After about 22 hours of travel, I arrived back in Ypsilanti around 5pm last night. Some quick unpacking was followed by coffee from the Ugly Mug, beer from the Corner Brewery & lots & lots & lots of hugs & catching up & giving of gifts. Today I went to the lake with my best friend, scrubbed the kitchen & bathroom, am about to go grocery shopping & then it’s off to more hang outs.
It’s been an absolute whirlwind, but being home is wonderful & every bit as good as I remembered.
Also – it rained today!!!!!!!!! It’s the first time I’ve seen rain in about 3 months & there was thunder & everything. Really, it was nothing less than magical.
That’s all for now – just wanted to give an update that I’m safe, sound & happy to be back.
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!!
I can’t believe I’ve worked almost a full week – just tomorrow & then it’s the weekend! [In Egypt the work week is Sun-Thur & the weekend is Fri/Sat. The reason is that Friday is the Muslim holy day, so many places are closed so people can observe it, like how Sunday day of rest in Christianity]
Not only am I excited for a few days off but, even better – ALISHA IS COMING FROM BOTSWANA TO VISIT!!!
I’m beyond excited about this! I’ve only gotten to see her 3 times over the past 2 years & we get to spend an entire week together & I can show her my life here & have adventures! I’m picking up her & a friend tomorrow at 6:40am, going to work for the day & then we’re taking a train up to Alexandria. We’ll explore the city & come back on Saturday. I absolutely can not wait!
The weather has been pretty nice so far – mid 80′s or so. I have a weather bar at the bottom of my web browser & I had to laugh when I saw it today:
Here’s a close up, in case you can’t see it:
That’s right – it’s a flaming thermometer!! Luckily we should be able to go swimming this weekend!!
Lastly, here’s a video of people crossing the street in Cairo. There aren’t any stop signs or traffic lights here, there’s no such thing as a traffic lane & horns are used liberally. Coming home from work I cross about 3 lanes of traffic going one way & then another 3 going the opposite way. It’s quite a feat & I’m rather proud of myself, so hopefully watching this will show you why [especially because the cars are going considerably faster on the road I cross!].
I just called a hotel in Alexandria to make a reservation, which was a little difficult since he didn’t speak much English. Although I think it’s under the name “Loiz,” he said “see you tomorrow,” so at least they know we’re coming! Win!
Anyways, time to sit in the bath & read a book. I’m so excited to have a bathtub here – it’s definitely one luxury I don’t have back in the States. I’m trying to enjoy baths now before it’s a million degrees out, although I suppose I could always take an ice bath!
