Well, I'm back now, after two days without Internet due to a misunderstanding of a payment date.
So, I though I should just talk about my daily and weekly routine a little bit!
Some of these things will probably be repeated from previous posts, but here it goes anyway:
Typical school days consist of:
6(~6:30 if I'm tired, which is most of the time xD): Get up, make tea, make sandwiches to eat during the break at school
7:10: Get picked up by my school bus right in front of my host family's apartment building
7:30ish: Arrive at school
8:00: Lessons begin
11:00: 15 minute break!
(12:30 on Thursdays: School lets out early! :D)
2:30: Last lesson ends
3-3:15ish: Arrive at home.
3:30ish: Eat lunch
4:00-8:00: This is usually unplanned. I either nap, go out with one of my host brothers, journal, use the Internet, or just relax and talk to my host mom. Sometimes I go over to the neighbors to spend a little time with them, also.
7:00-8:00ish: Do my homework, which, since I only take subjects in English, typically doesn't take too long.
9:00: Eat a light dinner.
9:30: Sit in front of the TV with my host family, talking and drinking tea, get cleaned up, and prepare my backpack for the next day.
11:00-11:30: SLEEP.
Now, some weekly things:
Usually, all the returnees and the three of us exchange students do something together over the weekend. I really love this in particular. :)
And now, every Wednesday and Saturday, I go to calligraphy lessons with Regina and Melanie. I walk to Regina's house alone, and then we walk there together.
And usually Melanie takes the tram home by herself!
I'm so proud of them and myself; we're starting to become so independent. :')
Now, an update about what I've been doing recently other than this:
To be honest, not a lot of new things have happened.
Although, earlier this week, it was Regina's birthday! We had a party with a bunch of the people from AFS Alexandria in her house. My gift was a notebook that I found that had some kind of thing on the cover talking about blessings, and said something about the Rhine - a river in Germany! - so I instantly knew what I was getting for her. :)
We laughed and talked endlessly, and learned how to play a really easy, fun Egyptian card game called elshayeb.
Basically, you play it like this (and it's most fun if played in a large group):
Everyone gets four cards, and then you go around the circle drawing cards from each other. If you have two of the same cards, you lay them down flat and get rid of them until you have no cards left, which is the objective of the game, because the last one holding cards gets a punishment.
I actually had a funny moment when I got rid of my last pair of cards, because I was one of the last people to do so. I stood up, and started dancing around, and shouted "akhiran, akhiran, KHALAST, KHALAST!"
It means "finally, finally, I finished, I finished!" :D
The last one holding cards was Regina's little host brother Youssef.
His punishment was to bring us all water. Not SO bad, in my opinion. xD
But it was an extremely fun party.
Then yesterday, Regina, Melanie, and I met up an hour before our calligraphy lesson to just hang out, walk around, and buy some snacks.
It was a really fun thing to do, I'm glad we did. :)
And it made us all feel so wonderfully independent. We can all feel that we're starting to create lives for ourselves here, and that's a really beautiful thing, the stage that AFS calls "deepening the relationship" in the guide for participants.
Well, that's really all I have to say.
Bye everyone!
So, I though I should just talk about my daily and weekly routine a little bit!
Some of these things will probably be repeated from previous posts, but here it goes anyway:
Typical school days consist of:
6(~6:30 if I'm tired, which is most of the time xD): Get up, make tea, make sandwiches to eat during the break at school
7:10: Get picked up by my school bus right in front of my host family's apartment building
7:30ish: Arrive at school
8:00: Lessons begin
11:00: 15 minute break!
(12:30 on Thursdays: School lets out early! :D)
2:30: Last lesson ends
3-3:15ish: Arrive at home.
3:30ish: Eat lunch
4:00-8:00: This is usually unplanned. I either nap, go out with one of my host brothers, journal, use the Internet, or just relax and talk to my host mom. Sometimes I go over to the neighbors to spend a little time with them, also.
7:00-8:00ish: Do my homework, which, since I only take subjects in English, typically doesn't take too long.
9:00: Eat a light dinner.
9:30: Sit in front of the TV with my host family, talking and drinking tea, get cleaned up, and prepare my backpack for the next day.
11:00-11:30: SLEEP.
Now, some weekly things:
Usually, all the returnees and the three of us exchange students do something together over the weekend. I really love this in particular. :)
And now, every Wednesday and Saturday, I go to calligraphy lessons with Regina and Melanie. I walk to Regina's house alone, and then we walk there together.
And usually Melanie takes the tram home by herself!
I'm so proud of them and myself; we're starting to become so independent. :')
Now, an update about what I've been doing recently other than this:
To be honest, not a lot of new things have happened.
Although, earlier this week, it was Regina's birthday! We had a party with a bunch of the people from AFS Alexandria in her house. My gift was a notebook that I found that had some kind of thing on the cover talking about blessings, and said something about the Rhine - a river in Germany! - so I instantly knew what I was getting for her. :)
We laughed and talked endlessly, and learned how to play a really easy, fun Egyptian card game called elshayeb.
Basically, you play it like this (and it's most fun if played in a large group):
Everyone gets four cards, and then you go around the circle drawing cards from each other. If you have two of the same cards, you lay them down flat and get rid of them until you have no cards left, which is the objective of the game, because the last one holding cards gets a punishment.
I actually had a funny moment when I got rid of my last pair of cards, because I was one of the last people to do so. I stood up, and started dancing around, and shouted "akhiran, akhiran, KHALAST, KHALAST!"
It means "finally, finally, I finished, I finished!" :D
The last one holding cards was Regina's little host brother Youssef.
His punishment was to bring us all water. Not SO bad, in my opinion. xD
But it was an extremely fun party.
Then yesterday, Regina, Melanie, and I met up an hour before our calligraphy lesson to just hang out, walk around, and buy some snacks.
It was a really fun thing to do, I'm glad we did. :)
And it made us all feel so wonderfully independent. We can all feel that we're starting to create lives for ourselves here, and that's a really beautiful thing, the stage that AFS calls "deepening the relationship" in the guide for participants.
Well, that's really all I have to say.
Bye everyone!
 |
| from Regina's birthday party! |
 |
| The roundabout near the apartment complex where my host family lives. |
 |
| On the walk to meet up with Regina and Melanie before calligraphy lessons. |
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| The mosque right next to Regina's apartment building! |
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