--I had dinner with a young woman (a year or two older than me) from Yakima, WA. That's right, a woman from my own hometown, here in Egypt. We met at a mutual friends' house near downtown. She was charming and nice and we had a wonderful time.
--I got a postcard from a wonderful friend.
--I taught two classes "Come All You People", complete with the british-sign-language motions. I also reviewed with them "Rise and Shine", a song they love because it's so energetic and the motions are fun...also, it's really easy.
--I had a wonderful lunch and tea-time with some seminary students and some friends who acted as "bodyguards" on the walk to the seminary. Good times1
--I found out that the Bachelor's students at the seminary want to exchange their chaplain (a married man) for me (a "single" woman who would make a great pastor's wife, apparently). They are only partly joking.
--I punched a guy (on the arm) because he saw me on the sidewalk and unzipped his pants and whipped it out and started masturbating while walking toward me. I sidestepped him just in time and hit him, but not hard enough.
--I said precisely what I think about this site continuing to function as-is for YAVs--that is to say, I told the Area Coordinator and the Site Coordinator that it shouldn't be a site unless they do some serious work with partners and with setting up a support network and system for future YAVs, and that I suspect that work cannot be done in time for a group next year.
--I read a book called "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" which was surprisingly good...surprising because it started out with a recounting of one woman's experience of losing her mother to an illness. ugh. don't any books not have women dying of cancer in them any more? But the book made a turn for the better, plot-wise.
--I sat in a taxi on the 26th of July bridge for the better part of an hour on the way to choir. Our taxi driver even turned off the engine. We still don't know what the hold up was. The traffic was still at a standstill when I crossed the bridge the other direction (which was fine) nearly three hours later.
--I refused to allow one class into the library because they refused to stand in the line and be quiet. If they can't be quiet, they can't go into the library.
--I realized just how angry and aggressive I've become here, and I've started praying for the anger and hatred to leave me because it's just not healthy. But I've also realized that in order to walk on the streets here, I need those things. That makes me even more angry. So there's a cycle here that I don't know how to get out of yet.
--I had a caramel frappuccino at the new "hot cafe" that opened across the street a couple of months ago (it used to be called "oro cafe" but it's already changed management and names. how funny....). It was pretty good and I'm kind of craving another. I miss Starbucks and ChocoLatte.
--I ate pizza from Pizza Hut. And mozzarella sticks from Chili's. And I've been kind of craving Little Caesar's, which is funny because at home the only place you can really get that is KMart, which I'm not sure is in business anymore, actually.
--I offered to show our site coordinator around the neighborhood, because on the off-chance that there ARE volunteers here next year she'll need to be able to show them around and I know she won't ever get around to it unless I take her. Next Monday is a holiday (the Prophet's birthday) so there's no school--a perfect time.
--I've been reading my classes a "counting" book that has a page about Egypt. The girls love it.
--I've given/received about a hundred kisses-on-the-cheek from 7 year olds.
And it's only Wednesday....
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