Ok. I lied.

The optimism and fresh-page feeling of the other night has dissipated into the reality that my blog will actually not become anything more than a glorified journal that serves as an outlet for idle moments. But hey – that’s OK too, I guess.

Highlights of this idle moment include:

* I still love my new job.

* I’m running a 5k.

* Aside from my family, I apparently only have 5 friends and they are all unreachable because they are (a) out-of-the-country, (b) extremely busy, or (c) incapable of picking-up their phone, making phone calls, or checking voicemails. Yes, you, Amanda Craig, do not pick up your phone. Ever. I figure if I type your name a google search might draw you to this page and you might, might, might find that worthy of a one-liner email in my direction :)

* I have recently developed a deep longing to be a squirrel. This one is totally new to me considering that previously I was most interested in being a fish or bird (or hermit crab, but that’s a long story) if I wasn’t blessed to be the complicated and irrational creature that I am… But now it seems this bushy-tailed rodent also has a place in my realm of escapist fantasies.

Yes, it's albino.

To new beginnings.

This evening, I’m enjoying a candle-lit celebratory dinner marking transitions of all sorts – at last! My goosebumps and quickly chilling lobster ravioli suggest that summer has finally transitioned into autumn and the cause for celebration – a ‘real’ job I actually love! – is confirm that I have transitioned into a young professional, for the time being, and am no longer placeless, purposeless and feening another place entirely. Akeed I’m still missing Egypt tremendously, but a steady paycheck means that that longing can be eased with a very nice little visit sometime soon. Wa akeed a little portion of soul is drifting around Brooklyn and still second-guessing the decision against finding a job in Manhattan but fantastic housemates, a quirky neighborhood, and new beginnings in a familiar place feel juuuuust right at the moment. This post will also mark a transition in my blogstyle: Good riddance with these journal-like, infrequent, long and uninteresting (ok, probably mildly interesting sometimes) posts… From here on, my dear little readers, prepare for hilarious highlights of my adventures on public transportation, and schizophrenic ramblings from my freshly found cubi-space at work, and a fair share of elaborate albethem slightly unrealistic plans for the ambiguous future that dances intriguingly on the not-to-close-horizon.

So, it seems that I have entirely disappeared from the blogosphere but the reality is I was initially too distracted by life to sit down and write about it, and following that simply uninterested in writing about it.  I have recently adopted a new modus operandi that involves neither flowcharts nor timelines and somewhere in there blogging also bit the dust.  I can confidently say that I haven’t flowcharted for months [insert AA-style affirmations and applause] and seem to be surviving just fine. Now, however, sitting down to write about the past few months seems not essential but still very worthwhile… Given that my currently life is teeming with possibilities but with few things of actual definition and that my daily rant consists almost entirely of job interviews, conundrums of the heart, and funny/racist/schizophrenic/enlightened eavesdropping on the D6 or X2, it’s seems more practical to simply begin where I left off and hope I’ve got something figured out about my currently life by the time I get caught up. 

[ Cairo Continued - LE Orientation ]

LE Orientation went off without a hitch (ok, DSS’s suitcase was mistakenly taken by Ahmed Somethingorother who also has a redSamsonite and another one of the fantastic volunteers seemed surprised that alcohol is less than ubiquitous in Cairo, but nevertheless…) and I wish that I had been around for a bit more of the Program.  Fabulous LE Egypt 2008 Volunteer Teachers at the Right. Highlights of our brief time together include…

A felluca that nearly capsized on the Nile; A sweet horseback ride in the desert near Giza (not to mention DSS’s backseat camel ride); A monstrously long but highly effective Orientation.

Ultimately I think LE Egypt went well in its second year.  The program has made leaps and bounds by branching off into two new villages at three new sites.  The continuation of the Program is currently in deliberation by the LE Exectutive Council and next year’s PD will be announced soon.  

For a recap of LE Egypt's adventures (and misadventures) this past summer check out their blog here.