I finally discovered a coffee shop that's just a short walk from the flat, so I went over tonight. The worker-guy who greeted me when I walked in found me someone to play with and 2 guys taught me how to play a game they call "31". That's the score that finishes the game. You play all the way through 1 time and then if the loser has 4 disks left, then the winner gets 4 points. If the loser has 8 points, then it's 8 points, and so on. These guys play so fast! They just know where the different rolls will get you and they definitely have strategy in mind, too.

My dad taught me to play Backgammon as a child, so I was thinking about him while I was playing… Hi Dad! (I know you’ll read this at some point *smile*)

That made for a good evening, following some time at a church for singing, bible study, and chatting. This church is interesting b/c it mostly Egyptians who want to worship in English. Very nice people and good services so far.

I was a bit down on myself this afternoon.

I started thinking negatively about how it seems like I'm wasting a lot of time and not really "doing" much here right now. This afternoon, I almost went to a place called the Citadel and some museums that are there. But I was going to do it b/c I felt that I should and not b/c I really wanted to. At some point, that can be a necessary reason for doing things, but it just felt like forcing it today. So I swore that I'd go on on Sunday.

But I probably won't. Still feeling the same way about it. I hopefully can motivate myself to study Arabic for awhile.

So I guess the extent of my adventures today was going to the coffee shop. Fortunately, I'm okay with that right now. Let's see how I feel tomorrow. *smirk* It's all about little victories, I suppose. It's easy to use energy with negative thoughts, so I'm trying to practice thinking positively, instead.

Listening to the “Missundaztood” album by Pink right now. Amusing stuff. Lively, which matches my day, I guess!

Today I played Frisbee! The sun was out, I was able to wear shorts (the Egyptian men were wearing shorts, so I did too!), so it was great! We didn’t play Ultimate Frisbee b/c we only had 5 people but we’re going to make this a regular weekly thing and more people will be there next week.

I met another one of Darren’s friends from St. Andrews Church, where he is volunteering. I’m meeting lots of people through Darren, which is good. It would have been a lot harder getting connected if not for him. I should make sure to thank him sometime. Annie was the organizer of the Frisbee-playing. She’s a born/raised Californian who went to Berkley. She’s happy to have people who want to join her for Frisbee.

Annie brought 2 Sudanese guys from St. Andrews. Neither of them had ever played Frisbee before, but they both caught on really quickly! We played for a couple of hours but had to stop around 4pm so that one of the Sudanese guys could go to St. Andrews for a play that he was performing in. It’s part of the English-education program there to put on dramas and practice English by learning the English dialogue and performing.

The play was good and quite funny! It was set in the 1970’s and concerned the political situation in the Sudan. Essentially, it evolved around a woman who was wrongfully accused of a crime and was being hunted by the authorities. She asked for protection from a deacon, so he had to reconcile lying about her being in home with keeping her safe from the military. All the performers did quite well.

The guy who played Frisbee with us was named Hashim and he played a priest of sorts. This Hashim guy is amazing. He is very good with English, has learned Egyptian Coloquial Arabic (that’s what I have my classes in), plus his native language is one of the Sudanese dialects. Now, he’s trying to learn Spanish, French, and Italian! I guess his brain is just wired to absorb languages!

Speaking of which, I should study some of my Arabic yet tonight!

Happy New Year!

Islamic New Year, that is. Today is the first day of the new year, so major offices were closed
and I didn't have my Arabic class. That gave me time to finish "The Hobbit" and start on "Fellowship
of the Ring". Such good books!

I also stopped over at the British Community Association "clubhouse" to check out the scene there.
It's a mostly British club that has a membership fee or per visit guest fee, but they have some fun
events and facilities. There's a dartboard, billiards table, TV, and random people to chat with. I
found out about it from their magazine and also from someone suggesting that we meet there before
maybe going to a concert. So, I wanted to figure out how to get there.

They also have the occasional movie night. Coming up is "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and they just
showed the first 2 Lord of the Rings movies.

It's not really my scene, but maybe I'll go as a guest every so often with people. I guess they
have fish and chips on Thursday nights, so that might be nice sometime! *laugh* It's only 200LE
to join for the year, which isn't really that much. But then there's food/beverage on top of that.
Plus, since I'll only be in Cairo for 3-4 months, it makes sense to instead pay 5LE as a guest each
time I stop by.

I haven't gone back to that coffee shop to play games and see the group of guys I met. I thought
about going on Monday after my Arabic tutorial, but I was exhausted from studying.

I'm having trouble with getting motivated to go out in the evenings. Beyond that, I'm feeling good
but my lack of energy worries me a bit. I feel like I should be going out more, trying to meet
foreigners or Egyptians, and just going, going, going. But sometimes, I just can't do it. My
health is fine, though I'm not getting much energy beyond walking. I guess some people want to
start playing Ultimate Frisbee, so I'm definitely eager to play again!

While walking around today, I did some window shopping at computer stores. Cheap prices!! I could
get a fairly decent system put together, plus a monitor for $400-500. But I have my laptop, so I
don't need to do that. So why was I looking? Mostly b/c I was curious. While getting ready to
come here, I debated buying this laptop and I got it for convenience, mostly. I knew that I
could have a desktop computer built here for cheaper, but then it would need to be on a desk, etc
so I think I'm glad that I went with the laptop.

We're also looking at me helping out some local churches or organizations with their webpages in
the short term. But that won't come together for at least a few weeks.

I just have this week and next week left with my structured Arabic classes. After that, I am hoping
to start with my CELTA teaching-certification course. If that comes through, I will be really busy
from mid-March through mid-April. But if the class isn't offered, then I need to get some informal
training, but that would also give me more time available for other things.

As it's been all the way through the process, there are lots and lots of "maybes" floating around!
Thank God, I've been granted the patience and openness just to go with the flow and let things work
out as they are intended.

Tanta is still our thought for my assignment, but now we also might have a city called Benni-Swayf as
an option. That's a remote one, though. But, it works out that my CR, Craig, is going to visit
Benni-Swayf next Tuesday and I will be joining him. It will give me a chance to see Upper Egypt.
That's the area south of Cairo and we will be on the train about 2 1/2 hours to get there.

It also looks like most of the MCC group from Cairo will be going to Alexandria to hear a speaker
on Saturday. But that's still to be determined, as well.

It seems like planning here either happens week/months ahead of time, or it doesn't happen at all and
things just come up at the last minute. But that's ok.

Wishing you all a peaceful day,

-Jason

Quite the day...

This afternoon, Darren and I met up with John (another MCC'er) and Carmen. John wanted to
take us to see Coptic Cairo. It's the part of town that has Christian churches dating
back to the 5th century! Quite the sight to behold. There is one called the Hanging
Church b/c it is built on top of Roman pillars and there is a spot where you can look down
to see how the whole thing is supported. Odd. Great architecture and very interesting
history.

After that, Carmen and I decided to check out another one of the local churches for
worship. This one ended up being about 30 people in their 50s-70s, one 20-something, and
the 2 of us! *laugh* Not quite what I was expecting, but their music was great and the
people were really friendly! One big bonus is that there were a number of Egyptians
there who like to worship in English for practice and they just prefer it to other
services in Arabic. I guess there is worship and Bible study on Saturday nights, so
that is when a few younger people go. I'll have to check it out.

On the way back from the service, I decided that I was going to have my first coffee
shop experience. Now, this isn't what North Americans would think of when you say
"coffee shop". No latte' or espresso here! Just tea, coffee, pepsi, lots of smoking
and the sound of dominos or backgammon pieces being slapped down on the gameboard!
Up until now, I had been hesitant to go into any b/c I wanted to have a bit of Arabic in
my mind so that I didn't seem _completely_ clueless. Also, there aren't any of these
places right in the neighborhood where we live, since we're in a more upscale neighborhood,
I guess.

Anyway, I went in, ordered tea and sat for a few minutes as everyone in the place looked
at me and tried to decide what I was doing there... After a little bit, some guys
motioned me over to play dominos with them. I won't even try to explain how the playing
and scoring worked b/c I'm a little fuzzy on that. But it definitely involved dominos
and connecting them together with matching numbers. I don't know who won, but eventually
the guys switched to backgammon and I watched them play.

These weren't any backgammon rules that I've ever seen and they played 2 different ways,
so I need to try learning. The guys were really funny and kept having me order drinks.
After my tea, I had a Pepsi, and then some other kind of tea with lots of milk in it.
Some of the guys knew a bit of English, so that was helpful for explaining things but I
also got to use a lot of the Arabic that I know. I don't know that much, so I used it
pretty quickly! *smirk*

Of course, as I was getting ready to leave, the men I had been with insisted on paying
for my drinks! That's Egyptian hospitatlity!

Now for some email, studying, and then bed.