Well, I've decided to start sending out emails and only using this site to put links to my pictures, books I'm reading, etc. I also like that the site is archived so that I can keep the old things I've written but I guess I could manually do that too. We'll see how that works out.

But for now, I'm just going to send email out to folks. If for some reason, you haven't been getting my notification messages and want to be on my email list, please let me know.

Signing off...

Hmmm...this didn't work when I posted on Sunday. Better now?

A bit about where I'm living:

No A/C -- fans only. I have 2 floor-fans in my room, then in the TV room there's a ceiling fan, and in the dining room (where I eat lunch) there are quite a few fans which help keep the air moving.

The food has been good and I definitely feel like I'm "eating like an Egyptian". I've been having many foods that I had only seen or maybe just tried 1 times. Now I am eating them on a daily basis. Let's see if I can describe some things:

-Green peppers stuffed with rice and seasonings
-bread and cheese
-meatball-type things
-corn "soup" (kinda like soup, but not quite)

New pictures up of where I'm living...

Username: jpics
Password: easy

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4289823393

and the recent MCC meeting

I also just added a page with the books I've been reading. It's "books".

Hmmm...so they've changed the way thing work for the software I use to write my journal. It looks a bit nicer for me to type, but it shouldn't make any difference when it comes to how you view it.

Things have calmed down here in Tanta, but apparently I've been acting a bit tired/grumpy today. Two different times, people asked me, "why aren't you happy". But tomorrow is a new day!

I hope people are still reading this, even though I haven't been posting much and didn't send out an email about my most recent posts.

This is also the first post from my laptop in Tanta. The guys at my local Internet Cafe' have been nice enough to let me connect here. It's not very fast for downloading *frown*, but it'll do...

On the way back from Cairo on Sunday night, I started talking with 2 guys on the train. Both are studying to be translators at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Very bright guys and friendly, but of course not Christian.

Tuesday afternoon, one of them called to invite me to come with them to his agricultural village a few kilometers outside Tanta. Everything was so green, nice fresh air, a great sunset, and the opportunity to see fields of apples, grapes, oranges, mangos, and corn. (the guy's family owns property and raises crops). He sent me home with a bunch of apples and I shared a meal in the family home.

Great! Right?

Well, for me -- yes! I felt completely comfortable and safe the entire time and really enjoyed the experience.

Unfortunately, the folks at Dar Phoebe (where I live) weren't thrilled. I left around 5pm and got back at 11:30. Before midnight when "the big outside door is locked".

So this morning, Tessuni (the sister who runs Dar Phoebe) and others were very curious what I had been up to, where I had been, and why I hadn't told them when I would be back.

Mostly b/c I wasn't sure how long I was going to be gone. Also, I didn't think they wanted/needed to know my movements, but apparently they do.

Due to this and the people I was with not being Christian, I got into a fairly long talk today with Tessuni about who I should (and shouldn't) be friends with. *sigh* Mostly I said lots of "I understand" in response to what she was saying. It seems as if they would like to choose my friends for me, or at least make sure that they are Christian.

I know that I am teaching with/for the Orthodox and they feel responsible for me, but what are the limits? Overall, being at Dar Phoebe is wonderful, but it would be even better if they would just relax a bit. I'm feeling like choosing discretion over honesty is in the position I'm in now. Up to this point, I've been telling them everything when they ask, but now it feels like that's going to cause more problems.

(this was the text of a message I sent to my bosses about things in Tanta, but I thought it made for a good journal entry, too)

A good weekend in Cairo. Frisbee, a couple of movies ("You've Got Mail" and "When Harry Met Sally"), a meeting/goodbye party for Craig/Karen, and a bit of baking. Busy, busy!

I watched "Mail" with other volunteers at Dawson Hall on Friday and decided to watch more Meg Ryan, so "Sally" was on Saturday. Funny thing is that it was the edited Egyptian version, so _the_ scene was completely taken out!!! *laugh* I won't explain, but hopefully folks understand.

Also went to a big "Refugee Day" at the American University. Good music, food, fun, and learning about different organizations.

I met a couple of interesting guys on the train last night, coming back to Tanta. Both are students in Cairo, but coming back for the summer with their parents in Tanta. One is studying "Islamic Law" and the other is studying to become a real-time translator (like for live speeches and that sort of thing)

They might call me later in the week to get together. We'll see...

Here is your Arabic lesson for the day...

The word is "nom" and it rhymes with "Tom".

It is a polite way of saying "sorry, I can't hear you".

For most people, at least. For _me_ it means:
"wait, wait, wait -- hold on. I only follow about 10% of what you're saying, so if I can get you to say it a few more times and use small words, maybe we can converse a little bit. Drawing pictures and using lots of gestures will help me, too. Thanks."

*smile*

Currently, this is my life... *grin*

Just checking email quickly for the first time in a couple of days. I've taken pictures but haven't asked about how to upload them, or if I can. I'm connected from the internet cafe next door to where I'm living.

All is well and I'm using my Arabic a lot!

It's sick and wrong, but my computer now talks to me. *grin*

When Windows boots up, it says "Welcome".
When I get an email, it says "You've Got Mail".
When I exit Windows, it says "Goodbye".

But it's ok, b/c it's the voice of Stevie Nicks (with some of the others in the background)
*grin*

I'm such a geek, but I found these on a site and I couldn't resist. Apparently, they did some special promotion with AOL, so they recorded these.

I also snagged a bunch of Fleetwood Mac wallpapers today, so I put one on my computer!

“Leftover Salad” – is it me, or does that sound like a good name for a punk band?

Well, it’s what I call my concoction that I took to dinner last night. Thanks to Lisa D (congrats on your new house!) and Erik for your suggestions/comments about things to add, but I had to go just with things that I had here.

So, I cooked some torpedo-shaped pasta, chilled it and added sliced up oranges, grapes, and apples. Nice and fresh for a hot day. It went over well with the kids and adults in the group, so I’m happy about that.

Next week, I need to make a “green salad” for a dinner gathering, so it will be experimentation time again!

Dinner was good and there was lots of religion-related conversation. The most interesting discussion was the thoughts of different denominations about sprinkle/pour versus immersion when baptizing people.

Things went until after 9pm, so I didn’t make it to the Opera House. Oh well! I came back here for a bit of reading and chatted with Beth on MSN Messenger.

I want to read a bit this afternoon and then pack up most of my stuff before church so that I can just relax once I get home tonight. We’re loading things up at 9am Monday morning! Which reminds me…I need to make a phone call to make sure that someone will be there to meet us! *laugh*

Here’s a link for you to enjoy (apparently, they didn’t like the religious undertones):

Egyptian censors ban “Matrix Reloaded”

The last couple of days, I've been living vicariously through my friend Mike (I'll put in a link whenever he gets his Blog going!)

Why?

Because he went to the Fleetwood Mac concert in Detroit on Thursday night. My favorite band! Thankfully, Mike wrote me a very long and detailed description of the show and his thoughts on it, plus he's been asking his Dad (also a fan) how it was to be living in the '70s when all the original music was just coming out.

I've been testing my patience by downloading some live tracks from the current tour:

http://burnish.net/audio.php -- has a bunch of tracks from the Columbus show
http://www.fleetwoodmac-uk.com/songofthemonth.html -- 2 tracks from Pittsburgh
http://arizonalily.org/lilyrhiannon/music/mp3/week.shtml -- older stuff, demos, etc

I downloaded some last night while chatting with Scott and Willie. They're gone now, so I had time to lift weights this morning.

This afternoon, I'll make the salad I mentioned earlier, take it to a dinner, then hopefully make it to the Opera House for a concert at 9pm. We'll see...

In the meantime, I'm listening to in-concert music from Fleetwood Mac!!!

Friday the 13th!

Jason…Jason…Jason… *laugh*

(sorry, bad reference to the horrible movies that I couldn’t resist making! *grin*)

It’s been a busy day! Last night, my South African visitors arrived back in Cairo. They were due to be in a bit after 10pm and instead turned up at my door just before I was heading to bed at 2am!

Such stories to tell! On the way from one part of Algeria to another, they had to make an emergency landing in their airplane! Crazy! Coming back to Cairo, their flight was much safer, but it was delayed in Algeria for several hours due to some sort of mechanical problem.

We chatted a bit, but then got to sleep quickly b/c we wanted to go to church this morning.

And we did…9:30am and we were there! After that, we met up with Carmen (another MCC volunteer) and Jennifer (the cousin of a volunteer) to go visit the SAT7, big Christian satellite station in Egypt that broadcasts all over the Middle East. Willie and Scott knew people who were involved in other countries and wanted to see the facilities here. I’m really glad we did. It was quite interesting and a very professional set-up. I’m not sure who their fund-raising staff is, but they’re really good.

There are very professional-looking studios, high-quality soundproofing, and top-of-the-line editing equipment in the offices. Plus, they have a mobile studio in a van! The price tag on that is 1 million Egyptian Pounds (probably about $300,000 at the time they bought it)

Guess what? I ran into someone I knew while touring SAT7! *smirk* Yes, I’m sure that people are shocked by that!

Nancy, one of the childcare workers from when we were on our MCC retreat in Alexandria was also on a tour of SAT7! *laugh* Fun to see her and chat a bit!

After the tour, we went back to the cave church and garbage city that Darren and I had already visited. It was quite near to SAT7 and we thought it would be a good thing for the visitors to see.

We had a good time there and then had a really nice cab driver on the way back. He’s also going to come to my place at 2am to pick up Willie and Scott for the airport.

For dinner, we got sandwiches as take-out and then came back to my flat for the sandwiches, some fruit, and then ice cream for dessert. Scott picked up my Island of Dr. Moreau book, so he’s trying to finish that before he leaves!

After lifting weights tomorrow, I need to make a salad for dinner tomorrow night. Any suggestions? I’m thinking lettuce, tomato, and pasta. What sort of dressing/seasonings should I use?

Strange things afoot at the Circle-K!!! *laugh* (or at least near where the Circle-K might be, if they had them in Egypt)

After my guitar lesson, I had some time before Arabic, wanted to eat, and didn’t feel like going home. So I went straight to this good pancake place near my tutor’s house. The good news – I had pancakes. The bad news – no syrup! *frown* Just honey, but that was ok I guess.

Then there was the battle of me trying to think of the word for “butter” to have some on the croissant I bought. That was a difficult task! (it’s “zibeda”)

But what I saw just after I left made it all worthwhile.

Typically in Cairo, you see dogs and cats roaming the streets. They’re looking for scraps of food and sometimes you’ll see cats begging at restaurants.

Well, today, I saw 2 chicks begging for food! *laugh*

Really, 2 baby chickens. I kid you not.

They might have been begging, but more likely the guys who were eating outside this restaurant had the chicks with them. In either event, it was pretty strange. I gave an odd look to one of the guys and he just smiled as if nothing was out of the ordinary…

This was my last “regular” Arabic lesson with my tutor before I leave for Tanta. That was kinda sad, but I’ll still see her and the family sometimes when I come down to visit.

After class, I started back home b/c my South African visitors are coming back tonight as they return home from Algeria. I had a bit of time, so I went to my usual coffee place which I haven’t been to in a couple of weeks!

How things can change! The really friendly waiter was gone and I didn’t recognize any of the customers!! Bizarre. So, I didn’t stick around very long.

I left the place and started walking home, when I _did_ recognize someone on the street! It was one of my Egyptian students from my teacher-training course! Hany is a really friendly guy and I think genuinely happy to see me. He was going shopping nearby, so he invited me to join him. Of course, it turns out he was shopping for underwear! *laugh*

We chatted a bit about what he’s been up to and he might be a really good connection to have. On Saturday, he is interviewing at one of the hotels in the Sinai. It would be nice to know him and stay there for a good rate if I visit. We exchanged mobile numbers, and he promised to let me know how things worked out.

Waiting for Scott and Willie to call. I’m a bit concerned since their flight should have gotten in 1 hour ago.

There are reasons that cameras on mobile phones are becoming popular. I don’t have one, but it would have come in handy earlier.

I saw a truck that said “Meat Land” and had a huge picture of a happy, smiling cow on it. This was a delivery truck for some big butcher’s shop. *laugh* The picture would have been better, but the description will have to suffice.

This morning was crazy! Each week, 2 women come in to clean the flat where I’m living b/c it’s so big and has so much junk in it. Well, sometimes they come in the afternoon…other days they come at noon. Today they came at 10am and quite nearly caught me sitting in my boxers in front of the computer! That would have been unfortunate!!!

So…I scurried around and went up to the MCC office for the time they were here. I studied a bit and then picked up The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. Has anyone read it? I’ve always heard about it and thought it would be a good, quick read. Hopefully I can polish it off today or tomorrow.

Ah, morning! Nice and sunny! Time for some studying!

Not much to write today, since I just sent out a big email update. Maybe I'll think of something to write tonight. But I did update my list of pictures, book I'm trying to read, and music I'm listening to... Good stuff!

Yesterday, I talked with my Mom, my niece Kirsten, and my nephew Justin. What fun! I bought one of these cheap calling cards online and then sent my mom the information on how to use it. After a bit of trial-and-error, we got it worked out! I'm hoping to have my Dad call me on Father's Day, too!

Not much going on today, other than weights this morning and studying for the afternoon.

So, your random links for the day:
Job interview ends with arrest
and
More David Beckham trade news/rumours -- "Bend it Like Beckham" got his name out there a bit in the U.S. but I'm trying to do my bit too...

In even stranger news, my friend David seems to be turning into somewhat of a sports fan -- especially with this year's Stanley Cup playoffs. What are they putting in that Ypsilanti water??

After my Arabic tutorial tonight, 2 of my tutor’s former students were at her apartment. They met each other here, went back to the states, and just got married. So this is their Honeymoon!

The guy (Ethan) is chatting along about how he’s a college professor. I asked “where?”.

His answers? “Spring Arbor University”.

Okay, if it had been Albion, I would have been really scared, but 20 miles down the road is close enough!!! How does this keep happening to me?

He teaches Middle East studies, especially relating to the Israel/Palestine conflict. Apparently he’s very much on the Palestinian side of things and ruffles lots of feathers at the conservative Christian Spring Arbor University.

I must say, he was surprised when I knew where it was and said that several of my friends had graduated from there!!

*laugh*

Hmmm...the site where I have my journal was down when I tried to check just now. That's not good. Time to complain if that's not fixed soon. Hopefully you are reading this and it was just a temporary problem.

What are the chances??

Last night, I was at a going-away party for Roz, one of the Legal Aide volunteers and one of the other women mentions that she’s thinking of attending the University of Michigan law school in a year or so. She’s from Iowa, so this is no big thing.

“Oh, and did you know that Larissa will be there next year?”

This is the one that got me b/c Larissa is from New Zealand! Apparently there’s some 1-year master’s degree for International students… So, I ended up talking about U-M, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Michigan! Silly. Larissa will be there from September through May and knows a couple of people living there, but I might call on a couple of you to meet her or help her out. I was pushing the live music and coffee house scene, so I’m sure people out there would love to show Larissa around.

This also got me thinking about the name “Larissa”. I have now met 2 people with that name since I got to Egypt. Apparently it’s from Doctor Zhivago, which had a character referred to as “Lara” (which is short for Larissa). I have a cousin named Lara, but I’m not sure where my aunt/uncle came up from the name. Maybe if they’re reading this, they will answer the question! *grin*

Great music at this party. There were guys from there from Sudan and also from Somalia, and they got the drums and guitar out. Much clapping and some dancing followed…

For pictures, use…

Username: jpics
Password: easy

And see: http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4289975041

On a different note…

I’ve been able to do a bit of chatting lately. Last night I caught my friend Beth and this morning, I wrote back-and-forth with my friend Julie for about 30 minutes before going to lift weights.

Today is my “regular day” of the last few weeks. Studying, napping, reading, then Arabic from 8-10pm. I think I’ll practice guitar a bit after that.

Friday, I heard a very appropriate use of the phrase “al hamdula Allah” (praise be to God). This phrase is used often in everyday conversation, but this was coming from an older woman after she was struck by a taxi cab.

I was waiting for the bus I take to Frisbee and this woman waved at a bus and then started jogging to catch it. Well, apparently a taxi thought she wanted him to stop for her, so he swerved in and hit her! Fortunately, he was going slowly by this point, but still fast enough to send her up in the air a bit and then back down on her backside. She slid along the side of the cab and exclaimed “al hamdula Allah” once she realized that she was ok! Scary…

Yikes! So long since I’ve worked on a solid entry like this! I guess that’s kinda good b/c it means that I’ve been staying quite busy.

On Friday night, I saw a good musical performance -- guitar, bass, violin, african drums, oud, something called the tablau, and a piano. They called it "Andalusian Music". I enjoyed it and so did the rest of the crowd.

Earlier on Friday, I enjoyed a good church service and then played Frisbee. Saturday’s highlights consisted of lifting weights and going to my Arabic tutorial.

So far today, I’ve gone grocery shopping with my friend Mike and then learned how he makes his really tasty spaghetti sauce. Now I’m back for a bit of studying this afternoon and a nap before church tonight.

The countdown is on, as I near my June 16th move to Tanta. I’m getting nervous about both the move and my teaching. It’s all becoming real now! No more of this time of relaxation, taking classes, learning about Egypt, and just enjoying myself. I need to start earning my keep!

As I was getting ready to type, a helicopter flew overhead a few times. It was quite close – must be something going on with President Mubarak today. I live just a few blocks from the palaces/offices.

Anyone want to join me in Egypt? In a magazine today, I saw an ad for a “speechwriter/editor” for the Korean Embassy in Cairo. *smirk* Perfect for those of you with political science, economics, or English degrees!!!

For your reading pleasure, 2 unrelated links:

Sri Lanka on verge of aid billions -- I have a friend here from Sri Lanka and also my friend Suren back in Michigan, so this is important to me.

Young Japanese becoming "freeters" (only working part-time jobs and taking time to enjoy their lives more than the previous generation)

Well, I'm waiting a few minutes while trying to connect with my friend Julie on MSN Messenger. She seems to be ignoring me at the moment. *frown* I also had problems connecting, so...

I had a good day of weights, chatting with Mike, studying, and then my Arabic tutorial tonight.
Sunday morning, I'm meeting up with Mike for a grocery shopping at one of the bigger Western-style places near him that I haven't been to yet. I'm curious to see what they have. We're also going to get ingredients for spaghetti sauce. He makes it from scratch and he's going to show me how he does it.

I'm hoping to put a longer entry in here tomorrow and tell a story or 2. You've been warned.

I'm glad that people still appreciate good music! (and they buy it, too!)

See: Led Zeppelin rules the Charts

Ran into Heather Berlin from Albion again today. So silly!

She does work for one of the guys at my church, so he asked her to join the worship band this morning! There she was, playing guitar and singing (very well, I might add).
That's my random bit of Albion-connected life. These things always happen to me, don't they???

Now if I meet someone randomly in _Tanta_ once I move on June 16th, then that will be impressive!!!! *laugh*

A good day filled mostly with my weight-lifting, a bit of Arabic, guitar lesson, and a church potluck tonight.

Fun, fun, fun!!!

Staying up late tonight to type in my thoughts from the day…I wrote while on the train to/from Tanta.

Deep thought for the day:

Everywhere here, people have copies of the Koran open. They read on the bus, on the train, etc and sometimes even chant/sing verses. What would America (or any other heavily-Christian country) be like if more Christians did that? (the reading in public, not necessarily the chanting)

Barely made my train (5 minutes before it left). Lots of traffic, then I took time to grab breakfast. *smile* Pancakes covered in powdered sugar and rolled up. Tasty ad filling but not very healthy. On that note…

I think my legs are getting shorter!!! *smirk*

All my dress pants seem to be longer than usual, this past week or so. Ah, it’s b/c they’re slipping off my waist now that I’ve been exercising a lot! Time to start wearing a belt, I guess!

Today I saw the classrooms, found out about printer/photocopier, grabbed a textbook, and talked with my teacher/director. I was able to wander the neighborhood where I’ll be living for about an hour before I caught the train back.

Yesterday, I had 2 decent (but short) conversations in Arabic. One with a taxi driver tnd the other to buy my train ticket. I should have been talking with the guys who work in my building and taxi drivers all along but I let my lack of confidence hold me back. Now I have the desire and a bit of confidence.

One other conversation…I was waiting for the tram to come home after Arabic and I got surrounded by a pack of teen-aged schoolgirls! I’ve heard about this happening with talkative girls chatting with male foreigners, but this was the first time it happened to me. “Do you speak English?” then on from there. “Where are you from?” “What’s your job?” Their English wasn’t very good, but it was better than my Arabic! Still, I tried to mix in some so that I could practice.

When getting ready to leave Tanta today, I stopped to ask for help and to make sure I was walking the right direction to the train station (I wasn’t). A helpful guy said he’s walk with me, since he lived near the station. People in Egypt will often offer to do this. We chatted a bit in Arabic and English.

His name? Mohammed. Of course… The odds are pretty good, but it’s reassuring that even though I’ll be in a heavily-Christian setting with my teaching, I will still be able to have random contact with Muslims.

My neighborhood seems alright. Not a lot of action, but a few restaurants and a coffee place or 2 for playing backgammon.

The first of June!!! How is that possible???

Well, probably because I’ve been staying really busy lately!
Let’s look at the highlights.

On Saturday, I spent the day at “Aqua Park” – a nice waterpark with pools, waterslides, etc. The main reason for the trip was to have a day of fun for Craig and Karen’s boys, but the rest of the MCC group was invited along, too. It’s been really hot lately, so it was a great break from the heat. Price was good too. 45LE ($7) for the full day and that included a sandwich, small pizza, and a drink!

I haven’t been to a waterpark since the party for some baseball team! That’s over 15 years ago! Great fun. Everything worked out ok, except for the small hole I now have in the back of my swimming suit. *frown*

The place had some pretty big waterslides, including one that you went down in the dark! In that one, you were also sitting on a big inner-tube, or on a double-tube with someone else. You could go forward or backwards! I guess they had about 5 different slides and a nice area for the kids, too. Since Egyptian schools are still in session, it wasn’t very busy. A few Egyptians, but mostly expats (including lots of Russians).

I feel odd when I do such fun things but in talking with Craig, I decided that part of what I’m learning about Cairo (and what I should be conveying to people) is that it _is not_ this really exotic place. Sure, you’ll see odd things here (carts pulled by donkeys, women carrying large objects on top of their head, etc) but you also get many things that could be part of life in N. America (like taking kids to a waterpark).

Every MCC’er has a different experience and each country/city where we serve plays a big part in that.

This weekend, I also watched 2 movies. Friday night, I saw my first “western movie” in an Egyptian cinema. 10LE (less than $2) to see “The Hours”. Has anyone else seen it? Apparently, it was nominated for many awards and I can see why. I really enjoyed this film. The performances were excellent by Nicole Kidman, Julian Lewis, and Meryl Streep. Ed Harris and Jeff Daniels were good too, but the ladies stole the show!

The cinema was nice, if a bit run-down. Comfortable seats, decent sound, a normal-sized screen, and even a guy who escorted us to our seats (requiring a small tip, of course)

We were an international group that went after Frisbee. 2 Americans, 2 Sudanese, and a young woman from Turkey.

On Saturday after Aqua Park, I met at the office with Mike and Carmen to watch “Chicken Run” from Nick Park, the guy who made the Wallace and Gromit . Funny and filled with so many puns! References to Star Trek and everything!

Big day! Got lots of sun! Went to a waterpark with Craig and the boys, plus Carmen. Fun but it's been a long day and now I'm off to bed!

It just rained. Definitely bizarre for early summer in Egypt. It's been beastly hot the last 2 days, so it was nice to cool off in it for a few minutes. It really onlr rained for about 3 minutes but that's better than all the winds and dust today!

That's your weather report for the day! *grin*

Can it possibly be the end of May already???? Amazing! In some ways, it feels like I’ve been here a long time with all that I’ve done but in other ways it barely feels like I’ve been here any time at all! Yet it’s been almost 4 months!

Up early to have breakfast with Scott and Willie before they head off to the airport. After that I’ll do a bit of studying, take a nap, and go to Arabic tutorial tonight.

After Willie and Scott went to bed last night, I went up to the office to plunk away on the guitar a bit. Unfortunately it’s out of tune, so I need to get some help on that. While I was there, I turned on the TV and got sucked into “Maverick” with Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson.

What a funny movie! I had forgotten how many little jokes were in there! My favorite is the Danny Glover cameo. If you haven’t seen this western or haven’t seen it recently, I highly recommend it!

Hot, hot, hot! It never cooled off last night like it has the past few nights. *sigh* That’s not a good sign! It can’t be summer yet, can it???

So a few days ago, while window-shopping at one of my local computer stores, some of the young Egyptian guys started talking excitedly around me. They were convinced that I look like this famous French soccer player:

Zinedine Zidane

...and some pics...

I had no idea who this guy was, so I went hunting on the net, found some pictures, and then ask for a couple of opinions from folks back home (you know who you are) to see if they agreed.

Opinion 1: “Yeah, I can see the resemblance”
Opinion 2: “Are you taking something hallucinogenic?”

Now, you get to decide. What do you think? Let’s get a vote going here!

Hangin’ out with Scott and Willie from South Africa today!

We had a good time and they are really nice guys. Both are in their 30s, married and have children. Today was quite hot but they saw it as an opportunity to get used to the heat they will feel in Algeria over the next few weeks.

Yes, Algeria. The place that just had the major earthquake. That’s where they are headed now. Nothing associated with the quake, as their trip was already planned when it happened, but things still might be chaotic. They don’t know if there will be power in places…

Scott and Willie work with a Christian organization that my old roommate Darren’s friend Mike is part of. That’s how they got connected with me to stay here. It’s really worked out well.

They arrived around 8am, so we spent a bit of time chatting and relaxing, then went out shopping and checking out Cairo from 1-6pm. Scott got a couple of souvenirs to take back with him. We had nice prayers before both of the meals we shared together.

It’s 9pm and they are both headed for bed, since they’ve been awake for about 40 hours now! Yikes! I’ll stay up awhile yet, probably practicing a bit of Arabic and guitar. I read over Arabic notes earlier and got quite a bit of verbal practice with our outing this afternoon. So that leaves the guitar. I did some finger exercises earlier on the bus, but not much.

We’re getting up around 7am so that the guys can get a bus for the airport around 10am and fly out at 1pm. They’ll be back in a couple of weeks, right before I move to Tanta. Good timing!

Visitors arriving early tomorrow morning from S. Africa. Must get up at 6am to meet them. *sigh*

Arabic went well. That's a plus.

I had my first guitar lesson with my friend Juan. Difficult, but fun! More on that later...

I wasn't home much on Sunday, so please excuse the lack of an update.

Sunday morning, I started a workout routine with Mike, on of the other MCC'ers. We did all upper-body (bicep, tricep, shoulders, chest, forearms) yesterday and abdominals we can do every day just on our own, I think.

After that, I stayed around his place for the day (Clue, Gin Rummy, and a nice spaghetti dinner came with the deal *grin*). One of his students was with us for the afternoon, so that was fun and I got a bit of Arabic conversation practice with him.

I didn’t get home until around 9pm and I was quite tired. I made it until about midnight and then crashed!

Well, I had a fun afternoon but a frustrating evening. One-out-of-two isn't bad... *smirk*

This afternoon was a nice potluck with people from church downtown (just one I visit sometimes) in one of the more foreigner-oriented communities. Nice to see lots of trees and just chat for hours on end. Mostly just getting to know people better and talking about what we all do, but it was good.

The frustrating part was during Arabic tonight. *sigh* As I'm presently studying, I'm not putting in enough time or not doing things write to learn/memorize quickly enough. I guess I just need to use my time more efficiently and sacrifice some of my "free time" to get things going better. Each lesson we just pile on more and more and I feel myself slipping behind where I should be.

But Bob Marley music is making "everything alright".

I'll get through this, so no worries at this end. Just venting, mostly. For more on writing like this, see David's thoughts on Blogging...

Music suggestions from my friend Mel. She's always good for non-mainstream music ideas.

“Old School Freight Train (www.osft.net) The first time we saw them, they did a cover of "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder...VERY cool.

We also saw Mike Doughty (www.superspecialrock.com), who is Mr. Do-It-Yourself-er. He was the front man for a band called Soul Coughing until about 4 years ago, but now it's just him and his guitar on stage. Pretty cool guy.”

Both sites have MP3s to download, if you’re patient…

I still have Pink in heavy rotation on my computer. I think I’m going to keep listening to the tracks I have until I get really sick of them.

At some point, I’ll need to borrow some CDs from people to rip to MP3.

Or maybe I’ll download some MP3s, but it’s so slooooooowwwww over a phoneline connection.

But there might be some hope for that situation. One of the other MCC volunteers (Mike) teaches at a Catholic Seminary here in Cairo. They get lots of money from the U.S. and have really nice facilities like decent computers and a (somewhat) fast Internet connection. (ISDN, for those techies out there)

I might go over there sometime and “borrow” their connection to upload photos and download some music. *grin*

Mike is also going to put me in contact with their computer/networking guy so that I can talk wireless networking with him. I think it would be a nice thing if they had a little wireless network connection set up. (I could also use that when I come to Cairo for visits *grin*)

I’m pricing the hardware at one of the computer stores in my neighborhood, just to get an idea of what it would cost. Looks like about $80 for cards and $160 for the access point. Not sure how that is compared to in the U.S.

Very tired from Frisbee, the heat (100F this afternoon), so the music-related post must wait...

Instead of reading what I would have written, call someone and tell them that you love them or you miss them (whichever is appropriate).

*smile*

Oops...

I forgot to actually put out the link for Darren's party pics, but it's there now. And here's the link, for good measure:
Darren's Going-Away Party

Username: jpics
Password: easy

I'll try to add the music-related posted (promised from yesterday) later.

Ahoy -- random thoughts ahead! (you’ve been warned) *smile*

So if you can't find Baking Soda, how do you bake? It's easy to find baking powder, but that's not what my recipes call for. Even in the Western-style supermarket, I can't find baking soda...

Thoughts? Ways to improvise? A no-prize will be given for all correct/useful answers received.

Speaking of prizes...

I came to a realization today. Quiz programs aren’t very effective or entertaining when there aren’t any prizes involved and every caller gets the answer right on the first guess. *smirk*

How did I come to this realization? Well, after my Arabic lesson today, I stopped by the office to relax and I turned on the TV. On NileTV (the sometimes English-language Egyptian network), they were showing a program called “Cinema Quiz”. They would show 10 minutes of an Egyptian b&w movie from the 40s or 50s and then go to a young, attractive Egyptian woman in the studio who would read a question and ask people to call in with the answer. Then, they’d go back to the movie for 10 minutes, and return to her and have a caller guess.

Note the word “guess”. Of the 4 questions/answers I heard, the caller was blindly guessing each time and freely admitted that they didn’t know anything about the movies and the director they were discussing. Add in several “hello, are you there” moments with the hostess talking to a disconnected phoneline and you get to a weird program. Well, at least to Western eyes. When the correct guess was given, it was followed by a "great, please call us again" by the hostes. Couldn't they at least send them a box of tea or something??? *grin*

On the plus side, the movie was quite funny and had English subtitles so I could check to see what I was understanding. The plot involved a rich man with a wife, but also a mistress. Of course, both women end up in the same place and the same time, so he has to convince his trusted (if incompetent) friend to pretend that he is married to the mistress.

Silliness ensues…

Yes, that plot appears to go across cultures. I was reminded of Jerry Lewis for some reason.

-----Odd News story for the week:

Story about a NY Times writer who included inaccuracies and lies in recent stories to intentionally get fired:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/05/21/blair.ap/index.html

That’s enough for now.

Tomorrow’s topic: music – stay tuned!

...for the record...

I never said my mom writes too many comments, nor did Erik. We're all glad to read my mom's comments, right?
Love ya' mom!

Just got back from a really good jazz performance and I was reminded of a few things.

1) I really like jazz, and I’ve missed hearing good live music and guys just up there jamming on a sax, guitar, and drum set. Here, they throw an Oud into the mix. I guess it’s what the guitar is derived from.

2) People in Egypt usually walk slowly, but any vehicle you’re in is driving much faster than you would expect, given the crowded streets. My mini-bus on the way home was no exception to this. Horn blaring all the way, 14-16 of us crammed into a Toyota minivan, no seat belts, and just going on faith… *smile*

A story connected to that:

Last week, Tuesday was Darren’s last day so we had the lunch at Chili’s. Well, I never described how we got there. We had a group of 6 going from Dawson Hall, so we split up 3 each into 2 different cabs and set off.

About mid-way there, I realized the cabs were racing each other!!! Our driver looked somewhat serious and was wearing dark sunglasses, but he flashed us the occasional smile. The driver of the other cab had this huge grin on his face every time he overtook us! Sadly, our car lost the race but I guess we all won since we survived. I was sitting in the front seat and the ladies in the back seemed a bit nervous, especially when we realized that our driver didn’t really understand where we wanted him to go. Fortunately, the other driver did so we followed him.

So the name of the group I saw tonight is “Freddy Rizk & Friends”. (that link is for an upcoming performance that I'll hopefully make it to) They’re mostly Egyptian, but one guy is French and another spent a bunch of time in Quebec. Apparently, they’re touring the U.S. soon, so look out for them. I highly recommend them – definitely worth the price of admission. Well, I paid less than $2 for my ticket, so it’s tough to complain! But I did really enjoy the show – non-stop music for 2 solid hours.

Very funny! I randomly found this link (http://www.freep.com/news/religion/kens19_20030519.htm) on the freep.com yesterday and then my friend Mike emailed me the link to draw my attention to it.

It’s about a church called Kensington. This church planted Genesis, the one that I had been attending in Royal Oak. Now this article is about another church they are going to plant…in Salt Lake City, Utah!!! All this and a connection to the Detroit Lions too – go on, read the story!

Last night, I caught up with my friend Rob on MSN Messenger and it was really nice to catch up with him. Anyone else want to chat with the help of the Evil Empire ™? *smirk*

More Arabic today, and maybe listening to a jazz performance tonight. We shall see…

Well, I've updated the links to pictures so hopefully that's working. Not much today beyond studying and reading so far. But that's an ok day in my book! *grin*

So does everyone I know from Albion like Dar Williams? Shelby just went to one of her concerts... I know Fin, Misty, Erik, and Dan are all fans, plus Shelby and Kevin. Any others?

Speaking of requests from answers (comments in the journal or emails are fine) -- does anybody have a picture of me from Halloween last year in my Jester's outfit? If so, can you send it/them to my yahoo email account? Thanks.

While writing this, I was listening to a group from the UK called "frou frou". Weird name, nice music.

Had a leisurely day, then played a bit of Ping Pong and a card game called "Pit" with the folks over at Dawson Hall. I'm trying to adjust my schedule for the heat by staying up late, getting up kinda early, and napping in the afternoon. We'll see how that works out...

It's been a movie-watching as study-break weekend. Friday night before I went to play backgammon, I watched "Murder in the First" that Rob gave me before I left Michigan. Kevin Bacon did a pretty decent job in this one...

Tonight, I needed to stop at the MCC office to drop off some paperwork, so I decided to watch a video. But first I got caught up in watching subtitled music videos. Yes, you read that right. It's a strange concept, but these were songs sung in Arabic, but with English subtitles. Interesting to see what these songs are really about. Apparently all the pop songs here are love songs...

So I finally got around to watching "The World is Not Enough". It came out in 1999 and I'm pretty sure I saw it, but I had forgotten almost everything about it. Brosnan as Bond, so I can't complain too much -- but some of the jokes are getting really cheezy!

On an unrelated note, isn't it odd how sometimes when you think about people the timing works out that you hear from them right away. I hadn't heard from my friend David in a week or so, but I got to catch up with him a bit today.

Erik shared with me today that he's very impressed by all the comments I get on this journal. But he gave me a hard time about how so many of them are from my mom! *grin*

Thanks for reading and commenting, mom!!!!

Based on David’s recommendation, I’m currently downloading the mp3 of Ani Difranco’s song/poem “self-evident” which discusses September 11 and the current U.S. political situation. The lyrics are really interesting…

It’s downloading slowly over the phoneline, of course. But I am now hoping for a faster connection at some point soon. How? Well, every time I walk past the computer stores down the street, I look in the window to see what their newest items are.

Well, on Thursday I noticed that they now carry D-Link wireless networking cards for laptops and wireless access points (sorry for all the tech-talk). So, I’m hunting around my neighborhood to see if anyone has a DSL connection with a wireless network set up. I thought the store selling the cards might, so I carried my laptop up there last night, but it couldn’t pick up a signal. Unless they turn things off at night. I need to check during the day and also try the area around the internet café in our neighborhood too.

Unfortunately, Netstumbler only has a map for the U.S. and no site I can find by searching has any info about Cairo...

Tonight I watched WWE wrestling on TV. I’m so ashamed. It was an accident, I promise. *grin* I was sitting at my favorite coffee place, playing backgammon, drinking Tang, and watching music videos when all of a sudden they switched it to cheesy wrestling. Silly! *laugh*

So many changes in the week since I last wrote a good journal entry…

I still need to catch up by telling stories from last weekend at the MCC Retreat, but that will wait until I get the pictures uploaded.

Last night, Darren (my roommate these past 3 months) flew home to Canada. *sniff* I’ll miss him, but I better not write too much about that, since he might be reading this! *laugh*

We had a really nice going-away party for him on Monday night, here at our place. Lots of the Sudanese teacher/volunteers from St. Andrews came, along with the Presbyterian volunteers we know, and even my friend Khaleem who I met at my Arabic class that I took when I first got here! Lots and lots of yummy food – people really brought lots of things!

So Tuesday was Darren’s last day in town so we planned to have one last big lunch. So we went to Chili’s! *laugh* Yeah, like you’d see in the U.S. – in fact, it was like they took one apart in the U.S. and shipped it over here. They’re just like the ones you can go to there! Kinda weird, but worth it to have Coke with Cherry syrup in it! And they give free refills! (that’s a rare thing here!)

After that, I spent a few hours working on my lesson with one of my classmates and then finally made it back home around 9pm. Darren finished packing and watched South Park while I worked on my lesson but at 1am I stopped so that we could play our last few games of Scrabble together before Craig picked him up at 1:30.

He should be back in Canada by now, I think. Hopefully Darren made it safely…

Today was my last day of my teaching course, so I’m DONE!!!!!!!! On Sunday or Monday, I’ll see my “provisional grade” and in about 8 weeks, I’ll get my certificate to show that I completed the certification. It was a long course and really difficult at times, but tremendously useful! I’ve learned so much.

Well, I need to catch up on some emails I’ve been ignoring for the past week and upload some pictures!

Got back from Alexandria late last night and into bed around 2.30am. What a great weekend! Pictures and stories after things calm down around here. Maybe on Thursday.

Darren was supposed to be leaving on a flight late tonight (Monday) but the flight was rescheduled for Tuesday night, so he's along for a bit longer. We had his going-away celebration tonight. Good fun and nice to see so many of his friends.

Tired, so I must go to bed. Tuesday I'll be doing a bit of preparation for my last day of class on Wednesday. I'll be taking a break to join Darren and some folks for lunch.

Heading out after a morning/early afternoon of baking. I'll be in Alexandria from now through Sunday night.

Stories when I return, hopefully.

I learned a valuable lesson this evening…

Don’t buy chocolate bars on a warm day! *laugh*
I wanted a snack after class and I ended up with some really mushy chocolate.

On the topic of food, I’ve had a special request to make Molasses Cookies for Darren’s going-away party on Monday night. So, I’ll be baking again on Thursday morning/early afternoon since I’ll be gone at the MCC retreat from Thursday night – Sunday night.

Our friends Annie and Hashim asked for the cookies, so I’m happy to make them. I just need to do a bit of shopping Thursday morning to get ingredients. Hey, it’ll get me out of bed at a decent hour!!

Teaching went really, really well today. I taught my best lesson in the past 3-4 weeks. The topic was “the language of gossip and rumour”. Yes, thanks to me a group of Egyptians can now say bad things about their neighbors, friends, and co-workers (in English). *grin*

The class really got into the language we were using like “you’ll never guess what I heard”, “promise you won’t tell anyone”, “my lips are sealed”, and “I’m all ears”.

“I’m all ears” was a great one to do. There was a bit of confusion, so I ended up trying to demonstrate having big ears by putting my hands up on either side of my head. That was reasonably effective and we also discussed Dumbo the elephant. So silly!

Lots of studying today. Oh my, the studying. *grin*

I'm getting ready to teach Wednesday afternoon and also for my Arabic tutorial on Wed. night

But I did take a few minutes to check out my Detroit/Michigan news in the Free Press and what did I find???
An article, about Genesis, the church I used to attend and still keep tabs on through friends in the area.

Check it out!!!

Long day at class today (10am-9:30pm) so I rewarded myself with some ice cream. In the stores, there aren't really the cheap quarts of ice cream like in the U.S. It's either ice cream bars or "premium ice cream". The premium stuff is really tasty, but fairly expensive at 15LE for about a quart. That's about $2.50 --Darren and I discovered this really rich chocolate mocha type made by Nestle. Yum!

Today it was really hot out, even when I came home from class at 9:30 -- we had an extra observation of one of the "real" teachers at ILI.

Planning to do some lesson plans and Arabic study on Tuesday.

Is everyone out there really busy? I've been getting emails from my core group of folks (parents, David, and a couple of others), but not many comments in the journal or on pictures. Am I getting boring? *frown*

Nah, never!!!

*laugh*

My 4 major accomplishments for today were:

1) doing my assignment for class that is due on Monday
2) going to church
3) making garlic cheese bread
4) burning a couple of CD's for Darren

So, it's been a fairly quiet day. This week will be busy. This week will be a bit hectic, getting ready to be gone Thursday afternoon through Sunday for MCC Retreat.

Off to bed...

I stand corrected…yesterday’s celebration was for the liberation of Sierra Leon, not Liberia. My apologies to all those reading this from those countries. *grin*

But the party was good. Quite lively. We arrived a bit after 11pm and things were just getting started. It turns out that one of my friends Charlie is going home to the U.K. today, so it was a bit of a send-off for her. The dancing was good, with an interesting mix of music. Lots of American R&B/rap but also some Ethiopian, Sudanese, and other assorted African music.

Plus, a healthy dose of Bob Marley. What’s a party without some heavily-politicized Reggae to dance to??? *smile*

So last night, there were 5 of us Westerners in a crowd of around 200 Africans, mostly men. Would I ever feel comfortable in a setting like that in the U.S.?? Not likely. But here, it’s totally natural and fine.

We were there until about…2am I guess and things were still going strong. I think people were probably there until dawn. The location was the top floor of a decent hotel downtown and the view was really nice!

I got up blurry-eyed for church this morning, then came back home for a quick nap. Well, that’s what I intended, but I woke up 3 ½ hours later! Oops!

Off to Frisbee at that point. Fun to play but my left knee always hurts and creaks for about 24 hours. *sigh* Am I starting to get old?

Then, we went over to Annie and Charlie’s to borrow some CD’s for Darren and say goodbye to Charlie. Darren is trying to get lots of Arabic music around to take home with him. So I’m converting the songs to MP3 right now and then I’ll burn them to a CD for him.

In exchange, I’m going to give Annie the complete 3rd Season of South Park. *laugh* Thanks to David for providing me with those! I forgot I had them and then Darren found them on my computer yesterday. We watched the one about the “Sexual Harassment Panda”. So silly!

But it’s a quiet night here. Darren’s reading and we’re both digesting the pizza we had for dinner.

Happy Liberian Liberation Day!!!
Happy Egyptian Labor Day!!

What?? Aren’t these holidays on _your_ calendar? *smirk*

As is the tradition on labor day, people have the day off. I’ve always thought of that as an odd way to celebrate, but oh well!

I need to find out more about Liberation Liberation Day, but I presume it’s celebrating the overthrow of their previous government. A friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend here is from Liberia, so I guess he’s having a bit of a celebration tonight, so that’s why I know about this…

Arabic tutorial was rough last night. I’m trying to put lots of things together and realizing what I’ve already forgotten, just because I don’t use/practice some vocabulary enough.

Today, I’m working on some MCC paperwork, but this morning I took a bit of time to sit in the sun and start _The Return of the King_.

WARNING – good story, but scary visual images ahead. Read through to the end…

Finishing up the summary of Dahab, it should be noted that Darren and I were mistaken for Israeli tourists! *laugh* We heard that they were coming back by the thousands to the area, but this was confirmed when we were greeted with an enthusiastic “Shalom!” by a hotel manager! *smile*

Monday was Sham el Nessim. In Egypt, Sham el Nessim is a national holiday, where Christians and Muslims alike enjoy the Spring breeze while eating onions and special fish. Wherever people can find a bit of grass – they set up a picnic and spend the day. This includes the grassy strips between very busy highways!

One of my classmates, Caroline, invited the rest of my teaching class to a Sham el Nessim party that her family was having. This was quite the bash – live music, dancers, and a belly-dancer! I went with 2 friends from class and we ended up getting the royal treatment – practically becoming part of the family!

According to the invitation, we were supposed to bring our own food and we did, but then we were asked to eat what the family was eating – great roasted chicken, fresh bread, watermelon, and stinky/salty raw fish.

Guess what I ate just a little taste of? Correct! I merely sampled the fish. *grin*

*** So here’s the big story for the day! ***

The first entertainment was some traditional dancing with the band playing and that was pretty cool. Then came the belly-dancer. She stayed over by the band for awhile and then started moving around by the crowd. Uh oh!

We were seated in a high-profile area right out front, so eventually she came around to our table.

…and then she pointed at me…and motioned for me to join her out in front of everyone. *blush* At first, I refused…but with the second request…I decided that it was time to become part of the entertainment!

So there I was – out in front of a crowd of about 200 Egyptians, trying to follow what the belly-dancer was doing. She wanted me to dance beside her and mimic what she was doing! Let’s just say that I need some lessons!

The highlight (??) of the dancing were when she had me lift up my shirt to show my belly as I was dancing.

Strange, but I thought of my friend Mark while I was out there. He used to do this trick with his stomach where he could roll it in all sorts of funky ways and that skill would have come in handy!

Yes, there are photographs to be used as evidence and possibly for blackmail purposes. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me so I’ll have to wait until my classmates get theirs back. There was also a professional photographer wandering around, so maybe he got some good pictures.

This was quite a day! The location of the party was on a farm and a villa about 30 minutes outside Cairo. Apparently the family hosting does all sorts of business and marketing, so they are definitely “upper class”.

My classmate has a driver who takes her to/from class. Yeah, that kind of set-up. So things were really nice and it’s probably the only time in Egypt I’ll have the chance to see how this minority of the population lives.

I’m back from Dahab! I have a much better tan now, but a bit less money in my pocket! Actually, things were reasonably priced. Bottles of water are about the same in Cairo and nice dinners were about 20 LE ($3-4 US) They had really good chocolate milkshakes, too!!!

Darren (my flatmate) and I made it on our night bus and got to Dahab around 10am on Friday morning. A bit tired, but we made it. We started walking down the boardwalk to check out places to stay. We saw a few places that were alright, but nothing that really grabbed us. So we ended up walking all the way down to the far end of the strip (about a mile, maybe?) to a place he saw on his last trip.

Since this is the end of Darren’s time in Egypt, we decided to stay somewhere nice, so we got a room in a 3-star hotel. 2 nice beds, good bathroom, a fan, a view of the water, plus breakfast everyday. We each paid 40LE per night so that’s about $7 U.S. Not bad!!!

I decided to walk around to see some different stores and within an hour, I ran into a group of people we knew from Cairo!! *laugh* So silly to run into people everywhere. At first, I just saw 4 people that I recognized, but they were part of a bigger group of people who all work together – 9 of them total! I joined their gang in some serious relaxing on the beach!

Everyone in the group volunteers for an organization called Legal Aid which works with refugees, mostly from Somalia and the Sudan.

Friday, we all went snorkeling and swimming, plus we ate a lot of food! The snorkeling was great! Clear water and comfortable to be in with just a swimsuit – no wetsuit required! It was hot and we all were careful not to get too much sun!

I saw eels and lots of different fish, but I don’t know what they are. I should do some checking.

After food and resting up, we went dancing that night. This was nice just to be silly and hear all sorts of music – some Arabic, but lots of American/European stuff.

Saturday involved more sun, water, food, playing backgammon and a few games of Connect 4, plus some shopping. I bought a really nice silver ring to wear. I should take a picture sometime.

Saturday night, most of the group went to climb Mt. Sinai, but I really wasn’t up for it this trip. It was really windy, so I knew it would be quite cold, and I thought it was odd timing since it was going to be Eastern Easter on Sunday.

Sunday – guess what I did? I spent more time in the sun, in the water, reading, and shopping. Noticing a theme here? Darren and I both bought nice, soft long-sleeved white cotton shirts. They should be really comfortable.

Since there were so many of us (11 people) coming back to Cairo that night , it worked out just as cheap for us to get our own little bus as to get on a bigger bus. So we booked a 22-seater and set off! Very comfortable! Most of us could stretch out in our seats and then we had our bags in the aisle. There’s a picture posted of this…

We left about 12:30 and made it to Cairo around 7am. Much quicker than the big bus, too b/c we could drive faster and didn’t make stops to pick people up – just for bathroom breaks.

I slept a bit here in bed and then got around for a party one of my classmates and her family were having on Monday. But that’s a story for another day…

Back from Dahab -- with pictures!

Username: jpics
Password: easy

See:
Fun People and Beautiful Scenery

and if you really have some time to kill:
Cute kids and animals

Tomorrow...stories from my days away and Monday.

More pictures!!! Today’s trip was to Maqhatam and the Citadel. Maqhatam is where all Cairo’s garbage goes and people live there to try to find stuff that's still worth something and sell it. There’s also this amazing Monastery there – built into the side of a mountain.

See:
Maqhatam and Citadel Pics

Username: jpics
Password: easy

So we’re going tonight on the 12:30am bus to Dahab. (Dahab is about 9 hours in a bus from Cairo – on the Sinai Peninsula, near Saudi Arabia)

The trouble is, there isn’t a 12:30am today.

Tonight is the night in Egypt to “spring forward” and that happens at 12am. So 12am becomes 1am and that means there’s no 12:30. *laugh*

It’s very silly to think about and it amuses me a lot! We’re presuming that the bus will leave 31 minutes after 11:59pm. Odd way to think about it.

Holiday time!!!! I have 11 days away from class! Now, what to do??? Answer -- relaxing a bit today then taking a night bus tonight with Darren to Dahab. We’re just going to hang out on the beach Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

*smile*

I think this is a good time to leave town b/c it’s starting to get really warm!

On an unrelated noted, what’s the deal with the movie Bend it Like Beckham? How many of you out there have seen it? From what I can tell, it’s a British indie comedy that’s gaining popularity in the U.S. Check out the trailers, if you're interested. I had seen one awhile back, but forgot about it...

I first heard about it from British friends in my teaching class. After that, my friend Julie wrote to say that she went to see it and then David mentioned in his Blog that he had gone… I guess I’ll have to check it out sometime. I’m pretty sure it won’t make it to Egypt, so I’ll probably have to wait a couple of years!

Leaving Thursday night for a couple of days in the sun by the Red Sea!

So many comments in the photo albums! Keep 'em coming!!!!

Screwed up my Journal, so I'm trying to fix it. Hopefully you can read this. I promise improvements soon!

Good enough for now, I guess...

Had a nice Easter service on Sunday. We took a very formal communion at the end, which was somewhat unusual. Especially for me -- this was complete with kneeling down at the front of the sanctuary with a group of 5-6 other people to take the bread and juice/wine.

On the way back home, however, I felt like I was a walking target!

Why?

Well, at the end of the service, they encouraged us each to take a flower home. So, I was carrying a 3 foot long stalk of Easter lily down the street as I was walking home. Quite the way of saying “hi, I’m a western Christian!” *grin*

But that’s an exaggeration – most of the population here wouldn’t make the connection between the flower, Easter, and me. However, I was amused while thinking about all this.

On the plus side, the lily seems to be surviving quite well. I put it in some water right away and now 2 days later, it’s looking good! Some additional buds have opened up and I put it out in the sun today to try to perk it up a little more.

Pictures of Plants on the Balcony and the Easter Lily

Username: jpics
Password: easy

I've been eating lots of leftovers or food here at the flat, lately. Part of that is I'm realizing how much food I have sitting around that I should try to eat before moving to Tanta! *laugh* Not really that much, I guess -- mostly bags of pasta and some tomato paste to go with it. I could give it away to other MCC'ers, but it just seems easier to eat it!

Pictures of Baking and Food Items

Username: jpics
Password: easy

Everyday that I have class, I eat lunch in the cafeteria there. The food is pretty good and a bit more expensive than on the street, but it's really convenient to stay there, chat with people, etc. Now that we are getting to know some of our students better, we talk with them too -- especially our "Upper-Intermediate" group because they are fairly good at conversation, but still want/need more practice.

I had class on Monday and taught a lesson. It definitely went better than the one I did last week, but I still messed up in a few areas on the Language Focus and showing the form of the Present Continuous verbs. It was better than last week, but I still got the same grade. *laugh* Grade = Pass, but edging toward a Weak Pass. That's just for the individual assignment. Overall with the class, I still think I'm at a Pass with no danger of going lower, but also not much opportunity to get a Strong Pass. That's reserved for people who are really, really impressive and they don't give that high mark very often. Maybe 1 person out of my class will get that as an overall grade.

Getting ready for class again on Wednesday. I don't officially teach, but one of our classmates isn't teaching anymore b/c of health problems, so 2 of us are going to split up her lesson and teach it. Not for a grade, just to get more experience, so our tutors are helping us more with the preparation than they would with our graded assignments. They really are requiring us to be much more independent now.

Too bad we're not going to be using the same textbooks when I'm in Tanta! I have all these plans together and some materials. *smile* Well, they'll be good for reference!

Happy Easter!!!!

Well, Western Easter, that is… There may be some drawbacks to being a Western Christian in a country with mostly Muslims, but in this case there is an advantage. I get 2 times to celebrate Easter! Yeah, today is Easter like many of you are celebrating, but then next Sunday is “Eastern Easter”. No, I haven’t found out yet why we celebrate on a different day. But hopefully, I will.

It’s a gorgeous, sunny day but I’ve been inside studying so far this morning. I’ll make a break for it and be outside a bit later!

So in case any of you have been wondering, “Jason, is it a bad idea to leave your laundry outside on the line for 4 days?”, the answer is “yes”.

*laugh*

I put sheets out to dry on Thursday and just remembered to bring them in. With the wind, they were all wrapped around each other and the other drying lines, so it took awhile to get them untangled, while making sure that they didn’t fall to the ground.

Everyday is a learning experience. For me…and for all of you… Remember that.

On this day, remember to think about more than chocolate rabbits.

For those of you within reasonable driving distance of Albion, check out:

Salman Rushdie to Present Isaac Keynote

Salman Rushdie is speaking on Thursday night!! This is apparently causing lots of issues/questions on campus, so there are pre-Rushdie sessions, too:
Albion College Muslims Offer Perspective On Rushdie Visit


Interesting stuff...

I just got back from a performance at my church of the "Combined Churches Choir". People from different English-speaking churches around Cairo get together for this traveling group. They're good!!! The music to go with them is on tape, but their voices area amazing. The only song I recognized was "I Lift Your Name", but they were all really good.

One called "My Holy Cry" really struck me, so I want to share the lyrics:

I'm poisoned by the lies this world's been feeding me.
It's no longer an avoidable reality.
Self-centered living never leaves a heart at peace.
I must cut my ties with this world, repent, and turn and flee.

I cry out to You Lord. Will you answer me?
Holy Spirit, flow; come and set me free.
I lift my eyes to see Your face.
Lord, I worship You on high and in Your grace,
I seek Your will. This is my holy cry.

The decadence around me wants to put my soul to death.
And I know full well this compromise
Has caused my soul's distress.
I'm hearing hatred raging like a lion's roar.
Lord, I am for peace, but what they speak is only war.

-----quite a song, eh? Comments???

Our minister and one of the women from our church who is in the choir both asked me if I wanted to sing with them next year, when I told them how wonderful it was... Is that weird, or what? I'm guessing that they really need male voices, since out of a group of about 70, only about 20 were guys. They only perform at Christmas and Easter, so I have awhile to think about it and with me in Tanta, it would be difficult (bordering on impossible) to do, but I might look into the possibility.

After that, I watched a bit of soccer on TV. The 2 big Egyptian teams were playing each other, so I looked at the TV in a coffee shop to see the end.

Arabic is going well, but I've devoted time to it today that I wish I could have given to my teaching course. I need to look things over tonight and then spend most of tomorrow on a lesson plan (for Monday), meeting with my classmates, and working on an assignment (for Wednesday)

----Thinking about fun things…I got to chat with my good friend Mike for about 30 minutes last night on MSN Messenger. Among other things, he told me that I should think about making one main “pictures” page with the links to all my different photos. It’s an idea I had been thinking about, so when I have a bit of time, I’ll try to add that. Maybe on Tuesday?

But now, it’s time for some email and studying…

I went to a really good Tri-lingual Good Friday service tonight. Arabic, English, and Sudanese. Very energetic! Good music and such a variety of people.

This morning, I went to the regular service at my church and heard a good message. Talking about how other religions admire Jesus for his acts, but don’t recognize him as the Son of God. That’s all well and good, but if you don’t believe that part, then your kinda missing the point. If you don’t believe in the crucifixion and rising from the dead, then you’re lacking the most important bit!

Not much today, beyond the Church services, Frisbee, and making some molasses cookies. *yum* I asked my mother for the recipe and when she wrote back, she told me that one of our neighbors brought these cookies over when I was born. That’s a new story for me to hear!

So…looking back at the week.

Monday night, I got to party!!! It was my friend Annie’s birthday and some friends of ours had moved into a new flat, so they had a combination birthday/housewarming. There were about 50-60 people there. Of that group, less than 10 were “Westerners”. The rest were Sudanese. Fun!

Guess what kind of music we listened to and danced to? American R&B/Rap – Usher, P Diddy, etc. *laugh* I was the white boy out there trying to dance with people who can seriously move! I caught one woman laughing at me, but some of the guys thought I had potential!

Tuesday I visited Tanta!!! That’s where I’ll be living, starting at the beginning of June. Then, it’s 2 years and about 8 months after that! It should be alright, but definitely a culture shock after being in Cairo. Where I’m living in Cairo, I see KFC, McDonald’s, Dominos, etc everywhere – it’s really Western. I also see more BMW’s and Mercedes here than I did back in Royal Oak.

That won’t quite be the case in Tanta. It’s still a couple of million people, but more conservative and not as influenced by the West.

Guess where I’ll be living when I first get there?

An old people’s home! *laugh* 15 old grandpas/grannies and me! Why???? It’s right across the street from where the director of the English program lives, near where we will have the classes, and they want me to be “safe and comfortable”.

There will be someone to clean for me and I’ll be able to have my meals there so that will give me more time for teaching. The people we talked to on Tuesday don’t know me, so I think they’re going to be overprotective at the beginning. I’ll just take it slow and show them over time that I’ll be alright.

After awhile, I might move into a flat on my own. We’ll see…

The current plan is that I’ll finish up my teaching class in mid-May, have about a week to do some intensive Arabic study and then move to Tanta after that. In the long run, being in Tanta will be really good for my Arabic, but right now I still need to study/learn a lot in preparation for going.

Wednesday’s teaching preparation never quite came together, so my lesson was rough. Oh well, I still got a “pass” on it and it’s a reminder that I need to keep working hard.

Wed. night and Thurs. night, I had Arabic tutorial. Wednesday’s went alright and Thursday went really well. I’ve been frustrating for my tutor with not having time to study enough, but she said that she was encouraged by these past couple of days. Me too!!

Alright, that finally gets me caught up on what’s been going on!

I’m a putz. I had plenty of time to study my Arabic today, but I didn’t do it! *shakes head*

Instead, I read more in “The Count of Monte Cristo”. What a great adventure/mystery. I highly recommend it.

But now it’s story time for me. To tell a story, that is. This is the story of my new #2 “Small World” experience. It’ll make more sense to the Albion crew, but should be ok for everyone.

Let me start out by saying that I went to Albion College from 1993-97 and each year, there were 1,500 students on campus.

So…

I’m at my teaching class on Monday evening. We were there late b/c it was the evening when we observed some “real” teachers doing their stuff. We watched 2 classes and at the break between the 2, I was waiting to get a cup of tea…

My friend Mark and I were standing there and I say to him,

“Wow, that woman over there looks really familiar, but not from here – I think I know her from somewhere else.”

Mark gave me the typical, “oh…she just has one of those faces” responses, but I’ve had enough coincidences in my life, so I don’t accept that.

So, I went over to talk with her…

We started chatting about where she was from and she that she was American and that she had been living by Detroit (Plymouth) until that last year.

“Yeah, but that’s not it – tell me more”, I said.

Her response?

“Well, I went to Albion College…”

*jaw drops*

It turns out she graduated in 1995 and was in the choir. Her name was Heather Berlin. Anyone remember her?

She’s been working here for about a year or so and is taking Arabic classes where I am doing my teacher training course. *laugh*

What are the odds?

Well, I have a pizza on the way, so I should go.

I’m so far behind! It’s been a week since I made a proper entry in here, with details and everything… Terrible!

I’ve already written a bit about my trip to the pyramids last week, but here’s some more about that. I had no idea what I wanted to do there, other than “see them”, so I just went and did whatever struck me. Of course, I got pestered by guys wanting to do horse rides, so I went with one.

It was alright, but it took me a long time to get the feel of the horse. My guide also took great humor in making the horse go faster than I really wanted to go! *laugh* This included the time that we were going along at a good gallop and I fell off the horse! *laugh* Fortunately, I managed to miss all the rocks that were around me and just land on the sand!

We didn’t get right down on the pyramids plateau, so that will be a future trip. Instead, we went along the edges, to some of the smaller pyramids, and got a decent view of the Sphinx.

I was sore! After all the riding, my butt was sore for days!

But no rest for me. It was an early morning on Friday, as Darren had made plans to go with some Sudanese friends to the Burkesh Camel Market. Thousands of camels bought and sold, several days each week. Friday is one of the main days, so things were busy. It took awhile to get there and several busses, but we made it. *grin* The Sudanese guys were named Iha and Amel. Two of Amel’s uncles are camel merchants, so we went to see them while we were there. They let us touch the camels, get lots of pictures, and all that fun “tourist” stuff, without really having to be a tourist!

Here’s a bunch of recent pictures:

Username: jpics
Password: easy

pics of Alex at:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290375505

and the Pyramids:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290375445

...and I haven't even sent out the mass email yet for:

Camel market pics:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290365449

It’s late now, but Thursday will be a quiet day. That means I might have time for more journal writing.

I still need to write about the party on Monday, my “small world” story, and my visit to Tanta! So much to say!!!!

I found my funny!!!! *laugh*

That's either a quote or a paraphrase from a movie, but I have no idea what.
Anyone???? Help me out here!

A crisp 10 piastre note to the first person who can tell me...

At any rate, I feel like my old self again, even though I didn't know until today that I wasn't feeling like myself. Basically at class and with my classmates today, I was cracking jokes and acting like my usual, cynical self. *grin*

Must sleep now, for on Tuesday morning, I go to visit Tanta and get a glimpse of what the next 2 1/2 years will hold for me.

Plus, it's story time! Most Albion folks remember my #1 "This is a small world" story from Australia, right?
Well, I now have a good #2 that comes in fairly close behind. Sorry, but it'll only make sense to the Albion-related folks. Hopefully I'll post that story on Tuesday night or Wed.

Thanks to my friend Care for the inspiration in renaming this journal. I think it's more appropriate than just the general "J travels", eh?

I've been feeling a bit whipped today. The combination of:

-not enough sleep
-too much sun
-being way too active
-not drinking enough water

over the past 3 days finally caught up with me on Friday night through most of the day on Saturday. I was really sick on Friday night and slept on-and-off for 16 hours before finally dragging my tail out of bed at 1:30pm Sat. afternoon to go meet up with my classmates to talk about an assignment we have due on Monday.

I'm feeling soooooooo much better now. I just took it easy tonight and watched Top Gun on my computer.

At some point, I'll get around to posting the pictures from the camel market. That was Friday's big trip...

It's been great to hear from so many people lately. I've been getting lots of emails and I found out that my good friends Matt and Jen will be having a little boy in August! *smile*

Tired now, but good stories from today.

I visited the big, solid, old things in Giza.

More later...

Well, I taught this afternoon.
(much to my surprise!) *grin*

One of my classmates was sick today, so she couldn’t make it in. So, I was given the “opportunity” to fill in for her. *laugh* I joke because at first, I didn’t know how to react when they asked me to help out. The first thing I thought was, “no – are you crazy? I don’t have any time for preparation and I need to do handouts and…”

But right away, my instructor told me that it was really just an opportunity for me to have a bit of unofficial/unobserved/ungraded practice. I’d just be up there on my own and doing what I could but I wouldn’t get a grade for it or anything. She added that I should “have fun”, so I decided to go for it.

I felt a bit unprepared while teaching and the lesson didn’t feel as good as some I’ve done, but my classmates who were observing me said that it looked great to them and the students were into it. I’m really glad that I was able to do this. I definitely wouldn’t do one of my graded lessons with so little preparation, but this let me find out what areas are really coming naturally to me now. Giving instructions, monitoring the students, and changing from one task to another just work out ok for me now…

As a treat, one of my classmates brought in a poppy seed cake that she made. I don’t need to take any drug tests soon, so I tried it. Very yummy!

Speaking of food…my friend Lisa asked me about what food you can find and here’s the answer I gave her:

Many N. American and European items are available in Cairo. There's a chain of "supermarkets" that carry all sorts of crazy things. They just added Quaker granola bars and Quaker Oats to the shelves 2 weeks ago. Pretty expensive, though. $8 U.S. for a small box of granola bars or a medium-sized tube of oats.

Most things, I try to buy the Egyptian version that is similar. I could pay way too much money for imported Kellogg's Corn Flakes, but it's much cheaper to get the local "BiscoMasr" Corn Flakes.

However, with all that said, it's random little things that don't exist. For instance, you can get cake mix in vanilla, orange, and chocolate flavors. That's it. There's Jello, but for some bizarre reason you can't get Lime (not that I care). Only Strawberry and Cherry, plus Mango

I guess there's an even bigger supermarket somewhere in the rich/ex-pat part
of town, but I haven't been there yet.

UPDATE: The quest for shoelaces continues. I haven’t looked in a couple of days, but I need to get out there tonight and check out the situation. *grin*

It’s been one year…

Check the entry for April 8, 2002 to find out what happened one year ago.

What a crazy year it’s been! So many changes!

Today was a nice, lazy day. I finished reading _The Two Towers_ and managed to get a bit of sun while doing it! *grin* I slept in until about 10:30, too! But the evening will be busy. George, the Egyptian accountant/assistant at the MCC office is picking me up at 6:30 to go over to his house to meet his family. Dinner? He just invited me today, so I’m not sure what’s happening.

At 8pm, I need to be at my Arabic tutorial, so things will be a bit rushed. But that’s ok.

I’ve been chatting a bit with my aunt Alonna and uncle Michael as I write this. What fun!

Ah, a good day!

Class is finished and I don’t teach again for a few days. So, Tuesday I have “free”! *smile* My lesson went well today, but it was really stressful/difficult for 2 of the other teachers in my group. I feel bad for them.

At any rate, I’m still a “Pass” for my grade and I’m headed for a “Strong Pass”, given my improvement and success in my past few lessons. That’s a bit of a relief!

A few classmates were going across the street to the “Back ‘n Time 60’s Café”, so I went with them for a celebratory Cappuccino! This place must be very new b/c it’s extremely clean. Quite a nice place and not very busy since we were there so early (around 7pm). My friend’s Mocha looked better than my capp, so maybe I’ll go again and get something chocolaty.

I’m back home to eat some of the leftover fish from last night and then I want to go out again in search of shoelaces. I got some better suggestions at class today, so maybe I’ll get the right thing today. After that, I might stop in for some tea/Backgammon.

Now for dinner!

Today, my big quest is to find black shoelaces. In my favorite pair of dress shoes, the laces have worn out. My guess is that I can buy them at a shoe store, but we’ll see in a couple of hours if that guess is correct.

Another nice day. One thing about the air being so dry is that laundry doesn’t stay wet for very long, once it’s hung up!

I met up with some of my classmates this afternoon to discuss our teaching. I’ve finished my assignment for Monday and I need to write up my lesson plans after church.

Darren hasn’t been feeling very well the past day or so. He thinks it’s slight heat stroke and dehydration. He’s been resting a lot today and I’ve been trying to look in on him every once in awhile.

The speculation is that the young Presbyterian volunteers who were sent to Cyprus for 2 weeks will stay for _another_ 2 weeks. Silly! It’s so safe here, so we can’t figure out what their program can possibly be thinking…

Last night, I saw on the news about demonstrations in S. Korea and Japan, but there’s been nothing going on in Cairo lately. I guess last week in Alexandria there was a gathering of 30,000 protesters.

Listening to Billy Joel Greatest Hits V2, Disc 1 right now...

Early morning – late night.

I was up at 5:30am to do some homework and then make it downtown for the 8am train to Alexandria.

Our MCC group was going to hear a speaker discussing Egypt in the Bible and various ways of interpreting events. Mostly about the situation of the oppressed vs. being the oppressor and ways to present the situations to Jews and Muslims.

I slept for most of the trip, so that was good! *smile*

The talk was really good and with questions/answers it was about 2 hours. After that, we went for a nice lunch with lots of red meat (I don’t eat that very often here due to low availability and high price), then we had a couple of hours before our train back.

So we wandered over to the Bibliotecha Alexandrina -- check out the site for good information and some pictures. I took a few pics of my own and will have them available soon. The building just opened this winter, so it still looks new inside and out! It truly is gorgeous and I was pleased to see people using the library for research. Well, mostly for research. Many of the computer terminals were being used by university-aged students to watch movies or listen to music online. *smirk*

On the way back, the train stopped briefly in Tanta! That’s where I will hopefully be teaching, so I hopped out of the train for about 30 seconds. Now I can say that I have officially “been in Tanta”. *grin*

We made it back by 8pm and I rushed back to meet Darren, Annie, and Hashem at the office to watch “The Fellowship of the Ring”. Since I’ve been reading the books, I thought it would be nice to watch the movie, too. We had pizza to go along with it, so that was fun!

Off to bed now. Studying, studying, and more studying is the plan for Sunday.

For a good laugh, go to:

http://people.albion.edu/jenzer/_test.asp
(then click "Refresh" or "Reload" in your browser to see different pictures.

This is what the Albion College website (that's where I went to college and worked for 2 years) looked like on April Fool's Day! I'm glad they have a sense of humor there!

I've been messing with the layout of my journal a bit, since I added the weather update. I got a comment that it was hard to read the entries b/c they were so narrow so hopefully I've fixed that. I also updated some of the links and what I'm reading.

Frisbee was good. Met more random people. Need to shower and study, then sleep so that I can have energy for Alexandria on Saturday.

*burp*

I just got back from a big “International Dinner” at church. We had representatives and foods from different countries – Armenia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, India, Ireland, Philippines, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Russia, Switzerland, and the U.S. People from each country sang songs for the group and then we shared our foods. It’s quite a diverse church, eh?

My contribution was a modified version of my mother’s wonderful lemon cake. It seems that lemon pudding doesn’t exist in Egypt, so I had to substitute custard mix. I also had to replace the yellow cake mix with orange cake mix. Let’s just say it didn’t quite turn out like “Mom used to make”. *laugh* But it was pretty good. I’ll have to keep experimenting to see different ways of making it. The unique part is the orange juice/powdered sugar/water/margarine mixture that you put over the top and I was able to do that (with juice from an orange I squeezed, even!)

I went for some things new and some things familiar. From the Sudan, they had this really thick porridge-type thing. Basically flour, starch and water in quantities so that you had a sticky, thick mass that could be cut into pieces. Very bland, but filling. That was my first taste of Sudanese food.

In addition, I tried some spicy dishes from Sri Lanka and India, plus beef in Guinness from Ireland. On the U.S. table, I chose a bit of corn bread and some baked beans.

While eating, I chatted with a couple of people I’ve been getting to know, plus an older couple that’s new to the church. An Egyptian woman joined us at the end and then asked for my help walking her elderly mother back to their apartment. What a sweet old lady!

Now I’m digesting and procrastinating. Friday and Saturday are both going to be really busy days and I have lots to do in preparation for class on Monday. But I’ll manage!

Really hot today!

It's 8:30 evening and about 32C. That's the 90 in F. *sigh* But it's a bit cooler inside our place and it should cool down to the 60's for tonite. I'm trying to see if I can add weather to the page. Let's see if it works...

April Fools Day!

I tried to think of some good joke for today, but the joke was on me! Instead of joking, I ended up doing some serious thinking…

How different would the experience that I’m having now have been just 10 years ago?
By that, I mean that if people in their 20’s were doing this in 1993, how would their experience have been different than mine?

In 1993, they would _not_ have had:
-easy/cheap Internet/email access
-digital pictures to send/receive
-mobile phones so that people could reach them anytime

People just 10 years ago would only have had phone calls and letters to stay in contact. Imagine, mailing a letter and waiting weeks for a response!! *laugh*

What about 20-30 years ago? In Egypt and many places, the availability of a phone would have been severely limited at that time.

For those of you reading this with experience living “away from home” for extended periods of time, what do you think about my questions – based on what you went through.

…and for everyone else, what do you think? Are you glad about having this level of contact? Or would it be better to look forward to visits or hand-written letters?

Please post Comments or share your thoughts with me through email.

Which way is better? It makes me very happy that I am able to stay in touch with so many people by email and chatting online. I also like being able to have this journal available. But does this make me feel too close? It’s the _feeling_ of closeness, without the reality of being with/near people.

If I didn’t have all these ways of staying in contact, then maybe I would just go about my life and not think of people as often, or just look forward to people coming to visit. I think of my friends and family often – when I look at a picture, hear a song, see a certain car, or just remember back to happy occasions.

Now don’t get too concerned. *smile* Certainly, I’ve been a bit sad in thinking about this topic today and in typing out my thoughts, but I’m ok. A very good friend asked me today if I was feeling “culture shocked”. At the time, I denied that I was, but the answer is probably yes.

But I’ll get through it, and it’s not too bad. Today was a good day! The sun was shining and it was very warm. It was 25C (77F) when I was walking around at 6pm and it was much warmer than that at noon when I was getting a bit of sun and reading.

…listening to Fleetwood Mac’s “The Dance” while typing this… Any other Fleetwood Mac fans out there? Will anyone be getting tickets for their N. American tour this summer? The song “My Little Demon” seems to be stuck in my brain now.

I still have some preparation to do for teaching on Wednesday (yeah, I’m a broken record when it comes to talking about class), but after tomorrow I have a few days off again. I’m surrounded by good people here, and I have plenty of support.