In stark contrast with yesterday, today went smoothly. After a good night’s sleep, breakfast and several other items dealt with, I not only felt less stressed but things just seemed to fall into place of their own accord (probably because I wasn’t solely in charge of everything).
Still shaken from yesterday, I woke up this morning to clean myself and change. Breakfast was included with the hotel, so one less thing to worry about – an omelet, toast and jam, and tea. After breakfast I checked out, then the bellman found my a taxi for Ramses Station. This was at noon, while we didn’t have to meet up until quarter after five. Regardless, I didn’t want any debacles like yesterday, so I sat in the station drinking coffee and reading for the time in between. At about four I spotted a goofy looking white guy with a Jansport backpack and realized I should go talk to him. So after absolutely no one to talk to for a day he turned out to be with the Middlebury program, which instantly killed three quarters of my stress knowing that there was another American in my program around. More people filtered in til we were a pretty big group. By half past five we were all there, boarded the train (with massive amounts of American luggage), and left at six.
The train ride was a great time to blow off steam and chat in English with people, most of whom I knew from Midd. By the time we reached Alex I was no longer stressed, just tired from travel. Phil and my host ‘family’ – one of the program’s professors and her sister – met us at the station and drove us to the apartment to drop off our stuff before heading off to get some essentials. We drove to a very modern mall called ‘City Center’ on the outskirts of the city to buy some food and drinks, as well as a few toiletries and in Phil’s case a cell phone. Tomorrow or later I’ll have to get one, but for now I’m ok. I actually need to change my money into Egyptian pounds so I can not worry about my money situation anymore. I’ll have to talk with Nehad, the director.
After shopping we went to walk around major parts of the city, grabbing a small supper and eventually reaching a café along the coast with an absolutely gorgeous view – all in spite of its cheap price. Mona (the host) and her sister are constantly amused at my Lebanese colloquial. I guess being part Arab has its merits.
At the moment I’m having difficulty sleeping. It’s 3:30 here in Cairo, and I figure spitting everything that happened today onto the computer would be a good way to clear my mind. I hope so, because I have to be awake for a meeting at 11 AM tomorrow.
On Apathy
12 years ago
1 comment:
I would like to point out that, as the poster, I was too sleepless to notice that at this point I was in Alexandria, not Cairo.
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