"What would you do in their shoes...I think I would be a suicide bomber." -guy in Palestine Lit.

Sorry for neglecting you. School is running my life. My friend who goes to UPenn said yesterday, "When did AUC get like school in the states?"

Today in my Palestine in Literature class we watched a film about suicide bombing called Paradise Now, which sparked some interesting discussion. First you need to know a little bit about the film. It wasn't a documentary of crazy men in turbans reciting the Qur'an, but a film about 2 Palestinian friends who have a mission to bomb a bus of Israeli soldiers. One of them falls in love with a daughter of a suicide bomber, who is completely against this form of resistance. While the film obviously criticizes the actions of the Israeli occupation, it also calls on Palestinians to question the effectiveness and justifications of suicide bombing as a form of resistance. Overall, I thought it was a fabulous film, giving insight into both sides of suicide bombing and understanding its existence but continuing to condemn them.

Anyways, so back to my story. We were discussing, after the film, how the movie gave airtime to both opinions on suicide bombing, and the difference between understanding and condoning these actions. That is precisely when a guy in our class posed the question. First of all, you don't ask people if they would be suicide bombers. Then he shockingly admitted to probably resorting to suicide bombing. Second of all, you never say out loud that you would be a suicide bomber. Then, to top it all off, he ASKED OUR PROFESSOR! Thirdly, you certainly don't ask a college professor if they would be a suicide bomber. She was speechless.

Well, that is really the only exciting thing that has happened in my life today. Just school, homework, and the like. Fun, fun. I guess end of the semester is difficult everywhere, or maybe it is just getting to be a little bit more like Duke. Anyways, I apologize again for neglecting you, but I promise I will always update when something worth writing about happens. I miss you all. Less than 4 weeks. Happy Tuesday!

"Thank the Easter bunny, BAK BAK!" -Mom

Thanks "Easter Bunny" for the wonderful candy. It actually made it to Egypt w/o even getting very smashed. Maybe just a little, but it is still completely delicious. I'm glad I got it today, because the time here in Egypt is continuing to be a struggle. So, apparently AUC decided to change its wireless network w/o informing anyone. Now we have to use the Student network. Doesn't seem like a big issue, except that you have to have an AUC email address to access it. Upon arriving to AUC, I was informed that getting an AUC email address wasn't necessary and more trouble than it was worth.

Last night, I had to have the internet to do my homework. I searched and searched, but couldn't get service anywhere. Finally I remembered I brought my ether net cord in case the wireless was too slow. I had to finish my homework in the uncomfortable chairs of the computer lab, but at least it got finished. It was really late then, so I didn't get to write on my blog, but hopefully none of you look until the morning. You are probably all getting up for church right about now anyways.

Tomorrow marks 4 weeks left. I can't wait to be home, see all of your smiling faces, go to church, drink milk, get a haircut, and just be comfortable. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in Egypt, but as academics get harder, the university makes less sense, and the weather gets hotter, I can't help but want to be home. I miss you all. Happy Sunday!

"When I say Yugo, you say Slavia..." -Mika

"Yugo"...

I am hoping at this point you all yelled, "Slavia." If not, I must say, I don't know if we can be friends anymore. You get bonus points if you did it out loud in a quiet place, e.g. library, or office cubicle. Anyways, Mika and I have decided to help each other study for the foreign service exam. I'm not 100% sure that is what I want to do with my life, but I talked to Justin, and his philosophy is what will it hurt. So, tonight I have studied up on world flags to start with. I have learned a lot by taking online quizzes...who knew I was so unknowledgeable.

I have good news otherwise, I had a good evening in Cairo! Yay! Granted, Mika and I had to go to the very westernized mall to get something for Mika's computer, but it went over without any problems. The buses were on time, the food was good, the people were helpful and not creepy. It was relaxing for once. Definitely what I needed to help me realize how much fun I can actually have here. Hopefully things continue to get better.

Here are some good cultural experiences from tonight. Mika and I just happened to be the only two on the paticular bus we took, the driver was first listening to Um Kalthuum (a famous Egyptian singer), then we listened to the Qur'an, then all of the sudden he started blasting Akon...oh Egypt. Then the guy at the computer store joked about how relaxed/lazy Egyptians are versus how stressed Americans are. It is true, but at least we are productive.

I really think that is all that has happened to me. After getting up late, hearing about Jamese's journeys and a trip to the gym, I have been a lot less than productive, but at least I have had a better day. I hope your days are going well too. Happy Friday, again!

"I have had enough with AUC." -Mika

Let me just tell you right now I have kinda had it up to here (really high) with AUC. I keep trying to make myself realize that my issues right now are with the university, but I can't help but relate it to Cairo, and I have started a countdown for coming home. 31 days as of this morning. I am so sorry for not writing you in so many days. First we didn't have internet, ugh...forgot how much I was addicted to the internet. And then last night I fell asleep, when I woke up the clock said 2 am. I thought I didn't want to get up, so here it is a little late, but finally writing a little about my life.

I really haven't done a whole lot in the past few days except for walk back and forth to all the buildings on campus, getting the run around, and yelling at people in order to get what I need. It really is a long drawn out story, that just gets me angry. In short, nothing worked when I got back and it took me 3 places, yelling at at least one person. I really am afraid that I am going to come back to America really rude. The only way to get things done around here is to yell at someone. It is exhausting.

Another thing, I woke up this morning and lost an hour. No one told me daylight savings time started last night, but luckily my computer knew. I'm just glad that it didn't happen on a school day. I'm sorry this isn't very imformative, but really nothing has happened. I have to go now, because my roommate just got back and is telling me all about her travels. I hope you are all enjoying spring. Happy Friday! Check out more picks. Sorry Jim, none inside the monastery, but beautiful view from outside.

"I hate Egypt, I hate Egypt." -Kelsey

My friend Kelsey once made up a song about hating Egypt when she was frustrated about the way things were handled in the country. I don't really think I hate Egypt, but today it has been really close. I just got back from this amazing vacation in Turkey where the weather was beautiful, the sights were interesting, the scenery was green, and the company was pleasant. Enter Egypt. 1)Man overcharges me 15 LE (really only $3, but it is the principle not the price) 2)Cab driver doesn't have proper credentials, get stopped by cops twice, must take round about way, cab driver expects more money, yells when we don't agree, thrown out of AUC by security guards. 3) ID card that is the only access to my room has deactivated, can't reactivate until tomorrow morning, walk a mi. off campus through the desert to fix the stupid problem, as if 4 classes didn't make my day busy enough 4) bitten by 2 mosquitoes. So that has been my "pleasant" return to Egypt so far. Right now, I hate Egypt, I hate Egypt.

I am very tired because it is very late/early and I have a big day tomorrow. Miss you all. Happy Monday!

"Megan, I think our friendship has hit a whole new level." -Mika

Today I didn't creep out of my comfort zone, I leaped. I went to a Turkish bath (also known as a hamam) today with Mika. It took a lot of guts for me to be completely naked in front of a friend and several strangers...I don't know which was harder. We first thought we couldn't go because we forgot our bathing suits. We were reassured by the lady at our hostel that you only need your birthday suit. She called the place, and a cab picked us up (for free). Cabs in Istanbul are a far cry from cabs in Cairo...there were seatbelts!

When we got there, we were given "un"dressing rooms with clear windows...lol. The doors and walls were pretty much pointless. We were instructed to strip down to nothing and given a towel and shower shoes. As soon as we went to the other room, they literally stole our towels. This is the first time I have been naked in front of anyone outside of my family. My awkward radar hit the roof. Mika and I decided to take the tactic of feigning confidence...I'm sure I failed. I felt a little better when there was this HUGE woman wearing underwear that would have been too little for me.

Too add to the awkward scale, we got loofaed, scrubbed, shampooed, and massaged on our entire body, by half naked women. She was definitely massaging me in places I didn't think would ever be touched by a woman. I must say though, I have never felt cleaner than at this moment. I would do it again. My only relief from awkwardness was Mika was there for support, and we got to watch other women to go first. Mika's lady spanked her to get her to turn over. LOL! In the end the cultural experience was totally worth it. Definitely not for the modest or the faint of heart.

Tomorrow we head back to Cairo. Boring life of studying, but I will have time to post more pics. Hope you all are having great Sundays.

Look, that lady is being followed by a dog parade. -Me

Sorry for not writing yesterday, by the time Mika and I made it back from the cafe with live Turkish pop music it was late and I needed sleep. One thing I love about Turkey is it has cool places to just hang out. There isn't really good places like that in Egypt. This cafe had a live band, which could be in a bar, but there were old men playing backgammon alongside young couples. It was just a really fun atmosphere.

Yesterday Mika and I also finally visited the palace that we tried to twice with Ted. The guidebook said it was kinda pricey, so we decided we were just going to see one area, but when we showed our student ID's, the price dropped from 20 tyl to 2 tyl. It was amazing...I love being a student. It was well worth the trip. How would you like to live in a house with 286 rooms or a 9000 lb. chandelier? It was pretty spectacular. And there were 2 bear rugs that still had the heads and everything. They were gifts from a Russian tsar. They freaked Mika out and totally did not fit the decor.

Today I spent a fun filled day in the sun. Mika and I took a ferry to the Prince's Islands. I had the freshest shrimp ever for lunch. Just shrimp splashed with lemon juice, and it was AMAZING! I had to force feed it to Mika, because she was scared of its rawness. She liked it of course, because it was by far the best I have ever had. While we were eating lunch, I saw this woman being followed by 7 dogs all in a line. I think she was the pied piper. They followed her everywhere, and when she sat down, they all layed in the sun beside her. It was amusing. Touring the islands was fun, and we climbed the steepest hill ever to visit a Greek Orthodox monastery. It was beautiful.

While I have been staying in my hostel, everyone who was here when I got here has left, now I am alone in a room with 5 guys. The good news is they all seem pretty nice, but one of them is very socially awkward. He is traveling alone. He is from London. Mainly he is just odd. He LOVES to talk, and he loves to get in your personal space. The other guys in my room get really awkward around him, trying to avoid him at all costs. One of the guys pretended to be asleep so he would leave him alone, but he just stood beside his bed talking. Interesting. Sometimes I wonder how someone ends up acting like that; why did they never learn how to act around people?

I think that is all I have for now. My camera is locked up in Mika's room, so I can't give you photos yet, but I promise you will get them soon. Miss you all. Happy Saturday!

"My biological clock just stopped dead in its tracks." -Mika

Today (well technically yesterday for me, but you are all asleep and don't know the difference) we went on a military tour of Istanbul...lol. It was really fun. Our day started out with a goal of visiting this palace that we tried to go to on Mon. but it was closed. Guess what...it is also closed on Thursdays. LOL! It was so funny because all of us are usually really good at knowing the times to be places, but all three of us failed to check times in the guidebook. They are open everyday but Mon. and Thurs. Luckily all of us just thought it was funny rather than getting angry. Then for some reason Mika and Ted convinced me to limbo the security rope. I'm getting old...I'm just not as good at this kinda stuff like I used to be.

After we couldn't go to the palace, we discovered a naval museum near our location. The guidebook didn't say super exciting things about it, but the entrance fee for students was only 1 lira, so we decided to waste our time there. It turned out to be so cool. I don't think guidebooks were written for nerdy people like us. We loved it. They had a map on antelope skin from 1450...that is before Columbus. We also learned cool stuff like that the important people of the military here wear yellow shoes. Turns out if we follow our plans for colored uniforms...Mika is the important one with red clothing and yellow shoes.

After that we walked forever, gave up and caught a bus, walked some more, and ended up at the army museum, our second goal of the day. We got to here the military band again, and it was AWESOME! Ted ended up buying their 1.25 CD. The only sad part of the visit was it was swarmed with small children who were out of control. This is of course when Mika decided she no longer thought kids were cute and wanted one. It was pretty crazy. The museum had so many weapons...apparently the biggest collection in the world. Sadly we didn't have time to see them all before the museum closed, but we definitely got our liras worth.

Today Ted had to leave :(. Now Mika and I are going to have to figure out how to use the map on our own...I think we will be ok. We are taking a cruise down the Bosphorus River today to the Black Sea. It should be exciting. I haven't taken many pictures the past couple of days, so hopefully I will have enough after today to post some more. Enjoy your Thursdays!

"Charlie, where is your other angel?" -Restaurant owner

Guys get a lot of attention in Muslim countries when they walk around with multiple women. In Egypt they generally comment on your multiple wives, but today Ted was referred to as Charlie of Charlie's Angels. If I have the same looks as the girls of Charlie's Angels, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Especially since today I was looking a little rough. The humidity in the air sent my Egypt dry hair into electric type shock...lol.

The day started with us headed in the direction of our destination, only to be stopped by a military band. It was awesome. They played songs that sounded like they were from Aladdin. They were wearing cool costumes too. Mika wanted to be in the red suit, Ted in blue, and me in green of course. The green guys pants were really weird though. It looked like a dirty diaper...lol. The good news, they all had SUPER cool hats.

We went shopping today, which was surprisingly not stressful. While we did get hassled from time to time, it was a far cry from the complete harassment of Khan al-Khalili in Egypt. I am obviously Spanish. Today solidified it. I would say at least 1/3 of the shops started talking to me in Spanish. I really don't think this is an exaggeration. Let me just tell you another tactic that will NEVER work. Telling me I am pretty, even though I'm short. If you want my business, you better at least comment on my beautiful eyes or something. Pointing out my obvious flaws is not helping your case at all.

I also started my quest to learn chess today. We sat in a cafe, drank tea, and I lost to Ted in chess. I may have lost twice, but I learned a lot. I figure if I'm going to claim to be intelligent, I should be able to play nerdy games like chess. Plus I got a really nice chess set...originally for my boyfriend, but it is so cool, he is going to have to share....don't worry, I already let him know. We also went to a spice bazaar. It was really cool, lots of cheese, fish, and spices. I know, weird that they would have spices. We bought some Turkish delights...a little weird if you ask me.

Tomorrow we are going to another palace and a military museum. We are pretty pumped. Then we are going to eat dinner at the place that has the biggest bread ever! I drool over the bread everytime I pass by, yesterday the guy outside caught me and told me if I ate there, I could have some, so we are going tomorrow. Mom, you should be jealous...I will take a picture. Got to get to bed to prepare for tomorrow. Happy Wednesday!

"If you don't watch it Ted, I will stick my foot in your toe hole." -Mika

Poor Ted, his shoes are falling apart. Mika is threatening to rip them to shreds for who knows what reason. I think if must have been one of those had to be there things, but it was really funny at the time. I forgot to tell you some stuff yesterday. Like the time that Mika spilled half of the restaurant's chili flakes all over the table. Or the time that I didn't understand the Turkish man and made a fool out of my self, but Mika and Ted got a good laugh. Anyways, it was fun.

Today we went to the two places I was most excited about. Hagia/Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque. Aya Sofia was by far my favorite place of Istanbul so far. I'm pretty sure nothing else will be able to compare. The most important church of the Byzantine Empire, taken over by the Ottomans and turned into a mosque, then a museum by Ataturk. It was all of my favorite topics rolled into one building. It was a little bit boring on the outside, but the inside was absolutely fabulous.

We also spent a lot of our day sitting in a park watching the corn man sell his corn wares and listening to live music. We saw a man with a silver suit (interesting), a mom feeding her baby w/o a spoon, a small child that crushed a bush by sitting on it, and a cute old couple holding hands. Asian tourists take lots of awkward pictures. European women seem to not be able to dress themselves appropriately for the culture or the age. I have learned a lot today.

Now Ted and I are watching cats fight over trash and then get chased by a dog. It is really fun. but I think I need to sleep. Tomorrow we are going shopping! We learned the numbers in Turkish so we can be cool bargainers. I'm sure I have forgotten lots, but I am sleepy. Happy Tuesday!

"Let's hug and say Ataturk." -Megan

Did you know that in Turkey you could get arrested for saying bad things about Ataturk? Ted and I plan on getting arrested tomorrow...so if you don't here from me, maybe contact the authorities. Just kidding, don't worry. But today I gave Ted a hug and we decided it was probably against Turkish customs. We decided to push our luck and tomorrow we are going to hug and say aloud Ataturk. Unfortunately I just said it aloud while typing it. I'm blaming Ted.

Today has been really fun. Istanbul is beautiful. While I love Cairo, being here has been a great break. The air is refreshingly clean, it is green and flowery, and it rained. We went to Topkapi Palace, Galata Tower, and wandered a tool market in Asia. We saw what sultans wore and other cool things. I have uploaded my pics already, so check out the link. We also had some good food. I think mine was a pita full of cheese, meat, and egg, cooked like a pizza. Interesting, but very tasty. Also Ted and I shared baklava with oatmeal in it. Not what we expected, but "yummy, yummy." Near the Galata Tower, we walked down this super steep hill. A car was parked on it, and I was pretty confident that a ladybug (or as British call it, ladybird) could have caused it to careen down the hill. Also I scary, ancient man accosted Ted on the Metro, and it caused him to trip. It was pretty funny and no one was hurt in the making of this story.

The best idea we had today was after we saw a man with eggs in a basket on a wheelbarrow and a man with bread on his head. Ted and I are to graduate, move to Istanbul, and take up these occupations. Ted wants to be the man with bread on his head, so I have to practice my wheelbarrowing skills. Eggs are fragile (in case you didn't already know), and I'm pretty terrible with a wheelbarrow, especially in speedy, oncoming traffic.

I think that is all for today. Another fun day planned for tomorrow, so get excited for more updates. Happy Monday.

"You need a ticket to check in." -security guard

Did you know that you have to have a ticket to get in the area to get a ticket in the Cairo airport. It is a novel concept. I ordered my ticket online, and I couldn't print it out because it was international. Apparently all they needed was a paper with my name on it, because when I finally handed them the paper from the airline office, they didn't even look at it. I love "security" in Egypt.

But now I'm in TURKEY! And better yet with Mika and TED! Everything here seems clean and organized compared to Cairo. This is the first country I have ever traveled to that I know absolutely nothing in the language. I don't know that I had ever heard Turkish before I was in the airport. It is weird. It makes me feel really lost. I keep wanting to speak to everyone in Arabic. I guess because it is not English, I automatically think of Arabic. Some of the words are similar tho, I learned on the metro.

I was really proud of Mika and I. Without knowing the language, we caught the metro, a trolley, and walked through the streets with our luggage to make it to our hostel. We felt really cool. And we did it for a lot cheaper than a taxi. Although, I so do not understand the money here.

Well, I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep now. Happy American Easter! Happy Eastern Palm Sunday!

"Wow, what beautiful arm." -Man on the street

Men of Cairo will compliment any woman on anything. It is the biggest problem of crime in the city, sexual harassment. There hasn't really been anything done to abate this issue, so the matter grows worse, as the youth now take this as a game and a sign of masculinity. I have grown use to the constant attention, but Mika's boyfriend and friend were here last week, and I realized through them the problem all over again. You get noticed a lot when you are walking around with three blonds. Most times I just think what they say is funny, and ignore them, not giving them the attention they are seeking. But sometimes they are so hilarious, like a man who can compliment a woman on hundreds of things, but told me I had beautiful arms. I'm wondering if he thought he was saying a different word. Who knows?

Not all the men here are so terrible. I was in a cab last night, and I had a great conversation with a cab driver last night in my broken Arabic and his broken English about a holiday coming up here in Egypt. The driver didn't complain that he had to drive out to the middle of nowhere, he didn't insist that I pay more than he agreed to in the beginning, and he even asked if he could smoke in the cab. Sometimes I realize that I'm going to miss Egypt and its crazy experiences and opportunities to practice Arabic.

Tomorrow/today, I leave for Turkey and I'm so pumped. But I need to get some sleep because I fell asleep once while writing this. If it has a lot of errors, I can not be held accountable. Happy Saturday.

"Um is this car I'm sitting on moving?" -Marshall

I have a new great idea for parking issues in US cities. Double park, then leave your car in low gear, so anyone can move it to get their own car out. It "works" in Egypt. One thing I can say about this method, it says a lot about the safety of property here. No body steals the cars, just moves them around if necessary. Much safer than the US or Europe. Egypt has a lot of issues, but robbery really isn't one of them.

Yesterday I went downtown to get and ISIC (International Student ID Card). I should have gotten one before I left, for good discounts. Luckily everywhere in Egypt accepts my AUC card, but not in Turkey. Anyways, this is not the point of my story. Afterwards we were riding the Metro (yes, the Cairo subway is also called the Metro, like D.C.). A man got on as the train was beeping its hurry sounds, and the door shut on his elbow. Luckily it was just his elbow, but it ripped his shirt, and scared me to death. I never want to get eaten by the subway doors. I have now decided that is the scariest thing about the Metro. Also, if you pronounce it with the short e sound, no Arabic speaker will understand you. You must say it MEETROU, because that is how it is spelled in Arabic. LOL!

So I have 3 days until TURKEY! I'm so pumped. I'm a little afraid of the prices there. Maybe it will be a good ease in before I return to the US and everything is so expensive. I am also a little concerned about the conditions in our hostel. Oh well, regardless I will be living there for at least 5 days. Also, it is supposed to rain while I'm there. Looks like Megan needs to buy an umbrella when she gets there...hard to find in Cairo. Well, I have to go catch the bus. More adventures ahead. Happy Thursday!

"Ayewa...Des Moines?" -Senna

GREAT NEWS!!!! I have a place to live for the summer. I'm not going to be homeless. It was a little questionable, touch and go, but now I have a place to live. On top of that, praise God, or as we say in Egypt ahamdallila, it is only going to cost $50 a month to cover utilities. One of Justin's friend's family lives in Fishers and have allowed me to stay in their home as a complete stranger. I sent the mother an e-mail today explaining my situation, etc, but before she had e-mailed her son (justin's friend) a list of rules/expectations. It was very funny to see the difference of tone in e-mails. I think it is going to work out great.

I have so much to catch you up on otherwise...yesterday was another crazy day in Egypt. First I should explain today's title. Ayewa, or pronounce Iowa, means yes in Egyptian. However, I never noticed the entire time I was here until today. When Senna pointed it out, I felt a little dumb. Who knows. There are great things with language I experience here. Would you ever go to the emergency room of a Teaching Hopital...I know I wouldn't. Would you take your gifts to a professional gift raping store? Maybe. I need to stay awake on the bus more often just to read the signs. Did you know there are no alcoholics allowed in the park...but is alcohol? I'm sure my Arabic translations are just hilarious...now I understand why people laugh at me.

So yesterday I went to the Citadel with Mika and her boyfriend and friend that had just arrived in Egypt. Please note I am the only one in the group who has brown hair, and Louis and Carly still had the dazzled American look. We got done exploring and were very hot and tired, so we decided to sit down and drink water before heading to Al-Azzhar park. As we were sitting there, a field trip comes around and we were suddenly bombarded by 20 10-year-old girls. They wanted our pictures, wanted our names, and kept calling Louis, Lisa. It was overwhelming and hilarious at the same time. Maybe they thought we were movie stars. Wonder who they thought I was?

We had a nice evening in the park afterwards though. The city looked spectacular from the hill at night. We got a cab to leave, bargained our price, we got to the longest street of Cairo, and the cabbie pulls over and tells us in Arabic that we just have to walk and this is the street we want. I was polite at first and asked him if he could take us to our final destination (seemed logical). He told me no, he didn't have time, he had to get back to the park. I told him we didn't know where we were, and that we were going to pay him, but he needed to take us to our destination. He refused, and when we didn't pay him full price he started screaming from the taxi. It was so crazy. What kind of taxi doesn't take you where you want to go? Apparently the kind in Egypt.

I think that is all I have for today. I'm linking pictures so check them out! Happy Tuesday

"How do you get red in such a weird spot?" -Jamese

Answer: Miss one spot of sunscreen. The weather has finally turned warm and beautiful. Yesterday Mika and I decided to take advantage of our girl only dorm complex and sunbathe on the roof. It was actually fabulous. There is a certain beauty in sweat actually doing its job rather than dripping off of you along w/the humidity. I was very careful to apply lots of sunscreen, knowing my fair skin can't handle Egyptian sun. However, I missed a spot on the back of my right knee. It is kind of hilarious. There is an inch wide strip about eight inches long with three fingerprints right in the middle of it. Oh dear. I'm just thankful I didn't do something that crazy on my face. Plus, since I can't wear shorts here, no one really sees it. I am really excited about the weather finally being warm, but I am quite afraid that it is going to go from warm to HOT all too quickly. Thursday it was 72, Friday 69, Sat 84, Sun. promises to be 90+. I'm going to be longing for my tanktops and shorts really quickly.

Update, my feet are now turning purple spotted. I don't feel the need to rub them on a tree anymore, so I hope that means they are healing. They look pretty creepy though. I also just realized that it is Palm Sunday in the states, this makes me sad. I love Palm Sunday, walking through the old town of English, following a donkey. I don't even get to celebrate it in a church. It isn't Palm Sunday here until next week, by that time I will be well on my way to Istanbul. I guess the trip will be a good trade off. Hopefully I will spend a lovely Easter in Turkey. Well, I have some serious work to get done. It is crunch time. Have great Sundays.

"We're in Cairo, what isn't a trash can?" -Jeremy

I have seen it everywhere here, piles of trash heaping the curbs and sidewalks, scattered in the street, sitting on windowsills. Pretty much anywhere in Cairo, you could set your trash down and it would be beside other trash, but nowhere near a trash can. Today's quote is actually from a couple weeks ago, referencing Jeremy's response to Andrew seeking a trash can. Even though it is an old quote, I was refreshed of its relevance last night. I was riding a boat on the Nile with a mixed group of people when these two Egyptian guys threw their empty cans into the Nile. I couldn't believe it. No wonder the Nile is so disgusting. I wanted to yell at them, but it wasn't my place. I had never really talked to them before and it is their country. But I was pretty upset.

In other news, I have spent my day doing homework and scratching my feet. I told my parents that I wanted to rip them off and rub them on a tree. Nothing is helping. The benadryl just knocked me out for 4 extra hours of sleep, so now I'm wide awake at 2:30 am. It was really warm today. I think I'm getting a taste of how hot I'm actually going to get while I'm here. Not sure if I'm excited about that. I don't really have a lot to tell you otherwise. I hope you had good Fridays. Enjoy the weekend.

"It's probably a bug." -"doctor" at the health center

My feet are going to fall off. It is bad news, but I'm trying to get used to the idea. Ok, maybe it is me just being over dramatic again, but I have a very interesting rash on both feet. They are very red, very itchy, and very swollen. It is quite uncomfortable and a little disconcerting, so I decided to go to the student health center. Waste of my time. First they tried to tell me I got bit by a bug, unable to explain why it was my entire foot and both feet. They gave me benadryl cream and sent me home. I could have taken care of myself. I just want to know the source of my problem. Sigh. Rashes on my feet in Egypt just don't make me very comfortable.

Other than that there is not much excitement in my life. I signed up for classes at Duke. I had a freak out moment when I couldn't register w/o a permission #, and I was told I didn't have to have one. Even though Duke screwed up another thing, they were quick to remedy it. Now I am signed up for classes, and imagining semesters back at Duke. I really miss Duke, but I don't know if I'm ready for the academic responsibility again. I feel like it is going to be a backwards culture shock to come home. But I really can't wait. I miss you all. Happy Thursday!

"We are going to Turkey." -Mika

I first must apologize for being so sporadic with my posting these days. I have really had a lot of work this week; it is midterm time and everyone is piling it on. Not only have a been busy with schoolwork, but because I have been busy with school work, nothing exciting has happened in my life. About the most exciting thing that happened to me yesterday was a cricket hiding out in my curtains, driving me bonkers while I scrambled to put the finishing touches on my 8 pg. paper. With all this work, Egypt has become less exciting and less like Egypt to me. Mika and I constantly have to remind each other that soon we will have a long break and be in Turkey! Only 10 days, a 10 pg. paper, an oral exam, and lots of patience standing in the way.

I am constantly frustrated by the disorganization of AUC, but always try to remind myself that it is Egypt and I just need to get used to it. But yesterday I was reminded that it isn't just Egypt. I think it must be a university incompetence issue. I have been trying to get my credits from IU to transfer to Duke since early September, but the red tape of Duke has been killing me. When I was preparing to sign up for classes for next fall, I noticed that the paperwork still hadn't been processed. Thanks to my father, we learned that Duke yet again lost my paperwork, but it has been found and promised to be processed by the end of the week. As we say in Egypt, in sha allah, or God willing, or hopefully.

I don't really think I have much else to say. I think I will relax, seeing as the work for this week is pretty much over for me. I'm going to read the Turkey travel book I just got from the library. Enjoy your Wednesdays.