Another life

Hey! So, I've got this picture set as the wallpaper on my iPod. Every time I turn it on, this picture pops up. It's one of my favorites. It was taken right before I got on a plane to leave the east coast during one of my many trips. It represents the place in life I seem to be in. Always between two places, never really settled anywhere. This morning I turned on my iPod to listen to some music while I was doing my arabic homework, and I had a thought flash through my mind. "That feels like a different life." It was only taken a year or so ago, but it feels like a lifetime ago. Not sure why, but it really struck me today. Home's only a plane ride away, but sometimes it feels like another life, another time, another planet.

Still washing sand out of my hair!

Hey there! I got back from the Red Sea coast last night. I left on Friday morning and came back on Sunday night, and I think I spent about 24 of those hours riding buses. Makes for lots of boredom and a sore backside. But don't worry, I made up for it by walking many, many miles through deserts, wildernesses, and tiny towns! It was a cool opportunity for us to get to check out a little more of the country. It was super windy! I've posted a video at the bottom of this entry so you can hear just how windy it was. It almost knocked me over once or twice.

I just had a great skype call from some friends back home. Mike & Nikki, you're awesome!

Let's see, random assorted news . . . I'm learning how to play "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman on the guitar right now. I heard it at a friend's house the other day and decided I wanted to learn how to play it. I also saw a random spine in the middle of the street the other day. I had to do a double-take before I figured out what it was. I'm guessing an animal dragged it away from a butcher's shop, but it was still pretty surprising. We're learning how to make conditional clauses now in Arabic class. Stuff like, if I'd wanted to talk to you, I would have called you. (lau kunt Aiz atkallim mA'ik, kunt ittaSalt bik. Just in case you're curious!)

I just had two friends go back to the other States this last week. We came over at about the same time, and hung out a lot over the last six months or so. They were kind of like brothers. We were studying Arabic together, going through culture shock together, and doing lots of other stuff together. It feels kind of strange to have them gone. I'm still in the place where I go to pick up my phone and call them. Only, halfway through dialing the number I realize that they're not here any more. It's kind of a strange feeling. It's strange how close you can get to someone over such a short period of time. I think it's accelerated when you live overseas. Anyway . . .

I think that's most of the news for the moment. I'm still waiting for this video to load. So I'm probably going to hang out around the house for a little bit longer while that finishes, then go out and spend some time practicing my Arabic. Ooh, I think I might still have some olives in the fridge. I think I'll munch on those while I wait.

Life of Dave

Ah, the joys of my day. Lets see . . .

Realizing that the reason I couldn't understand the article I was trying to read is that the author wrote it in a different dialect of Arabic than I speak. (This was two hours and MUCH frustration into a tutoring session)

Having the plumbing break in my flat AGAIN and having to fix it with a butter knife and a sponge. McGyver's got nothing on me!

Well, that's actually most of the day. It was pretty normal besides that, although I've still got a few hours left before I call it quits for the night . . .

Mother of invention . . .

Hey everyone!

We've been studying a lot of Arabic proverbs in class lately. Well, idioms that you can't really translate directly. There's one that says "An onion from a friend is mutton." What it basically means is that even the smallest gift from a loved one is of great value. I think the closest thing we have to that is "It's the thought that counts." There's a ton more, some of which are really fun.

Anyway, all of the thinking about proverbs reminded me of one that we have in English. "Necessity is the mother of invention." I was mulling over that one a couple of days ago, and decided to try something. My roommate and I decided that we would try to speak to each other only in Arabic. If we have something that we can't say in Arabic, we're allowed to use English. But beyond that, we're in Arabic all the time. It's actually been a lot of fun, and I'm surprised how much we're able to communicate. Although our Arabic is always a little rough early in the morning. :)

Oh, I also had an exam in Arabic class yesterday. It was funny. I think I studied for this exam the least out of all the exams I've taken so far, but I got the best grade on this one that I've gotten on any exam up to this point. I keep hoping to get 100%, but not yet. (Short Arabic lesson - the word "lissa" means "not yet." It's a really useful word!)

We've got a festival coming up on Monday next week. It's called "Sham el'neseem," which roughly translates to "The smell of Spring." It's always the day after Easter, and marks the first day of summer here in Egypt. I've been told by my Egyptian friends that I need to go to a park and eat eggs and fish on Sham el'neseem. So, I'll let you know how that goes!

Random events of the day . . .

Hey guys,

Just realized that I haven't written anything in forever!

Happy Palm Sunday. I know it's Easter in the States, but our calendar is a little behind here. So today is Palm Sunday for us. Or, "Had el z'Af" in Arabic.

Okay, random events of the day. I saw two car accidents while I was walking down the street today. Honestly, not all that unusual. In fact, that's a pretty standard occurrence around here. But here's the strange part, nobody got out and yelled today. Usually that's the first thing that happens when there's a wreck. People start yelling, then get around to figuring out whose fault it is later. But today, no yelling. Kind of a surprise.

I also finished grading my English students final exams today. They all passed! I was actually pretty excited. There were one or two that I thought might not make it. But they all passed, and I was really proud of them. There's one that still has to take her final next week, but I'm pretty confident she'll pass too.

Okay, I gotta run. I've got laundry to hang out and food to eat. A friend invited me over for dinner. I'm supposed to be there in about three minutes and it's a twenty minute walk away. Oops, I'm becoming Egyptian!