed in) I had an amazing time. Rather surprised me. The past few times I've been in an Egyptian museum I've mostly just wanted to run away. It's been feeling like work. But today, I had a nice reminder of why I started studying this stuff to begin with. I'll definitely have to get back there a few more times. I get in free, so it's no trouble at all.

Maybe next time I go I'll write down my actual feelings about each piece that strikes me so I can share them. Sometimes I felt a distinct professional appreciation for a piece. The scholar in me was amazed by the form, the proportion, the text. Sometimes a writer popped her head up and said "You could use this." Very cool stuff, very inspiring.

After a long afternoon at the museum the three of us walked home, lazed around for a while, and then had dinner. Now Kaz is asleep, and Sandra and I are sort of half-watching a movie, and blogging. There's another wedding party outside, and the ululations of the women are coming through loud and clear.

I'll say it again: I love this. I wish I could always be surrounded by music and jubilations.

Strange coincidence of today: This morning I woke up thinking about a certain episode of Criminal Intent. Not a show I've seen more than 3 episodes of, and even those I haven't seen in almost two years. And what do you know, but that episode came on tv tonight! Weird!

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.

The Ick Descends

Things are starting to calm down a little for me. I feel like I'm starting to get used to this. The noise of the cars on the other side of the river bothered me a little, now it doesn't. Even the fast pace seems to be getting a bit more comfortable. Though, I can't WAIT for Friday!! (Friday and Saturday are the weekend here, Sunday = Monday)

Everyone was sick today. The Belgian girl, Brenda, was sick yesterday as well. Fever and the ick. Today Sandra fell ill and Steffie didn't show up for class either. Kaz and Quentin (Beligum) and I all had sort of wobbly stomachs, and even Kenny was quiet. Everyone has told us we'd probably all get sick, and I'm not surprised at all that it happened. New germs and a breakneck pace, it's like they WANT us to get ill!

It's been a rather uneventful day otherwise. The Arabic course isn't very well structured, and so it's a little confusing. It took me 2 hours to upload 70 pictures to Facebook. We underestimated how far away the American Research Center was, so we were a bit late. The guy in the library basically told us "Our library isn't very good, go use the German one." And then I took a long nap and went to a lecture on the Berlin dictionary.

Thrilling life, I know. Tomorrow all we have is Arabic, and then we're free until the lecture at 6. Tomorrow is also Kaz's birthday, and I think we're gonna go to Belgian Night at the Belgian embassy. How many people come to Cairo to party with Belgians? I don't know.

Horoscope for Week of 29.Oct.09

My horoscope has been amazingly accurate for the past few weeks. Except that one about invoking a tiger spirit.

At a family planning conference in Beijing, a researcher from Ghana presented testimony about tribal issues that he had in part gleaned through interviews with dead ancestors. He said that spirit mediums had acted as his "translators." When he was met with skepticism from colleagues, he was defensive. "If I only heard from the living," he explained, "I wouldn't get a very good balance." His perspective would be smart for you to adopt right now, Libra. To make the wisest decisions and take the most righteous action, draw inspiration from what has passed away as much as from what's alive and in your face. Halloween costume suggestion: a spirit medium.

www.freewillastrology.com

Arabic Courses

Another nice long stressful day has come and gone. So much! And we still haven't seen a single ancient Egyptian thing! :-P

Our intensive Arabic class started today. I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed, though I shouldn't have expected much. It's mostly an introduction to how to speak tourist Arabic. Very helpful since I don't speak any Arabic, but just not as intensive as I had hoped. We aren't even going to discuss the script! I asked the teacher if he would give us the words and phrases we learned today in Arabic script and he asked me why I wanted them! He seemed shocked that I even asked! For me it's easier, but that's probably because my first Arabic teacher forbade us to use transliteration, or to even transliterate in our heads. So I'm much more used to the Arabic script.

Afterwards we had a break, so Kenny, Kaz and Sandra and I went to a cafe around the corner for lunch. The rather unfortunately named Beano cafe had some pretty good food, and wireless internet too, so I think we'll head back there tomorrow too. Then we were bussed off to the IFAO, the French Institute for yet another library tour.

Ok, the IFAO is probably the coolest thing we've done so far. This little French guy gave us an awesome tour of the publishing bit of the institute. Call me crazy, but I thought this was awesome. He showed us old printing presses and how they made all the little letters and boxes and boxes of tiny metal letters. Mostly Arabic and hieroglyphs! We even got a little letter to bring home with us! So cool! We also got to see the room where they restore and rebind books. All by hand! Amazing. Pictures to follow on Facebook, I promise. I have a cap on my internet at home, but they don't have one at Beano's! :-)

Then, after finding our way back home, we went to dinner. Had entirely too much fun making fun of the menu (spageti polognes, for example, or applepay) and attempting to communicate with the waitress. Then home to study a bit, and stare blankly at the Nile.

This pace has got to stop! Maybe I've gotten spoiled with my leisurely-ly insane schedule back in Leiden. Sure I have a TON of work to do, but at least I don't have to schlepp myself across a writhing metropolis to get it done! I can wake up at 10am, literally roll out of bed, and get to work. Or, heck, who even needs to get out of bed! :-P Here, I have to get out of bed. At 7:30. Do not want.

Tomorrow: More Arabic, More Beano, American Institute, Free Time, Lecture. Whoo.

Egyptians Explain Why They Aren't Terrorists

10 Reasons why Egyptians can't be terrorists !

1. We are always late; we would have missed all the flights.

2. The pretty girls on the plane would distract us.

3. We would talk loudly and bring attention to ourselves.

4. With food and drinks on the plane, we would forget why we're there.

5. We talk with our hands; therefore we would have to put our weapons down.

6. We would ALL want to fly the plane.

7. We would argue and start a fight in the plane.

8. We can't keep a secret; we would have told everyone a week
before doing it.

9. We would have put our country's flag on the windshield.

10. We would all have fallen over each other to be in the
photograph being taken by one of the hostages.

Taking a Break

Well the first days are the hardest days

Don't you worry anymore

Cause when life looks like easy street

There is danger at the door

--Jimmy Buffett

I'm sitting on my balcony eating flat bread and hummus, dried apricots and apple tea. A half empty bottle of water accompanies me, my journal is waiting for me to tell it about my day. I'm feeling a bit better.

This morning we visited the Deutsche Archäologische Institute Kairo (DAIK.) Fortunately it's literally only two buildings away from my flat so I got to sleep in just a little. Apparently it wasn't enough, however, because I was yawning and drowsy for the rest of the day. The DAIK is very nice, and I will probably spend much of my study time there. They don't have WiFi which is a good and bad thing, and I need to find out about the coffee situation. But the woman who introduced us to the place seems very nice and helpful, and it's always nice to hear some German once in a while. :-)

Afterwards we stopped by the Supreme Council of Antiquities and got a nice tour of the place. Got to meet some of the folks who work on preserving various monuments around the country, and got to see how it all gets done. I have to say the best part for me was seeing the men stop their work and set out their prayer rugs to pray when the call to prayer sounded. In Europe it seems that if you do have faith in anything, you're expected to hide it, or just shut up about it. No one wants to hear about religion. Here, they literally scream their beliefs in the streets. People stop what they are doing, and pray. Not everyone, not even most people, not in Zamalek anyway, but people do it. Say what you will, I like it.

Once the group broke up for the day, Kaz and Sandra and I went to Alpha Market to get a few more things for the apartment. This store has a bit of everything from lentil soup to diving flippers, from plush toys to Timotei shampoo. Then we came home and I crash landed.

Went straight to my room, laid down, and slept for an hour and half. Finally woke up, stumbled into the kitchen to make some tea, and grab something to snack on, and here I sit now. The others have gone to a lecture, but I decided to skip it. Not because I'm not interested, but because I just need the break, need the time alone.

Later I'll join the others at the Belgians' place. Today is Brenda's birthday. :-)

Tomorrow: Arabic.

Blahhh

This is actually me from yesterday, because today's picture is me after an exhausting day and a shower.

I finally have internet at the apartment, so I can hopefully update a bit more regularly. However, I must warn that these first few days will be sporadic. I'm just slightly overwhelmed.

People live in the landfill here. In the cemetery. You think you know what it means to be poor. You probably don't.

Everywhere kittens cry from the gutters. I want to take them all home with me.

Life is good, of course, but shifting. More later, once I've leveled off a bit.

:-)

Details Details

I guess it's obvious that I am not actually the focus of yesterday's daily picture. This is the view from my new apartment. Yes, that's the Nile. The lights behind me are the party boat that is docked across the river. We think it hosts wedding receptions and the like. Every night it seems there's a party with drums and flutes. Of course, I think this is possibly the most wonderful thing ever. I just have to open the doors of my balcony, and I can dance the night away. Overlooking the Nile. Ahhhh. :-D

Yesterday was quite an adventure. Breakfast on the terrace was dreamlike. A perfect temperature, not too warm, but nowhere near cold, overlooking a rather colonial looking building with a lovely palm tree. Tea and croissants, butter and jam. I suppose it wasn't very typically Egyptian, but I wasn't cold, and the sun was shining, so I didn't really care which culture I was emulating. Then it was on the street, back to Sally Flats to finish up the deal with our apartment.

I don't think I've described Sally Flats yet. This is the apartment agency that was recommended to us by the Institute. The Cairo Semester kids have been using this company for years, so we knew they were trustworthy. Which is good, because otherwise I would have been a bit freaked out. Sally Flats is located in, well, a rather smallish broom closet underneath the stairs of an apartment building near the Nile. There we met Amal who led us around town showing us flats. Her English wasn't great, but we managed to find a great flat, and arranged a meeting for yesterday with the agency owner, Mr. Mohammad.

So, we arrived yesterday, and met with Mr. Mohammad, and went on a search for the apartment owner. Apparently, she's old, and rich, and has five flats in Cairo. She was asleep in one of them, and Mr. Mohammad couldn't find her. So, he gave us stools and put us in front of the agency, and left us in the care of his 11 year old son, and went off to find Amal, who could find the owner.

The boy was awesome. His English was excellent, and he talked about everything from soccer and his school subjects to professional wrestling and murder in Chicago. So friendly, so intelligent. He wants to be the best soccer player in the world. He thinks Cairo is the best city in the world. This kid will go far, I thnk.

Amal arrived at last, and we signed the contract and headed to the apartment. There we met with the house watchman, and handed over the money. We had to pay in advance since we're only here for two months. The apartment is about $1,500 US, plus deposit and such costs, and the Egyptian pound is weaker than the dollar. So we showed up with 18,000 Egyptian pounds! It felt like a drug deal. Two Egyptians talking in hurried Arabic, their cell phones constantly ringing. The three of us, whispering in Dutch. The two groups speaking broken English, mostly communicating with our hands. A table entirely covered with money. :-P

It took us a good three hours, but we got it all done. We got a few essentials, watched some music videos, listened to the party outside, watched the occasional fireworks that get shot off from the party boats now and then. Life was, and is, pretty good. The balcony off my room has chairs and a nice couch, so it's become the hang out spot.

So we watched the Nile slide past us in the dark, and we drank our tea, and let it sink in. We're in Egypt.

First Day in Cairo

At some point today I forgot to be tired. I was exhausted for a while there, but it faded. Now, sitting on my hotel terrace, desert winds in my hair, surrounded by green plants, sandy buildings, honking horns, I feel it creeping back in. Ah, but everywhere I see palm trees and life!

In the taxi from the airport, I tried to take in every sight, every sound, every detail. This place is amazing. Chaos doesn't begin to describe it. Cars and people going everywhere, in every direction, people everywhere, jumping in front of you, everywhere movement and chaos. But there's a rhythm to it, if you look at it right, if you listen with the right ears.

A bus was driving in front of us with the engine exposed. That is Cairo, I decided. Cairo is a city with its gears exposed. Spinning and throbbing; chaos and noise. Single sounds cut through: there's a musical bird, over there, a cat mewling, a woman laughing, the muezzin's lilting wail. Everything smells like gasoline and apple tobacco. The desert's sweet smell is there too. Almost like the smell of the ocean, only different, so different, like two sisters. My mouth is filled with sand, the cars are covered in sand, dust coats the entire city.

I think I am in love.

My apartment overlooks the Nile. And about 20 minarets poke out of the sprawling city below.

So much more to say, but I am exhausted, at last. At last the distances I have covered today have caught me. A thread was severed when my plane took off. As soon as I left European soil, I became someone else. The distances I have covered today, have not been in miles, in kilometers.

There is just so much I need to think about. So many things inside of me are cracking, moving, shifting, settling into place. Already I can feel my muscles relaxing. Do you understand how much it means to me that I will not go to sleep cold tonight!

To survive in Cairo with your sanity intact, you must have great inner calm. You must become the eye of the storm around you, or the sandstorm that is Cairo will erode something vital inside you. You could become stone in a town like this. You must let yourself become sand!

Last Day in Leiden

Last day in Leiden. For now anyway. I woke up and reshuffled the stuff in my suitcase. I went to Coffee Star and finished reading Signed Mata Hari. Good story, though a bit sad. Uplifting too, naturally. The best stories are.

Cindy (Indonesia) stopped by and had coffee with me and we chatted for a while. She even brought me a going away sarong, which was perfect, and she couldn't have known how perfect. One of my favorite bits of Signed, Mata Hari was when she was in Indonesia and wore sarongs everywhere even though her stupid jerk Dutch husband thought she was crazy to do so. And then Cindy brought be a beautiful, pink and blue and yellow sarong! :-D

Then I came home and reshuffled all my stuff again. Haha. I'm not quite at the weight limit, but I'd like to keep it well below so I can bring home fun skirts and scarves and things! :-) I'm still closer than I'd like to be, but I'll just have to deal.

So, now I just go to bed. And when I next lay down in my bed, it will be an Egyptian bed far away. And warm. :-)

I want to say words that flame as I say them

But I keep quiet

And don't try to fit both worlds in one mouthful.

I keep secret in myself an Egypt that doesn't exist.

Is this good or bad?

I don't know.

Three Words

I didn't update last night, but you see I was in the middle of an epiphany, and decided to just go to bed instead. More on said epiphany when I'm out of it's wind storm.

Not much to be said about yesterday really. Three words sum it up: Elvis, Indonesia, and afriendlybusdriver (ok, that's not just one word.)

Elvis

There's an apartment that I pass every day that is covered with Elvis pictures. I've never seen the inside, but the outside walls, the outside windows, COVERED with pictures of Elvis in every stage of life. Koos and I used to ride by and wonder what sort of person lives there. And yesterday I found out: Elvis does! Yep, a man who looked an awful lot like an older Elvis was getting off his bike and opening the door as I went by. Problem solved! Elvis lives! Surrounded by pictures of himself in his prime! Amazing!

Indonesia

I went to, yes, you guessed it, Coffee Star to pass a little time yesterday. Finished the book I had been reading (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) and searched for another to pick up. I wanted something good, but not too sad or too happy. I decided on Eldest, a young adult book about dragons, but the writing style was so stilted and childish that I just couldn't bring myself to read past the prologue. So, I searched on. And finally found: Signed, Mata Hari. It's the story of, well, Mata Hari. I had only a vague idea of who she was: some exotic temptress who was accused of being a spy. That's it. Turns out, she was Dutch! And married some jerk Dutch guy and moved to Indonesia. The book is very good, well written and highly entertaining. And the descriptions of Indonesia, the good and the bad, the flowers and the bugs, the cooling winds and the oppressive heat, aaahhhh, it just filled me with such joy! I only made it half way through, but I'll continue it today. :-)

Afriendlybusdriver

This seems like such a small thing, but in Holland it means everything. I got on the bus, and the bus driver smiled at me, and was friendly to me. It's not like we had a great long conversation. In fact, all he said was "Ok" when I told him where I wanted to go, but he smiled at me, and he looked me in the eye when he said it. Such small simple things! And yet, they are so difficult to come by in this place, that I feel I should mention it in my blog! I just sort of glowed for a while after him. :-)

So, yep, that was my day. I arrived home and felt sort of down (despite the words of the day.) But Koos quickly turned my blue mood around, and sent me funny songs, and was there to witness my epiphany. :-) Maybe Mata Hari had something to do with it....

Sunday and Monday

Sundays are tough in this little town, because everything closes. I have to make sure I have the food I need on Saturday, and I tend to forget. :-P

Sunday didn't contain a lot of movement for me. I packed my bag for Egypt, made notes of what I needed. I talked to Koos on Skype. He was trapped in an airport in Durban, waiting. And waiting. I tried to make his wait a little more interesting. :-)

I had dinner with Jennifer and Sören, and as always is was wonderful. I'm really going to miss them a lot. They might not be around when I get back in February, and either way they'll be gone by March. Off to Edinburgh, or Ghent, or even Knoxville TN. Who knows? They certainly don't. Jennifer has been a great friend, and I don't want her to leave. Maybe our paths will cross again someday.

Monday. I finally bought sunglasses. That's why I'm a bug in the picture for Monday. Ran around a little bit to pick up the last minute things, and then settled in to a day of cleaning my apartment, and getting everything organized. See why I didn't update? :-P

I did my daily yoga just before bed and it knocked me out. I was just fuzzy and tingly and so deliciously tired. So I fell right to sleep. Out. And had very strange dreams.

I was on a motorcycle whose front tire was flat, and the whole thing kept almost falling over. My mom was with me and we stopped by a river to fix it. There was a huge party on the river, all veiled women in beautiful colors. Then they were gone, and there was a house by the river, and my family was there, trying to sleep. And beyond that, it's too crazy, too dreamlike to write down. :-)

Another day has dawned (given, it dawned QUITE a while ago...) so I'm off into the world. The sun, you see, is shining. :-)

The Color of the Sun

Brr. I am cold. The heater "works" but only if you're touching it. My mother told me to get a heating pad to sleep with. I wonder if they even sell those in Holland. I've never seen one. Not that I've ever looked.... Oh well, soon it'll be too hot to sleep! :-D

Today was windy and cold, but the sun was shining. Most of the time. When it wasn't, it was pouring rain. But that didn't happen much, and it didn't last long. I wandered through the market one last time before Cairo. Flashlights have been acquired. I need to get some sunglasses too, I imagine, but I'm having a hard time. I'm just not made to wear them. My eyes are dark, and I'm from a sunny land, and my soul is from an even more tropical place, so I almost never need them. Though I imagine if you ever need sunglasses, it's in a place like Egypt. But, I look like a bug, no matter how small or large the lenses. 8-P Oh well, I'll just have to be buggy.

I wandered, and when I got cold I perched in a comfy chair at Coffee Star and read most of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it's good. I sat there and watched the weather dance across the sky now and then, until the library closed. Then I headed home.

And I packed. I leave in 4 days (it's after midnight Sunday morning as I write this) so I don't need too many clothes. I stuffed everything I want to take into my suitcase, and I'm just about ready to go! Packed and counting down the days! :-D

It still hasn't really sunk in that I'm going. I thought it would have by now, since my exam is over and I know I passed. Perhaps the change is just too big, too sudden, too soon. I don't think I ever really let myself believe that Egypt really exists. I study the ancient country and it is dead and crumbling in the desert, no matter how loudly it speaks to me. I remember the first time I went to Rome. I knew in the logical part of myself that, of course, it was a modern city, but the part of me that knew Rome, knew the ancient city, and was shocked at all the noise and the cars, and the... well, modernity. I quickly came to love Rome, of course, but I was deeply disappointed that it wasn't the white city of marble that covers those seven hills of my mind.

Egypt is even more important to my dreams than Rome. So many nights I've dreamed of watching the sun set into the Nile, and the whole world was peaceful, and the sky and the river glowed orange in the fading light, somehow brighter, more vivid even than the noontime sun. But there are no cities in my dreams, only reeds and sand and water. And the color of the sun.

I cannot prepare myself for this place. I cannot imagine that my Egypt, my vibrant, living and breathing, joyful Egypt has sunk into the sands. I cannot prepare myself for this city, modern, and loud, busy and noisy. I just have to go there, and see if I can love this Egypt that has risen.

The sun hasn't changed, at least. The ancient Egyptian sun will still shine on me. So what's the difference, really? :-P

Happy Diwali everyone!

Cairo: 4 days, Koos: 31 days

Dreaming of Africa

The wind is blowing outside. Rain. I didn't even light my candles tonight. No need. The rooibos tea is keeping me warm. And my wool sweater. Maybe daydreams about the Egyptian sun are helping.

I had my Ptolemaic exam today. I knew the moment I looked at the text that I would pass. It's nice when your goal suddenly changes from merely passing to being the best in the class. :-) I'm still not sure if I reached that goal (those verbs forms always give me troubles) but I definitely passed. Grades to follow, but the professor himself said I had nothing to worry about. :-)

And so, I am relaxing. I spent a few hours at the library today, reading Dune. It's a book I've always wanted to read, but I've never been able to find it at a bookstore. They almost always have books from the Dune series, but I've never seen the first book on sale. Not that I've searched very hard, but hard enough to notice it's never around.

I did a little shopping. Got a travel journal, a slip to wear under a sorta see-through dress. Tomorrow I plan to do a bit more. Get a flashlight for the tombs, sun glasses so I don't get blinded by Egypt's glory, that sort of thing. :-)

And now here I sit, warm and cozy for once, drinking rooibos, and inhaling lavender scented steam. Also reading a John Grisham novel, which is something I've never done. Tonight is a night of letting go.

Really, the coming days are a time of letting go. The time has come to let go of this dark, rainy person I almost let myself become. Time to let go of the stress I've piled upon myself. I have not failed, and I have not frozen. I'm warm, and ahhh, I'll soon see the sun again!

Cairo: 6 days. Koos: 32 days.

Good Omens

I almost forgot to mention a few good omens that have come my way in the past few weeks. First of all: the 9 of hearts. In the past year or so, I've found a bunch of playing cards. Seriously, a BUNCH.

And, on the day of my massage (28.Sept) I found the 9 of hearts. Here's what it means:

1) Achieving what I desire

2) Obtaining my goal

3) Having my dream come true

4) Enjoying the situation just as it is

5) Experiencing luxury

6) Relaxing

7) Making love

8) Experiencing beauty

9) Being contented

Now THAT is a good omen. :-D

The other good thing: My horoscope from last week. :-)

The sun shines brighter on my new home. The old place had resemblances to a cave and was surrounded by tall trees. My new space has many broad windows and soaks up the solar radiance from dawn to dusk. As you might expect, my 15 plants need to drink a lot more than they used to. The watering ritual at the old house used to come once a week, but now it's every other day. According to my reading of the astrological omens, a comparable shift is occurring in your rhythm, Libra. Metaphorically speaking, more heat and light are coming your way.

Sounds like someone knew I was going to Cairo soon. :-)

Eggo is Geen Antwoord

I keep letting this get away from me. Truth be told, I never feel like writing down the boring details of my day. I wake up, I sometimes go to Coffee Star, sometimes I stay home but either way, I translate. I come home, I watch Star Trek or NCIS, and I try to keep from freaking out entirely. Mostly it works. :-)

For my birthday mom sent me to get a massage. My shoulders have been killing me for years now thanks to my wonderful study habits. No sarcasm there: I sit for hours working diligently, and my shoulders suffer. Since then, I've changed my habits. First of all, I only work a certain number of hours. I tend to feel like I should be studying every waking moment, which of course is just asking for a burn out. So I downloaded a meditation timer, and put in the number of hours I want to to work. Every 30 min a bell will ring, and I take a break. I stand and I stretch and I walk around. When my time is up another bell will ring, and I'm done for the day.

Once my day is done, I do 20 min of yoga (Yogamazing.com.) And I listen to podcasts. Or I read. I've downloaded some pretty cool podcasts, like MIT's Intro to Psychology course, and Coaching the Life Coach. I light a bunch of candles (which also double as heat since mine doesn't seem to work) and chat with Koos. Life is good.

So. In one week. Cairo. Though it's not sunk in yet, and won't until I get my next exam out of the way. Talk about being freaked out. We get 1 hour to translate a text and then we talk about it for another hour. So far, it takes me 4-7 hours to translate a text! :-S But I'm no worse off than any of the others in the class, so I'm not too horribly worried. I'm just tired of failing every exam I take.

Ah, but in 7 days from today I will be submerged in sunlight and heat. If everything else falls apart, and I fail everything I put my hand to in Egypt, I will be warm and dry. Something in me must have needed a dark wet place to grow, but the rest of me is crying out for heat and light! Alhamdulillah, 7 days!! (Inshallah! :-p)

And, in 33 days: Koos comes to Cairo. :-D

Evil is boring. The Universe is friendly. Life is on my side. Joy is my birthright. Cynicism is idiotic. Fear is a bad habit. Despair is lazy. In fact, all of creation wants me to succeed!

(www.freewillastrology.com