so sleepy

Who knew that essay writing could make me so tired?
Honestly, all I did for most of today was eat breakfast food (pancakes!) and drink coffee and write my essay, and do some NaNo-ing.
Then I came back to the dorms and hung out with friends for a while, talking about crazy stuff like racism in Disney movies, and what movie we all wanted to watch, none of us actually motivated enough to get the others moving to make something happen. We're such college students. Even in Egypt, we talk and talk about our plans, and then just sit in the courtyard for another hour or two. It was nice, though, even if it did garner me a fresh mosquito bite right on top of my foot.
Tomorrow will be another essay day, fun fun fun. I've managed to keep up my buffer on NaNo, so I'm hoping to finish officially a day early this year. That would be something. Instead of taking essay breaks with youtube tomorrow, I think I'll try doing some word sprints instead, and see what comes out of that.
NaNo word count: 46800

coffee bean tuesday 2.0

I had a much less productive trip to Coffee Bean today than I did a few weeks ago. To start, I wasn't even done with my reading, so I couldn't get to work on my essay right away.
Then, part way through my research, I realized that the essay topic I had chosen and gotten approved wasn't really what I wanted to write about at all. I figured out a new, much more interesting topic, and plotted an outline for it.
I tried to buy a few hours of internet from Coffee Bean, but apparently they were 'out' so I had to come home to do more research. So, basically, I'm no farther along on my paper than I was this morning, but writing it will definitely be much easier now that I'm actually interested in my topic.
NaNoWriMo went amazingly today, and I wrote way more than I needed to to meet my goal, but it didn't drag on at all. Unfortunately, I pretty much know for certain now that the novel itself won't be finished when it hits 50,000 words. That's better than the alternative, I guess, but rather dramatically increases the chances that I won't ever finish it. I'm kind of thinking about skipping ahead and writing some major plot points, just to have them done and the story all tied up, so it will be easier to go back and fill in the blanks, rather than have to finish the whole story cold. I'll let you know.
Essay research and planning took up most of the day, except for the fifteen minutes or so in which I made my video for the week, and the three hundred minutes or so that video took to upload to youtube. Really, Zamalek dorms? Really?

NaNo word count: 40876

coffee bean tuesday

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

a hermione moment, a liveshow, and the absence of hugs

Wow, I actually have lots of stuff to talk about today. What's up with that?
This morning, I woke up early, because for some reason I was waking up all night, and 10 minutes before my alarm went off happened to be one of those times.
I took the 7:00 bus to campus, and got my coffee like usual (except instead of just American coffee with milk, I got a mocha cafe thing, which was totally worth the three extra pounds I paid for it. And my friend Maggie dropped a pound coin in her coffee. I don't really know how it happened, just that it did. And then they remade her coffee for her while the cashier cracked up about it. It could happen to anyone.
In Art and Architecture today, we discussed the upcoming midterm quiz, which covers everything we've done so far and will feature a map section, a short answer section, and possibly a drawing section. Oh, and also, if I do well on it, I might get to work either in the Egyptian museum or on a dig on the Giza plateau. If that's not good enough motivation to get an A, I don't know what is.
In my anthropology class we arranged the desks in a circle for some reason, although we didn't really have anything different about the class. Maybe the professor just wanted to sit down. Anyway, near the end of class, he was discussing 'native' ethnographers and how women study women, etc. and something about that statement just struck me the wrong way. My hand flew into the air like I was Hermione Granger preparing to defend house elf rights or something. It was a little pathetic.
I just wanted to know why 'women studying women' was classified that way when decades upon decades of men studying men was just 'anthropology'. I didn't really get a satisfactory answer from the professor, but he didn't say anything terribly (or even moderately) offensive either, so that was okay.
The rest of the day went well, although I didn't get my Arabic quiz back like I'd hoped. We did get to practice our new vocabulary though, and say things like 'Do you spend all your time in the library?' Very useful, this class, I'm telling you.
When I got home, I did some homework, studied a bit, not nearly as much as I should have, and then headed downstairs to the study room to actually do some work. When I got there, I transcribed some of my conversation project for anthropology, then made the (awesome) mistake of checking facebook, where I saw that John Green had just announced a liveshow not 10 minutes previously.
Being the giant nerd that I am, I immediately went to watch, throwing my studies to the wayside. This turned out to be a good choice, or at least, that's how I feel about it now. I got to talk to tons of other people in the show's chatroom, even though I wasn't in the main room in the beginning. I don't know if anyone reading this has ever watched a liveshow on blogtv, but basically there's the mainroom, where the person hosting the show can see everything the viewers in that room chat, and then there's the waiting rooms, where the host can't see anything you chat, unless they specifically go to that waiting room. It's a little frustrating but still fun because you get the chance to talk to tons of awesome people.
Also, in chat situations like this, there are usually a few people in the room (of a about 100 or so) who type frequently and whose name everyone recognizes, and who get real conversations going. Usually I'm not one of them, but tonight I was, and it was really fun. I got bumped up to the mainroom eventually too, and John even answered one of my questions, which was nice. This whole liveshow thing may have ruined my night for studying, but it also sorta made my day.
[For those who don't know, by the way, John Green is a YA author and vlogger extraordinaire. His books are Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, and Will Grayson Will Grayson. You should read them. They're pretty jokes.]
After the liveshow, I hung out with my friend Maggie in the study room for a while, and we both freaked out a little bit about the sudden and frightening appearance of courtyard cat. I got some footage of it, finally:

And now it's time for quick unfortunate story time. I haven't been feeling that great lately, like not sick, but not well. I didn't really know why until I realized that I haven't had a real hug in almost two months. That's weird to even think about. I don't know why, but I don't hug people here. I think it probably has something to do with the weird PDA rules the dorm, and unofficially the campus, have. Hugging between members of the opposite sex is a big no-no, and not too much hugging goes on even between members of the same sex. Double cheek kisses yes, between two guys or two girls, but not hugging. And cheek kisses just aren't the same, in my opinion. (Not that I know any Egyptians well enough to merit a cheek kiss.) So, basically what I'm saying is, Sarah, you are getting a big hug from me when I pick you up at the airport next weekend.

song of the harper

Today was pretty normal, so I don't have anything particularly interesting to share, except for a conversation I had in my linguistics class today.
We were discussing folk lore and tall tales and things of that ilk, and somehow Anansi stories got brought up, then that got connected to B'rer Rabbit, and before long we were talking about animal stories, and how in the European/Western tradition, we don't really have any that don't have a few human characters too. The only exception we found was Aesop's Fables. Apparently, even these aren't actually European, due to some weird pseudo-linguistic maneuvering:
Aesop -> Aethop -> Ethop -> Ethiop -> Ethiopia
Which is apparently where the stories come from in the first place. Then the conversation got really interesting, when research was mentioned that basically said that all Native American folk lore (the animal stories at least) came from Africa via contact with slaves.
That didn't make sense to me at all. Like, at all. How could an entire tradition of stories and legends across two continents be manufactured/borrowed in just a few decades between two populations that didn't even have regular contact in all areas? Take California, for example. I know the Chumash have/had animal legends, and there certainly wasn't widespread slavery in California, especially of the kind that would have allowed direct transmission of folk lore straight from Ethiopia to the native population of the area. Anyway, I never really understood the point he was trying to get at. Not everything originated in Africa, unless one takes a really wide view, in which case everything did originate in Africa, and I mean everything. Those are really the only two general options that I can see. I'm going to do a little looking into the idea, though, just because I found it really interesting.
I also got coffee today, from the only halfway decent coffee shop on campus, which is really not that decent at all. Plus who names a coffee shop after a leafy green?

my 'coffee american small with milk'. mmm.

And if this blog post weren't boring enough, I'm going to share a really interesting Ancient Egyptian poem I read in class. It's actually probably one of the best things I've read this school year, because I love the point of view that it takes, one that's pretty contrary to the popular thoughts in Egypt around the time it was written, thoughts that generally lauded the afterlife and all it promised.

The Harper's Song:

One generation passes away and the next remains,

Ever since the time of those of old.

The gods who existed before me rest in their tombs,

And the blessed nobles also are buried in their tombs.

But as for those builders of tombs,

Their places are no more.

What has become of them?

I have heard the words of Imhotep and Hardedef,

Whose maxims are repeated intact as proverbs.

But what of their places?

Their walls are in ruins, 

And their places are no more,

As if they had never existed.

There is no one who returns from beyond

That he may tell of their state,

That he may tell of their lot,

That he may set our hearts at ease

Until we make our journey

To the place where they have gone.

So rejoice your heart!

Absence of care is good for you;

Follow your heart as long as you live.

Put myrrh on your head,

Dress yourself in fine linen,

Anoint yourself with exquisite oils

Which are only for the gods.

Let your pleasures increase,

And let not your heart grow weary.

Follow your heart and your happiness,

Conduct your affairs on earth as your heart dictates,

For that day of mourning will surely come to you.

The Weary-Hearted does not hear their lamentations,

And their weeping does not rescue a man's heart from the grave.

Enjoy pleasant times,

And do not worry thereof.

Behold, it is not given to any man to take his belongings with him,

Behold, there is no one departed who will return again.