April update

Like I said in my last post, sorry I haven't been posting so much lately.
I guess it's just been a mixture of writer's block, lack of note-worthy activity, laziness, and just plain procrastination on my part.
I will try to post more regularly in my remaining months here.

In any case, I will now update you all on all the things I've done since April 7, the last time that I made a legitimate blog post.
Soon after my April 7th post, I finished my third quarter exams, and I've since gotten my report card back. I'd say I did a pretty good job, thankfully. :)

My report card, ladies and gentlemen. As usual, please disregard computer, music, and art. 

On April 12, I went with my host mother and some colleagues of hers to a park that's actually quite close to where I live, called Qariet el-Asad, which means something like "the Park of the Lion." It was a nice place with some wide fields, a restaurant area, and some animal enclosures containing an eagle, a vulture, porcupines, dogs, pigeons, monkeys, ostriches, camels, and (in a separate enclosure) lions.
We sat around chatting for quite a while, had something to eat, and then headed to a place where there was a sort of small circus, in which the lions were featured.
Overall, it was a nice place and a very fun day. The only thing that I didn't feel so good about was that the animals didn't have a whole lot of space in their enclosures, but other than that, I had fun.

                                     *No pictures from this one, unfortunately. Sorry!*

On the 17th, I went with a group of people from my school to an event at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The group and event were created for the people with the highest chemistry grades.
Initially, I was quite confused, as I had understood that we were going to the library in order to hear a well-known Egyptian scientist speak. But instead, when we arrived, we found a kind of science fair comprised of people from various schools and a few faculties of the University of Alexandria. Even so, it was interesting to see, as some people made some very interesting projects and were very clever presenters, and I had fun with the people from my school that I went with.

*No pictures from this one either, because, although there were pictures taken, one of the people there requested that they not be uploaded anywhere because they value their privacy, so I will respect that request. Please imagine a picture of me in front of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina with a group of classmates. :P*

On the 18th, I went out to the movies in a very upscale mall complex called San Stefano with a group of my Egyptian American friends from my school - Youssef, Hashem, Hashem's little brother Fares, and Fares's friend Adam. We saw an American action flick called "Olympus Has Fallen." In my opinion it wasn't particularly original, but it was very suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty good movie.
Afterwards, we all pitched in to buy some pizza from the food court, and enjoyed it together, laughing it up and having a great time. :)
I waited with them as they caught their trams to head back to their respective neighborhoods, and then hopped on a taxi and headed back to my home in Smouha.

From left to right: Me, Youssef, Hashem, and Fares (Adam had to leave earlier than the rest of us, so he's not pictured).

And again. :) 

Then on the 21st I went with my AFS returnee-volunteer/schoolmate/good friend Adham, who went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with AFS last year, to a play practice for a play that he's in to meet some of his friends.
Overall, in spite of the fact that I found the parts of the play itself that they practiced very hard to understand (it was in Standard Arabic), I had a good time, and I was able to catch a glimpse of something that I've very frequently seen in events at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina - a very energetic, creative, dynamic youth that create and enrich culturally, and give back to the community. It's something that I love to see, and something that really gives me home for the reformation and regeneration of this country after the Revolution and all.
I also met a few people who I really liked and was glad to have met.

                                                *No pics again. Sorry.*

Then the 22nd at school, there was a kind of celebration of Earth Day for the little kids (if I've failed to mention it before, Taymour is a K-12 school) that mostly consisted of playing games, painting, and just relaxing and having fun. Since my close friend Nehal, who I've surely mentioned before, was a volunteer, and I was free for most of that day since my class had Arabic subjects, she invited me to come along and see what was going on, and we helped the present teachers and volunteers keep the little kids in check and play games with them.
That was quite fun, a cool little memory, like many others I have of my time here. C:
                   
          *No pictures of this since it was a school day and I hadn't thought to bring my camera.*

Other than that, same old-same old.
School. Having lots of fun with my friends there. Forming ever-closer bonds with my lovely host family. Learning more Arabic day by day. Skyping family and friends back in the USA. Going for walks in the lovely not-too-hot-and-not-too-cold Egyptian April, wandering aimlessly around the pretty little residential neighborhood of Smouha that I have come to love and call my second home. Going to calligraphy lessons, having interesting discussions in Arabic with my friendly and wise teacher, watching Turkish soap operas dubbed into Lebanese Arabic that he keeps on in the background, sipping a kind of instant coffee made by Nestle called Nescafe, all while writing rare and beautiful styles of Arabic calligraphy, gradually improving my abilities regarding that.
In other words, living my new life.
My Egyptian life.
Although after almost eight months, I suppose it's not really new anymore. It's almost become...simply life. Except life exactly 5825 miles and 9374 kilometers from the town where I was born and grew up.

My three day trip to Cairo merits another post all for itself, so I will make one for that soon and then after that, finally get cracking on that list of post ideas that I wrote in my March 10th post, and such.
Thanks for reading everybody!
And sorry again for my prolonged period of silence.
Bye for now,
Nico

PS: I'll leave you all with a song, one that I like a lot. I've been listening to it quite a bit lately, and I feel that it embodies my experience at this point pretty well. :)

أنا آسف

Or, in other words, I'm sorry.
More specifically, I'm sorry for not keeping you guys updated so much recently.

I'm headed off to Cairo for three days tomorrow! I promise that when I return from that trip I will update you all about my adventures here since the last time I wrote.

Sorry again.
Be back soon,
Nico

Delays, delays, nothing but delays...

I've been experiencing some delays in blogging lately, mostly from the fact that I'm taking my third quarter exams this week, so I've had to continuously delay blogging. So I guess that this time I at least have something to blame for my lack of blogging other than my own procrastination.

Now, I have some time today to write that I will most definitely take advantage of, and I will do my best to sum up everything that has been going on in my life and experience here in Egypt since I last wrote, on the day of the bazaar.

One of the most notable things that has happened since that day, was that I went to Cairo to visit my host grandparents!
On the 22nd of March, my host mom and I headed to the same bus station in the neighborhood called Moharram Bey, where Regina and I boarded our bus to the Cairo Airport back in January, and we met up there with her aunt Karima, who I've mentioned before. After waiting a while and deciding to board the 11:00 o'clock bus instead of the 10:30 bus, we were on our way to Cairo.
Karima and my host mom sat together, and I sat in a different seat right next to them that no one ended up sitting in, so I fortunately had some extra room. :)
We made very good time, and were in Cairo just before 2:00 o'clock. We got off at a stop in the center of the city, near to Tahrir Square, and then took a taxi to my host grandparents' home.
They were waiting for us inside with open arms and smiles. :) I really like both of my host grandparents, and I feel like they have very different personalities that at the same time kind of complete each other:
My host grandfather Mansur is very noble, a little bit serious, and a real gentleman, while my host grandmother Ayda is very friendly, loves to laugh, and is hilariously funny.

On the first day, we didn't do much; we just stayed in and talked, getting to know each other, and were eventually joined by my host uncle Nabil, my host mom's brother. He is an English teacher and speaks English very well, and was also delighted to have an opportunity to have a person with which to speak English fluently. We ended up talking a lot about my experience in Egypt and the differences between the cultures of the Arab and Anglophone worlds.
After some delightfully deep and hilarious conversations over dinner and, subsequently, tea, we all headed off to bed and woke up metakhar giddan (really late xD) the next morning.

The next day, the 23rd, we were joined by Nabil's wife Abeer, and their little son Ehad. We all had some wonderful conversations over lunch together, and then that evening we were joined by Nabil and Abeer's daughter Lama and two sons, Adham and Nadim. Gathered together in their living room, we talked and laughed together for hours, especially when my host mother showed everyone something that made me laugh to no end when she showed it to me a few months ago: her (somewhat exaggerated) impressions of me, my host father, and both of my host brothers when we're coming home from work or school. XD That induced some laughter that didn't die out for a long time.
Another awesome moment in that evening was when we were watching a comedic video of someone singing exaggeratedly badly, and I jokingly said "Begad ana ba'raf aghanny ahla men keda!" (Really, I know how to sing better than this), and so they challenged me to. And I took them up on it, singing first a little piece of one of my favorite Italian songs, "A te (To you)" by Jovanotti, and then a piece of one of my favorite songs in general, "Two is better than one" by Boys Like Girls.
That was definitely a very special moment and a very special evening, one that stands out as one of the best nights of my entire exchange so far. I definitely think this also goes on the list of days in my exchange that I will never forget.

The next day, the 24th, was the day that we originally intended to leave. Loay, my host cousin Adham, and I went out together for a walk around the city, which, incidentally, ended up taking us very near to the Egyptian Museum and Tahrir Square. We tried to get into the Egyptian Museum, but unfortunately it had closed only an hour before and we weren't able to. :( As for Tahrir, not a lot seemed to be going on in it. That's not to say, of course, that I would have gone there alone - some of the people there looked pretty sketchy, and the facade of the former headquarters of the political party which dominated the government during the Mubarak years which faced the square was quite ominously defaced and charred, which Loay told me was a result of grenades thrown at it by protesters during the revolution back in 2011.
Afterwards, we moved away from that whole area and tried to get ourselves onto a felucca, but we ended up running out of time and decided to forgo that. The three of us then continued walking and went passed the Cairo Opera, then we got pretty lost for a while trying to find a metro stop to take back home, and after we finally found the stop, took the metro, and found ourselves at home, we still had to eat and pack our things. In the end, we decided that it was too late to go home to Alexandria that night, because if we had, we might have ended up there as late as 4:00 am. So, Loay went home since he had work the next day, and my host mother and I decided to take that day off from her work and my school.

The next day, the 24th, was spent mostly packing and preparing to go back to Alexandria. But in typical Egyptian fashion, we ended up getting down to business much later than we'd planned. xD
After lunch, we said goodbye to Teita and Giddu ("Grandma" and "Grandpa" in Arabic, respectively), Karima, my host mother, and I made our way to the nearest bus station, and immediately boarded the 6 o'clock SuperJet bus back to Alexandria.
It ended up taking a painstakingly long time to get out of Cairo, because for the longest time, we were caught in INFURIATINGLY AWFUL bumper-to-bumper traffic, which Cairo is notorious for (what do you expect in a city of almost 20 million?). We didn't make it out of the city limits of Cairo until 8 o'clock. Thankfully, from there on out it was mostly smooth sailing, and we arrived at the bus station in Moharram Bey at 10 o'clock, and were back at home at about 10:30.
Here are some pictures:

The sunset from Teita and Giddu's balcony 

A mosque that I saw during my walk with Loay and Adham

An Armenian Catholic church that I saw on that same walk - not very far away at all from the mosque above.

We got inside a felucca, but ended up leaving early without actually moving from the dock because we were running out of time. 

A zoomed in view of Cairo Tower. 

Then in the next days, not a lot happened.
A couple of regular school days that consisted of fun times with friends, but were also contained much higher quantities of make-up work than I would have liked, not much more.

That is, until the 29th -
The always awesome former AFSer in Alexandria from Germany, Lisa Wolleschensky, was visiting Egypt again recently for her host sister's wedding, and so we decided to meet up again!
This time, I was invited for a day of sightseeing with Lisa and her parents, Gunter and Claudia, and her sister Lara. We started off our day at Qaitbey, and I was quite late due to the fact that, in true Egyptian fashion, I overslept. xP So we basically just met up at Qaitbey, and since they had already been inside, and I'd seen it before aslan (anyway), we decided to continue on to our next destination: the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
We first stopped for some lunch at Cilantro, a nearby cafe, and then went inside the library itself, which was something that I really enjoyed seeing, as I myself have only been inside the library itself twice. I even got to assist Lisa in her role as "tour-guide" for her family since I had a bit of prior knowledge of the place too. :)
Afterwards, we met up with a volunteer in the local chapter, named Bahaa (or as he is often nicknamed, "Boo") and then headed off to our next destination: the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa.
Here is a link to the Wikipedia page so you can get some additional information about the catacombs, but I will say that this site consists of a series of tombs, statues, and other important archaeological objects that were discovered inside of an underground complex in 1900 by a donkey falling through the access shaft. According to tradition, the complex was built to bury the remains of humans and animals massacred by the order of the Roman Emperor Caracalla in 215 AD.
Visiting this place was definitely a very surreal experience. Like many of the places I visited in Luxor back in January, the history inside was tangible.
There were lots of wall paintings and statues that were unmistakably ancient Egyptian, and others that were very much Greco-Roman. It was an interesting blend. Moreover from that, it was just odd to see all of the spaces in the wall that were once the final resting place of multitudes of people. And that all of this was quite literally inside the Earth - it was a little creepy at times, but amazing, and I'm definitely glad that I saw this monument.
I also had a really good time with the Wolleschenskys - as usual I had a great time talking with Lisa, and I also was very happy that I got to meet and befriend her very sweet family. :)
All in all, it was a lovely day.

Then, in the week after that, there's not much else to report.
However, on the 5th of April, this past Friday, I attended an AFS event in Cairo for the day called "El-Leila El-Kebira (The Big Night)," which was essentially a gathering organized by AFS alumni as both a get-together for AFS alumni and participants, and as a kind of venue for youth involved in non-profit projects or organizations to spread the word about whatever they're involved in.
I went with many people from the AFS Alex chapter, including: My host mom, Adham, Youssef, Hanya (the daughter of my counselor Gina), Fatma, three future AFS participants that will hopefully travel to the USA in the fall named Maram, Rowan, and Nada, Nagwa (the chapter president), and a few other miscellaneous people. We all met up in the meeting point, which was a particular street in Ibrahmeya, a neighborhood very near to Smouha, and then took the microbus that we had rented to Cairo.
The drive over was actually really fun. Everyone was ready for a great day, and there was a lot of energy. A large part of the drive was spent singing - Adham, who can carry a tune, I must say, sang a lot of old Arabic music, and then I also sang an Italian song called "E tu (And you)" by one of my favorite Italian singers, Lucio Battista, and another song that I'm a big fan of, "Say you like me" by We the Kings. Maram, who goes to a French school, also sang a piece of a French song for us.
Apart from singing, lots of talking and laughing happened as well - I guess that's one thing that's inevitable when you put lots of like-minded teenagers together, no matter what country you're in. :)
However, the drive did end up being quite long, as it took two hours to get from the Alexandria city limits to the Cairo city limits, and then we had to put up with nearly three hours stuck in the infamous, excruciatingly slow Cairo traffic, since El-Leila El-Kebira was located very deep inside the city.
After that, we finally arrived at the event just over an hour late, and then dived right in.
Lucie and her friend Hannah who was visiting her from England came to the event briefly, and I was very happy to be able to see them and say hi again.
I also was able to see some alumni who I met in Luxor and Aswan who study in Cairo, and also meet some new Cairene alumni who I hadn't met before.
The people that I definitely spent the most time with and had the most fun with, however, were definitely Carson and Annika.
We spent hours together, talking and laughing hysterically about our shared experiences as exchange students in this beguiling but amazing country, and reminiscing of all the other fun times we've had together since we arrived here.
I really do wish that lots of people would come to Egypt on exchange again and not be afraid to do so, as I've said many times. But, honestly, it's kind of nice that we're such a small, tight-knit little group; we've become very close friends and it feels so nice that we're so close and comfortable with each other now. I had such a good time with them, and miss them already. :)
At about seven, we decided to get an early move-on and head back to Alex. At the beginning of the drive, our energy was not yet dead, so we started to play some games: Movies (Arabic style), and telephone in both English and Arabic, both of which ended up producing some hilarious results and lots and LOTS of laughter. :D It was crazy and amazing and so much fun; one of the most special moments (and the day in general was one of the most special days) of my whole exchange.
We then stopped in a large mall on the outskirts of Cairo to grab a quick bite to eat - I, like most of those present, opted for my culinary love, koshary. To my delight, I also caught sight of a PinkBerry inside the mall (I love frozen yogurt and have missed it quite a bit) - I immediately seized my chance and purchased a delicious cup of frozen yogurt (and then awkwardly realized that I didn't have enough money to pay it...Ma'lish...:| ). :D
Then we continued on to Alexandria, and I think it's fair to say that our energy almost finally gave way, but we were able to keep it alive for quite a while.
We finally arrived at the city limits at approximately midnight, and then my host mother and I were back at home at 10 minutes to 1 am.

The next days have been devoid of newsworthy things.
Apart from the fact that I've been taking my quarter tests this week and last week. I feel like I've done fairly well on most of the ones that I've taken so far. And I sincerely hope that this trend continues.

One last thing: I would like to apologize for the considerable lack of photos in this post. Although, I think that there is one positive spin that it's possible to put on this fact:
In the beginning I felt a need to document every last little thing in great detail, and include photos and explanations of everything I was doing and seeing. But now, I don't feel the same need or drive to do so anymore, because life here feels normal, it's something that in some odd way, I've become accustomed to.
I don't mean to say that I take being here for granted; I never ceased to be amazed or in awe of the things that I'm able to see and experience by living here.
But after living here for exactly seven months (I arrived in Egypt seven months ago today, as it turns out), many things that used to seem so exotic and eye-popping to me when I got here - the wide spectrum of dress and political/religious beliefs, the palm trees, the call to prayer, the crowded streets, all the contrasts that I mentioned in my one-month post, and stuff like that, hardly make me blink anymore. They're still amazing, of course, but just not astounding and new like they were in the first days. I'm taking this - and the lack of pictures for most of what I've written about in this post - to be good signs, as they display a successful adjustment. :)

Well, that's all.
Hope you enjoyed my overdue ramblings.
Love from Egypt as usual,
Nico

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 

June 28, 2013

Well, the list of posts that I will make, that I made in my last post, is being temporarily put on hold, because I have received my return ticket information.
And I know when I'm going to leave.

The day in the title. June 28, 2013, is the day that I leave the country that has become a second home to me.
I really don't know what else to say about it, except that it took me completely and totally by surprise.
I was just casually checking my email yesterday evening, and I saw an email from AFS in the top that contained the words "return ticket information."
And it honestly hit me like a punch to the stomach.
I had absolutely no idea that it would be coming this early; I had thought that it would come at least at the end of this month, if not next month. So I really was not expecting it.
And in all honesty, I really wasn't ready to know.
As I've made quite clear before, I love my life here and the idea of leaving it behind utterly and completely terrifies me, and I had been thinking about it a lot lately.
This new, added bit only added to my paranoia about it.
I really could have done without knowing what day that wretched plane that will drag me out of here is going to leave.
It's funny how forward I was looking to receiving the email containing my outbound flight information last July, all those months ago, versus how negatively surprised I was to get my return information now.
I think I will take this opportunity to introduce you all to an interesting Arabic saying: "Ya nahar eswed," which literally means "Oh black morning" and is an expression used to express negatively surprised feelings. I felt that it applied here.
I'm doing my best not to think about it though. It's still three and a half months away, and that's the  important thing, right? There are still three and a half months left of amazing experiences to be had, amazing things to do...I mustn't get to caught up with my fear of leaving, yet.

I really don't know what else to say...We're flying Lufthansa and connecting in Frankfurt. The plane leaves from Cairo ridiculously early (4:10 AM), which makes me tired just thinking about it...
But these are really petty details that I really am not too concerned with. I'm trying not to concern myself too much with the idea of leaving in general. You all know how I feel about it.

Well, that's all, really.
I felt that I should notify you all of this particular news.
I'll be back soon and start off the list from the last post.
Ma as-salama,
Nico

PS: Please note that I am not a heartless person and my outlook on going home is not entirely gloomy. I am looking quite forward to seeing my family and my good friends again. It's just that I love my family, friends, and life here so much that I'm really afraid of leaving it behind. That's all.

...I don't blog enough...

Sorry for really slacking on blogging since the new year everyone...
Like I keep saying though, not tons of riveting things have been happening though, so that's my excuse.

And for the most part, it really does continue to hold true.
As usual, I've got great things to say about how I continue to have heaps of fun with my friends in school, and I continue to feel increasingly relaxed and settled in, in school, with my family, and in my life here in this country - and this country itself - in general.
But for the most part, no particularly interesting new things to report have gone down since the last time I've posted here.
Until, that is, last Wednesday.
So, last Wednesday holds a bit of an interesting story. Basically, it started off as a completely normal day. Granted, I did see a group of people chasing each other in the streets near to my school from my school bus window, which was a bit nerve-wracking and startling.
But school started off quite normally and that whole incident was quickly pushed far back into my mind.
Until, that is, the break that we have in the middle of every school day, in which it was very randomly announced to the student body that there was a gas shortage crisis due to unwise spending on the part of the government, so the school buses would not be operating that day after school, and then neither Thursday nor Sunday (today).
Very confused and concerned about how in the world I was going to get myself back home, I called my host mother and averted her of the problem. We talked of how I could get home, and she suggested that I try to get back with one of my AFS volunteer friends that are in school with me. But fortunately, before I even had a chance to go asking around, my always-amazing friend Nehal offered me a ride home (seeing as our two apartment buildings are easily within 500 yards of each other), which I, of course, gratefully accepted.
So, after the break, the two of us, along with the big group of Egyptian Americans that I've mentioned before - Youssef, Hashem, and Hashem's two younger siblings, Fares and Farida, all crowded into the library while we waited for our rides.
I was very confused, and under the impression that I was skipping. But everyone else assured me that after that sudden announcement of the absence of buses, the entire student body had surely notified their parents and asked to be picked up as soon as possible, so the school day was as good as over.
Once Nehal's mother had arrived, the two of us left the library and then fetched her two younger sisters from their classes, met up with her mom, and then as soon as she had gotten the necessary permission to take us, we crowded into the car and made our way over to Smouha.
As we waited outside the registration office, and then walked out of the school gates to get inside the car, I realized that what the others had told me about the school day being effectively over was no joke: parents galore were lining up inside the registration office to get the permission slips required to fetch their children, crowds of kids were hurrying over to the registration office to get picked up, and cars were lined all the way up and down the entire entrance lot outside the school.
In any case, we all had a pleasant chat on the way back, and the drive back to Smouha was much shorter than usual (technically, we only live ten to fifteen minutes away from Taymour, but usually, with all the stops our school bus has to make, it takes about thirty). Once we arrived, I thanked them all profusely for their beautiful and much appreciated kindness, and then got back home, and...didn't do much at all. I canceled my calligraphy lesson that had been previously planned, since there were apparently some protests against the government for their wasteful spending that had initiated the gas shortage crisis. So I instead just stayed home, relaxed, and Skyped with my friend from back home, Shauna, who, since she was staying after school, carried her iPad around a bit so I could see the school and say goodbye to other friends. :D It was definitely quite strange to see my school again...
In any case, after that I also had the chance to Skype with REGINA! :D Hearing from her always makes me feel really happy inside. It just feels great to catch up with my "sister" and know how everything is going for her. It still feels weird not to have her here...:(
But it was amazing to catch up as usual. :)

Then Friday I went out with my AFS returnee friend Adham, and we went out to this really lovely area of Alexandria near a place called Stanley Bridge, and met up with his friends in a McDonald's where they were doing a math project, ate some ice cream, and then met up with some nice girls who are going to travel to the US with AFS this coming school year. :D

On Saturday (yesterday :P), I had the pleasure of meeting two really awesome people who I've been in touch with for some time now: a former AFSer named Lucie who went to Osny, France, in the 2009-2010 year, and is currently studying Arabic in Cairo for a semester of university, and her roommate, a really sweet English girl named Zoe.
(They're on a week-long trip here in Alex.)
We met up in front of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and then sat in a cafe next to it called Cilantro, where we then all got something to drink, and then were treated to a really lovely sunset over the sea (which unfortunately then morphed into a notably chilly night), and basically talked endlessly about our experiences in this country - things we've learned, things we love, things we don't so much, people we've met, et cetera.
It was really amazing to get to meet two such amazing people, and I'm so happy I got the chance. :)
After that, once I got home, I was able to Skype a friend of mine from my school back home, and then two close friends of mine that I've known since my childhood, and then my parents. :)

And today was devoid of any strenuous activity. xD
Although I did have a really nice and rare opportunity to have breakfast together with my host father. :) And then the weather outside was quite nice, so I did go out for a short walk around while buying some lemons from a street vendor for my host mother.
That's all there is to really report these days.

I promise to post more frequently. :P I already have three ideas for posts that I will make in the near future, especially as fillers until I have something really eventful or interesting to report:

• A post about the view from my host family's balcony (corny, I know, but I really love it)
• A post of nice, miscellaneous pictures that I've taken in the past few months that I haven't posted here
• A post talking about the emotions that one feels on exchange 
• A post about Egyptian food

And now some pictures from the first of my two major outings in this unplanned four-day weekend, to Stanley Bridge: 

And now for some pictures from the second of my two major outings this weekend, to the Bibliotheca with Lucie and Zoe:

And now I'll leave you with a song!
Now, I know that this is a bit of a corny choice on my part, but hear me out: I've been, for whatever reason, watching clips (and will get around to watching entire) movies that I loved in my childhood lately, and one of those that came up was "The Lion King 2," which this song comes from. And while it is corny, it really did remind me that, since I really have started to feel completely at home in my family here and increasingly close to my friends at school, in many ways, we are one. :3
So, first, here's the English version:

Now, since I feel that the language of the country I'm living in should rightfully be represented, here's the Arabic version:

And this might seem a bit more random, but in honor of my amazing German friends that I've met here via AFS, I'm also going to post the German version:

Well, that's all for now.
I'll try to be back soon enough with one of those future posts that I mentioned earlier in this one.
Hope that you all thoroughly enjoyed reading this post, because I quite enjoyed writing it. :3
Be back soon!
Love from Alexandria as usual,
Nico ^^

My life lately

Again, I apologize for not writing so much recently.
I will reiterate that for the most part, not a huge amount of new or exiting things have been going on, which is why I'm not in the habit of posting so much.
In any case, let's examine what's been going on in my life here lately...

Well, firstly, I guess the biggest change in my life is that Regina returned to Germany on the 22nd of February.
I think it goes without saying that this is really the most (although thankfully, the only) negative thing in my recent life.
It was painful to say goodbye to someone who has been such an amazing and close friend every day for almost six months, who I've had so much fun with. I am really happy to still be here for a good four months, but my experience won't be quite the same.
In any case, I'm staying positive about it for the most part, because this summer, after I return to the USA, I will be going on vacation for several weeks in Italy to visit my relatives, and since Italy and Germany are relatively close to each other, we have vowed that, inshallah, we will try to meet up somewhere. :D
I can't wait to see my German sister again. :3 <3

Then last weekend, I met up with some people that I met through the epitome of an "It's a small world after all" kind of story: My dad, who was visiting my grandparents in New Jersey, was dining with them in a Turkish restaurant called Sahara that we had all eaten in together back in September before I came here to Egypt, and while chatting with one of the owners, discovered that he was half Turkish and half Egyptian, and that he has a home and relatives in Alexandria and would be returning here soon for a visit! So through my dad, he promised an invitation for a fantastic lunch, and put me in contact with his college-age nephew Mohammed. So the next day, I went out with Mohammed and his two friends Kareem and Omar, and we got a little something to eat from a Syrian restaurant (there are a lot of them here, because refugees from Syria often have come here to Egypt to escape their war-torn homeland, and many of them end up opening restaurants). It was fun!

Other than that, I'm delighted to report to you all that school for me has been getting progressively better and better all last week. I kept having fun with my friends, and I continuously feel more comfortable and confident in my environment there. And, just as importantly, happy. :) I would daresay that I even...enjoy going to school now.
Which is something that six months ago, when I first started, I never would have imagined. And I'm so proud of how far I've come since that awful first day.
I remember I had a thought in my head in class on the first day of, "how on Earth am I going to be able to come back here every day if it feels like this?" and I had to keep clutching the beautifully decorated pen that my friend Brent had given me as a goodbye present, for some motivation and strength to keep going without breaking down.
That feels so far away now. If someone had told me on the first day that I would feel like I do now about going to school, I would have thought that they were crazy. But now, it feels wonderful that I enjoy going there. That's more than I ever could have hoped for after that first day, and I'm so proud to say it. :')
In another piece of school related randomness, French is starting to grow on me. I learn French here in school, and previously I didn't find myself so engrossed by it for some reason. But now I'm starting to slowly open up to it, and it's growing on me! I definitely am going to make more of an effort to retain it now. I will still principally focus on improving my Arabic, taba'an (of course), but I certainly will make much more of an effort to gain knowledge from my French class here. :)

Also, yesterday I was invited to go out by a boy my age who lives in my apartment building, called Youssef, and some of his friends. I had met him briefly back in September, but we hadn't really spoken much since then, so it came as a surprise, but, of course, I immediately accepted.
Let's just say that I made a great decision to accept. :D
Youssef and I first went over to his church (he's Coptic), and he showed me around inside it a little bit. I honestly have a thing for Coptic churches - the smell of incense, the prayers and chants in Coptic (which, as I mentioned in my Aswan post, is a language that I find amazing and fascinating), the beautiful decorations and architecture, et cetera...But he also took me further in, and showed me a place in the church complex with a cafeteria, and activities for youth and children, such as pool and ping pong tables, and even a special gym-like room in which to play soccer. It was great to have a way into this nice little world that I didn't even know existed.
One thing that I found interesting, was that this place for youth to hang out in the church reminded me a lot of Italy. This is because, in Italy, churches will often have places attached to them or in them, called an oratorio, with similar activities for youth and children. When I visit Italy, I often hang out with my friends in the various oratori (that's the plural form) present in my family's town.
So that was an interesting little parallel that I found.
In any case, we then went to a nearby McDonald's to join his friends - Mina, Mark, and Abanoub, who actually goes to Taymour! I had seen him before in school, but we hadn't met. It turns out that he is in my friend Nehal's class! Small world...
We had a little something to eat there, and then went to a cyber (I can't think of the right term...it's like an Internet cafe, minus the cafe part...basically it's a place with computers where you go to use the Internet, print stuff, copy stuff, and so on) and played some computer games before returning to the church to hang out and play a little soccer.
It was honestly a fun night, and I ended a good day on a great note after having had a great time and made some new friends. :D  I can't wait to do it again sometime. :)

I've also been invited to go with them to the same church for their Easter celebration, which I am already looking forward to immensely.

That's it, I think...
Well, thank you all again for reading, and since I haven't been doing this quite as much lately, I will leave you all with a song again!
This is one of my favorite Arabic songs of all time, and it and the artist merit a little explanation before I include the video itself in the post. :P
The song is called "Helwa ya Balady," which means something like "Beautiful, oh my country." Yeah, my translation doesn't make sense, but oh well. :P
In any case, the song is by an Italian Egyptian artist who lived in France for much of her life, called Dalida.
She was born to Italian parents from Serrastretta, Calabria, Italy, in Cairo, and lived there in her early years, and lived in Paris for much of her adult life.
Apart from her talent and the fact that she is from both of my "other countries" (Italy and Egypt), I also admire her for being a perfect embodiment of the cosmopolitanism of the Mediterranean, that flourished in Egypt in her time, as I mentioned in my post from last July about Alexandria. She's a great artist, and this is a great song, in which Dalida basically talks about Egypt and how much she loves her country. Which I think is really beautiful. I heard it on the TV for the first time in a while today (which is what made me decide to include it in this post, since I haven't already), and it moved me almost to tears.
Anyway, kefaya kalam (enough talking)! Here it is:

Hope you guys like it!
Thanks for reading as usual.
Bye for now!
Love,
Nico