Snippets

Photographssss.

Oh, hello!

Hello! I'm planning my return to blogging land pretty soon, and for now here is a tantalizing teaser: I've started a tumblr account!!! I don't even understand it, loads of people use it and I'm just figuring it out, but I think the design is pretty cool and I like that I can just post pretty pictures and stuff like that. Anyhow, here is the link.

And with that, I'm off to (re)watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! I can't stop, I have to postpone the inevitable feeling of grief and emptiness after realizing there are no more Harry Potter movies (after tomorrow at least).

Kisses!!!!!

Happy Times!

Blogging FRENZY

Ok ok so wow hey even more blogging!

A girl I went to high school with is super cool (like pretty much everyone I went to high school with) and wrote an article! About PHYSICS! You can find it here. Also, since I was linking to other blogs in my five-minutes-ago post, I'll link to more! One of my good friends from college is this crazy science nerd, and she is doing this ridiculous sounding Masters program (I think it is a Masters?) in Europe where you study at all these different schools in different countries, and it's like half the time I don't even know what she is talking about because she is so sciencey and cool but yeah here is her blog. Another girl I went to college with is doing med school in the Dominican Republic, which I think is super cool also, and you can find her thoughts here.

See? See what I did there? In lieu of ACTUAL things to say, and ACTUAL cultural information, I just gave you links to what other people have to say about other stuff! I do it because I love you.

ANTI-CLIMACTIC

I'M BACK!!!!!!!

I know, I've pretty much disappointed myself and the entire concept of travel blogging over the past half year. Well, I have one thing to say about that. OH WELL. Maybe one day I'll do a post on What I Learned In My Year Abroad, or Cultural Insights. So far, though, I've found that other people are doing that better than I could (see cakelyn.wordpress.com or monica-egypt.blogspot.com, two lovely ladies who I sincerely wish I was able to spend the year with).

So what is left, if I'm not giving you choice cultural gems of information or deep thoughts about my life changes? Well, you might get that anyway, just not right now. For now, I'm back home, living in Mahomet, taking care of the awesome dogs my mom got in the Spring, and generally just relaxing. I'm working at Applebees, and it is okay. I'm getting that travel urge REAL bad, so we'll see what happens. I think I need money first, though, so I'll probably be here for a while.

In the meantime! I love you! I miss you! I hope you are having a wonderful time! I hope you are feeling the festivities of the impending holiday trifecta (Halloween, Thanksgiving, CHRISTMAS!), and I hope you are able to drink some tasty spiced cider or warm fall beverage of your choice. Hopefully I'll be posting more interesting things in the future? Anyway. Kisses!

Long Overdue Pictures

I'm working myself up to an actual post, and to get you all nice and excited for that, here are some pictures of what I've been up to!

Karnak Temple



Edfu Temple


Beautiful Views from Temple of Philae


Cruising on the Nile


Lake Nasser


Botanical Gardens


Abu Simbel!


Awkward faces at a birthday ball


I made cupcakes!


That is all for now. This weekend I have to write 2400 words IN ARABIC on the US financial crisis, effects, and solutions. I barely understand that stuff in English. So, fun times? Anyway. Kisses!

Endless Apologies

I am a terrible updater of blogs! I'm so sorry. But fear not, my lovelies, I promise to be better from now on ("yes what empty promises!" I'm sure you are saying. Well we shall see!). For now I am doing homework (quelle surprise!) but here is a little sign of life to let you know that I still care! This is one of my favorite poems of all time, the one I have memorized best (I will recite it to you at the slightest encouragement). I like the imagery and most of all the sounds that it makes. You should read it out loud, it's more fun that way.

God's Grandeur, by Gerard Manley Hopkins

THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

That is all! Happy Tuesday. Oh, one more thing. I think it might be spring? Or at least that spring might be doing her best to show up in Egypt? Anyway. Kisses!

Oh no New Year!

Hello my pretties! It is 2010!!! When did that happen?! ...anyway. I went home for two weeks and now I'm back in Alexandria, which is...interesting. I've been super super jet lagged since I arrived, which has resulted in some creative sleeping hours and a general sense of ennui, although hopes are I will be getting over it in the next week.

The break was awesome! After I arrived, I stayed in Chicago for the night with my momma and we shopped around, got to experience some nice winter midwestern weather. I ate a ton of food, went to the movies, had awesome friend times, and generally had a very good time. I love being at home. I even got to see my grandma! Maybe I'll post holiday pictures at some point. Yes, I think I actually will. But for right now here is a thing that makes me very happy:

Act local!

Ok this has very little to do with Egypt or anything, but it is very exciting nonetheless and sort of relevant since yesterday I actually did a terrible presentation in my colloquial Arabic class on organic farming! Right, without further ado...my first job/favorite job/favorite organic farm/source of the tastiest things has a website!!!! Go look at the pictures! Delicious times! Man, I would really enjoy sitting on the warm dirt picking some cherry tomatoes or peas right now, or walking up and down the rows of basil. I'd even be okay with, perhaps, some light lettuce harvesting!

In other news, ONE WEEK UNTIL I AM HOME. Ok that's not exactly true but basically it is. One week from now, in the evening, I am going to be getting on a bus to Cairo, and then early in the morning on Friday I will be heading for AMERICA. I am so ready. I am going to eat so many clementines!!! I will be so festive! Candy canes! Hot chocolate! Popcorn! Festive holiday drinks! Snow! Shopping! Holiday parties! Oh man, I am so excited!

Oh no

So, apologies, apparently the facebook link didn't work...I'm still trying to work that out, but in the meantime, take a gander at THIS:


We had a competition at the end, with the results:
Mountain Man


Most Angelic


Most Resembling the Facial Hair of a French Pirate, and Also On Fire


Creepiest


...but wait! There's more! Here are the crazy creations the boys came up with:


So. I hope your day has thusly been brightened with all the beardly glory.

Beard Explosion

So, last month was No Shave November, and our five flagship boys managed to cultivate some quite excellent facial hair. And then, at the start of this month, they all shaved their beards into weird and delightful patterns. For your viewing pleasure, you can view the pictures here!

Kisses!

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!

Back again!!!

So, I'm back in Alexandria. I know, I know, pretty much last time I posted was freaking back in the summer and I was all, "oh I'll post soon about Siwa haha", and I totally didn't, but yeah. I'm sorry! These things happen. I think that the link I posted to another girl's blog that one time about Siwa should about cover it for you, though, and if I ever think of anything I could just write it. But for now I have other things to tell you of. I went home for about 6 or 7 weeks, and it was lovely! Here are some highlights:
-Michigan: saw my cousin who is now in CAMEROON!, ate at Zingerman's (i hope that is right) in Ann Arbor, went to a wedding of a girl I hardly know, had an awesome family picnic in Grosse Pointe Park, and had some nice home cooked meals. It was basically a really good time, and my mum and I listened to a really good story tape on the drives, too.

-Illinois: I relaxed, saw friends, had a special classy evening hosted by Sasha and ending in a drag show at a gay bar (the drag queens! they can dance! like, they will own your shit! in a dance contest, and otherwise!), went running, read books 4-7 of Harry Potter, had Netflix!!! and watched several really good movies I'd missed, and had an all around good time. There were shenanigans, it was awesome. Oh! And I had a bath!

-Austin: Woooo! Ate at some of my favorite places (although Sao Paulo's chicken was not amazing for the first time in recorded memory...), saw my awesome friends, saw old friends, played drunk mini golf, accomplished goals, and basically was forcibly reminded of how totally wonderful Austin is. Then I drove back to Illinois.

So now, that leaves me in Alexandria. I got here, oh, Friday? I think? I left America on last Tuesday, arrived in London (!) on Wednesday, and had a lovely day around town with a boy (!). Then Thursday I did whirlwind shopping and then, weeping dejectedly, boarded a plane for Cairo, where I just got progressively more and more disillusioned and angry. On the plus side, I read The Time Traveler's Wife? It was pretty okay. Crazy premise!

My apartment is nice, so that's a plus. I am feeling really uncertain guilty shadows of feelings about not doing a host family, because I know it would be so nice to have a family just ready made and there to take care of you and love you. Maybe I would come out of this year being the kind of bubbly, exuberant, large-close-family-having person I've always dreamed of! More likely, however, is that it would be rather stressful for me, I think. I'm just not used to that, and however beneficial it would be, at the outset of all of this business I promised myself that I would get an apartment. I figure that I am going through a time (not a rough time or a bad time, but certainly a time) of change, perhaps, or a time of uncertainty or volatility in my personality, so I'd better do what I can while I'm here to ensure success. If that makes any sense. And I already made this decision, so I'm going to stop being wishy-washy and pretending like I regret it, right now! Ok.

Although, honestly having an apartment is weird right now. I haven't really lived with other people much! I mean, there's two years of dorm rooms, and then there's a summer of total stress and other people in an apartment, and then there's a year of solo living/dorm rooms, and then a year of what was basically solo living with an ever-absent roommate. So, I don't know what to do with two other people who I care about liking me. You know? And, plus, I'm all jetlagged and confused, so I keep having these feelings like, what am I supposed to do now? What do we do with our time? It's really stupid. I'm sure I'll get the hang of being a person soon. I mean, I better, because man!

Anyway. Oh, news! The boys got quarantined! It was a stupid swine flu paranoia thing, involving one of our number getting taken to the hospital against his will, breaking out of the hospital, and then getting a whole floor quarantined. And, because Egypt is so great, the staff in the dorms was trying to stop them using AC or showers, because those are things that will make you get sick! (.....) But, good news, I don't think anyone actually has swine flu, and I just got word that the boys organized a breakout in order to go drink beer by the sea. So, good news?

Food is another weird thing right now. I'm not obsessive about my food, by any means, but I am particular. I'll seriously eat anything if I'm hungry enough, but I do like what I like. I like having access to good quality, healthy food, preferably with minimal artificial things in it. Lately, just the idea of tons of extraneous ingredients in food makes me feel weird. But, so far, this kind of thing is going to be difficult to come by here. I mean, I can get vegetables (what's in season, anyway...peppers, tomatoes, some basics). I can get seasonable fruit. I can get bread. I can get white pasta. I can get low fat plain yogurt, juice from concentrate, skim milk, and (from the right places) tuna in water. There are loads of lentils and beans and peas and such. But, I am having a hard time with the following: lack of good cheeses that I am used to, lack of meat that I trust (where is the good old organic chicken behind it's reliable fly-proof counter at Central Market?!), lack of whole grains. I don't know. I know I'll get used to this, but it's hard right now. Little things like this really throw me off kilter. I splurged and paid way more than necessary for brown rice, but am sadly without any kind of hard cheese to grate on top. I'll figure it out?

Speaking of rice, mine has been sitting on the stove for a while, so I should go eat. Oh, we have a gas stove! Which I guess is desirable? Although ours is quite...not modern. Anyway. I'll update soon with more exciting insights (haha)! Chances are, I miss you!

Know how to climb a tree?

So! Of course, I have tons of important things to tell you about. Just so I remember later, and to get you excited about them, here is what you will be hearing about as soon as I have more time: Zoo! Siwa! Cairo! Emotions! Dancing!

In the meantime! I have had an excellent idea! Check it: I have lots of awesome friends, yes? (This is a trick question, of course they are awesome, they are my friends after all). Between all of us we have traveled a fair part of the world, and it is safe to say that everyone has something interesting to say about some place somewhere. I'm always meeting people who are going someplace I've been, or want to go, etc, and always want to tell them exactly where to go and give them all this advice. But I'm always too lazy to do that. Well! I came up with this idea! So, google maps, right? Pretty cool, a nice way to coordinate travel plans (as I discovered last year). Also, a good way to show people where to go and find necessary places in other lands. So finally my idea: make a google map (or several, maybe, broken into regions) of travel recommendations! I leave it open for collaboration, and everyone can invite other people, so we can all edit it and add our own tips and favorite hostels and restaurants, etc. Awesome?!

I've started already, with London. I know of two people already who are going to London over the break, so of course I'm totally living vicariously through them. Other people are going to other places I've been, and yet more people are doing things I would like to do. Oh man! I'm so excited about this! Collaboration! And travel!!! Yes!

Here is the link for my London map, and it is also to the right-hand side of the page ---> along with some other tasty links to pictures I've taken (and also a small collection of works from my freshman year artsy phase!). Ok, that is all for now, bed time!