Well then.

It seems I have some explaining to do. I have not written in quite a while. I'm so sorry! These things happen, you know. I just keep thinking, oh I should write, and then I just don't. I get all my best ideas on the tram, in the shower. I get all motivated, and then by the time I am actually by a computer that motivation is gone. Someone should invent a shower idea-taking device. I feel like this already exists? Anyway. This is probably not very important to be discussing.

I also haven't posted to our flagship blog (the program's blog, where we all contribute), which I also feel bad about. Again with the ideas and empty promises. But anyway. I should move on. What has been happening lately? What are the haps?! How is it where you are?? I hope everyone had a delightful Thanksgiving, and also a good November in general. This was quite an epic month for all involved, I feel like. I will attempt to recap.

Siwa
We went to Siwa! I can't even remember how many times I promised to write about Siwa (I even did that the first time we went, over the summer! Haha oh good times). Here is what you should know: Siwa is fantastic. It is very relaxed and laid back and the best place to go if you enjoy things like palm trees and relaxing around fires and riding in jeeps in the desert and rolling in the sand and having dance parties under the full moon and stars and having midnight parties at hot springs in the desert. We all got the desert madness, some people saw like tracks from a one-legged creature of some sort, we partied with Bedouins, we had some truly epic cuddling. It was magical.



Wednesday is the new Thursday
Remember how sometimes, in college, Thursday is the new Friday? Well, since our weekends here start on Friday, we finally made Wednesday the new Thursday after we totally accidentally had a ridiculously epic party on a Wednesday after class. Seriously, it started at like 2pm, and then next thing I know, someone is building a pyramid out of beer cans and calling it a beeramid, there is crazy dancing going on, everyone is ridiculous, and we're all passed out by 9pm. It was magic. Then we spent the entire weekend watching movies and having more parties. Truly productive. (picture: festive times commence! aka we bought Christmas lights)



Sick, and also Secret Clubs
Then I got sick for like a week. I just felt really run down, and had a sore throat a lot, and felt really nauseous a lot, and threw up a few times. Oh also there was some football madness for a while, Egypt vs. Algeria for a spot in the World Cup? They played twice, and Egypt won the first round but lost the second. I saw one of the games at this magical place called the Portuguese Club, which is ridiculous for a few reasons. Reason number one: there is no sign on the door, just a gate which you knock on and there is even a little panel that gets pulled back so someone can see who is outside. I really wanted to give the guy a password but couldn't think of anything, and he let us in anyway.

Thanksgiving!!! (Flagship style)
So, that brings us to Thanksgiving. Not real, America Thanksgiving, but our fake Thanksgiving the weekend before the real thing. We did it on Saturday, and the day before we went shopping and got some Christmas decorations. Nothing major, just some tinsel and lights. So, now our bookshelf in the living room has become a Christmas tree, and our balcony is extra festive. Anyway, Thanksgiving. We all made a list of who would make what, and spent the day preparing. We wanted a Turkey, and I was skeptical about that but lo and behold, Jake suddenly showed up with a 28lb turkey and proceeded to cook it to deliciousness. It was really impressive. Also, I elected to make pumpkin pie, which would've been easy if we had gone to Cairo and bought canned pumpkin stuff, but we didn't. So, I set about looking for pumpkins, and actually got lucky. The fruit guy down our street had some nice, pumkin-y looking things (they are small, roundish, and like tan coloured?). I didn't ask what they were, so I'm still not sure. I read that there are pie pumpkins and regular, and regular aren't as sweet, but my pie turned out lovely. So, verdict is out on what I actually cooked. But anyway. We also didn't have evaporated milk, so I evaporated some of my own, and used half condensed milk to make it sweeter. I also made my own crust, didn't even roll it out, and cooked the whole thing in a metal frying pan because we don't have a pie dish. I also hand ground some cloves, steamed a pumpkin, and 'pureed' it by hand with a fork. And guess what? It turned out amazing! I plan on making another soon, since I definitely have the second half of the sketchy pumpkin left. (picture: my pie! It sort of looks like quiche or something, so I figured I'd best clarify)



Real Thanksgiving!
We had half the week off for the holiday (there is a Muslim holiday at the same time, Eid al-Adha, which is all about slaughtering sheep! Look it up! Apparently the streets were running with blood, slaughter happening in the streets, good times!). I ended up going to Dahab with a friend, and we had an amazing time. We literally did nothing except sleep, eat, nap, read in the sun, and eat and sleep some more. Very very nice. Dahab is so ridiculous, there was this tiny militia of 7-year-old boys with fake guns that roamed the streets looking menacing, and they had this fierce rivalry with this band of dogs that also roamed the streets. I also saw way too many pantless guys (in all fairness they were wearing t-shirts and speedos, but come on). Oh, new favorite? Lemon milkshake. Think really good lemonade juice (basically lemonade) and vanilla ice cream, blended. Amazing. It tastes like melted lemon ice cream.

Hilarious
So, we almost missed our bus back to Alexandria! We took a bus from Dahab to Sharm al-Sheikh, and then had to buy tickets and wait for another bus. I had taken some Egyptian motion sickness medicine, which had totally kicked my ass, so I felt incredibly loopy and like I was dreaming. We were awaiting the bus, and guys kept coming over and being like, "you want bus to Dahab?" and we were like, no, Alexandria, and they said that bus wasn't there yet. So, we had faith that someone would come get the two foreigners once the Alexandria bus showed up. I guess we weren't keeping track of time, since suddenly one guy is like, "the bus is here!". So we gather our stuff, go outside, and look around. No buses look particularly like people are getting on, so we ask some old men, and one of them gets up and starts rushing around the side of the building. We follow, only to see our bus driving off through the gates of the station. This old guy starts running after, yelling at the driver, but to no avail. We're standing around stunned when a Bedouin guy jumps out of the bushes and is like, "come on! come on!". We follow to his pickup truck, throw our stuff in the back, and have barely climbed inside when he peels out of the parking lot and takes off after the bus. Meanwhile, I'm rolling around in the back of the pickup, having failed to secure myself properly, feeling quite groggy, and wondering what the heck is going on. The bus was really booking it, and we didn't catch up for quite some time, but finally we made it, pulled up along side, and after much horn honking and whatever the bus pulled over and we climbed aboard. I was super embarrassed, but there turned out to only be like 5 people on the bus, so not too many accusing stares were given at the stupid foreigners. Good times.

Ok! That was fun. I might have other stories to tell later, but mostly they are all boring and about how I hate going to classes. It is the birthday of one of the guys today, so we're having a party. We got party hats and a cake and sparkly pink candles that say '63' because we couldn't find any other numbers. We're going to have balloons, and play Apples to Apples! It's going to be great. And then it's Thursday! And the weekend! And oh my goodness guess what in less than three weeks I'll be home!!!! Like, America style!!!!

Music times!

Hello! I will post more in a little bit, but for right now I wanted to quickly share some music I am totally in love with. I am too lazy to go about posting the music links here, but you can just as easily visit some other sites and maybe discover some new music, too!

First, go here. There are some fantastic remixes posted on this blog.

Next, go here and search for Hot Chip, and listen to the first song, 'Take It In'. It is fantastic. Then, search for a song by Hot Chip and Peter Gabriel. It is a Vampire Weekend cover, and it is totally wonderful.

Also, is it wrong that I am totally into the new Lady Gaga song? ('Bad Romance'). You decide!

Everything is true!!!

So, I found on Google Books today a book I read sophomore year that totally changed my life. It is this super silly hippy anarchist type book, but I love it. Here is an example of why I love it so (because it says things that are so wonderful and scary):

Everything in nature is perfectly real including consciousness, there's absolutely nothing to worry about. Not only have the chains of the Law been broken, they never existed; demons never guarded the stars, the Empire never got started, Eros never grew a beard.

No, listen, what happened was this: they lied to you, sold you ideas of good & evil, gave you distrust of your body & shame for your prophethood of chaos, invented words of disgust for your molecular love, mesmerized you with inattention, bored you with civilization & all its usurious emotions.

There is no becoming, no revolution, no struggle, no path; already you're the monarch of your own skin--your inviolable freedom waits to be completed only by the love of other monarchs; a politics of dream, urgent as the blueness of sky.

I love this book the way I love poetry. It's not like I believe everything it says, I just love the way he says it, and the wonderful crazy ideas that are in the book. Examples:

POETIC TERRORISM: Weird dancing in all-night computer-banking lobbies. Unauthorized pyrotechnic displays. Land-art, earthworks as bizarre alien artifacts strewn in State Parks. Burglarize houses but instead of stealing, leave Poetic-Terrorist objects. Kidnap someone & make them happy.

Awesome!

In other news, I went to Siwa again!!! I promise (really I do!) that I will post about it tomorrow. I may even start writing tonight and save a draft so I can have all my ideas down! It was a totally magical trip. Ok, time to go watch '17 Again' (that movie is seriously awesome)! Goodnight!

The sky gathered again

I feel immensely guilty about my lack of insightful posts recently! I have been reading other people's blogs, and they say much more interesting stuff than I do. So, since I can't organize my thoughts right now, I'll instead post some random...tidbits? Items? I don't know. Anyway.

The Tram
Every day we ride the tram to school and then back home again. The tram is this rickety old metal train thing, generally with three cars, that trundles along a mostly straight metal track (there are cables above it, too). The cars themselves are quite past their prime, and there is not that much seating room so I generally stand. The tram is generally not super crowded in the morning, but in the afternoons and at other times it is super crowded, to the point of being ridiculous. It's like rush hour on the most heavily trafficked subway system, or something even worse. All this, only with the added benefits of being in a mostly hot climate and being filled with women wearing far too much clothing who are inclined to shower less than I would deem necessary. It is quite the experience. Social norms on the tram are super bizarre to me, as well. For example, sometimes I will get on the tram, and be greeted by just flat out hostile stares from women. It is like the very fact of my presence is offending them. I thought maybe it had to do with how much skin I was showing, but apparently not, as some days I am super covered and I get it even worse. Then there are the girls who will just unabashedly stare and talk about me and whoever I'm with. It's really super uncomfortable to be subjected to that, so I just make a game of staring back, not looking away, and maybe throwing in some arch glances and eyebrow-raising just for good measure. People will also try and cheat you out of your standing space if you are lucky enough to get a spot next to the wall or window. It's so weird.

Weather
So, last week or so, we were having this weird spell where it was super ridiculously humid, and there was horrible smog or something everywhere. It was like Texas weather. It was gross. Now, after some normalcy, we have been having rain! We had some on and off rain recently, and then at the end of last week (I think) there were some thunderstorms, complete with lightning and everything. It had already been chilly (or just cool) in the evenings, and now it is even chillier. It rained like monsoon style yesterday (imagine those news clips of hurricanes, or a rain storm in Texas), and it is still damp and cool outside. There was sun earlier, but intermittent clouds have been hanging around in a very serious fashion. Last night I was actually cold, and right now in my apartment I feel a bit chilled. Craziness! Is there truth to this rumor of Alexandria actually having a winter?!

Siwa
We're going back to Siwa this weekend!!! I'm super excited. Pretty much half our group hasn't been before, so that's going to be interesting. We're staying two nights in a hotel and one in the desert, and doing the bus rides there and back during the day (as opposed to our crazy night bus trips last time!). I'm just excited to run around in the desert. I do love being in the desert, particularly in the late afternoon and close to sunset. It's just so fun and pretty. It's going to be pretty cold to sleep outside, though, so I'm getting ready for some epic cuddling.

Classes and confrontations
Today there was a semi-epic throwdown in my translation class. We have all been complaining about it, but we never actually complained to the teacher, and so she found out from one of the directors. She's pretty disappointed in us, meanwhile, since a lot of us didn't hand in some assignments, and lots of people have just been not giving the class a lot of effort. It's a tricky subject, as it is both hard to teach and hard to do (translation, I mean). I don't want to go into the specifics, but there was some ranting in class and the teacher took it quite admirably, but still did not handle it that well (a main complaint against her is that she does not explain things, and she handled this by...not explaining things). Oh well. The point is: I still don't understand Arab social norms. I just don't. I was so surprised that she didn't lose her cool or yell back when things were getting heated in class, and she mostly seemed upset that we didn't go to her first. I just don't know. Maybe I'll write more about this later.

The whole education system here is different, of course. The teaching style is much more different from what we are used to, as are just the social interactions in school or office situations. Teachers always want complaints brought to them directly, but I have not met that many Arab teachers who I felt comfortable bringing complaints to. They also all have a very lecturing style (by this I mean that they talk and talk and you sit there and, I don't know, absorb or something). We have one teacher who just talks the whole class and then sometimes says that he knows he talked throughout the whole class just this once but there was good reason. He never lets us talk, and tells us semi-interesting stuff about literature and history, which would be acceptable if the class was not in fact an Arabic language class in which we are supposed to be learning and using the Arabic language. It is quite annoying.

My roommate and I have been watching spooky movies lately, since we both got into the Halloween spirit and decided that it was time to catch up on scary movies. It has been going well so far, except that we've watched very understated and atmospheric creepy movies, which does unsettle the viewer some. This was not helped by the super creepy howling wind yesterday.

I've kind of run out of coherent thoughts for now, so I'm going to go and try to get started on my homework for this weekend. We leave for Siwa tomorrow after class, and we're coming back Saturday night. Hopefully I'll have all sorts of good pictures and such to post then!

I hope it is nice wherever you are, and that you are having a good time!

Spooky Towne!!!

So, we had a Halloween party. I know I should post other, more interesting things, but honestly, life is not all that interesting lately! I get up, I eat sleepily, I take the tram to class, I sit in class, I have my internship or I go home, I don't do homework, I do homework, I eat food, maybe work out, go to bed. Repeat. And then it is the weekend and we have parties! ...like a Halloween party!

Everyone dressed up in admirable costumes; the only one who wasn't wearing a costume was a last minute friend of a friend who got a free pass as this was her first time here. Everyone else? A+ efforts! There was dancing, spooky Mafia games, a costume contest, and general fun times. Example:





Notice how my roommate and I are matching sexy lumberjacks. Well, at least, that's what we were aiming for, and what resulted was an infinitely more awesome, like, 1920's or 40's but also French Canadian explosion of fantastic, complete with party mustaches on sticks. Win.

Anyway, I just wanted to share all that (oh, the picture of the skeleton? That was, and still is, on the front door of our apartment...). We're off to have dinner at a super awesome teacher's apartment, so I'm excited for what is in store. Also, the weather is starting to act like it might be getting cooler. It's very lovely and fall-like in the evenings. Yay?

All the sun long

Hello! I have a confession to make. Today, I listened to christmas music. And I sang along. And I'm okay with that.

In other news I am having a formal party tonight!!! I hope it turns out super classy. We all painted our nails last night, and I'm baking a cake, and apparently the boys are having some surprise classy clothing or whatever, I don't know (they just keep telling me that we are going to need to 'bring our A game' and such). We're also going to play mafia, and charades, and that hat game! Oh boy. I'm gonna wear heels!!!

OH also I dyed my hair last night. Dark brown. Well, my roommate dyed it. And she did such an A+ job! It looks super good, except now I think the actual hairs need work, like haircut style. Hopefully I'll get that taken care of this weekend.

There is really not much else to report, unfortunately. My classes are really sucking right now! I feel like I am getting progressively more and more dumb with each passing day. This is because we do not learn things. And, also I guess my attitude is not too good right now. But it's really hard when you don't ever do anything! I need to step it up, I suppose. I did talk to our director about one of my classes, because while all of them are sort of so-so right now, there is one that is really really awful. The teacher uses English in class, doesn't give homework, doesn't give us chances to talk or do any using of language in class, and doesn't teach us anything really. He also seems to be under the impression that we are in first year Arabic. So, I talked to our director, and hopefully some sort of changes will be made.

Oh my goodness I am in such a festive mood right now!!! I'm listening to this ridiculous 'African Christmas' cd that I got freshman year, and it is probably terrible. It's all like 'African' flavored christmas classics, totally not authentic or anything I don't think, but it's just so awesome and festive! Plus, it's practically dark outside already, and it's only 5:30, so that is helping me feel like it is Christmas.

Anyway! I got distracted and didn't finish what I think I was going to say, but oh well. Maybe I'll write more tomorrow! Except how I always say that! Haha! ....aaanyway. I'm going to go bake a cake! And I'm wearing a polka dot dress!!! Good times ahoy?

Kisses!!!

Aww yiss

Oh look what I found! A poem that I wrote one time! I really am kind of into it, but I can't tell if that's just because I'm into myself or because it is really an okay kind of poem. So, you be the judge!!!

All Is Not Lost

The leaves were raining,
and the rain was leaving puddles
around my feet and misty imprints in the air,
and I have never felt more alive.
All morning the sun burned away at the fog,
leaving halos around tall buildings and church spires
--and I walked among the trees
and the people and the bus stops,
and I felt alive.
And then it's night and the stars are up and out and
I am four again.
I am four and I am in Australia, and
I am realizing the sky is just what it is
and you will always be right there,
right where I know to look.

And at least we're not drowning yet.
At least the skies have not swarmed down,
at least the rowdy sea has not decided that
enough is enough,
and seized the land once more.
For a time it is only just enough
and more than well enough,
for a time it is ok for waves to meet
rocks and for rocks to meet cliffs,
and for cliffs to meet grassy heaths
and heaths to meet roads
and roads to lace up the surface of the ground,
winding their way back to us,
to tell us of the sea.

Ok then. Let's go to work.


Thoughts???? Believe me, there is plenty more questionable creative writing from Freshman year where that came from! Oh boy.

Anyway. I don't really have much more to add, I guess. I can't remember when I last updated, but not much has been accomplished really in October. We've had some parties? I think maybe I'll think about this and post some more tomorrow. Right now it is really freaking hot, like sultry and irritating hot, like you want to turn on a small fan and not wear much clothing and sort of mope about in a sexy way, except how I am in Egypt so really all that is happening right now is my apartment is full of mosquitoes because the windows are open and I really do not feel like doing my homework. I wish I was somewhere sexy. Anyway! I should go eat some lentils or something. Will write more tomorrow! Kisses!