Thursday, May 13, 2010

Finals!

Another long silence again on the blog here I see.  Finals are approaching and I've been caught in a deluge of papers and podcasts (the latter for Arabic class) in between being really ill.  Earlier this week I got a nasty case of food poisoning AND we had a hot weather snap so I was puking my guts out in 100+ degree weather.  Ok, yes I'm being a bit of a drama queen, but it sucked and it actually was that hot!

Now I seem to have recovered for the most part and am buckling down to do my finals, so bear with me in my distraction, and possibly read my entry from last semester about surviving finals: Ho, Ho, Ho Habbi.  Yes I know, but it was December at the time and going home for Christmas was on my mind!

My last round of sickness was both the sickest I've been in years and definitely the most in Cairo, which has killed some of the novelty factor for me over here.  I have never been so sick so often in  my life as my time in Cairo, which sucks but the place is rough on the body.  Or at least for us pink, squishy things that grew up in the mild and lovely Seattle!  It's always been the case that I've been afraid to leave Egypt, as though if I blinked the memories might be erased in an instant.  There is some truth in that the memories will fade with time and lack that certain emotional depth they once carried and felt so important at the time, but that's simply life and I'm starting to be able to look on the rather bright side of coming home.  I wasn't anticipating a new level of adjustment a year into living here, but perhaps this is just the first phase of the adjust back to life in America.

What's starting to kill things for me in particular as well is the weather.  I was raised in a MILD climate, people.  I cannot take 100 degree weather all the time in any form except lying down in an air-conditioned box.  Someone needs to tell this to the Egyptian summer weather!  Winter is perfect, I haven't got a problem with it and being covered up isn't a big deal or uncomfortable during the winter, so dealing with social norms about dressing is never stressful.  My only condolance is that on July 28 I will be flying back to lovely, mild Seattle for awhile to visit my parents before going back to California, because here in Cairo it will just be getting hotter and hotter.

Otherwise, life is going on as usual!  I have an article coming out in Gilded Serpent soon about a teacher and friend here, Hallah Moustafa so stay tuned.

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