Thursday night, I went to the ballet.

Yes, ballet.

Here in Cairo, the Japanese were nice enough to donate the
money a few years ago for a beautiful opera house!

The ballet was called "Zorba" and it featured music performed
by the Cairo Opera Orchestra and A Capella Choir. I can't do
justice to summarizing the story but it was a love story,
with the usual "love triangle" plot.

Will I go back to see another ballet or for other performances
at the Opera House? You betcha! First of all, I enjoyed it and
second of all, it was cheap!!! Also, it helped that we had a
fun group there last night -- a bunch of 20-somethings who
volunteer where my roommate is working.

I paid about $2 U.S. for my ticket!! The group I went with was
buying student price tickets with their college student ID's, so
I got the same price -- 10LE. Even without the discount, it would
only have been 20LE. Still very, very cheap!!!!

Coming up in a few weeks, the Cairo Orchestra is performing Carmina
Burana, so I'm definitely going for that! Even if you don't recognize
the name, I'm sure you've heard it. It's very dramatic music that is
used in many movies.

This week was busy, with classes during the day and something happening
every night, so I didn't do much today. Just some reading and relaxing.
I've started reading "The Hobbit" in preparation for getting into the
Lord of the Rings trilogy next. A few days ago, I finished reading
"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".

Last Monday night, I met up with 2 other MCC'ers for dinner at their place.
Nothing fancy, just an excuse for me to go there and chat with them. They
are married with an infant daughter.

Tuesday night, I had my Arabic tutorial and then I had pancakes!!! North
American-style pancakes! *laugh* A friend of my tutor's just opened this
little restaurant and one of the items they offer is pancakes with pretty
decent maple syrup. That's impressive b/c I haven't even seen syrup in
a store yet, even the supermarket that has lots of "Western" items!

Wednesday, I went out with some of my classmates from my Arabic class and
our teacher. It was nice to talk with people and also see a bit more of
Cairo. We met up at one of the big hotels right on the Nile and then went
over to a restaurant from there.

One other thing about the opera on Thursday night. I met a young guy who
is here in Cairo studing to become a doctor, but he grew up in Tanta, the city
where I will hopefully be teaching. So, I have another contact to talk with
about Tanta and he volunteered to show me around, introduce me to people, etc.
The connections I have with this town just keep coming up. It's still not
certain that I will be there, so we shall see...

Today was sunny and fairly warm, so I sat out on the balcony to read and
type a few emails. Now it's 7pm and starting to get chilly outside. I
have a little spaceheater on here in my bedroom to help warm things up!
It's tiny, but it does a good job! I turned it on for a few hours the
other day before going to bed, too.