From here on out, perhaps I will let DH Lawrence do the explaining.

“I believe that a man is converted when first he hears the low, vast murmur of life, of human life, troubling his hitherto unconscious self."

11 weeks.

Wow. Exactly eleven weeks and I will be in Amsterdam awaiting a flight to Cairo. I started plotting my year abroad over a year ago, so the realization that it is actually happening is...mind blowing. The fact I still don't know how to say "I'm lost", "I need a US Embassy," or "Where's the bathroom" and have no idea what 9 means in arabish is disconcerting... but my optimism has not disapated quite yet. It seems cheesy, but some informal statement of goals seems essential:

*come home with a serious grasp on Arabic and the ability to pass not for a local but at least for a non-tourist. Avoid English outside of class.

* be able to say I have seen North Africa. its people. its quirks.

*come out of it having some well-documented narratives of my experiences, even if just good conversations that i've written down.

* break a few stereotypes held abroad about Americans, and dissolve a few of those I may hold subconsciously of others, too.

* find a masjid i like, with old ladies as insightful and odd as the one i go to now. actually that's the better the goal: meet wise old muslim women.

insha'Allah.

In Agouza. Just blocks from the Nile.

Airplane ticket... Check.
Visa... Check.
Apartment... Pending.

This, insha'Allah, will be my fabulously sexy Cairene apartment. It has a view that sends glee through my viens and rent that makes DC wander away with its tail between its overpriced legs.

It's Official...and it even comes with a 7-hour layover in Amsterdam!

I purchased plane tickets to Egypt and my departure dances along the distant horizon. Fal-nabda'!

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines: Flights KL602 & KL553: Depart Los Angeles at 5.55p, stop in Amsterdam, and arrive in Cairo at 2.05a on August 23rd 2006.