Nothing in Egypt comes easily. I have been trying to get internet for... a long time now. My friend (I'll call him M) has kind of taken me under his wing and is always looking out for me. He also speaks fluent Arabic because he's from Jordan and Arabic is his first language. He was very influential in helping me get internet. It took us FOUR trips to TE Data (my internet provider) to finally get it!! And I still have to go back one more time after I pay my phone bill to prove to them that I am living in this apartment. They can't seem to understand that the lady who lived here before me moved back to the US and that I live here now. They also wanted a ridiculous amount of paperwork, and practically my left ovary. M had to fight with them in Arabic and I had to practically cry and yell at them in English and tell them I just wanted to be able to communicate with my family back in the US... couldn't they understand that?!?!? I brought them everything they told me to and they still wouldn't hook it up?!?! Oh yeah, if I wanted to cancel with them and go with Vodafone who only wants my passport and telephone number... TE Data still wanted the same amount of paperwork. So I was stuck!! Finally they called a manager. And I finally have internet!! Egypt is crazy. I haven't even tried to get banking yet because it is even harder to get. In case anyone is keeping score... it's tied: Egypt 1, Sara 1. After I get banking I will totally be ahead. One battle at a time.
The Eid el Fitr break is coming up. From what I understand... it's the holiday after Ramadan. Even though Ramadan is pretty much a month of holiday. Anyway, I'm deciding whether I should go to Dahab for break or stay here in Cairo. Dahab is a beach-y place on the Sinai peninsula in Egypt about 7 hours away from here. Some of my friends from school are going, and it's the cheapest option. Other friends of mine are going to Thailand (which I would love to do but just don't have the money right now), or Turkey and various other places. I think I'm going to go to Turkey in November during the "Thanksgiving" break Insha Allah if I have enough money though!! I'm thinking I should really go to Dahab instead of sitting at home for 10 days and I can go snorkeling or diving there, relax, go out, and get away from the "big city" life for a while. Even though I've only been here 2 and a half weeks. That reminds me! I made the 2 weeks without getting traveler's illnesses!! I have been healthy thus far. I think this is a good sign... hopefully this means that Egypt is a good fit for me.
I went to Khan el Khalili again tonight with some friends. This is the big market I've already been to twice before. It's so much fun there! Tonight, some shop keeper told me that I have beautiful eyes. I pretty much wanted to marry him for saying such a nice thing... or not. Last night I went to the Air Force Club with some friends and had such a good time. It was pretty much the closest thing to an American bar I will ever get to here. I even drank Bud Light!! It was pretty amazing. I got home at 3 AM and decided it would be a good time to SKYPE with my parents... so I ended up staying up until 5:30 this morning skyping with people! That's only because I'm living in the future... 7 hours in the future to be exact. Tonight I went to the ACE Club again. It's a club for expats living in Egypt and it's fun to go to because it's cool to look around and see people from all over the world. It's also nice to sit outside with a nice breeze! I'm starting to enjoy it when it doesn't get over 100 degrees here!
I had a dream last night that I decided to go home for the first break. Which is weird because I've only been here for a little while. More things ensued while I was there in my dream... but I somehow lost my passport and was worried about how I was going to get back to Egypt. When I was working on waking up this morning... my eyes were still closed, and I was deciding on whether I was in Viroqua or Egypt. Then I wondered which was better... then I wondered if I had ever been in Egypt at all. Maybe I had never gone and everything that had happened here had been a dream? As much as I miss everyone at home, before I opened my eyes I hoped I was in Egypt and that it wasn't a dream. I feel independent here and I know (or hope) that after this experience I will be able to take on anything life gives me. When I opened my eyes, I was still here in Egypt. And I was happy.
One last story. At the market in Khan el Khalili, you can get your name written in hieroglyphics on necklaces. I already have one, but the shopkeeper was super nice and wrote out my name in English, then in hieroglyphics, and then explained to me what each letter meant. The S meant that I will unite two families, and I forget what the R meant. But... I have two A's in my name which means that I have a very strong-willed personality and that I am a goddess. I joked around with the shopkeeper and told him that I already knew I was a goddess and that my family and friends already know I have a strong personality. He asked if my male friend was my husband and I said... hell no! Do you think someone with 2 strong personality signs would have a husband?!? And he said yes... it would just mean that I'm the boss in the relationship. Haha... it made me laugh. So the moral of the story is that I will unite two families (like in Romeo and Juliet?... I guess they never united though) and that I am a goddess who is strong-willed. Pretty accurate I'd say.
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