The remainder of time in Egypt was pretty good. Got a little boring for a few days once Samantha and Guy were gone, but I did get out and do things. The last day of Ramadan, I went to the pyramids, and decided to drop $100 on taking a camel ride out to the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx. It was a 12km walk through the desert otherwise, and hey, how often do you get to ride a camel in Upstate NY? My camel was named “Mickey Mouse,” which was vaguely unfortunate, because the Mouseketeers song was playing in my head [View Full Entry]

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Sorry for the lapse... but here's what is new... Cairo. What sticks out the most for me is the marketplace here. It is a labyrinth that weaves its way down alleyways between buildings, where you can buy anything you could possibly want. Clothing, jewelry, hookahs, appliances, dishware, blankets. It is the epitome of organized chaos--the market is so packed with customers--veiled women, unveiled women, shopkeepers... all of whom would be shoved up against the display tables when boys with loads or carts of trash/merchandise/cardboard/food would push their way past, hissing to get people [View Full Entry]

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Monkeys. They look cute from a distance, but up close they are a tad terrifying. Perhaps that is only because of my phobia of diseases that largely originate from or are transferred by monkeys. It is not likely that someone with smallpox or Ebloa will come up and bite you for shits and giggles. Monkeys, on the other hand... they seem to live for both shits and giggles. The monkeys I saw today on my trek to Execution Rock were actually vaguely cute. There was one intent on following me until I relinquished my apple to it. Then it was a [View Full Entry]

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Okay, so. Egypt. I am so incredibly psyched for the trip, and in the meanwhile making the best of the time I have left here. Traveling around via khombi, studying Arabic, reading my psychology books, and getting some writing done. I'm also dealing with various issues that need to be dealt with. My mind hasn't been in the right place for quite a few months. This trip was, probably to some degree, me trying to escape things. And that might be a good solution in the short term--but a year was going to be a bit excessive. But I think I [View Full Entry]

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I've had to admit the unthinkable to myself. It turns out I actually don’t like it here. I'm not sure if it is just Swaziland that I dislike, or working at the Ministry of Education. It isn’t the actual work that I dislike, I plan to continue working with Fundza even once I am no longer going into the office. I'll know whether it is culture shock if I end up working the Cabrini Mission (I won’t know until they call me back), and am still having the same adjustment problems. But it has been very difficult for me to admit [View Full Entry]

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So... things. Things have been... strange. Despite how conflicted I usually seem, when there is a situation that requires me to make a choice, I usually know what I am going to do on some deeper level. I've spent the past few days thinking some pretty crazy things. Last night I was planning a route from Swaziland to Egypt (flying over Sudan, of course). I've decided since then that I might forgo that particular trip. Initially I though it would be a great way to leave the continent--I wouldn't feel like I hadn't done anything, and I'd certainly want to leave [View Full Entry]

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I sincerely hope that things go well today for Da'. He deserves a break after the past few years of all this shit. (I know that is not how it works, but I can hope.) It's about 15:00 here, which means it is about 9am in NY--this is one of those moments I wish I was not so far away. Or at least somewhere on the same continent. Everyone who isn't already doing this; please keep my dad in your thoughts and prayers and ritual sacrifices, etc. And here's the blog entry meant for the 13th... 8/13/09 I've had to redefine [View Full Entry]

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Now in dual-post on blogger.com! Wow, okay, more excitement than strictly necessary. Fundza has become enjoyable; I wrote up a grant today, and now I need to find someone or a plural amount of someone to fund a debate competition. Friday will be devoted to getting those sent out, and starting on the next focused grant. It's the second day I've worked with them, and today's problem was: someone (not Nonkululeko) forgot to pay the phone bill, so, no phone, no internet. Internet hasn't been especially reliable at S.'s, but I honestly am not complaining about that: means I have time [View Full Entry]

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African masks are fairly intriguing. As far as I know, they are usually for use in ritual ceremonies, and represent spirits of both humans and animals, good and evil, deities, mythological beings, etc. Many of them look amazing--except when you are alone in a house at night for long stretches of time. I am not an "afraid of the dark" sort of person. But if S.'s house didn't have such a comforting, welcoming feel to it, I would be scared out of my mind here. There are masks, statues, and paintings in the living room--which is also often the darkest room [View Full Entry]

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I start with Fundza on Monday! I have begun working on a website for them, and I am optimistic about being able to do some good through this program. The only problem is that aid and grant funding is so short these days. But one of Fundza's main goals is to help stem the spread of HIV/AIDs through education, so perhaps that will encourage some donors to contribute money. My co-worker/boss Nonkululeko is really introducing me to Swazi culture in a way that S. can't. She is also really is a comically bad driver. Well, it's actually not funny, but perhaps [View Full Entry]

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