Lights will guide you home...

I suck at updating my blog recently. But I look at that as a good thing... I am busy with school, out enjoying the city and my new friends. But I will try to get better, Insha Allah. First, updates on school.

I genuinely enjoy going to school everyday. I suppose it's a good thing to enjoy your job, right? Of course half the battle is actually getting to and from school. Cairo traffic is never fun, especially when I'm tired and cranky in the mornings... and, well, when I'm tired and cranky in the afternoons. But it's always fun to see about 1,000 Egyptians crammed into a bus, a family of 6 on a motorbike, people crammed into the back of trucks, etc. It's incredible how many people can fit into such a small space. School is its own battle everyday. I learn new management strategies all the time. For example, there's a tsa tsa type sound in this country that is used to say "no" or "be quiet please, it's my turn to talk." This sound has proved to be much more successful than telling them to be quiet, or sssshhhing them, or anything else that would work in the US. There's also a different signal for "be quiet" or "stop that." You know, when you put your hand up to someone? Here it's different. Students don't respond to that because they don't know what it means. Instead, you put all of your fingers together and point them to the sky kind of. That's how you ask someone to wait or to please be quiet. I'm learning...

My students are challenging and humorous at the same time. They make me laugh everyday, they also make me want to pull my hair out. It's a give and take. One of the hardest things is that I don't speak Arabic well. So even when I'm walking in the hallway or on lunch duty, I don't know what they're saying because they all speak Arabic to each other. For all I know, they're talking about me. Of course they would never do that with the teacher look I have.

I just got back from Dahab (again) last night. It was amazing as always. I actually got a tan, I swam in the Red Sea, laid on Turkish pillows, ate a ton of fish and food, smoked sheesha (only once), got a henna tattoo (don't worry, it's not permanent), and did a lot of shopping. I went with 2 of my friends, and I'd say we all had a fair amount of marriage proposals. We each got offered a fair amount of camels to be Egyptians' wives. But we decided it wasn't enough. It was a perfect trip, despite the 9 hour ride on the public bus that insisted on blasting movies and music all throughout the night. Really?

I am officially coming home for Christmas, Insha Allah. I feel super excited and elated, and also have a knot in my stomach about it. I still have dreams that I'm at home and haven't left to come here yet. And I'm still saying goodbye to everyone and have all the nervous energy I had before. Then I wake up and realize I'm still/already here. And that I've been here for 2 months now. It's not that I'm nervous about coming home... I just feel that I might be a mess the whole time. I feel like I'm changing a lot... not necessarily for the worst or for the better, I'm just changing. I guess anyone would who's living in a foreign country, espcially an Arab country. Everyone else is at home doing their thing too and I just want to still fit in where I come from. If that makes any sense. I want to be recognizable to my friends and family... I want to be the same Sara. But what if I'm not? I guess that's what I have a knot in my stomach about. But at the same time, we change throughout our lives all the time... so no one will ever stay the same. Everyone who knows me knows I don't have any qualms about being myself and saying what I want to say... that's never going to change. So I guess I'll never change that much. I'll probably just be a little more conservative in my clothing... or go crazy while I can, haha.

I'm also going to Germany over November break... Insha Allah once again. It will be November-fest instead of Oktoberfest. Yes, I am travelling a lot. No, I do not care about saving money. I'm not going to spend 2 years abroad saving money... what would be the point? I'd rather come home with $5 in my pocket and have seen amazing things and had unforgettable experiences than sat in my apartment in Maadi and missed out on all the beauty that exists in this part of the world. Plus, I'm only 24. I'm reminded everyday about how young I am from all my friends here. I have plenty of time to meet my rich future husband and inherit lots of money.