It's been a hard couple months for many reasons, not the least of which being how ridiculously bust I've been, hence the lack of posts. Also, I don't like to post when I'm upset. It's just reliving the misery, and that's not good for anyone. To sum up some of the big things that have been going on.
1. I went to Jordan for Christmas with Liz and Chuck. It was wonderful, and when I got back I had a hard time readjusting to the difficulties of Egypt. There are pictures on my Facebook for anyone who cares to see them, but unfortunately I don't have enough time to give a detailed report of my adventures there.
2. I went to Luxor and Aswan with the program at the end of January, and then on to Uganda and Tanzania with my friend Kelly. Thankfully, I had an easier time coming back from East Africa because it wasn't exactly a luxury trip to begin with, but it was tons of fun. Same story here as with Jordan as far as pictures and details. Be warned though, I have somehow acquired a strong desire to learn Swahili, so when I'm done with Arabic (if that's even possible)... who knows.
One thing I will note about Luxor and Aswan, we ran into a lot of trouble with transportation. We were taking a cruise up the Nile from Luxor to Aswan and got held up by a strike at the locke. It was a big deal, hundreds of boats piled up on the river, and it gave us an up close and personal look at the economic turmoil in Egypt that we don't see on the news.
3. When we got back from our mid semester break, the workload pretty much quadrupled. I've started going to cafes every day after classes because if I go home I'll take an hour to relax and that's a luxury I can no longer afford. This added stress led to sleep deprivation, headaches, back issues, a psoriasis flare up, and various other issues that eventually culminated in me writing a six page paper (and a pretty good one at that) in a night and sending it to my professor with a rather hysterical note telling him that I was taking the next day off because my health couldn't handle watching the hour and a half video at one in the morning when I already hadn't slept all week and there was no point coming to class if I hadn't done the work. Looking back now that I've slept, I might have been a bit dramatic. Either way, the professor is one of the most amazing people I have ever met, so he took it well. We met that Saturday and worked out a way to lighten the work load. I wasn't the only one who was struggling. The load hasn't lightened much, but it's enough that I can take a bit of time this weekend to write to you guys; even if I am writing in a cafe having just done a few hours of homework and planning to do a few hours more before I go to sleep tonight.
4. We verified last month that my roommate was, in fact, stealing from me, so Robert came over and kicked her out. I don't want to go into details because it's still a sensitive subject. I spent a lot of time having miniature mental breakdowns around the time it all happened, but now that she's gone the apartment feels a lot more like home. Also worth mentioning, my American roommate, Leila, is an angel.
5. Despite the impossible work load, I still signed up to go on an optional weekend trip to Fayoum a couple weeks ago. It's part of my unofficial New Year's resolution to say yes to everything. Within reason. I'm in Egypt, Um al-Donia (Mother of the World), and I need to take advantage of it. I didn't get any real work done that weekend, and I paid the price the next week, but it was lovely.
Fayoum is a tiny desert oasis, imbellished by the Egyptian government when it built a bunch of canals to try to reclaim the land and resplendent with beautiful views over a tree lined lake and a nearby desert that boasts a "magic lake" (i.e. in the middle of the desert with no life around it to speak of) and man made waterfalls. There are also a number of ancient ruins in the area: a coupled of the first pyramids and a temple where the Pharaohs worshiped crocodiles. I didn't get a chance to visit them, but I did take a long walk through the Valley of the Whales - a section of desert where scientists have discovered a huge number of fossils showing the whales evolution from land to sea creatures. I also visited some of the local potters that have made Fayoum famous. I bought a hand made creamer pitcher that I use as an extra large tea cup. Other than that, I spent most of my time at the guest house we were staying at reading. It had a beautiful courtyard, and the weather was lovely for the first time in months.
That leads me to the intended focus of this post, the weather. Despite some of the less than stellar things that have happened in my blogging absence, I'm usually a lot better at not letting things get to me. So why have these last few months been so terrible? Two words that I hope you remember from a previous post: Al-Gow shitty.
That's right. I have recently come to the conclusion that I just had the winter blues. I was cold for three months, it rained every other day, and the only escape I had was a single blanket that barely kept me warm enough to sleep when I put on everything I owned and pulled it up over my head. No wonder I was upset! I realized this was the problem when the weather started to get batter. I've been ecstatic these last few days. Even with the work load, even with the never ending Egyptian harassment, because the weather has been gorgeous. I don't have to wear a coat during the day, and even when it gets nippy at night I can climb under my blanket and actually feel toasty.
This epiphany came to me yesterday when I was sitting at Silsila (that cafe that overlooks the Mediterranean) studying. I took a picture to commemorate the occasion.
On that note, allow me to list some of the great things that have happened recently.
1. I've started making actual friendships with Egyptians, as in I actually have things to talk to them about and conversations are no longer forced.
2. I've reserved a lot of things for the epic trip I will be taking to the U.K. at the end of May and beginning of June.
3. I had a wonderful night out last night at an Ex-Pat's St. Patrick's Day party where everyone spoke English as their first language. (It's sounds simple, but it does wonders to make you feel at home.)
4. I got a graduate fellowship, so I can actually afford grad school.
5. I baked brownies this morning. They came out more as chocolate cake, but chocolate is delicious no matter how you bake it.
6. I'm surrounded by fantastic people who manage to make life a joy even when confronted with difficulties from all sides. This includes my friends here in Egypt as well as my friends and family back in the states. I want to thank all of you who have listened to me cry or complain over the past couple months. I may not have been of a mind to express it at the time, but every single one of you made me feel loved and cared for and I appreciate and love every one of you for that.
On that note, I especially want to thank my mother, who in her infinite wisdom can still manage to take care of me from thousands of miles away. Two days ago it was Mother's Day here in Egypt, the perfect time for me to remember how blessed I am to have the most loving mother in the world.
I was going to post a bunch of pictures now to end the love fest with pretty things, but before Salma moved out she ripped the internet cord from the wall and though it's technically been fixed, it's even slower than it used to be. So you're going to have to content yourselves with the one above that I managed to get uploaded and go find the others on Facebook. Mom: that means ask one of your children to open theirs up and show you. They're all my friends, and there's no reason for you to wait until August.
That's all for now. If I find another free moment this weekend I might decide to embellish on something or other, but no promises.
Love to you all!
Lauren
