Well, it has officially reached that point in the academic semester where all those brief moments of mediocrity accumulate into massive moments of anxiety. It seems midterm exams wreak the same havoc on both sides of the atlantic…luckily, the end of Ramadan brings with it the end of the Islamic calendar and a much appreciated opportunity to makes some “new years” resolutions. Returning from a lovely 8-day vacation will be like turning a whole new page. Highlights include:
A re-discovered ambition to actually engage myself in my classes and coursework at AUC.
Last week our Arabic professor gave this long shpeal about how silly it was to study Arabic unless you wanted to master the language, not just talk showyya showyya. After he finished, I realized the same idea could go for all my classes: It seems that if my academic life is a baseball game, I’ve gotten four balls at bat and walked. I now have the choice to run for home or get tagged out. Home base, baby. Unfortunately two all-nighters, a paper, two midterms, and a realllllllllllly poorly-timed quiz are between me and this hopeful dash. Which means the remainder of this post will be short and lacking in any real wit or style, heh.
Sasha and I’s strategically-improved hunt for a new apartment...
Yes, shari3 abdel 7amid said has been lovely. But we are relocating in search of something far more ideal, slightly less invasive, and overall more structurally sound. AlHamdulila. I will wish the shisha-smoking, job-lacking, patriarchial-yet-respectful men that basically live outside our apartment goodbye with light-hearted enthusiasm. The toothless and eternally grateful bowab will be genuinely missed. Unfortunately, the comedy of errors blossomed into full and total chaos as our house is literally falling apart. We have decided to be exquisitely picky about our new abode: We’re looking for a gorgeous old European-style building and spacious balcony. We will have fully-functioning appliances and light fixtures that are securely fixed to the wall. A landlord that has some appreciation for written monthly bills rather than ball-parked estimates about the water and gas. We will remain in noisy-polluted-sketchy wistr alBalady (downtown) because the ease of rolling out of bed twenty minutes before class and not being late is too good to pass up, and the local falafel and ful shops are priceless. We’re also hoping to find another place up high in the building since our air is relatively fresh up there… but maybe this time around we will find something with a fire escape, hah. I am excited to wish the tempestuous bitch of a washing machine we have and the burden of handwashing our clothes ma3salama, too.
‘Eid and the mental-emotional feast that will come with it!
I’ll be heading to Marsa 3lam for the week to enjoy the
Some photos and my best wishes to anyone who reads this.
Not exactlty sure why, but this image to me sums up what walking around downtown at night feels like.
The aforementioned team sokar&shai, imagination-syle globetrotting extrodinaires.
Ali, Amanda' flatemate, who continues to impress me everyday with her mad organizational skills and passion for STAR Women's Classes and the amazing women we are teaching from Sudan, Ethiopia, Morrocco, and Iraq. Photos of them to come soon, momkin!
The Citadel from the corniche at Alexandria. Mmmmm.
This is my flatemate Sasha. If you see her, tell her to come home, I miss her. She has made aquaintance with a sweet-talking Palestinian-Jordanian guy who holds her hostage in his company mansion in Masr Gedidah. He will be her escort to Lebanon and Jordan while I am enjoying the serenity of the Red Sea. Which is more appealing: Touring war-torn Levantine countries versus sunsets and scuba diving...why is this decision so much harder than it sounds?
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