So, its been quite a while. My computer died and it had the link to the blog on it and so I lost the link, so ya. I just read all ur posts from like the last 2 months. I miss you so much.
I've been thinking about you guys and our memories a lot lately. I took the train to Chicago over Easter and I got to see Tory on Good Friday! yay! It was strange, because being on a train again just brings back a flood of memories. Like Alexandria, when some people got left behind, and when we almost got left in the station between Luxor and Aswan and when that train was freakin 2 degrees while we were trying to sleep. Studying arabic and playing card games. Ya, I really miss it. Riding an Amtrak train by myself used to be the epitomy of excitement, but no longer. So anyway, Tory and I walked around pretty much all of downtown Chicago and talked about everything for hours. It was so great. And ya, next summer Tory and I are living together in Cairo and learning arabic if anyone wants to get it on that.
So Arabic class is going well and we've set up this weekly practice thing with the Egyptian guys here and some random people that aren't even taking arabic that like to come. However, Phil has yet to make an appearance, hint hint. Its basically the highlight of my week.
O so I should tell u about the other day, its kinda amusing. Me and my friend Jo went to our Arabic teacher's restaurant because he was gonna tell me about the Qur'an for this project I'm doing. So we get there, he talks for like 2 hours on basically the entire Qur'an, Americans and Christians being jerks and hypocrites, that Jesus says we should cut off people's heads, etc. I was like, "I'm pretty sure that is not in the Bible." He informed me that the problem with Christians is they don't read their Bible enough and when they do, they interpret everything as love when that's not what it says. Evidently he's read the Bible 10 times. SO interesting conversation, and he gave us like a diagram of the Cosmos according to Islam on the back of a menu, its pretty sweet.
But anyway, after that, we were gonna order food from him. However, at this point Jo starts turning around to look at these guys (I guess Cairo had honed my skills at tuning out men) but they were like, "hey, you aren't from around here are you? What you doing slumming around here?" etc., etc. and then talking about how much they liked our clothes (jeans and sweatshirts, haha) and then started accusing us of being racist. So I, with my fine tuned skills continued to tune them out, but Jo, being a good social worker decides that she wants to prove she's not racist so she's goes and sits with them. I was like, alright, I'll stay in line. Haha. So then this extremely high guy starts coming up to me being like, "hey are you happily married?" I affirmed. Then insued him laughing hysterically at nothing and saying stuff like, "I won't tell if you won't" So anyway, I realized that its much harder to deal with this when you can understand what people are saying. Then I actually proceeded to tell him that he should go about getting "what he wants" in a better way. Haha. He was like, "o I know. I'm just an honest guy, I see something I want and I have to say so." So ya, probably most awkward 15 minutes of my life waiting for my gyro.
However then I had a great conversation with Jo about this kinda stuff in the Middle East and how I didn't want people to think that being disrespectful and insulting of women is the way to get their attention. But it does work, and its frustrating. So anyway, really I wish Eunice had been there to say something like, "laa, imshi." haha.
Basically, I am frustrated with life though. It just doesn't seem real enough. I guess that's life, but especially so here, and by here I mean America and especially college and especially Grand Rapids and especially the suburbs. I need something more to challenge me. My classes are neat, but they aren't really challenging me, and because of that I don't put in much effort. My friends are great, but I don't feel like they require much of me. This is the thing, nothing really requires much effort or thought or stretching as my life is now. Its a great life, but its an easy life, and is that really life?
I'm not really particularly unhappy or happy or angry or anything really. My boss insists I'm depressed, but I don't feel depressed, just lazy and unchallenged. O and my co-worker told me my spiritual sin was sloth, haha. Funny, but probably very true. These last couple days though, I've just wanted to break out of my routine, of what's expected, and do something totally insane and unpredictable, but dancing and singing around my living room for my roommate was really all that happened. O and watching Lord of the Rings in the middle of the night.
OK so I really love you all, and Sarah you'll be freakin awesome at the Peace Corps. It'll work out, even if not easily. Fortune favors the brave you know. Becca that grant ur working on sounds amazing too! ok byebye.
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