I really like the month and year lining up the way they do right now. It's like the day is the only thing that really matters and the rest of the date is just there to look pretty.
Of course, today is halfway through October, which is a little scary. I'm dreading November a little bit.
After I finished writing last night, I snoozed on the bus, but didn't really get to go to sleep. Eventually we made it to the hotel, got everybody awake and off the bus, then found out that it was the wrong hotel - our rooms were booked at another one with the exact same name, It all go sorted out thought, and we got there, got our room and went to sleep. My roommates and I slept two in a double bed, and one in a single (I was in the double, but there weren't any problems, mostly because we were both too tired to thrash around or steal covers in our sleep.)
We woke up at 9:30 to get breakfast, then my roommates went back upstairs to nap, and I went to the beach to meet up with some other friends.
The water was ridiculously clear, and the sand and coral and fish were beautiful. We hung out in the Red Sea for a while (the Red Sea!) and then went to lay down on beach chairs by the hotel's pool. I was already a little burned, so I didn't go back in the sun. After an hour or two, we swam in the pool, then went back down to the beach. This time, the tide was coming in , which meant there were tiny waves, and the sand was stirred up, so we couldn't see the bottom any more. I'm glad I didn't stay in the hotel room, because if I had, I really would have missed out.
After we were done at the beach, I showered and got dressed, then met up with my friends again for lunch, which was interesting room service pizza, made with phyllo dough. Odd.
After lunch, I hung out by the pool to do some reading for Dramatic Lit (Duchess of Malfi by Webster - interesting, but not interesting enough to keep me from falling asleep by the end of the second act). Then I hung out in the room with my roommates, watched weird Arabic television and snoozed.
Dinner was free, buffet and all. I think strange is a thing with the hotel food here. The rice had carrots in it. Dessert was good, though.
By the time we finished, it was dark and we walked down to the beach to see the sea and stars, which were so pretty. Then we came back to the room for our final nap before taking the bus to the mountain. Next time I write, I'll have seen the sun rise from the top!
[Boring catch-up blog. Still, done now! Until the next trip...]
I thought my hair was going to kill me today. I really did. It was fine in the morning, when I was walking around campus slowly roasting in the sun, getting important items of business done, or as the case may be, not getting important items of business done. It was fine at noon, when I sat in the freezing cold rare books archive, learning about the proportions and grids Ancient Egyptian artists used to make their tomb paintings so regular. It was even fine when I swam laps in the AUC pool, although it was a bit weird to not have to wear a cap.
not me, but what i felt like. (and not my picture.)
My hair was not fine after I swam. I didn't bring shampoo to campus, because I didn't think I'd need it. I was wrong. Apparently, aside from making my hair clean, my shampoo also keeps it from being fluffy. I don't know how this works, but I know it does. As soon as my hair started to dry after my post-swim shower, I noticed something was wrong. My hair wouldn't stay still. It wouldn't lie flat. It was fluffy. I don't like my hair to be fluffy, so this was not a great feeling. Plus, it was really windy out, which meant my hair was fluffy and messy, which is a lovely combination.
Anyway, no one cares about my hair. Unfortunately, there's not a lot else to talk about today. Most of what I needed to do on campus today I did, except for reserving my spot on the Tanis trip, which hopefully I'll get to do tomorrow. Swimming was actually really fun, and I'm glad that it worked out. I rented my locker and borrowed a towel, and went swimming. Really, the only problem was the towel, which was about the size of a bath mat and about as useful for drying off. Whatever, though. Now I've got my locker, I can bring my own towel if I want. Problem solved.
And that was pretty much my day. Sounds exciting, huh? Back to school tomorrow, for adventures in Art and Architecture, Literature, and Arabic.
I did spend some time today filming a new video blog. Two in a week is hard, but hopefully this is the last time I'll have to do that. Hope you enjoy!
"The time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, and why nobody comments on Elise's blog posts."
I really, really like comments, I swear. Even just a few words can make my day. I won't think you're a creeper, I promise. (If this sounds like a plea for attention, that's because it is. And I've decided I'm okay with that.)
I finally had enough free time on campus this morning before class to check out the sports facilities and the pool on campus. I even learned how to rent a locker, even though the locker-renting lady didn't speak English. The pool is gigantic, fifty meters long with about twelve lanes. I don't have a swim cap or goggles, but that isn't going to stop me from doing laps tomorrow when I get a chance. As you can see from this schedule, the hours are very irregular, but I'm hoping to get to swim at least twice a week, since the gym here in Zamalek is a little lacking.
Classes went well today, and I even got my homework done at a reasonable time. There isn't any news on the library job front, because the work-study website isn't open to study abroad students yet, but I think it's getting fixed sometime this week.
In Arabic class we are still learning the alphabet, through the use of a book called the Alif-Baa and sometimes with the youtube video below. Feel free to sing along if the fancy strikes you. Don't worry if you can't pronounce some of the letters, because I can't either, and I'm supposed to be able to by now!
Tomorrow I'm also planning to relinquish my passport (along with a passport size photo and one photocopy of my passport) to the student visa services so I can get my visa changed from a visitor's (which is good for multiple re-entries, but only three months) to a student visa, also with multiple re-entries, but which will be good for the rest of the school year. I hope the powers that be won't hold onto it too long, because I don't really like traveling without it, even inside Egypt.
I also went grocery shopping today, twice. The first time was on campus at the 24 hour Quick-Mart, to stock up on granola bars. I also checked out the jars of Nutella, because there wasn't any peanut butter, but since they looked runny and one had been opened, I didn't buy them. Instead, I bought a couple serving size packs of Nutella, just because I wanted to. And because Nutella is the most delicious thing on Earth, ever. While I was in the grocery store, I browsed the cereal shelves, and found this, which made me laugh:
it might be healthy, but it doesn't have any friends
Also, a package of turkish delight. Honestly, I don't remember ever seeing turkish delight in real life before. I kind of thought it was something that C. S. Lewis made up when he was writing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Guess not.
it does exist
My second grocery store trip of the day came when it was time to do my laundry, because I was down to one Egypt-appropriate shirt, and I didn't really feel like wearing it. I found an empty washer and put my clothes in it and started it before I remembered that I didn't have any laundry soap. Oops. My first thought was to borrow some from a friend, but then I kind of felt like a huge mooch, so I ran to Metro (the closest and most Western supermarket) to buy some. I ended up with a brand called Persil, that comes in a bright pink box. When I got back, I added it to the washer and ran the wash cycle again so my clothes would actually get clean.
Then I returned to my room to Skype and do homework, and forgot all about my laundry. The washer had been done for about half an hour when I showed up to put my clothes in the dryer, but thankfully no one had needed it, so my clothes hadn't been moved. Unfortunately, I did the exact same thing when my clothes were in the dryer, and when I came to get them, they were piled on top. I didn't really mind, though, because they weren't on the floor, and it's not like I haven't done the same to other people's clothes in the past.
Overall, it was a successful laundry adventure, because nothing was still wet, I used actual soap instead of just color brightener, and nothing came out a very different color than when it went in. (I don't remember mentioning last time - I washed my only two light shirts with a previously unwashed dark pair of jeans. It didn't ruin them, but they can't really be called white any more. At least they're not pink.)
In other news, look how pretty some parts of AUC's campus are. This is a courtyard hidden in the middle of HUSS, the building where I have most of my classes, which is designed to be confusing and impossible to navigate.
huss courtyard
Actually, speaking of HUSS, I've gotten pretty used to it over the past few weeks. It's the buildings on campus that I've never set foot in before that are the trouble. With my extra time this morning, I decided to sit on a balcony on HUSS's second floor and read my book in the shade. I was closer to the science building than to HUSS, and I knew that a catwalk connected the two buildings, right next to the balcony I was headed for, so I decided to take the science-y route. This was a bad mistake. I wasn't late for anything, but I was lost in that building's depths for 45 minutes before I re-emerged from a door about 50 yards in the opposite direction from where I wanted to be. During that 45 minutes, I found the roof, three doors that wouldn't open, a confusing looking engineering class, and an Authorized Personnel Only chemical storage room with the door propped open to passers-by, which I didn't enter, although I was tempted. (I'll be going back to that room someday, mark my words.) Anyway, I survived my ordeal, as you can see, and I'll live to explore another day.
Here is another song I've been listening to quite a lot, since I finally listened to Sgt. Pepper all the way through without stopping. I don't think this is my favorite song from the album, but it is the one that sticks with me the most:
