Nothing like a little insect infestation to start the weekend off right...
June 18, 2010
June 17, 2010
Welcome to the big leagues...
I've just finished my first week at the Hedayet Institute. Instead of detailing how it went, I'll just share with you the things I feel like doing at the moment:
Watching Teletubbies
Curling up in the fetal position
EEating chocolate ice cream and crying
Watching Teletubbies
With that, I think you have a pretty good idea of how the first week went. It's been pretty intense and extremely challenging. To be honest, it really doesn't have anything to do with the rigor or anything like that- it's the material itself. For some reason, they've placed me in classes that are well beyond what I've covered in the past. This should push me and challenge me to go beyond my comfort zone, for sure, but at the same time, I don't want to miss out on some of the fundamentals and grammatical rules that I'll need to build a solid foundation. We'll see how it goes. For now, I'm going to put my nose to the grindstone and make the most of it- which means no more Googling images of Teletubbies.
June 14, 2010
Apartments and Classes and Eggs, Oh My!
Well, I don't think I'm going to get around to writing a recap of my week in Turkey. Failing to do something I said I would- that's definitely not a first. But I have updated the last blog post with some of the highlights of the trip and, of course, pictures.
Moving on. After getting back to Cairo this past Thursday, I finally moved into the apartment that Shannon and I had originally picked out. The apartment is somewhat simple and spartan, but you know what, I like it. Instead of dryly describing it to you, I did the next best thing: I shot a video, uploaded it to YouTube, and embedded it here.
The movie is admittedly a little cheesy, but there you go. Anyway, what I'm most excited about in the new apartment (aside from the lack of cockroaches), is that awesome open living/family room area. It's literally got nothing but big, open windows on half of its surfaces. Now, that may not be great for privacy and keeping the apartment cool, but it does provide a fantastic refuge in which to curl up and read a book. I've taken advantage of this and read two: The Caveman's Valentine and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Both were of the murder-mystery variety, but they were both very well written and extremely engaging. I actually surprised myself at the frenetic pace in which I read them (about a day and a half for both). I don't often get the chance to read outside of school anymore, so it was good to see that it was still an enjoyable pastime for me. Next on the list: The Brothers Karamazov.
I've also taken the opportunity to try my hand in the kitchen. Not that I never had chances to help cook or prepare food before, but it's a little different when you're the one who not only has to make the food, but has to buy it as well. Given my deficiencies in both areas (lack of cooking knowledge + money), I've stuck to pretty basic recipes, primarily involving some combination of eggs, pasta, and/or rice.To the right is one of the very first dishes I whipped up. I call it "Eggs a la Hot Dog." If you couldn't guess, the main ingredients are fried eggs and hot dog pieces. There's also a bit of cheese, a healthy does of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Not the most exotic stuff in the world, but it gets the job done. The gold colored substance in the funny looking glass on the left is actually apple tea that I brought back from Istanbul. It's fantastic stuff, and I had about five glasses in one sitting. Anyway, I'm looking forward to doing some more experiments in the kitchen, so if anyone has any solid recipes they can offer that involve relatively cheap ingredients and not a lot of culinary expertise, please send them my way. You may get a prize of some sorts if I like yours...
I've also finally started my summer courses at the Hedayet Institute...well, more or less. Yesterday, we had our placement tests, with a rooftop reception following. For some reason, I had this overwhelming fear that I would do so poorly on the exam that I'd end up repeating material I've already covered in classes. I tried studying for a couple hours beforehand, but there was a lot of material to go over. Going into the test, I really wasn't sure how I'd perform. First was a written portion. It included some grammatical exercises, reading comprehension, as well as a brief essay. I actually think I ended up doing pretty decently on it. Following this was an oral exam with Dr. Nagwa Hedayet, the director of the institute. Now that might sound intimidating, but it wasn't. Ms. Hedayet is an awesome lady who really makes you feel comfortable.This portion of the testing actually went probably as well as it could've, as I was able to utilize a lot of the Egyptian colloquial I've picked up since January. Anywho, classes were supposed to start today, but it seems they don't have the scheduling finalized, so I'm just hanging out here and stealing their internet. We'll see what happens...
Oh and how about that World Cup game? I'll be the first to admit that I'm not an ardent soccer fan (I'm 10+ years removed from days on the Sun Prairie Sparks), but anytime you have the Red, White, and Blue competing on an international stage, it's hard not to get excited. The same can definitely be said for the Olympics. Do you think people would normally give even a passing thought to speed skating or swimming? Heck no! But when it involves the USA v.s. the World, it tends to get our patriotic juices churning. I watched the game at a nearby restaurant and was pretty satisfied with the outcome (a 1-1 tie to England, the 4th best team in the world, in case you missed it). I'll definitely be tuning in to the rest of our games if able.
Moving on. After getting back to Cairo this past Thursday, I finally moved into the apartment that Shannon and I had originally picked out. The apartment is somewhat simple and spartan, but you know what, I like it. Instead of dryly describing it to you, I did the next best thing: I shot a video, uploaded it to YouTube, and embedded it here.
The movie is admittedly a little cheesy, but there you go. Anyway, what I'm most excited about in the new apartment (aside from the lack of cockroaches), is that awesome open living/family room area. It's literally got nothing but big, open windows on half of its surfaces. Now, that may not be great for privacy and keeping the apartment cool, but it does provide a fantastic refuge in which to curl up and read a book. I've taken advantage of this and read two: The Caveman's Valentine and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Both were of the murder-mystery variety, but they were both very well written and extremely engaging. I actually surprised myself at the frenetic pace in which I read them (about a day and a half for both). I don't often get the chance to read outside of school anymore, so it was good to see that it was still an enjoyable pastime for me. Next on the list: The Brothers Karamazov.
I've also taken the opportunity to try my hand in the kitchen. Not that I never had chances to help cook or prepare food before, but it's a little different when you're the one who not only has to make the food, but has to buy it as well. Given my deficiencies in both areas (lack of cooking knowledge + money), I've stuck to pretty basic recipes, primarily involving some combination of eggs, pasta, and/or rice.To the right is one of the very first dishes I whipped up. I call it "Eggs a la Hot Dog." If you couldn't guess, the main ingredients are fried eggs and hot dog pieces. There's also a bit of cheese, a healthy does of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Not the most exotic stuff in the world, but it gets the job done. The gold colored substance in the funny looking glass on the left is actually apple tea that I brought back from Istanbul. It's fantastic stuff, and I had about five glasses in one sitting. Anyway, I'm looking forward to doing some more experiments in the kitchen, so if anyone has any solid recipes they can offer that involve relatively cheap ingredients and not a lot of culinary expertise, please send them my way. You may get a prize of some sorts if I like yours...I've also finally started my summer courses at the Hedayet Institute...well, more or less. Yesterday, we had our placement tests, with a rooftop reception following. For some reason, I had this overwhelming fear that I would do so poorly on the exam that I'd end up repeating material I've already covered in classes. I tried studying for a couple hours beforehand, but there was a lot of material to go over. Going into the test, I really wasn't sure how I'd perform. First was a written portion. It included some grammatical exercises, reading comprehension, as well as a brief essay. I actually think I ended up doing pretty decently on it. Following this was an oral exam with Dr. Nagwa Hedayet, the director of the institute. Now that might sound intimidating, but it wasn't. Ms. Hedayet is an awesome lady who really makes you feel comfortable.This portion of the testing actually went probably as well as it could've, as I was able to utilize a lot of the Egyptian colloquial I've picked up since January. Anywho, classes were supposed to start today, but it seems they don't have the scheduling finalized, so I'm just hanging out here and stealing their internet. We'll see what happens...
Oh and how about that World Cup game? I'll be the first to admit that I'm not an ardent soccer fan (I'm 10+ years removed from days on the Sun Prairie Sparks), but anytime you have the Red, White, and Blue competing on an international stage, it's hard not to get excited. The same can definitely be said for the Olympics. Do you think people would normally give even a passing thought to speed skating or swimming? Heck no! But when it involves the USA v.s. the World, it tends to get our patriotic juices churning. I watched the game at a nearby restaurant and was pretty satisfied with the outcome (a 1-1 tie to England, the 4th best team in the world, in case you missed it). I'll definitely be tuning in to the rest of our games if able.
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