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.