Wednesday, 2/25

2/25

Wednesday

The day always starts out better when I get a chance to talk to Fred. The extra bonus is that Rob is there because he is in Seattle for work, so I get a chance to talk with him too. As I hang up, Steve appears on Skype. I got to talk to my husband and 2 of my sons this morning! All this chatting has me running late and as I pull my things together I realize I haven’t heard any stirrings from Annieck and we usually share cab to school in the morning. I tap on her door and she says she is staying home. It must have been quite a party she was at last night.

 

I was better prepared for class than I thought I would be. I also got another day to rework and prepare my short speech that I have to give to the class.  Our parting task is to give a 2-minute talk about our selves all in Egyptian Arabic. Today we learned a few more Egyptian Arabic words that are different from Modern Standard and it gives me a chance to replace them in my talk.

 

I walk home and as I pass the area Dee Dee lives I realize she is on the plane and headed home. A few more days and I will be too. I’m ready.

I get home, eat and head to the balcony to check email. It is actually nice out there. To my surprise Annieck appears. She has just gotten up so she missed both of her classes today. She says she was out late, but was cold and had problems sleeping thus stayed home. We have no heat in the flat and I was a bit cold myself last night but was able snuggle enough to sleep. Things I will be glad for when I get home include: heat in the house, standing under a real shower not a hand held one, an oven, good internet connection, my own kitchen... 

I haven’t been able to hook up with Dina as I had hoped, I thought about arranging a private lesson, but the language took up so much of my time I never pestered her manager enough to get it arranged. I also kept thinking I would see her show and now I haven’t much time for that either. The biggest problem is finding someone to go with. Going to a nightclub alone is not the best idea, and I’m not sure they would let me in if I tried. Nicole wanted to go with me but has been sick or busy. Then the Khan al-Khalili blast canceled the attempt to go with Dee Dee and Lilly. I’m holding out for a last hope—Sunday night after Nicole and Lilly return from their trip to the Siwa Oasis with Fulbright. Insha’Allah.

 

Since I couldn’t go with Lilly and Nicole to Siwa (Fulbright scholars only), I have set my sights on Alexandria for a day. Annieck thinks she might be interested so I call Nibal, Nadia Hamdi’s daughter-in-law to arrange it. She is in the tourist business and I was given her contact information from Habiba who was in Egypt in January.

 

I met Nibal in 2000 when I came to Egypt with my dear friend Nancy. Nadia had been a guest at my house in Minneapolis when she came to teach a workshop for Cassandra and Jawaahir Dance Company. In Egyptian fashion she reciprocated my hospitality by inviting Nancy and I to lunch at Nibal’s home. Nibal is married to Nadia’s son, Mohamed. At the time Nibal thought she was pregnant. Well she was, and that son is now 8 years old and she has had 2 more! I am excited to meet her again and compare notes on raising 3 sons. I was also looking forward to visiting with Nadia again. We had interesting talks about quitting dance even though we were both very limited in each other’s language. I am really interested to see how she is doing being a grandmother full time.

 

Nibal remembers me when I call. She is glad to arrange the Alexandria tour for me an Annieck, and when she gets home she will put Nadia on the phone. As she promised, she calls me back with the tour info and I do get to speak briefly with Nadia. I have a little more Arabic now, but not that much. Nibal says she will arrange for me to visit them after I decide on the day for the tour.

 

Now that I have cost and other information, Annieck decides that the trip is out of her price range, so I decide to go alone. Nibal suggests that I pick Saturday and will speak to Mohamed about making it a family outing and will get back to me. This could be a very interesting trip.