Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Final days

Sorry I haven't been very diligent about updating my blog lately.
I mostly have been neglecting to update this blog because the final days are proving to be very chaotic, as I begin to pack, say goodbye to friends, buy all the last souvenirs, and just in general try to mentally prepare for my departure, which is now three days away. Very amazing, crazy, and fun. But certainly quite chaotic, and I've been left with few free moments to write a blog post about what I've been doing. So just what have I been doing? Lots of things; I'm not going to go over each and every one of them individually, but I'll make a list for you guys. I have:
  • Hung out with a number of my friends from school, and said goodbye to a few
  • Bought most of the souvenirs that I need for people back home - now I just need two more
  • Started packing, which has proven to be quite a pain in the neck - I'm not even halfway done (although granted, I've been going about it pretty leisurely, since I still have a few days left ahead of me)
  • Spent a day sitting at the sea, watching the sunset 
  • Said goodbye to my calligraphy teacher 
  • Picked up my final report card from my school, from which, much to my delight, I discovered that none of my grades were lower than an A- :D
  • Had a one-on-one final orientation yesterday with my good friend and AFS returnee/volunteer who went to my hometown, Fatma, in a cafe called Roastery, which was very fun; we got the orientation done pretty quickly and had the rest of our time there to just enjoy the good food, relax, and chit chat. Since she knows both Ann Arbor, my hometown, since she was on exchange there, and Alexandria very well, she was also able to give me some excellent insight into how to make the best of the reverse transition.
  • My friend (another AFS returnee who was in Ann Arbor) named Ahmed came to visit me from Cairo and say goodbye, and I spent the whole day before the orientation with him and my friend Adham walking along the sea and having a great time together, which was amazing. :)
  • Procrastinated on blogging.
  • Been sleeping and getting up atrociously late. 
And lots of stuff like that.
That's what my life has been like lately. 
Very fun and very full of activity, but conversely also extremely chaotic at times.

I'm not going to talk too much about how it feels to be going home so soon, because honestly, in spite of the fact that I'm going to leave in three days, and I've even begun to pack and prepare in many ways that make the fact of my impending departure tangible and undeniable, it still feels very unreal.
I simply cannot fathom that in three days, I will be leaving this country indefinitely. 

Let's hope that everything goes well and that the transition will be easier than I fear. 
Many things about leaving will not be easy, but I have hope that everything will be fine in the end. 

That's all for now, I should continue to be productive and go do something else that I need to get done! :P

I most likely will not be posting again until I have returned to the USA, because I have a number of things that I still want to do before leaving (i.e. say goodbye to a few more friends, buy the final two souvenir items which I need so I can finish that once and for all, continue packing, try to make s'mores for my host family, etc.), and I feel that these last three days are my last chance to do these things, while conversely blogging is something that I can do at any time I wish, anywhere in the world. So I will save my next post for when I will have returned to my Ann Arbor, when I will most likely have much more interesting things to share with you all. 

So, bye for now, and I'll write again soon enough.
Nico

Here are some pictures from the day I watched the sunset by the sea. 

















I feel like these pictures of the sun setting are a good metaphor - symbolizing the end of my time here.
With Ahmed and Adham 

With Ahmed 


A pretty hotel that I decided to photograph.

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