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Published: November 16th 2008
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Survival Arabic Class
Okay, so this picture is from like my first week here in Cairo, but I just stole it from a friend, so I'm putting it up now. This is my survival Arabic class exploring Cairo with our professor. He treated us to juice...there are fresh juice stands everywhere and they are soooo yummy! Hello all,
So first off let me say sorry for not writing sooner! I know, I've been awful these last few weeks about updating this blog, but I promise to do better for the remainder of my time here! I will also take more pictures, promise!
Hmmm, where should I start? Well, I guess the first thing is we finally moved into our apartment in Zamalek! On Sunday 3 weeks ago, we spent our first night here and things have been awesome. Its a great location, the 3 of us--Sarah, Vicki and I--are having a blast, and its just been really nice having our own space we can settle in to.
The last few weeks I guess I've had some sort of routine, though nothing too exciting--wake up and go to class, come back in the early afternoon, get some work done and hang out with friends. The weekends have been pretty laid back...last weekend we went to the citadel and Friday we went to Sakara to see the step pyramids, but other than that its mainly been hanging out with friends; oddly enough, doing much of the things I would do in the U.S., ie watching movies, cooking, random
Citadel
The mosque inside the walls of the citadel. impromptu dance parties...yup last week Sarah, Vicki and I definitely blasted songs from musicals (Wicked, Rent, you get the picture 😊) and sang along to them. Tonight Sarah and I went to City Stars (the mall) where we ate food, did some shopping and went to see High School Musical 3.
I honestly cannot believe its my birthday already!! When I left home back in August it felt like forever away! And now I'm 2 decades old...man, I getting old! As you may gather from the title of this entry, the clock struck midnight while Sarah and I were in a cab on our way back from City Stars so I technically turned 20 in a taxi in Cairo. I promise you, this time last year sitting at IHop in Balston, Maryland, I never, ever imagined my next birthday would be spent in Africa! Its amazing to look back at the year, and then to look back even further, and think of how much I've done and changed. Not to get too nostalgic or philosophical on you here, but what better time to reflect on life then on birthdays? Its kind of cool to think of all the posibilies of
View of Cairo
From the window of a minaret on the way up. what can happen. I mean, if I could never imagined being in Cairo on my 20th birthday, who knows where I'll be this time next year, or even 5 years from now! Its exciting and scary, all at once!
My time in Cairo is over half way over...in fact I have only a little over a month left, and I think its going to be crazy busy. Next weekend Kristin (for those of you who don't know her, she's one of my roommates at GW) is coming to visit and she'll be here until December 1st (I can't believe December is that close!). We have a long weekend for Thanksgiving break, so we are either going to go to Jordan to see Petra or go camping in the Black and White desert (most likely Jordan, because we can do the desert in a shorter period of time, but Jordan will take the extra day!). The following week we have a break for Eid (Muslim holiday) and I'm going to Turkey with Holly and Steph. Then finals (yuck!) and before I know it I'll be packing and having to say bittersweet goodbyes. As much as I know I'll be excited to
Our Apartment!
Taylor sprawled out on Sarah's bed. This is the room that Sarah and I share. go home, I'm trying not to think about that yet and just focus on getting the most out of the time I have left.
I'll save all my "reflections on Egypt" for a later post, but since I am in a sort of reflective mood anyway, I'll just say that I have learned a lot more about myself than I would have ever guessed coming into this experience. I have also learned that I really cannot live without a hoodie for 5 months, but that's another story 😉.
Again, sorry for not being better about updating, though I promise you, you haven't missed much! I'll be better these next few weeks! Please know that you are all in my thoughts and prayers, whether we talk on a regular basis or not, and I hope that wherever you are reading this from, you are doing amazingly well and I always love hearing from you! Much love from Cairo!
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michelle
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happy birthday
hope you have many more =)