February, nothing personal, but Good Riddance!

Hey look, there's arthur back there, doing what he does best.


February has brought confusion, loneliness and finally, introspection.

I've been here long enough to have sorted out a few things about how I feel about this place. On a personal level, my lack of social life is beginning to make me feel very old, nearly dead infact. But the upside is (and it's a good trade off) that I have been reading my arse off, which I LOVE, and watching a TON of DVDs. I rarely had time for either in my previous life, or for art, so I am grateful for this experience.

However, I'm thoroughly over the idea of immersing myself in the culture. There is only the slightest trickle of an art/music scene and I'm no longer excited or curious about discovering what it really means to be an Egyptian, like when I first moved here... From afar, the differences were pretty fascinating, but living here, I find that the people are quite married to their self-imposed restrictions and close-mindedness... It's not a very fun culture for women, to say the least.

So, my new angle? I lose myself in my own world of making art, downloading music, listening to NPR podcasts, reading books and watching movies. Good thing I like myself. My split personalities have never gotten along so well. har har har And, if one MUST be stuck with a single companion, I guess Leah, my "flatmate" ain't so bad. She and Arthur gang up on me sometimes, but I for the most part, I can't complain.

In other news, I'm back at the language thing, trying to learn some Arabic. If it wasn't for Leah's kind persistence, I'd have given it up before the FIRST session was over, back in December. But as it is, I find myself once again dreading the classes two evenings a week. It's really humiliating, but also quite hilarious in a sadistic sort of way. I'm so BAD. Studying outside of class would probably help, but somehow I never quite get around to it. Level Two feels more like Level Twenty-two. The instructor has a fun trick: she introduces a verb and her five brave students are instantly suppose to memorize it, conjugate it, and use the word in a variety of FULL sentences. hmmm.

So, that's it from the field. Not very exciting this month, but March will bring a long break and a visit from my dear ma and auntie. So, the magic eight ball is predicting many photos and adventures will appear sometime after March 10th.

p.s. I've been working on illustrations for a friend's book.