I woke up early this morning, got ready for the day, and headed to Coffee Bean, a few blocks away, where I proceeded to sit for the next seven hours.
I probably had more coffee than was strictly speaking good for me, but I also finished my essay that I need to turn in tomorrow, so it was well worth it.
It was an odd feeling being in the Coffee Bean, because everything was in English, and I could almost have forgotten that I was in Egypt if it hadn't been for the not-free wifi (which was a helpful motivator for me to write my essay) and the clouds of cigarette smoke that made my lungs hurt by the time I left. Next time I won't stay for so long, so hopefully the latter won't be a problem again.
When I got home in mid-afternoon, I filmed my vlog, which you can watch below, then I read my play for tomorrow, The Wild Duck, by Henrik Ibsen, which is interesting, but not one of my favorites. It's fairly predictable (at least so far) and a bit too soap opera for my tastes.
I also got a lot of school and vacation related business done today, including trip planning for winter break, finally.
Also, I wrote over 2,000 words for NaNo today! I don't know what came over me, but it was definitely a good thing. My story is still going where I want it to go, but it's turning out differently in the middle than I thought it would. Not in a bad way, just in a kind of father-son Lion King way, and that's really the best I can describe it. Doesn't sound so good like that, huh?
NaNo word count: 16087
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
yup
Well, nothing interesting happened yesterday, which is perhaps why I forgot to blog again. Good for you, Elise. Fail.
Basically, I went to work for the first time in forever, had no idea what I was supposed to be doing, and left a bit early. Sounds like fun, right?
Then classes, yay. Then bus ride home, where it was a NaNo race against my computer battery, that I actually won for once. Then I had pineapple cheese pizza for dinner, and skyped with my mother in the lobby because once again, my roommate decided to go to bed early. It's not that I mind her needing her sleep, because I don't, I just mind when it intrudes on my life, which sounds horrible and mean, but it's true. If I have to talk in the lobby, I can't say the same kind of things that I would say if I were alone in my room, and I don't like that at all.
So, tomorrow (I lie, today) is Tuesday, and I have an essay to write, a trip to Europe to plan, and at least 1667 words to write before it gets dark. Once it gets dark, I never get anything done.
NaNo word count: 14048
Basically, I went to work for the first time in forever, had no idea what I was supposed to be doing, and left a bit early. Sounds like fun, right?
Then classes, yay. Then bus ride home, where it was a NaNo race against my computer battery, that I actually won for once. Then I had pineapple cheese pizza for dinner, and skyped with my mother in the lobby because once again, my roommate decided to go to bed early. It's not that I mind her needing her sleep, because I don't, I just mind when it intrudes on my life, which sounds horrible and mean, but it's true. If I have to talk in the lobby, I can't say the same kind of things that I would say if I were alone in my room, and I don't like that at all.
So, tomorrow (I lie, today) is Tuesday, and I have an essay to write, a trip to Europe to plan, and at least 1667 words to write before it gets dark. Once it gets dark, I never get anything done.
NaNo word count: 14048
Sunday, November 7, 2010
at least nano's going well
Today was a long day, and I'm glad it's over. Nothing was particularly bad about it (except for Sarah leaving - I miss you, Sarah!), but it was definitely long.
In the morning, I took the late bus so I could help Sarah get checked out of the dorms and reclaim her passport from the front desk. It didn't really work like I'd thought it would, but they didn't charge us any money for her stay, so that's something!
School was long and pretty boring, even my midterm in Egyptian Lit. I don't think I did badly on it, but I'm pretty sure I didn't ace it either, unless the professor grades really really lazily.
Arabic was kinda fun, we got to show the class pictures of our family and talk about them. It was nice seeing all my friends' families, because since we're all so isolated from home here, it's a little hard to think of each other as people with parents and siblings and cousins and such. The pictures made those kind of imaginary people a lot more real to me, and it's nice to know that those other families are out there, even if that sounds pretty weird.
On the bus ride home, I NaNo'd the whole time, and got more than my 1667 words done for the day. I'm a little afraid that this novel won't be finished by November 30th, because that will make it much more unlikely to ever be finished (like last year's novel), but I'll keep working at it and see where it takes me.
In awesome news, I have plans to go to Dahab for the Eid break (did I already mention this?). A few friends and I are going to be renting a villa for a week-ish and staying in the resort town near the Red Sea. Should be pretty fun. I'll have my computer with me for NaNo, but I don't know if I'll have internet or not. Hopefully yes, but if no, it might be nice to take a break from the net for a while and just enjoy being away from the city.
Tomorrow will be a longer, but hopefully better day. Fingers crossed.
NaNo word count: 12200
In the morning, I took the late bus so I could help Sarah get checked out of the dorms and reclaim her passport from the front desk. It didn't really work like I'd thought it would, but they didn't charge us any money for her stay, so that's something!
School was long and pretty boring, even my midterm in Egyptian Lit. I don't think I did badly on it, but I'm pretty sure I didn't ace it either, unless the professor grades really really lazily.
Arabic was kinda fun, we got to show the class pictures of our family and talk about them. It was nice seeing all my friends' families, because since we're all so isolated from home here, it's a little hard to think of each other as people with parents and siblings and cousins and such. The pictures made those kind of imaginary people a lot more real to me, and it's nice to know that those other families are out there, even if that sounds pretty weird.
On the bus ride home, I NaNo'd the whole time, and got more than my 1667 words done for the day. I'm a little afraid that this novel won't be finished by November 30th, because that will make it much more unlikely to ever be finished (like last year's novel), but I'll keep working at it and see where it takes me.
In awesome news, I have plans to go to Dahab for the Eid break (did I already mention this?). A few friends and I are going to be renting a villa for a week-ish and staying in the resort town near the Red Sea. Should be pretty fun. I'll have my computer with me for NaNo, but I don't know if I'll have internet or not. Hopefully yes, but if no, it might be nice to take a break from the net for a while and just enjoy being away from the city.
Tomorrow will be a longer, but hopefully better day. Fingers crossed.
NaNo word count: 12200
Saturday, November 6, 2010
egyptian museum and khan el-khalili
Well, that was a long day! I have so much to talk about, but not a lot of time to say it in, because I want to get to sleep. Luckily (not), since my camera is still broken, I don't have any pictures to upload, so that works out great.
Sarah and I slept in this morning, then got a late breakfast at a restaurant called Cafe Noir before we headed off to the Egyptian Museum. We both tried to order pancakes, only to be told they were really crepes, and we could have apple or nutella. We both opted for apple, and ordered mocha lattes to go with. The food and drinks were delicious, and I'll definitely go back there another time.
We got to the museum, sharing a cab with my friend, and found two other students and Professor Ikram waiting. She let us all into the museum with her awesome magic paper, and then left. It was really nice of her to make the trip, just to ensure that we didn't have to pay six dollars to get in.
We had a little mix up with Sarah's camera, which meant she had to leave the museum to put it in a locker, then buy a ticket to get back in, but it all worked out. Starting from the right wings on the first floor, the two of us made our way through the museum, dodging tour groups, and saw almost everything, and definitely everything we were interested in. That took about four hours, and then I went off to describe a statue for my Art and Architecture paper, and Sarah went to check out the gift shop.
When we were done, we met up and (after walking a few pointless blocks) caught a cab to Al-Azhar mosque, near the famous bazaar of Khan el-Khalili. The cab dropped us off in a place I didn't recognize, so we headed off down the street in search of something. What we found was the completely non-touristy section of the market, which was wonderful. We walked through an alley lined with stall, and no one yelled "Obama!" or "Let me take your money!" at us. We bought delicious baclava from a funny old man who wanted us to take a picture for some reason, and pretty scarves from two other vendors. Eventually, we retraced our steps and crossed a busy street using a pedestrian overpass. Then we bought pomegranate juice from a juice stand, and sat to drink it out of small glass tumblers with straws.
When we were done, we wandered a bit more, and stumbled onto a part of town that I recognized, the place I had asked the cab driver to take us, Al-Azhar mosque and the section of town known as Islamic Cairo. It was dark by this point, but we still wandered for an hour or two, and found a mausoleum that was open and free to wander around in. We also found a silver shop where Sarah bought a tiny box for a really good price, even if it isn't really sterling silver (but I think it is).
Then we caught a cab back to Zamalek and had dinner at Hardee's, because we were both kind of craving some protein. I also recharged my phone after I ran out of money on it for the first time this morning. It was terrible not to be able to call or text anyone all day.
When we got back to the dorms, we realized our mistake in eating at Hardee's because tonight was Turkish night, and there was a huge free buffet for everyone, with all sorts of delicious food and desserts. We were stuffed and tired, though, so we went upstairs for a bit, and when we came back down, all the food was gone. Oops.
So that was today, full of walking, and paying for things, and completely wonderful. Sarah's leaving tomorrow, which makes me sad, but it was amazing having her here, and I wouldn't trade the last five days (the scare of two nights ago notwithstanding) for anything.
NaNo word count: 10337
Sarah and I slept in this morning, then got a late breakfast at a restaurant called Cafe Noir before we headed off to the Egyptian Museum. We both tried to order pancakes, only to be told they were really crepes, and we could have apple or nutella. We both opted for apple, and ordered mocha lattes to go with. The food and drinks were delicious, and I'll definitely go back there another time.
We got to the museum, sharing a cab with my friend, and found two other students and Professor Ikram waiting. She let us all into the museum with her awesome magic paper, and then left. It was really nice of her to make the trip, just to ensure that we didn't have to pay six dollars to get in.
We had a little mix up with Sarah's camera, which meant she had to leave the museum to put it in a locker, then buy a ticket to get back in, but it all worked out. Starting from the right wings on the first floor, the two of us made our way through the museum, dodging tour groups, and saw almost everything, and definitely everything we were interested in. That took about four hours, and then I went off to describe a statue for my Art and Architecture paper, and Sarah went to check out the gift shop.
When we were done, we met up and (after walking a few pointless blocks) caught a cab to Al-Azhar mosque, near the famous bazaar of Khan el-Khalili. The cab dropped us off in a place I didn't recognize, so we headed off down the street in search of something. What we found was the completely non-touristy section of the market, which was wonderful. We walked through an alley lined with stall, and no one yelled "Obama!" or "Let me take your money!" at us. We bought delicious baclava from a funny old man who wanted us to take a picture for some reason, and pretty scarves from two other vendors. Eventually, we retraced our steps and crossed a busy street using a pedestrian overpass. Then we bought pomegranate juice from a juice stand, and sat to drink it out of small glass tumblers with straws.
When we were done, we wandered a bit more, and stumbled onto a part of town that I recognized, the place I had asked the cab driver to take us, Al-Azhar mosque and the section of town known as Islamic Cairo. It was dark by this point, but we still wandered for an hour or two, and found a mausoleum that was open and free to wander around in. We also found a silver shop where Sarah bought a tiny box for a really good price, even if it isn't really sterling silver (but I think it is).
Then we caught a cab back to Zamalek and had dinner at Hardee's, because we were both kind of craving some protein. I also recharged my phone after I ran out of money on it for the first time this morning. It was terrible not to be able to call or text anyone all day.
When we got back to the dorms, we realized our mistake in eating at Hardee's because tonight was Turkish night, and there was a huge free buffet for everyone, with all sorts of delicious food and desserts. We were stuffed and tired, though, so we went upstairs for a bit, and when we came back down, all the food was gone. Oops.
So that was today, full of walking, and paying for things, and completely wonderful. Sarah's leaving tomorrow, which makes me sad, but it was amazing having her here, and I wouldn't trade the last five days (the scare of two nights ago notwithstanding) for anything.
NaNo word count: 10337
Friday, November 5, 2010
remember, remember
The fifth of November. Anybody? No? Moving on.
First, what happened yesterday. I'm sorry if I worried anybody, I really did mean it when I said everyone was fine. Basically, Sarah and I and a group of my friends were planning to go out to dinner and then take a felucca ride on the Nile with some traditional Egyptian desserts. The way it worked out, we couldn't get a dinner reservation earlier than 10 pm, so we decided to do dessert and felucca ride first, then get dinner. As soon as we got on the felucca ride, though, one of my friends got really sick, and we had to take her to the hospital in a taxi. We were pretty worried about her, and the taxi ride was just one long anxious wait, especially when the driver decided to stop to use the bathroom. That would be fine during any other cab ride, but not one taking a sick girl to the hospital. Honestly.
One of the dorm RAs met us at the emergency room, and it turned out that our friend had to go to a different hospital where they could take care of her better. We couldn't all ride in the ambulance, though, so we left her with the RA and doctors to take care of her.
We ended up at dinner, relieved that she was going to be okay, and talking about all sorts of stuff that was pretty unimportant, when I got a phone call that one of us had to come back to the hospital to stay with our friend all night. None of us could do it, for real reasons, but that didn't stop me from feeling incredibly bad about it. In the end, the RA managed to stay with her, and it all worked out okay, but I wish it could have been different.
Also, carrying around a box of Egyptian desserts covered in honey for five or six hours is not a good idea. The box will leak, making everything sticky, and it will eventually feel like your own personal albatross as you lug it around Cairo, from downtown to Mohandisseen, back to Zamalek, criss-crossing the Nile more times than I could count. By the time we got back to the dorms, it didn't even seem appetizing any more, and we left it on the lobby table for anyone who wanted it.
So, that was yesterday. Thank you so much, everyone who commented and let me know you were here. It really makes a difference to me.
Today, Sarah and I had to be downtown at 7:45 to catch a bus to the Fayyum Oasis, south of the city, with Professor Ikram. In total, the number of 'chickadees' was about fifty today, which meant it was hard to keep up and hear what was being said.
We made lots of stops throughout the day, seeing sites ranging from the Greco-Roman period to the early Middle Kingdom. It was nice to be able to get back on the bus every hour or so and avoid too much dehydration. Unfortunately, my camera stopped working at our last stop in Meidum, so I can't upload any photos tonight. Soon, I promise! The best part of the day was getting to go into the Meidum pyramid, built by Snefru in the 4th dynasty, and then crawl into mastaba 17, a journey which involved crawling on my hands and knees and eventually pulling myself through a bottleneck flat on my stomach. I made it, though, and it was totally worth it. There were bats inside! Also, the way we entered the tomb was the robber's entrance, chiseled out by grave robbers not long after the burial was completed. The best part was seeing the stone hammer they left behind, propping up the lid of the sarcophagus. It's still there today!
Then we came home on the bus, and Sarah and I got pasta for dinner and ate part of a pomegranate, which wasn't the best I've had, but certainly wasn't bad. Now it's time for me to catch up on my NaNoWriMo, because I haven't had a chance to write at all today!
NaNo word count: 7399
First, what happened yesterday. I'm sorry if I worried anybody, I really did mean it when I said everyone was fine. Basically, Sarah and I and a group of my friends were planning to go out to dinner and then take a felucca ride on the Nile with some traditional Egyptian desserts. The way it worked out, we couldn't get a dinner reservation earlier than 10 pm, so we decided to do dessert and felucca ride first, then get dinner. As soon as we got on the felucca ride, though, one of my friends got really sick, and we had to take her to the hospital in a taxi. We were pretty worried about her, and the taxi ride was just one long anxious wait, especially when the driver decided to stop to use the bathroom. That would be fine during any other cab ride, but not one taking a sick girl to the hospital. Honestly.
One of the dorm RAs met us at the emergency room, and it turned out that our friend had to go to a different hospital where they could take care of her better. We couldn't all ride in the ambulance, though, so we left her with the RA and doctors to take care of her.
We ended up at dinner, relieved that she was going to be okay, and talking about all sorts of stuff that was pretty unimportant, when I got a phone call that one of us had to come back to the hospital to stay with our friend all night. None of us could do it, for real reasons, but that didn't stop me from feeling incredibly bad about it. In the end, the RA managed to stay with her, and it all worked out okay, but I wish it could have been different.
Also, carrying around a box of Egyptian desserts covered in honey for five or six hours is not a good idea. The box will leak, making everything sticky, and it will eventually feel like your own personal albatross as you lug it around Cairo, from downtown to Mohandisseen, back to Zamalek, criss-crossing the Nile more times than I could count. By the time we got back to the dorms, it didn't even seem appetizing any more, and we left it on the lobby table for anyone who wanted it.
So, that was yesterday. Thank you so much, everyone who commented and let me know you were here. It really makes a difference to me.
Today, Sarah and I had to be downtown at 7:45 to catch a bus to the Fayyum Oasis, south of the city, with Professor Ikram. In total, the number of 'chickadees' was about fifty today, which meant it was hard to keep up and hear what was being said.
We made lots of stops throughout the day, seeing sites ranging from the Greco-Roman period to the early Middle Kingdom. It was nice to be able to get back on the bus every hour or so and avoid too much dehydration. Unfortunately, my camera stopped working at our last stop in Meidum, so I can't upload any photos tonight. Soon, I promise! The best part of the day was getting to go into the Meidum pyramid, built by Snefru in the 4th dynasty, and then crawl into mastaba 17, a journey which involved crawling on my hands and knees and eventually pulling myself through a bottleneck flat on my stomach. I made it, though, and it was totally worth it. There were bats inside! Also, the way we entered the tomb was the robber's entrance, chiseled out by grave robbers not long after the burial was completed. The best part was seeing the stone hammer they left behind, propping up the lid of the sarcophagus. It's still there today!
Then we came home on the bus, and Sarah and I got pasta for dinner and ate part of a pomegranate, which wasn't the best I've had, but certainly wasn't bad. Now it's time for me to catch up on my NaNoWriMo, because I haven't had a chance to write at all today!
NaNo word count: 7399
Thursday, November 4, 2010
not a real blog
Well, it sort of is. But mostly it's me saying that total *shirt* went down tonight, and I'm not together enough to blog about it. Suffice it to say, I'm fine, Sarah's fine, everyone is (or will be) fine. So no worrying on the part of whoever reads this thing. I'll catch you up tomorrow.
p.s. Could you leave a comment telling me you were here? Even if you think I don't know you or care? I promise I do, and I would really appreciate it tonight. Thanks. (Yes, you.)
p.s. Could you leave a comment telling me you were here? Even if you think I don't know you or care? I promise I do, and I would really appreciate it tonight. Thanks. (Yes, you.)
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
schooltimes with sarah
I dragged Sarah to school with me this morning at the ungodly hour of 7:40 am, since I wasn't feeling well enough for work and decided not to go. Plus, sneezing on archive papers? Probably not the best idea in the world, and definitely not how I wanted to spend my morning.
We hung out and got coffee, and chatted. Sarah met some of my friends from AUC (and UCSB), and then we headed to Dramatic Lit. Today we were talking about Nathan the Wise, a play originally in German, written by Gotthold Lessing. Basically the play is about Christians, Muslims, and Jews in 12th centruy Jerusalem figuring out that they can all get along as long as they judge others by the fact that they are human beings first and members of a religion second. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. I really enjoyed the play, and it was interesting to talk about in class too. I hope Sarah wasn't too bored. It was interesting to have another American university student sitting in on that class with me, because I've gotten fairly used to the high school atmosphere, but it was new and weird to her.
Egyptian Lit was okay, but I hadn't done the reading for the first time (pretty much) all semester, and of course today was the day she decided to call us out on not reading. Oh well. The midterm is on Sunday, so we'll see how that goes.
Speaking of midterms, I had my Arabic midterm today, which I didn't really study for. It turned out to be not too difficult though, and I think I did okay. For the first time, I had a test in language class that I understood all the questions for. That almost never happened in Japanese class! Usually there would be one or two words that I would mess up and that would cause me to answer a completely different question than the one I was supposed to. That didn't happen today though, so that's good.
After I got out of the test, Sarah and I had to wait for about an hour to catch the bus, so we bought some carrot cake, which was unhealthy (duh) but delicious. The bus ride home was long, but I took the time to write some more for NaNo, which was a good choice. I'm a little bit ahead now, and I'm hoping to maintain that lead and increase it day by day. I was almost always a full day ahead last year, and I really liked that feeling, so I'm going to try and get there again.
We didn't have any adventures for dinner, just the cafeteria, but that was okay food, and it meant that I got to get all my laundry done (finally!) for the first time in much too long.
Tomorrow is just another school day, but hopefully with more adventures in the evening than today had. Keep your fingers crossed for reservations at Abu el-Sid and a felucca ride after
NaNo word count: 5611
We hung out and got coffee, and chatted. Sarah met some of my friends from AUC (and UCSB), and then we headed to Dramatic Lit. Today we were talking about Nathan the Wise, a play originally in German, written by Gotthold Lessing. Basically the play is about Christians, Muslims, and Jews in 12th centruy Jerusalem figuring out that they can all get along as long as they judge others by the fact that they are human beings first and members of a religion second. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. I really enjoyed the play, and it was interesting to talk about in class too. I hope Sarah wasn't too bored. It was interesting to have another American university student sitting in on that class with me, because I've gotten fairly used to the high school atmosphere, but it was new and weird to her.
Egyptian Lit was okay, but I hadn't done the reading for the first time (pretty much) all semester, and of course today was the day she decided to call us out on not reading. Oh well. The midterm is on Sunday, so we'll see how that goes.
Speaking of midterms, I had my Arabic midterm today, which I didn't really study for. It turned out to be not too difficult though, and I think I did okay. For the first time, I had a test in language class that I understood all the questions for. That almost never happened in Japanese class! Usually there would be one or two words that I would mess up and that would cause me to answer a completely different question than the one I was supposed to. That didn't happen today though, so that's good.
After I got out of the test, Sarah and I had to wait for about an hour to catch the bus, so we bought some carrot cake, which was unhealthy (duh) but delicious. The bus ride home was long, but I took the time to write some more for NaNo, which was a good choice. I'm a little bit ahead now, and I'm hoping to maintain that lead and increase it day by day. I was almost always a full day ahead last year, and I really liked that feeling, so I'm going to try and get there again.
We didn't have any adventures for dinner, just the cafeteria, but that was okay food, and it meant that I got to get all my laundry done (finally!) for the first time in much too long.
Tomorrow is just another school day, but hopefully with more adventures in the evening than today had. Keep your fingers crossed for reservations at Abu el-Sid and a felucca ride after
NaNo word count: 5611
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