Just wanted to say, pictures on blogger started working again, so there are now pictures up in my birthday blog about visiting Giza if you want to go check them out. Actually, they're there if you want to go check them out or not. But never mind, because it's time for a short and boring blog post! I know, I'm excited too.
Today I had my first quiz (midterm) for Art and Architecture, which as you know, I've been studying a lot for in the past few days. And you know what? It really wasn't that bad. I knew pretty much everything that was asked, and the only points I know for sure I'll miss are on the map section, because for the life of me, I can never remember where Meidum is. I know now that it's in the Fayyum, but earlier today, I said it was in Upper Egypt. Silly me. Maybe someday I'll learn. Aside from that, I think I did fairly well on the quiz. There was one minor glitch, in that it was only after we had finished the slide questions that the professor told us that by 'explain the significance' she meant she wanted us to describe the object on the slide thoroughly from top to bottom. That wasn't obvious to me, so that's not what I did. Hopefully I won't lose too many points because of it.
One thing I know for certain is that I didn't miss any of the identifications of the slides. I had a small panic after the test was over, talking to a classmate and realizing that she had put a different answer than me for one of the questions. Note to self: do not automatically assume that someone else is right and you are wrong. When I looked up the picture in question later, it turned out that I had definitely been right, and just gotten myself worried over something that 1) I couldn't do anything about and 2) didn't matter. Good for me. We'll see how the test as a whole pans out, though. I'll let you know.
That was pretty much the highlight of my day. Well, I say highlight. I mean 'only thing that mattered'. Speaking of which, I only have one midterm left! That means that all I have to do tomorrow on my day off is write an essay for my anthro class, sleep in a little and/or nap, read Moliere's The Misanthrope for Dramatic Lit, do my Arabic homework, and film a video blog explaining just how nerdy I am, really. When I list everything out like that, it just looks so relaxing, doesn't it? On second thought, maybe I'll erase that 'sleep in and/or nap' part.
Showing posts with label map. Show all posts
Showing posts with label map. Show all posts
Monday, October 25, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
my map is upside down
I slept in again today. It felt good, not to get up at 6:30 to catch a stupid bus. I got to campus around 10:50 instead, and had just enough time to buy breakfast and eat before my first class.
We didn't have a new play to discuss in Dramatic Lit, so instead we talked about the Elizabethan period, Shakespeare, and our essay assignments. It was really interesting, actually. I need to brush up on my history of England, because there were a lot of things the professor brought up that I didn't remember correctly, or even at all!
Then it was time for lunch, and then boring Egyptian Literature. I didn't fall asleep today, so that was a plus, because it meant I didn't feel nervous the entire time. I discussed my essay topic with the professor, and was really confused when she started suggesting sources for me that have nothing to do with the topic I proposed. I wanted to talk about the role of fate/destiny/gods over mankind in Greek drama and Egyptian literature, kind of a compare/contrast thing, and she seemed to think I just wanted to compare and contrast the gods themselves. Her idea would be way easier, I think, but I don't think I'd have to do as much interesting research for that idea, so I'll just stick to my first plan. Plus, that way, I can combine the research for my two papers and not double my workload. Aren't I clever...
In Arabic today, we learned how to complain. Well, not really, we just learned a bunch of negative adjectives that we can use when someone asks us how we are. Now instead of just saying we're fine or excellent, we can say we're too hot, too cold, tired, sick, exhausted, hungry, or thirsty. Those are going to come in handy. Imagine meeting someone for the first time on the street (in the unlikely event that you meet anyone who speaks modern standard Arabic, and in reply to 'How are you?' telling them 'I'm hungry.' That just doesn't seem plausible. I guess it'll be useful for in class, though.
The bus ride home today took forever. And by forever, I mean an hour and a half. Almost an hour and forty-five minutes, but who's counting?
I got on the same bus I always do, it left at the same time it always does, and yet Cairo traffic managed to snarl it up so badly that crossing one bridge took at least ten minutes. One bridge!
It was completely dark by the time we got back to the dorms and I could finally go upstairs to do my homework. Lovely. The work wasn't too bad, actually, and I was done early enough that I went out to dinner with two friends, back to that exotic Egyptian restaurant known as Hardee's. Mmm.
When I got back home, I studied with my friend Vince for a while, for our map quiz in Art and Architecture tomorrow. Did I say it got postponed?
Vince, lucky guy, actually owns the book we were supposed to use to find the places on our map. [I just heard the weirdest noise outside. I've never heard anything like that before. It was like a cross between the very beginning of a fire truck siren, a giant electric drill, and a stepped-on cat. Weird. Now it's gone.] I only had photocopies of the first 45 pages to work with instead. When we compared our maps, the differences were pathetic. I must have been falling asleep or something when I made mine, because I made all kinds of mistakes. Some cities were just an inch or so off, while others were in completely the wrong place. Take Serabit el-Khaddem for example. I put it on the wrong side of the Red Sea. Who does that? What was I thinking? Vince suggested my map must have been upside down. There were a few more mistakes, that being the worst of them, all of which are fixed now, just in time for me not to learn them for the quiz tomorrow. Wish me luck!
We didn't have a new play to discuss in Dramatic Lit, so instead we talked about the Elizabethan period, Shakespeare, and our essay assignments. It was really interesting, actually. I need to brush up on my history of England, because there were a lot of things the professor brought up that I didn't remember correctly, or even at all!
Then it was time for lunch, and then boring Egyptian Literature. I didn't fall asleep today, so that was a plus, because it meant I didn't feel nervous the entire time. I discussed my essay topic with the professor, and was really confused when she started suggesting sources for me that have nothing to do with the topic I proposed. I wanted to talk about the role of fate/destiny/gods over mankind in Greek drama and Egyptian literature, kind of a compare/contrast thing, and she seemed to think I just wanted to compare and contrast the gods themselves. Her idea would be way easier, I think, but I don't think I'd have to do as much interesting research for that idea, so I'll just stick to my first plan. Plus, that way, I can combine the research for my two papers and not double my workload. Aren't I clever...
In Arabic today, we learned how to complain. Well, not really, we just learned a bunch of negative adjectives that we can use when someone asks us how we are. Now instead of just saying we're fine or excellent, we can say we're too hot, too cold, tired, sick, exhausted, hungry, or thirsty. Those are going to come in handy. Imagine meeting someone for the first time on the street (in the unlikely event that you meet anyone who speaks modern standard Arabic, and in reply to 'How are you?' telling them 'I'm hungry.' That just doesn't seem plausible. I guess it'll be useful for in class, though.
The bus ride home today took forever. And by forever, I mean an hour and a half. Almost an hour and forty-five minutes, but who's counting?
I got on the same bus I always do, it left at the same time it always does, and yet Cairo traffic managed to snarl it up so badly that crossing one bridge took at least ten minutes. One bridge!
It was completely dark by the time we got back to the dorms and I could finally go upstairs to do my homework. Lovely. The work wasn't too bad, actually, and I was done early enough that I went out to dinner with two friends, back to that exotic Egyptian restaurant known as Hardee's. Mmm.
When I got back home, I studied with my friend Vince for a while, for our map quiz in Art and Architecture tomorrow. Did I say it got postponed?
Vince, lucky guy, actually owns the book we were supposed to use to find the places on our map. [I just heard the weirdest noise outside. I've never heard anything like that before. It was like a cross between the very beginning of a fire truck siren, a giant electric drill, and a stepped-on cat. Weird. Now it's gone.] I only had photocopies of the first 45 pages to work with instead. When we compared our maps, the differences were pathetic. I must have been falling asleep or something when I made mine, because I made all kinds of mistakes. Some cities were just an inch or so off, while others were in completely the wrong place. Take Serabit el-Khaddem for example. I put it on the wrong side of the Red Sea. Who does that? What was I thinking? Vince suggested my map must have been upside down. There were a few more mistakes, that being the worst of them, all of which are fixed now, just in time for me not to learn them for the quiz tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
'please don't let me have a blood clot' and other topics
I went to see Student Health services this morning, just to see if they could tell me what is going on with my leg. It hasn't stopped hurting for very long at all since it started Thursday* morning.The pain hasn't gotten worse either, which I guess is probably good.I don't really know what I expected from a doctor's office in Egypt, but I wasn't really surprised at what went on. I was sent back by the front desk to consult with a nurse about which doctor to see. When I talked to the nurse, she told me that her daughter gets cramps too, because she doesn't walk around enough. On a campus as big as this, with no means of transportation around the dorms either, somehow, I don't think that's it. If it were, I think I would probably be happier.
She seemed like she was about to tell me to leave when another nurse came in and asked if she'd taken my blood pressure. The first nurse said no, not yet, but then when the second nurse left, just asked me if I was having headaches or 'blood pressure complaints' and since I wasn't, didn't bother taking it. That was comforting.
Then I sat in a chair that the second nurse pointed me to to wait to see a doctor. It didn't take very long, and he was a pretty nice guy. I told him what had been going on, and then he poked my calf for a while, asking if it hurt (which it did), and then told me it was probably just a cramp.
Hello? I know it's a cramp! I told you it was a cramp! It's just a cramp that has lasted for FOUR WHOLE DAYS. What are you going to do about it?
Basically, nothing. I mean, I don't know if there's really anything to do at all, I was just expecting a little more than what I got. He did give me a prescription for pain, which I guess is nice, but I don't really know if I need it. I'd rather have it hurt and know that something is still wrong than not feel it at all. Does that make any sense?
He also gave me a recommendation to go to the hospital where AUC international students have insurance to get an ultrasound, to make sure I don't have a blood clot. From what he told me of the symptoms of a blood clot (swelling, warmth, discoloration, and pain), I don't have one, just pain. But, since the insurance does cover it, I'll make an appointment and go, just in case. There goes my fun Tuesday.
Anyway, classes went well, even if I was falling asleep a lot of the time. In Egyptian Literature, we read the story of the shipwrecked sailor, which I highly recommend. It involves a sailor, a shipwreck, a snake, and a shooting star. It's not as alliterative as my description makes it sound.
Arabic was funny today, because we played Memory, trying to match Arabic words with their English definitions. I didn't do very well, but that's okay because I still learned the vocab. I also learned a bit of Japanese vocab too, because one of my classmates (who went to a British high school in Cairo) asked my friend Satomi (who is studying at AUC from Japan) for a 'rubber', which really surprised me until I realized she meant an eraser. I'm not sure if Satomi knew either, but it all worked out in the end. It got me thinking though, and so I asked Satomi later what the word for a whiteboard eraser was in Japanese, because it couldn't be the same as a normal eraser, since part of that word means rubber. It turns out it's 'kokuban-keshi', while a normal eraser is 'keshi-gomu'. So, I learned a new Japanese word today, and also really surprised the other girl when I started speaking nihongo to Satomi. It was fun.
Most of my day post-classes has been spent studying for a map quiz that I may or may not have tomorrow in Art and Architecture. If it is tomorrow, it'll serve me right for not studying earlier, but I really hope it's not until Thursday! I will get a much better grade then, and not worry about it so much.
Here's the map I've been working on filling in:
Also, post doctor's visit and classes, I was having a fairly crappy day today. When I got off the bus in Zamalek, I was totally prepared to go up to my room and crash, but instead I decided to walk around the block, do my grocery shopping, and get some dinner from the really good taamiyya (falafel) place that Emily showed me a while back. By the time I got back to the dorms, my day was looking so much better, that I might just have to walk around every day from now on. Even though I got hissed at (that'll teach me to wear a semi-low cut but completely modest shirt!), it seriously improved my mood.
She seemed like she was about to tell me to leave when another nurse came in and asked if she'd taken my blood pressure. The first nurse said no, not yet, but then when the second nurse left, just asked me if I was having headaches or 'blood pressure complaints' and since I wasn't, didn't bother taking it. That was comforting.
Then I sat in a chair that the second nurse pointed me to to wait to see a doctor. It didn't take very long, and he was a pretty nice guy. I told him what had been going on, and then he poked my calf for a while, asking if it hurt (which it did), and then told me it was probably just a cramp.
Hello? I know it's a cramp! I told you it was a cramp! It's just a cramp that has lasted for FOUR WHOLE DAYS. What are you going to do about it?
Basically, nothing. I mean, I don't know if there's really anything to do at all, I was just expecting a little more than what I got. He did give me a prescription for pain, which I guess is nice, but I don't really know if I need it. I'd rather have it hurt and know that something is still wrong than not feel it at all. Does that make any sense?
He also gave me a recommendation to go to the hospital where AUC international students have insurance to get an ultrasound, to make sure I don't have a blood clot. From what he told me of the symptoms of a blood clot (swelling, warmth, discoloration, and pain), I don't have one, just pain. But, since the insurance does cover it, I'll make an appointment and go, just in case. There goes my fun Tuesday.
Anyway, classes went well, even if I was falling asleep a lot of the time. In Egyptian Literature, we read the story of the shipwrecked sailor, which I highly recommend. It involves a sailor, a shipwreck, a snake, and a shooting star. It's not as alliterative as my description makes it sound.
Arabic was funny today, because we played Memory, trying to match Arabic words with their English definitions. I didn't do very well, but that's okay because I still learned the vocab. I also learned a bit of Japanese vocab too, because one of my classmates (who went to a British high school in Cairo) asked my friend Satomi (who is studying at AUC from Japan) for a 'rubber', which really surprised me until I realized she meant an eraser. I'm not sure if Satomi knew either, but it all worked out in the end. It got me thinking though, and so I asked Satomi later what the word for a whiteboard eraser was in Japanese, because it couldn't be the same as a normal eraser, since part of that word means rubber. It turns out it's 'kokuban-keshi', while a normal eraser is 'keshi-gomu'. So, I learned a new Japanese word today, and also really surprised the other girl when I started speaking nihongo to Satomi. It was fun.
Most of my day post-classes has been spent studying for a map quiz that I may or may not have tomorrow in Art and Architecture. If it is tomorrow, it'll serve me right for not studying earlier, but I really hope it's not until Thursday! I will get a much better grade then, and not worry about it so much.
Here's the map I've been working on filling in:
 |
| there are 102 places to be put on this map, and i'm still missing about 15 |
 |
| zoom in on lower egypt! |
Even better, my friend Jen and I spent about an hour watching Amanda Palmer videos and hanging out, which was really fun, and I'm sad that she's going home in just a few days, even though I know it's the right thing.
So, classes tomorrow, and keep your fingers crossed that I don't have to take this map quiz! I don't want to fail the first test I take in Egypt...
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