Itneen

Alright, so I am thinking I am not doing so good in keeping y'all informed. I am living in a flat in Agouza. (I found out today that the tourist book says if you like concrete and traffic jams, visit Agouza. Otherwise there is no draw here.) Agouza is a neighborhood in the city of Cairo, much like living in Queen Anne, which in fact is still apart of Seattle. There are four student flats: two guys and two girls. Both the girl's flats are in the same building, the guys are in two different buildings. We take classes, eat breakfast/lunch, listen to speakers, hang out, and have devos in the same building. This is a villa that MESP rents and uses for school. This means we aren't actually at the American University in Cairo. (However, I have an AUC i.d. card and can access the campus.) My flat is one street away from said MESP building. So really I can get up ten minutes before breakfast and be just fine. :) I really like living here as I am getting more and more experienced in getting around and shopping. Despite my resistance at becoming responsible, I can effectively find and pay for toilet paper. Go me. I live with five other girls in an incredibly large flat. We have a living room with a dining set, four couches, six chairs, an ironing table, two drying racks, a china cabinet, a book self, a television and a lazy boy recliner. Seriously its huge. (I will try to post photos soon because the decorating taste is impeccable.) The girls are pretty great. Actually, every single student that I am with is pretty great. (That would be sixteen boys and twelve girls in all.) I am excited that I get to spend quality time with them all and develop lasting friendships. Lets see... we started classes yesterday. My rough schedule is breakfast at the villa, devos, Arabic class, lunch and then either a speaker, Islamic studies or cultural studies. We have to make our own dinners every night. Tonight my roommates are making me a dinner for my birfday. We get a food allowance so we can do whatever we so desire for dinner. Cooking may be cheaper than eating out, but we can find substantial meals for two pounds (roughly 45 cents). Arabic is going well. I have had two classes already, but substantial lessons in just trying to figure out to move from one place to another. I have found my Spanish skills are really improving though. It is quite hilarious the ways one thinks of communicating when his known language does not work. (I actually wrote the word bread on a piece of paper to give to a shop owner until my brain started working again and I realized that even on paper, English will not work.) Every Tuesday we are sent into the city to various organization to participate in volunteer work. I am going to a retirement home to visit with the residents (female only) and do some manual labor. This past Tuesday my group (me and three other guys) went at noon and were given the schedules for every Tuesday and then told to visit with the residents during their lunch and then sent home. So it was a short trip but still very fun. I talked to a lady who was eating lunch in silence. About twenty minutes into my visit, one of the nurses came over and then the lady looked at me and said, "they don't speak English. No of them do." I was shocked that she actually spoke, and she spoke English. I later found out that she is fluent in Italian, French and Greek and speaks English and Arabic. Quite the ego boost for myself. We left at 2 and decided to get lunch on our own in the neighborhood. I took one of my flat mates to go find a food vendor on the street. It took us awhile because we were very leery of stopping in at the places with only men out front. (It is difficult for me to feel comfortable walking around because women do not hang out in public. They have set destinations and head straight for those.) After walking for about an hour we were exhausted and starved. At this point, we were across the Nile on a little island and were willing to pay to eat at a nicer restaurant. So this is how I found myself eating at Chilli's, on a boat on the Nile. :) I encourage you all to try sitting on the Nile, listening to Jon Bon Jovi, eating a chicken quesodilla from Chilli's. Welp, I hope this clarifies some preguntas of yours. Please feel free to e-mail me if there is somesing you want to see in this blog. Maa Sallama!