2/3-4

2/3-4/09

No apartment yet, glad I didn’t check out of the hotel. OK, back up…

Classes are in full swing! The Egyptian Colloquial is fine as many of the students haven’t taken any Arabic and I already know the alphabet and some vocabulary and grammar--but of course what I have to do is relearn some of it. The Modern Standard class is another matter- lots of new vocabulary and verbs and only a few words I already know—it will keep me really challenged but that is what I am here for. So for the first 2 hours of the day I must say “ayowa” for yes and then for the next 3 hours of class I must say “na’am”. The classes are a bit larger than I first thought but they are under 10 and that is really nice. They actually created an additional colloquial class because a couple of the classes were over 10. They seem very organized. It is nice that there is a cafeteria in the school for lunch and snacks. We get a 10-minute break in the middle of the first class, a half hour for lunch, and a 15-minute break during the second class.

 

It has been a very full couple of days and I have had little access to the computer. We, Annik and I, have been apartment hunting after school. We both checked out of our hotels in the morning based on promises from the agent that we can find and move into an apartment that day, but end up spending lots time walking around Cairo waiting for the next apartment visit only to end up checking back into the hotel.

 

Our first agent from the school, Mohammed, said he had an apartment was ready to move into. We are concerned that at 4,000 EP per month and only 2 of us that we won’t be able to find a third roommate (it is a 3 bedroom) soon. And, when I leave in a month, Annik will have to find another roommate to take my place. We waited at the school for 3 hours for Mohammed to return to show us something then gave up and arranged to see something with another agent –Sanna—as we were tired of being put on hold for one apartment that was more than we really wanted to spend and a possible third roommate was on gain off again each time we spoke with her. So at 6PM we left the school and grabbed a granola bar at my hotel room and meet Sanna at 7:30. She showed us 2 flats in Zamalek, one very nice but way too expensive, and another not so nice and still very expensive—looks like Zamalek is not the area for us. She said she would look for us in Mohandiseen. So at 8:30 PM Annik and I are headed back to our hotels to re-check-in. I call room service for dinner and am up till 2 AM doing homework. We never heard back from Mohammed.

 

Tuesday: I am tired from being up till 2 AM doing homework. I tried Calling Fred on skype Monday night and he couldn’t hear me but I could hear him- I wonder if his reception was low. I checked my computer settings and they were all fine. I got a skype message from Rob and was able to chat with him a bit- that was fun! I tried calling Fred again in the morning but only got his voicemail.

 

We finally put a deposit on a flat today and thought we could move in tonight, but that fell through at 7:30PM, it won’t be cleaned and ready until tomorrow. Annik and I were both checked out of our rooms and were walking around getting money, copying passports, eating and passing time till we could get in at 8PM. The school closes at 4PM, so we really didn't have a place to hang out other than a hotel lobby or cafe. It was very disappointing to have to return to our hotels and re-check in. Well, tomorrow is another day. It will be nice to settle in soon, even if it isn't wonderful accommodations. The flat is a short walk from the school in a quiet neighborhood. The bed looks like it is a backache waiting to happen, so I think I'll see if it is at all possible to find an air mattress. It won't have internet, so that will make calling home harder and It will mean I have to use an Internet cafe with my laptop. We'll see. 

 

I am quickly fading at 9:45 PM and I haven't even started my homework. I tried to call Fred again, but no answer. I guess he is skiing the mountain. I did Skype Nancy and she could hear me just fine. It is so nice to be able to hear a friendly voice!