AFS videos, goodbyes, Egyptian Mother's Day, and Taymour bazaar

Well, once again, it's been far too long since I last blogged, and this time there is quite a lot to report.
So, let's get down to it!

So last week, on Saturday, a few people from the AFS office in Cairo came, as we had been planning for a little while, to make a video about my experience here (they've been trying to make one for one of the AFSers here this year, and I was honored with the privilege): Dalia Sherif, who was present at our six-week orientation back in October, and Mohamed El-Betity, who was present at the arrival orientation on the very first day.
Accompanied by Hanya, the daughter of my counselor, who went to Minnesota two years ago, Adham, Fatma, and Shehab, who went to Oregon three years ago, we took some shots in various places in Alexandria - Qaitbey Castle, the Bibliotheca Alexandria, and so on. We then went to the area called downtown to eat in a restaurant called Hosny, where we had a really nice meal and talked/laughed a lot. :) Then we went to sit in a cafe called Oceans for a little while and have some drinks and desert.
The next day they came to Taymour to take some shots of me at school, interview one of my friends (the one chosen was my Egyptian American friend Youssef), then interview a teacher (which ended up being my English teacher), and then took a video of me presenting my English project for the quarter about what I've learned in Egypt.
Except for some stupid, immature people that were impeding them in their work, we got everything done quickly and efficiently.
Later, they came to take some shots of me at home with my host family, and interview my host family, which I'd say also went swimmingly.

But that very same day, something really sad also happened:
My host brother Khaled left the country. :"(
He's going to live in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for six months with his work. And isn't going to return to Egypt at all until September - which will be, obviously, long after I'll have returned to the USA, so I won't see him again. :'(
Ever since he left, it's felt really strangely emptier around here. I find myself unable to get used to it; I doubt that I ever will.
All I can say is, I hope that he finds success and happiness in every moment of his time there, and I'll see him when I come back to Egypt in the future. :)

After that, there isn't much to report in the other days of the week.
That is, until today.
Now, you see, Taymour hosts an event annually called a bazaar, where, essentially, there are no lessons, people come out of uniform, guests are welcome to attend, and the school is lined with people selling food, and mother's day gifts, since today was Mother's Day in Egypt and the rest of the Arab world, and there are entertainers.
So I attended, and made use of all these things. :)
I had a lot of fun with Nehal, the Egyptian Americans, and my AFS returnee friends Adham and Youssef. Additionally, a friend of ours named Ahmed, who is both a Taymour alumnus and an AFS alumnus, revisited the school to attend the bazaar today, so we got to hang out with him.
I also bought two Mother's Day gifts for my host mom from one of the stands, sold to me by a really sweet girl named Amira who graduated from Taymour two years ago and is now in college. I got to eat a lot of tasty food that was being sold as well. I had a great time with friends.
And overall, for the most part, had a fun day. :)

I don't have any pictures of my own, unfortunately, because I forgot to bring my camera. But I know that some classmates of mine took pictures that will end up on the Taymour website, and I know that some of my friends took pictures. SO, I will either post a link to the pictures on the website, or post them here (along with any that I can mooch off my friends :P).

That's all.
Sorry I've been lazy about writing as usual lately.
I will get better about that. And I WILL begin that list that I posted a while ago, soon.
Until next time,
Nico