Monday, October 4, 2010

grey over cairo

Well. I had my map quiz today. It went pretty well, I thought, except for me forgetting where Meir was. That's alright though. Who cares about Meir anyway?
Most of today seemed to be made up of people asking various professors about class on Thursday, and whether or not it could be cancelled. This week, tons of people are going out of town, for a 4 day weekend. We have Tuesday off like normal and have Wednesday off because of Armed Forces Day, so most students are just planning to skip Thursday. I know some people who are going to Luxor and Aswan, some who are going to Jordan (and renting a car - scary!), and even one girl who is going to Istanbul. I'm actually a little jealous of her, because I've been to Luxor, and I have a trip to Jordan planned later this semester, but I don't have any plans about Istanbul. Maybe if I have any money left after winter break I'll figure it out and pay Turkey a visit. It's Istanbul, not Constantinople now...
I did research in the library today for both my essays, one of which is due on Sunday. I hope I'll actually make myself write it tomorrow or Wednesday, but I might not. I do have almost a whole week, after all!
Wow, today was boring, looking back on it. Geez. Maybe I should have made plans for this weekend just to have something to spice up my blog with.
I guess tomorrow I am going to the Egyptian museum, though. It should be pretty interesting to have Professor Ikram there to explain things. From what I've heard the museum is not organized in any way that is conducive to easy understanding, unless one knows what to look for. Lucky for me, I'll have a professional Egyptologist as a tour guide!
The bus ride home today was a long one as well, almost an hour and a half. For some reason, I woke up halfway through, which was odd, because I'm normally asleep right up until the bus parks at the curb and it's time to get out.
When I woke up on the bus this time, we were just climbing an onramp to merge with the ring road, Cairo's main highway. Every minute or so, the bus would be able to crawl forward another ten or twenty feet, but not before it rolled back a few when the driver took his foot off the brake. I tried to ignore the little lurches, and looked out the window.
As far as I could see across the city, in all directions, the light was the same. It was around sunset, but I couldn't see the sun. Instead, it was like a giant grey bowl had been turned upside down and placed over the city, cutting off everything else. The sky was absolutely uniform, with no individual clouds or rays of light to break through the silent grey. At first, I thought for a moment that it might be rain clouds. Then I realized that the clouds were made of smog, hung so low over the city they covered the sky.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for the "It's Istanbul, not Constantinople now." You do a mother proud. :D

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  2. Hi Kiddo,
    A very vivid description of the smog. It reminds me, in a bad way, of what living in Pasadena was like. Let us know what happens in the museum. Love Dad

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  3. Thanks for the Bette reference, now I've got her singing in my head (that's a good thing).

    Aunt Julie

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