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!!!!

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!

And It Makes Me Feel So Fine

Hello! So, this past weekend I had? It was pretty awesome! I will tell you about it! Right now!!!

Thursday after class we got on a bus headed for Mt. Sinai. I expected the trip to take a while, and of course we left a little late, got stuck in traffic around Cairo, etc, etc.....so we rolled into our hotel by the mountain at like 1am, just in time for an hour nap before our 2am ascent of the mountain. Hooray! The bus ride was...okay. It was very hot for most of the time, until the sun went down. The seats definitely left something to be desired, although I luckily had two seats to myself so I could configure my sleeping position accordingly. We watched THREE movies! An Arabic drama I do not know the name of, Omar wa Selma PART ONE, and The Fast and the Furious. It was a good time. The first movie, the dramatic one, had this actor in it who played a character in the DVDs that came with our Arabic textbooks. So, naturally, we were all really into it. The storyline was weird, though; I didn't really catch a lot of it, besides drama and people yelling in literally every scene. There was this one girl who just kept pouring gasoline on herself and threatening to light herself on fire, and there was a LOT of violence against women. It was pretty ridiculous.

Anyway! We stayed that night at a hotel close by Mt. Sinai (not at the monastery, where I stayed last time). There were surprisingly few people on the trails, and the moon was ridiculously bright. We didn't even need flashlights, except when the moon was behind the mountain. It was pretty cool. I was kind of worried at first, since I was totally exhausted and really didn't sleep, but I pulled it together admirably in the end and made it to the top before pretty much everyone else. We got the same awesome spot as last time, then snuggled (some smart people brought blankets!) until sunrise. On the way back down I followed some people down the camel path instead of the Steps of Repentance, which I was a little disappointed about but was probably for the best, since I was completely exhausted.



Later in the day (after napping), we headed out to Sharm el-Sheikh, and of course we left late. The bus ride was terrible in many ways, but oh well. Finally we got to our hotel, which was nice of course. I was almost the last person to get a room key, and the saga to our room was totally ridiculous. We had a room in the 700s, so naturally looked for the 7th floor, which, there wasn't one, and the elevator gave us issues, etc, etc, FINALLY we get to the right floor but after walking and walking and not finding it we find a door leading outside....and up some stairs, we discover like a resort village thing, with sweet villas and pools and such. It was crazy. Then we had a showdown with this dude driving a golf cart thing that really wanted us to ride in it too. (picture is view from my awesome balcony)



After that, we rushed back out for a glass bottom boat trip!!! It was so cool! We got to see all sorts of stuff, and then when I looked outside the boat at the water I could see fish! I could actually see all the awesome fish just sitting there. The water was so clear. We got to all jump in and swim around, it was the coolest.



That night we ate at the hotel, which had an amazingly tasty buffet of awesome. The desert was very varied, but a bit disappointing. Food, though, is always good and appreciated. Then, we pretty much just wandered and marveled at how ridiculously touristy Sharm is. Seriously, it was like a totally different world. People were just dressed totally in a silly fashion, and it was basically like the most ridiculous tourists from every country (especially Europe) decided to all come hang out and wear their trashiest clothing and be so trashy. Ridiculous. I felt FAR too modest.

Also interesting: every time we spoke any Arabic at all, the Egyptians were all, "OH MY GOODNESS you speak ARABIC?!?!?!" ......even when all we would say was like, "how much" or "two" or "thank you" (in Arabic of course). Then they would be like, "you speak such good Arabic". Ridiculous. I got really sick of it after some dude got all excited about me and followed me around this store bothering me and trying to be my friend and took my stuff and cut in line for me to help me pay (earning me dirty looks from some trashy Europeans). He then followed me out like we were best friends, all "what are you doing now?!". Creepy.



The next day (Saturday) we got up early, had an awesome breakfast (unnecessary picture of the bread display above), and headed out for our trip to Ras Mohammed! Ras Mohammed is a really cool marine preserve, or something? Look it up, though; it is a cool thing and kind of unique, I think? Anyway. We had a really frustrating and confusing thing at some dive shop, of course, but then headed out on a boat and it was so sweet!



We got to chill out on the top of the boat in the sun, and the water was the most beautiful blue. We stopped at three different places, and I got to snorkel!!! Snorkeling is the coolest, you guys! I had no idea! I was really freaked out at first, because the flippers were all awkward, and the mask was even more awkward. Looking under the water the first time was so strange! I couldn't get used to the fact that I could breath and also have my head under water. Crazy! But man, it was SO COOL. Just being able to see stuff was amazing, and the water is so unbelievably clear that you can see to the bottom even when there isn't stuff to see.

And then! We got to see THINGS! Under the water! Coral and fish and fish and coral! The coral wasn't quite such a color explosion as I was expecting (I really had no idea what to think), but it was pretty cool. And fish! We saw so many fish! A lot of the time, there would be a school of fish just hanging out, by the surface, just inches away. I kept thinking I would hit one, or that I could grab one. I never did. But they would just be right there, they weren't avoiding us at all. We saw tons of cool blue fish, some big dark colored fish with little spots, big flat fish of different kinds (angel fish and other variations on that kind of thing), big round fish, stripy fish, some long skinny pipe-cleaner fish, some really big rainbow fish....we saw a barracuda, and a manta ray! It was just cruising by, down by the bottom. There were some big fish with big eyes and kind of bulldog jaws, and man it was just SO. COOL. I loved it. By the third snorkel expedition, I finally got my nerve up and dove down deeper. Loads of people were doing it, but I was nervous. It was actually pretty easy, with the flippers and all. It was a little tough to manage the snorkel, but I did okay.

It was just the best day. We hung out on a boat, they fed us, we even hooked up an ipod to the speakers. I got a little sea sick at one point, but not too bad. We jumped off the top of the boat!!! It was awesome! And really high! Our director lady, Robyn (who is unquestionably awesome), DOVE off the top of the boat, because that is how she rolls.

Lots of people got pretty sunburnt on their backs, because of the snorkeling. I made out okay, and actually got a lot less sun than I thought, I guess on account of the sunblock I kept reapplying. Yay? Some people did scuba diving, which must have been awesome, and it was cool to see them down there. I dove sort of deep (but not as much as many people) with my snorkel, and kept trying to follow fish. I spent a lot of time in the water at the third stop, and we kept having to avoid these glass bottomed boats or weird 'submarine' things that kept going back and forth over our area. At one point we were just hanging out in the midst of hundreds of different fish, just chillin. I tried so hard to catch one, but the closest I got was feeling the rush of water against my hand as it jetted away from me.

As if the day wasn't already awesome enough, after we got back to the hotel I ate some Movenpick icecream. It was the best thing. I got chocolate and blackberry, and oh my goodness the deliciousness. And later that night? After dinner? I got creme brulee and lemon sorbet. So freaking good. We wanted to go out and go dancing or do some kind of fun thing at night, but we were all pretty exhausted and no one had any definite ideas (and no one wanted to be the one to make decisions), so me and a few people just bought beer and hung out on our awesome balcony.

The next day I really wanted to get up and go to the pool or beach, but I slept in a little too long (because, the bed was AMAZING compared to my bed at the dorm). And then, of course, we had to take our luggage to the lobby at 10:30...and check out at 11...and we were 'supposed' to leave at 11:30....and the freaking bus didn't show up until like 2pm......so I was very frustrated. I really hate feeling like I waste time in a place, particularly time I could be spending doing things specific to a place. Like being immodest and splashing around in an awesome sea. Oh well. I got over it. The bus ride was fine, I guess, if a little (ok a lot) frustrating and uncomfortable. I ate sushi for dinner? We got home at like 2:30am. I just want to turn around and go straight back!

I'm sorry, I feel like that was slightly rambling. The internet in my dorm as just continued to get worse and worse, so I am doing this in the Dar (our common room thing on our floor at the university). I have laundry I should be going home and getting, but I'd rather just get this done. People are talking and playing Arabic scrabble, so I'm not concentrating 100%. We apparently have internet on all floors of the dorm, but I guess it doesn't really work on most floors. On my floor it used to (just really spottily), and the network still shows up, but there is now a password that nobody knows. Very mysterious. The only good internet now is on the 6th floor, and there is basically always tons of Americans up there using it. Very irritating, particularly when I want to be concentrating on something. The girls are always all from the new batch of people that showed up recently, and I don't like to judge prematurely (except how I sometimes do), but they are a bit weird. I don't know about them. But, anyway. Time to go! Oh, and I updated Picassa with pictures and videos, so check it out!

Kisses!!!

Tamer Hosni Madness

Well, hello! I've had a pretty busy few days, and have some interesting things to tell you about, but I'd rather postpone the in-depth details until such a time when I have photos to supplement. And since my camera is charging right now, that time will not be today. But! I'll give a run-down of my recent activities.

Wednesday: I had a four hour meeting with my language partner, which I was rather nervous about. But happily it turned out okay! We went out to a fruit market, which was really lovely and kind of intense. (Good: so much fruit! Beautiful fresh fish, too! Bad: smelly, dirty, FLIES EVERYWHERE). I bought some apricots and apples, but I haven't actually eaten any of them yet because 1) I keep forgetting fruit goes bad here quicker than in the US, and 2) a lot of it had big bruises that are only getting worse. Oh well. It was a good experience. Then we went to a shopping district, Ibrahamiyya, and my language partner showed me around some stores. It was fun, we looked at purses and shoes, but I felt kind of bad since I am very picky and indecisive. Every time we'd go into a store (and this is true for pretty much all stores here of any kind), it is a much more personal experience than in the US. You say hello to everyone working there, they all immediately come over to try and assist you. I felt really guilty every time I didn't buy something, like I had to explain why I didn't like their products enough. Oh well. I think my language partner understood. She also was being nice and suggesting things for me to try on and such, and that is always awkward when you have to say that something suggested is really not your style. You know? And clothes in Egypt are very weird, the majority of stuff I wouldn't really think to wear ever. But I have faith that there are some good things out there.

After shopping we took a minibus to meet up with her best friend at a club (remember I told you about clubs, it's more like a country club). It was right by the ocean, and the sun was getting close to setting. Very pretty. Her friend was really sweet, I was kind of shy but I think it was okay. They are obviously really close, and became focused on each other when they met up, so I was kind of left out. But I didn't mind. We sat in the club, but then left to eat our food outside (we bought sandwiches and couldn't eat them in the club), then got some amazingly delicious cotton candy. Seriously, it was so good! It melted really quickly, turning all caramel-y and drippy. Lovely. Then I went home, met up with a friend, and got cake and took a walk. A good day!

Thursday: Class. Nap. Fourth of July party? I heard that our program had rented the university stadium for a party with frisbee and BBQ, so I went at the advertised time (5pm). Of course no one was there yet, except people from another program. It was awkward a little. We all sat in the bleachers, and there was an Egypt vs. USA soccer game between people affiliated with our program. Egypt won. We ate cotton candy and a bit of shwarma, I think. Pretty much everyone I know this weekend either went to Cairo or was planning to go to a Tamer Hosni concert Thursday night (he's a pop singer who I think wants to be the Justin Timberlake of Egypt...not even close). I didn't have tickets, so I was feeling a little morose. But! Fortunately, my friends had the hook up through these guys that we keep hanging out with (they took us to the beach last weekend), and apparently not many of them had tickets either. I got to tag along, and I was super pleased.

The concert....it was okay. I mean, yeah. I did not care for the music that much, and the structure of the concert was not pleasing (too many slow love ballads, too much slowing down then speeding up, basically my complaint boils down to NOT ENOUGH DANCING). I was also exhausted, since of course Tamer Hosni went on much later than he was supposed to. Also? Freaking Tamer Hosni was NEVER DONE. Seriously, it was like the third Lord of the Rings movie, you know, when it just never ends? It was like that. So I guess I was just cranky, we were all hungry, and I wasn't digging the whole situation. But it's good to be social. An interesting thing: the guys we were with are very protective of us, to the point where it makes me uncomfortable. They constantly look out for people getting close to us, and actually hold their arms out to kind of fence us in. I really didn't think that there was any harm coming from a guy standing in front of me, but apparently they did, since they made him move away. It just made me feel even more like we stood out, like this little group of foreigners being separated in the middle of the crowd. Oh well.

After the concert, I decided I should probably be social SOME MORE, so I went with everyone to a cafe (the sort of place with shisha, tea, juice). I was beyond tired, and not really making conversation, but I had the most delicious thing! It was lemon juice (so basically sugary lemonade) mixed with vanilla ice cream (it must have been melted, because it was not very thick at all). What resulted was basically like melted lemon ice cream. It was SO GOOD. I need to experiment and make my own some time.

Friday: I was supposed to go on a critical mass bike ride thing (critical mass is where a ton of people all ride bikes together?), but it was early and I didn't know what time, and I was beat. So, I instead got up for breakfast at 10:30, met up with my friends (who at this point consist of mostly Michigan and Maryland people, plus a few Texas), and went to the pool! There is an outdoor pool at the university stadium, and apparently we have two lanes reserved 10-12 on Fridays (allegedly 'no one is there at that time' so it is a good time for girls to go). We got there a bit closer to 12, and lo and behold there were tons of people there, including a large swim team composed of little kids (majority boys). Oh dear. There were all sorts of people (mothers mostly) in the stands watching, and no free lanes. Luckily, we asked one of the coaches, and he cleared a lane for us. So, we swam (I felt weird in a bikini but OH WELL). And discovered that in addition to the million little boys, there was also a group of scuba divers (the pool had a very deep end for diving, etc), who at one point were lurking right underneath our lane. Very awkward. The pool was probably like 50 meters long, and swimming was EXHAUSTING. I always find swimming to be so tiring, it is so different from running. It was really good, though. I swam 10 laps!!!

After swimming we went to McDonalds for ice cream, got water, ate lunch, and then showered and met back up to watch a movie in one girl's room. Remember how I went to see an Arabic movie a while back, called Omar wa Selma 2?? And it was ridiculous and mildly (extremely) full of terrible male-female interactions? Well, one of my friends bought the first Omar wa Selma, so we decided to watch it. Added bonus: Tamer Hosni stars in both films as Omar! There is no escaping him. The film was pretty ridiculous (we only watched the first half). It looked like it was shot in 90's USA (everyone had terrible clothes and hair), and was just strange in general.

Basic Plot:
Omar was seeing this girl, then she dumped him, and he is so sad. There are emotional music video montages of them and her and him like weeping or some nonsense and like sitting at home shirtless under a blanket on his sofa with candles lit everywhere staring at the phone, etc, etc. Then it's like him messing around with his goofy dad, and then it's like he's such a ladies man and there's this girl in his ridiculous bedroom and his dad knows about it, and then they joke about women, and Omar like shoves the girl out the window or something. Then, he's sad about his ex. Then, he meets Selma and is all goofy silly guy at her and she's not interested, but she walks away and then later smells her hand or something (he shook her hand) and gets all dreamy about her Tamer Hosni smelling hand. I don't know. THEN there's all this weirdness where he acts like a clown trying to get her attention and she's all "not amused" but she secretly is, then he like slashes her tires and then acts like a jerk about changing them for her. Then they both like roll around in their own beds, separately, and moon about daydreaming about the other, and over it all is this soundtrack of conversations between the two of them that I'm not sure ever happen in reality, but then suddenly they are dating and at a dinner party together. And THEN Selma's ex is there, and calls her on the phone, and she goes outside to tell him to go away. But! Omar sees that he called on her phone or something, and angrily drags her out of the place. They drive to a secluded outlook spot, and argue hardcore, and he slaps her, and then she cries about her horrible past relationship with this other guy, and they make up because Omar does something goofy. LITTLE DOES SHE KNOW Omar turns out pretty much the same as the other guy in the end.

Whew. Aren't you glad you know that? ANYWAY, after the movie we went to a wedding party (in Arabic the various celebrations for weddings are complicated, so I'm not sure what the technical English name for this would have been). It was very intense. When we were invited we were told it was a Henna Party, which is traditional for the day before the wedding. I guess maybe it still was considered a Henna Party, or I don't even know. It was basically like a village-wide carnival celebration thing held in a field and it was ridiculously.....it was an experience. More to come on that later, as soon as I can get photos and videos up online.

We got home from that late (it was like 2 hours into the countryside, I feel like!), and then today I went to Carrefour (wal-mart basically) with one of my friends. Luckily she had to get lots of stuff, too, so we strategically made the rounds and got all we needed. I got a small basin thing for holding stuff and also for hand washing clothes, some tupperware, some better shampoo and conditioner, orange juice AND apple juice, milk, yogurt, chocolate biscuits (TWO KINDS), some other stuff, 80% chocolate, and GRAPES! And water. Upon arriving home we ate lunch, and happily I got invited to even more stuff.

I really like how things are going here, it's like I somehow accidentally have found myself having a group of friends that I am considered a part of, if that makes sense. A weird thing that happened a while ago with the Texas people was that they had plans to go out to eat, and one girl (who I quite like) asked me if me and my crew were coming. It was sort of strange, like first of all I have a crew? And second of all, am I not in yours? It wasn't a bad thing or like a mean girl moment or anything, it was just a weird social interaction moment. It's easy to forget that with some groups you need to work to be included. Anyway, back to the present, I've been doing pretty well this past week (and weekend especially) with a great group of people, all of whom also keep hanging out with the Egyptian guys from Rotary who hook us up with everything. So, it's a good set up!

Later on today I am going with some of the girls to this market that is especially for women, I'm not sure what to expect there but I'm glad to be going, maybe I'll find some good scarves or jewelery? And tomorrow there is a soccer game in Cairo, Egypt vs. some other African team (I feel like it is a World Cup qualifier game?). The Egyptian guys called to invite us, and it is very hard to say no to them, so we are going. No word yet on whether this is a good idea or not (I do have class, we'd be missing lunch, when would we get back, we'd be driving, etc, etc...), but OH WELL I guess we'll just see! I decided that for the next little while I'll go along with more things even when I don't really want to. I'll agree to more things?

Special bonus side note of no importance: I washed all my grapes, removed them from the stems, and put them in my tupperware. And I bought a cup for drinking juice and milk. This pleases me very much. And! Next weekend! Mt. Sinai AND Sharm el-Sheikh!!!!

Panic in the treetops

So! I've decided that I am going to go somewhere I have never been before this year ends. (This calendar year). I am going to go somewhere, a country, that I have not been to before, by the time 2009 ends. Furthermore, I have decided that I will go somewhere new each year. No word yet on whether this idea is unreasonable or not. Perhaps if it proves difficult to maintain, I can relax the restrictions to include states or territories I have not visited, and to relax them even further maybe I can just say I will visit another country in a given year. But! For now! Youth and enthusiasm abound! A new foreign country by the end of the year! Which one shall I pick?!?! (There's so many!!!)

SUGGESTIONS?!?!?!
(My thoughts/possibilities as of now: Cyprus, Lebanon, Morocco/Tunisia, somewhere else in Africa....)

Panic in the streets!!!

Guess what! I'm back! Just like I said I'd be back. Except, well, several months late? Oh well. These things happen, I'm sure you understand. I actually can't write much right now, as I am (in typical fashion) madly trying to finish a last-minute paper by a reasonable hour tonight (I'm in the mid-700 word range, trying to get it to 2,000 and make some semblance of sense....). But! Never fear, here is the briefest of updates on my life:
-I went traveling and Saw The World! Conquered: France, Italy, Greece, Egypt (again), Jordan, Syria, Israel, Egypt (again!?).
-I came back to London, loitered around, my momma visited!
-I had some finals! They were ok.
-I went to Dublin! It was pretty great.

And now my time in London is almost up...in a few days I am heading to Spain and Portugal with my gentleman lover, and then London for a week or so before making my way back to the US. Oh, also? I have recently been on a musical kick, seeing 2 absolutely ridiculously awesome musicals in the West End! And more on the way! We're seeing the Lion King tomorrow! I am so excited. Now hopefully I can just work some magic and pull together a semi-decent paper, so I can go off and have fun with my fantastic boyfriend! (He even cooks sometimes!!!)

Speaking of....

Dance Party Continues!

Hello my pretties! Unfortunately, being swamped with work and horribly inclined towards procrastination as I am, I cannot talk much. I'm setting out on a month long vacation soon, so it may or may not be a while before there's some coherent updates going on. Perhaps if I get access to internet while I'm traveling I'll throw down some wisdom, we shall see. I went to Brussels the weekend before last, and it was ok. Brussels was very indifferent. I don't know how else to describe it. The food, though? Ridiculous. Amazing. So good. Belgian waffle plus whipped cream plus fresh strawberries? Yes please. ANYWAY.

This past Monday, I went to this huge club called Fabric...great times ensued. It was a big student-oriented party, loads of crazy things, an inflatable hot tub, gladiator fighting, huge slides, bouncy castles, weird areas, glow sticks....I do not even know the full extent of the madness. Other than getting my dance party on, I've also managed to throw together a trip to France (Paris, Nice, Corsica, and Marseilles here I come!), buy a rail pass (10 days of travel!), and book a hostel in Prague (apparently it has a 'girls zone'?). Hopefully soon I'll book the remaining hostels, get my train reservations out of the way, actually plan out the latter portion of my trip, and set off on an adventure! I leave the 19th in the afternoon, and from there it is France for a week or so, then Prague, then Rome (maybe via a few hours in Venice and Florence...depending on trains), then a boat to Athens (sleep on a chair on the deck vs. sleep in an expensive cabin...), then a flight to Alexandria, then travel up to Syria (I got my visa!!!!), then back down to Amman, maybe Israel, then Egypt, rounding it all out with some Dahab action, hopefully. Yay travel! I just hope I a) finish my papers in time, and b) manage to somehow procure a suitable travel backpack by that time! Oh, life.

ANYWAY the point of all this is that my work ethic is basically zero right now, so I have been setting my mind to researching the best hostel in Rome and listening to dance remixes of awesome songs. I don't know if this will work, but hopefully it will? This song is amazing:
Benny Benassi - California Dreaming 2004(Remix) from http://owen.vox.com/

Also, for some quality dance party times, I would recommend one going to the excellent Manalogue and listening to the Justice remix they have there. It is quite excellent.

Ok kids that is it for now, I have to go maybe look at hostels, or maybe read about how free trade ruined the world, or whatever. Then I'm going to get fondue! (I'm really excited about the fondue...).

Kisses kisses!!!

You Can't Always Get What You Want

So. This made me really mad. Read the story. Read the other stories listed on the side. Read the background info. I am not just mad because I lived in the Middle East for a little once. The whole situation is just ridiculous. All the analysis in the world and all the theorizing and coming up with solutions doesn't do any good, because it is the people on the ground that matter, and in the end there is always someone who disagrees, for a very good reason. Peoples' images of reality is what is important, and I wish there was some way to make everyone see the same reality. Or, I don't know. I wish there was a way to broadcast the same information to everyone, into their minds, while they were asleep, and have them all remember it. This part was the worst:

"Israel will not intervene in demonstrations inside the Gaza Strip but it will ensure the defence of its territory and prevent any violation of its sovereign borders," said a joint statement released by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

I don't even know what to say.

Team Burgess!

So today was a crazy day. I woke up late and had a nice shuttle ride into school whilst listening to inspiring music. My day was spent in varying states of despair, and the highlight was when Cassie and I decided to brave the Nile Hilton complex in search of the currency exchange place. We quickly got weirded out by the tourism and subsequently escaped, getting many stares and "welcome"s as we went.

I was falling asleep so hardcore in my foreign policy class today. It was a high point of absolute lows. Whatever that measn. I think that it means I am still very tired!!!

The best part was I got to go to the airport to pick up my dad! The taxi ride over was nice, and finally Senior Burgess is here!!! We went to his hotel, where he proceeded to charm the entire staff, practically. He also declared, as we were leaving the airport, that he loved "this place", and that Cairo was "his kind of town". He has not changed this opinion yet, and has already agreed with me that it will suck pretty hard to leave. We lounged in his (admittedly pretty nice!) hotel for a spell, and then we decided that some tammiyya was in order, and as such we journeyed to Zamalek via metro. Upon our arrival, however, the tammiyya dude told us that they were all out! Dejected, we briefly considered Euro Deli, but thought better of it and hopped in a taxi for Midan Tahrir. A trip to filfila later, the evening found us sitting in the nice little area in the Midan, enjoying our sandwiches and chatting of our plans. We parted ways, myself in a taxi and my dad disappearing into the metro after giving me a quite haram kiss on the cheek and hug right in front of two military police.

I'm exhausted, but this is the best part, I think. Being exhausted and having enough fire to make it work. And the next few days are going to be amazing! I am sure of this. Tomorrow we meet at 10 to kick off Official Egypt Extravaganza 2007 at the museum, and the craziness will, in sha allah, continue from there.

I hope you are all having a delirious and rewarding time also! Christmas is almost here! Illinois folks: our day of reunion is imminent!!!! Oh the excitement. Life is great.