A Week of Firsts

It's been a week of firsts for me in Egypt.

Last Thursday for the first time, I played 3^rd wheel with an Egyptian friend and his “blind date” in Alexandria. As a result of me trying to give them as much time as possible to talk and get to know each other, my buddy and I missed our train back to Tanta. (also a first)

While in Alex, I went to a coffee shop that I had never gone to before and this helped inspire me. I'm now making it my mission to go to as many coffee shops in Tanta as I can before I finish my time in Egypt. Already this week, I've added 3 to my list!

Possibly related to all this, I started feeling sick on Tuesday afternoon. I was fine to teach, but my whole body was just aching after that. I ate dinner at my friend Michael's house and got home late. I've learned how to listen to my body a bit better in Egypt that I did in the U.S., so I knew that I needed to rest, so I slept from about 2am – 11.30am on Wednesday.

I woke up a new man! Well...not quite. I woke up feeling better, but also knew that eating any sort of solid food was out of the question. *stomach grumbles* I had made plans to meet with a student at a coffee shop at noon and that was good b/c it required me to get out of the house and test how I was feeling (as opposed to lying around on my couch).

At the coffee shop, I had a hot milk drink which helped settle my stomach. I also had a good talk with my student and one of his co-workers. After that, I did a bit of grocery shopping and came home for a nap. I thought about eating lunch, but still didn't think my stomach was up to it. I did have 2 bananas. I have to keep working the 2kg that I bought earlier this week! That's about 4.4 pounds and when dealing with the numbers it doesn't seem like a lot, but it's tough to eat that much before they get soft! *laugh* I still wasn't feeling great, so I took an hour nap.

Had a good class tonight and then met up with friends at my local church. We went to my favorite coffee shop which is conveniently located across the street from a cheap place for sandwiches (chicken, sausage, etc) I can never resist eating at this place, and thankfully my stomach was ready for food.

In other food news, while walking home tonight, I stopped to buy eggs. This was my first time buying eggs in about 6 weeks...and I was shocked by the price! In Egypt, the price for eggs is based on buying 30 (a dozen has no meaning here). When I bought eggs before, the price was about $1.50 for 30 eggs. (about $.60/dozen) Today, the price was $2.50 for 30 eggs!!! Blame bird flu and the drastic measures the Egyptian government took to contain it. A friend who works selling medicine to vets says that it will take about 3 months before the supply of eggs gets back to pre-bird flu levels. Until then, it's “a crisis” (in his words) for people living on a fixed income.

Well, time to finish watching Walk the Line. I'm feeling much better now, but my sleep schedule is a bit off b/c of all the sleeping today. Hopefully I'll be able to get to bed around 3am.

Stay tuned! I'll try to write again soon!