Word of the Day

You get two today because I keep getting these mixed up:

buttin(eye)a - blanket

bootagaz - stove

good and meh

I am in an odd mood.  I feel as if I have been here in Egypt a really long time, and yet I have very little figured out.  I tried to to find the local grocery today with Sherif.  We couldn't find it.  Sherif has been so nice to help me get settled, but I have only seen two of my friends.  I haven't even seen my host family yet.  I don't have their Egypt number, so tried their American number through skype.  The connection was so bad I couldn't communicate anything to them.  I was going to meet some friends tonight but someone got sick, so the plans flopped.  I haven't even had tea, let alone gone out to the 'ahwa.  I am very comfortable in my house, but ultimately that's all I've seen.  I was going to make some soup but I didn't have a lighter to start the stove :(  

But I really like my classes.  Kalimat has a very nice vibe.  My evening class (like my morning class) is comprised of only three of us.  My classmates once again are male, one from Spain, and one from... Germany?  I really missed studying Aamaya (ECA).  The classes are much more about speaking whereas the MSA classes at my University seem to be all about grammar.  Kalimat is just a really friendly place.

I am considering starting up a photo of the week, like my word of the day.  The photo of the week idea is a bit trickier because carrying around my big honking camera pins me as a tourist.  But if I go out taking photos with my Egyptian friends, it shouldn't be a problem.  I also like the idea of having just one photo a week, so you get the best choice selections.  We'll see.

I hope I sleep tonight.  I forgot all my Tylenol PM at home. 

Word of the Day

Takeef - Air-conditioning

Here we go

Let’s start with a disclaimer:  my internet is spotty.  So if I hang-up on you on skype, or suddenly sign-off, or miss a blog I promised you know what happened.

Idea:  Let’s start up an Arabic word of the day!  I don’t intend to blog everyday once I get  settled, but whenever I do I’ll also post a word.  We’ll make that an ECA word.

Today was my first full day in Egypt and first day of Arabic classes.  Sherif is THE BEST.  He came by in the morning to show me the way to Kalimat via taxi.  It is only a four or five LE (Egyptian Pound) ride.  This morning I took an oral placement test.  The teacher who did by test was very friendly and smiley, so I didn’t get nervous like I usually do with oral tests.  I will be taking four classes a week.  Tuesday and Thursday I go to an afternoon level 2 class, and Monday and Wednesday I will go to evening level 2.5 class.  So far I really like Kalimat, it seems very low pressure so I don’t get so nervous.  There are two other guys in my level 2 class, and they are both from the only two other countries I’ve been to, even the areas I have been to.  One from “the Rhineland” in Germany, and the other from outside London.  The class was 2.5 hours long, so a good chunk of time.

I grabbed lunch with the German, got home all by myself, slept, unpacked, and now I think I’m going to sleep again!  Night.

P.S.  The couches in my living room have cushions that are PERFECT for pillow forts.

I'd rather be sleeping...

but blogging is the next best thing.  It is currently 2:26 am here in Mohadessin.  I was sleeping soundly from 10:00 to 1:00, but now nerves and time zones are messing with my head.  I hope a nice blogging session will tire out my brain so I can sleep more before class tomorrow.

It's official: I have the best friends ever.  For anyone who ever doubted the dedication or awesomeness of my Egyptian friends: eat your words!  The generosity and loyalty of Egyptians wins yet again. Without Sherif and Shuma I would surely still be at the airport, homeless and hungry.  But instead I am lounging in MY bed in MY apartment, checking the time on MY cellphone with food in MY kitchen.  What a productive day.  I feel like renting your first apartment is a kind of rite of passage.  As with most of my rite of passages, I did this one in Egypt.  Score.  I think it is also worth noting that the apartment is really nice.  It is just a little smaller than the condo at home.  Unlike home, It lacks a second bathroom and a store room, but it does have a clothes washer and A BALCONY!

Tomorrow morning... or this morning I will head over to Kalimat at 8:30, and guess who's taking me. Sherif, the best friend ever.  Then I will take my placement test and start me Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) courses.  I have decided to start with all Colloquial to get myself started actually speaking with Egyptians, then in a month or two I will transition to combined Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and ECA.

On the more emotional side, I'm not so sure I realize what's going on yet.  Sherif and I kept poking each other to make sure the other was real.  Exhaustion is keeping me from appreciating what an accomplishment this is, but it is also keeping the "what-have-done"s away.  My experience last time was that I was all adrenaline and happiness until the really sudden moment that something goes wrongs and you start wondering what the hell you have gotten yourself into.  Right now it just seems unreal, but at the same time just right.  As we were driving from the airport I was amazed by how the air felt.  It was exactly the way I remembered it, even though I hadn't realized I missed it.  It is tangible, dry but heavy, and it makes your hair feel dirty.  Ironic, the environmental studies major likes the feel of polluted air.  I even kind of like the smell.

The best moment so far was when Sherif, Shuma, Shuma's girlfriend (from Maine!), and I were sitting in the garden at Kalimat waiting for some logistics to be worked out and the call to prayer started to weave its way through the heavy air.  The other-worldly chant washed over me and I was peacefully enraptured.  The five times daily call to prayer is something I knew I missed.  That was a nice place to hear if for the first time, surrounded by my friends in that little green garden.  Speaking of which the dawn call to prayer just sounded.  I'm going to try for some more sleep.

Jinx

I definitely jinxed that flight.  We sat for about two and a half hours on the runway in Chicago.  By that time I had already taken my Dramamine so I literally drifting in and out of consciousness, but my understanding is that the luggage was loaded incorrectly, so it all had to be taken out and reweighed.  Luckily, I had five hour layover in Frankfurt, so I have not missed my flight to Cairo.  I am sitting at my gate.  I don't know if I feel motion sick, nervous, or hungry.  I hope they feed us again on this flight, because I am too scared to leave my gate to find food.  I also don't have any Euros...

You must travel to Travel... darn

Ufdah!  There was once a time when I loved flying in airplanes, but now, I do it so often, it has lost it’s wonder.  And with that lose of wonder I seem to have lost the ability to resist motion sickness.  And I only have 13 more hours of flight!

For a little back ground.  Last month I flew home from school (DC to Minnesota).  Then a few weeks later I flew back to DC for an orientation.  After one week of orientation I flew home.  And then 12 hours later I got on my flight to Chicago, where I sit now.  Then I fly to Frankfurt and finally Cairo.  

Many say that the journey is half the adventure.  I do not believe those people get car sick.  I have been convinced for most of my life that my motion sickness does not apply to planes, but thank you nature for proving me wrong.  I have not yet “gotten sick,” but the nausea is enough to make anyone’s journey unpleasant.  I am excited to get on the flight to Frankfurt and dope myself up on Dramamine.  I don’t know if Dramamine really does anything, but it puts me to sleep, and I don’t get car sick when asleep.

But over all things have gone well.  My little sister is the greatest.  She and my mother hosted a goodbye dinner for me with some of my favorite American foods.  All of my grandparents, some extended family, and some of my closest friends were in attendance.  Then my best friend slept over to help pack and see me off in the morning.  Packing was fairly painless, except for several switches of bags.  Biggish suitcase to biggest suitcase; no second carry-on to a duffle to a roller-board.  I made it to the airport and through security calmly without trouble.  But of course as soon as I got to the gate we are informed that there probably won’t be room for zone 5 and 6 to bring roller-boards on the flight, and it should be checked.  After pulling out some overnight things, I checked in a nearly empty roller-board.  That will be good for tokens acquired in Egypt, but I do worry about my new zoom lens, which remains in the roller-board.  I tried to buckle it in place in its box.

Minneapolis to Chicago is a short flight.  Too short for someone nauseous to drink a full can of ginger ale.  So when we were about to land I had a good half a glass left, but alas, I had to fold up my little table.  Just as I was juggling my drink and trying to click in my table, the seat ahead of me popped into the up-right position.  This jostled my drink from my hand on to my pants, feet, and carry-ons.  Oh, travel, why do you do this to me?  I sat for a moment with my mouth hanging open, amazed by my luck, and then tried to mop it up.  The damage was not too bad, but my feet are definitely sticky.  At least I’m not wearing socks.  Wet socks are the worst.  I am just hoping this means that I have used up my quotient of bad luck.  I am always excited for the foreign movies they play on international flights.  Send any excess good luck you may have my way!