Yesterday will go down as one of the best day I’ve had thus far in Egypt & well worth documenting.
In the morning, Pete, Martha & myself headed to the Pyramids. We took the Metro as far as we could & got a ride the rest of the way with an Egyptian who offered to take us for a good price. We spent 2 or 3 hours walking around, taking photos & soaking in the scale of the Pyramids – it’s so hard to convey just how huge they are in photos. The weather was absolutely perfect – clear skies, fluffy clouds & a refreshing breeze. Although I went in 2007, it’s definitely an experience that’s still just as epic as it was the first time.
In the afternoon they went to get bus tickets & rest & I went home to take a much needed nap. We met back up around 7 & headed down to the Nile for a boat ride. There were 4 of us & we met 2 other Americans who joined us. It was beautiful to watch the sunset on the river & watch the city slowly light up – a wonderful way to spend an hour.
After that we headed to the Swiss Club in Imbaba to watch the football game. It was a great space outdoors, with cold Stella, good shisha, delicious spinach quiche & the game projected onto a big screen. The crowd was a mix of expats & Egyptians, with slightly more people rooting for Ghana than the US. Despite the loss, it was a great time.
Eric & Katie, the Americans we met on the feluca ride, came with us to watch the football game. When we met up with another friend at the club, it was absolutely amazing to discover that they knew each other and had worked together at Brown. It was such a happy & serendipitous moment!
I put up over 60 pictures from yesterday & some from our trip to Al-Azhar park the day before on Flickr.
Today has been full of fun & inspriational things from libraries & archives.
First is the “Librarians Do Gaga” video.
A clever take on Lady Gaga’s “Pokerface”, some students at the University of Washington iSchool created a parody called “Catalog.”
Secondly, I was listening to an episode of Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me on the bus ride home today [it's amazing how those familiar NPR voices can make me feel better] & their Bluff the Listener section was about libraries. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, each of the three panelists tells a story relating to the topic, but only is true & a contestant who has called in has to guess the right answer.
This is the introduction to the March 15 show: “These are tough times for libraries, what with the e-readers, the video games and our brains turning to soft, gray pudding. But some libraries are not going to go quietly. This week, we read about a library that decided to do what it must do to stick around.”
You can listen to the episode or read the transcript here – see if you can guess the true story [I did!].
Lastly, Rebecca, over at Derangement & Description, has sent out the call for a response. She already has lyrics for an archivist ‘Pokerface’ and is looking for volunteers to create the video. She’s already created a wonderful parody of “Gangster’s Paradise” called “Archives Paradise.” Check out the clever lyrics & the wonderful rapping at her blog.
So many reasons to be excited about the profession I’m going into!!
Mid-morning break! Instant coffee, music & a quick blog update.
Last night I put 60 photos of our trip to Alexandria on Flickr.
Here’s a quick rundown of what we did while there:
- Stayed at Normandy Hotel, right on the Corniche. Fairly clean rooms, pretty dirty bathroom, but we paid 100 le for 3 people/2 nights [approx. $20] – you can’t beat that deal!
- Visited the Fort at Quat Bay and the Aquarium Museum on the Eastern Bay
- Ate at the Fish Market, which was one of the best meals of my life
- Enjoyed the cafe life
- Made lots of friends who wanted to take our picture & were welcomed to Egypt by so many people
- Visited the Catacombs of Kom el-Shaqoufa
- Walked around the Alexandria Library
- Did some shopping, lots of wandering & LOTS of laughing
Here’s a few photos from the weekend:
Alisha, myself & Lila at the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa
View of the sunset from our hotel balcony
The Fort at Quat Bay
Cab ride through Alexandria
Myself at the Library of Alexandria
If you’re ever in Egypt, a trip to Alexandria is a must!!
This morning at work, I got down to work on the social media aspect of my internship. I created both a Twitter account and a Facebook fan page for the RBSCL. I’d love if you followed us & ‘Liked’ us!
Well this is officially my last day in the States. We’re in Chicago, having an absolute blast with my amazing friend Victoria. Now she’s off to work & I have 5 hours before heading to the airport & I begin my adventure.
I feel surprisingly prepared. This is my 4th trip overseas, so things feel familiar & I’ve messed up on the little things enough before that they’re covered now [writing down the address for my visa, knowing what day i arrive, etc]. My roommate will be meeting me at the airport around 5pm, I’ll get to my place, try to sleep & then I’m off to work at 9am Sunday! Although I’m sure I’ll be incredibly tired, I’m really looking forward to my internship, so I don’t mind too much.
Also, my experience with leaving for the Peace Corps has really made this a lot easier. At that time, we were saying goodbye, expecting to not see any of our friends for over two years. This trip is just over two months, which is hardly anything. Although I’m going to miss everyone a ton & I’m bummed to miss a large part of Ypsilanti in the summer [which is AWESOME], I know I’ll be back so soon. [But leaving my husband & dog behind is pretty tough regardless].
Anyways,
time to shower & enjoy the sunshine.
My stomach is a ball of knots, but I couldn’t be happier or more excited.
I love you all so much.
