Update

I'm back from Sinai and Turkey and it was amazing. Will try to get back to regular posting ASAP, but school is crazy right now, and the Cairo nightlife is constantly calling my name. In the meantime, hopefully this will tide you over:

An Apology

Sorry for not writing anything in a while, guys. Unfortunately, I've been very ill for the past few weeks with a parasitic infection [the joys of living in Africa?] that just won't clear up, no matter what I do. I won't go into the details, but it is unpleasant, to say the least.

Aside from that, I'm just finishing up some papers and other miscellaneous schoolwork before spring break starts on Thursday! If you're interested, here's the itinerary for the next two weeks:

March 25: Night bus to Dahab
March 26, 27, 28: Lay on beach, drink beer, get tan, be a hippie.
March 28: Night bus back to Cairo.
March 29: Rest all day. Evening flight to Istanbul.
March 29-April 4: Adventures in Istanbul, Bursa, Princes Islands, etc.
April 4: Fly back to Cairo.
April 6: Class resumes [boo].

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!

سلام و حب

i'm miles from where you are

All too clearly, I remember standing in the airport. As hard as I tried to act like it was no big deal, just moving to Egypt, whatever, I could hardly breathe. Against my will, the lump formed in my throat, tears clouded my eyes, I wondered if it was too late to back out, to slink back to Tuscaloosa...just kidding, I didn't go, I want to stay here with you. I sat there with my parents..stalling, waiting...finally, I realized there was no going back. Better to just get this over with. Goodbye, goodbye, see you at Christmas..

Going back to Egypt this time will not be so hard, I hope. It's home now. I miss it. I miss Cairo; the dirt, the grime, the magnificent decay. The honking, the cacophony of a city in a state of perpetual motion. The smell of shisha wafting on the night air, the sweet aroma of spices in the market, the calls of shopkeepers, the pushing and shoving of people impatient to get wherever they're going, so that they can sit around and do nothing in particular.

I won't miss home so much this semester. I realized in the past month..there's not much left for me here. Somehow, I don't belong here anymore. The people I missed the most...well, only one of them actually deserved my constant longing.

I will miss my family, and I'll miss Kenny...but other than that, I'm ready for another amazing semester in the Middle East. I can't wait to see what adventures are in store for me this time.

Tiny Update

Classes have been suspended again and will resume on Dec 6, as opposed to the 1st. Not much of a difference, but it's nice to know that I will still have time to get all my stuff done after I get back from Jordan on the 30. Alhamdulelah!

Leaving for Jordan in about 12 hours! See you kids on the 30th!

Exciting News!

Thanksgiving break [it's actually a break for Eid al-Adha* here, which conveniently falls over the same period as Thanksgiving] starts tomorrow night. I had pretty much made up my mind to be boring and stay on campus to get work done, but I started changing my mind yesterday..after all, I'm living in Egypt. Yes, my schoolwork is important [and I'll get it all done], but the life experience I'm getting here is just as important. So tonight I took the plunge- Will and I splurged** and bought tickets to Amman, Jordan! Our flight leaves at 8am on the 26 and we will spend two days in Amman, and two days exploring the ancient city of Petra. We get back late the night of the 30. I am so, so excited for so many reasons..I have wanted to go to Petra for years! Also, while in Petra, we are planning a trip to the Dead Sea, which is something on my Life List. We were originally throwing around the idea of doing this trip the old-fashioned way: taking a bus from Cairo to Sharm el-Sheikh, then catching the ferry from Nueba, Egypt to Aqqaba, Jordan, and finally a taxi from Aqqaba to Petra. All of this would take an entire day each way and leave us with limited time in the country, as well as being fairly expensive. It would also be a fairly stressful process and our nerves would already be wearing then by the time we got to Jordan [I don't do well on long bus rides- they are uncomfortable and usually smelly, and a bus to Sharm is around 8 hours, plus the ferry to Jordan is supposed to be a pretty stressful experience]. Granted, the airfare was more expensive, but we will be saving countless hours and arguments. I am so, so, excited and cannot believe that in less than 36 hours I will be in Jordan! I will be back with lots of stories and pictures on the 30th! Take care!


*Eid al-Adha is the Muslim holiday which translates to "Festival of the Sacrifice". It is celebrated to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God.

**I should note that it was not I who splurged, but rather my parents. I am so blessed with parents who are so gracious and generous and who really believe in my passions and support my obsessive wanderlust. They are truly incredible people and I am beyond lucky to have them as my parents. They will never know how much I appreciate them and everything they do for me. This blog would not exist if not for their willingness to send me all over the world to learn and absorb all that I can. I am so very thankful. I love you Mom and Dad!