May 29: Apartment Success

I'm in the best mood ever.

Okay, you know the crappy apartment that I was going on and on about...I don't have to live there! SCORE! More about that later, I just wanted to throw that bit of glee out there early. I woke up at 6:30 this morning, got dressed, talked online a bit, then Amelia and I walked to ILI. Class was good. We are learning nationalities and numbers in Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA). Numbers = really helpful. In Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) we just finished the alphabet, all 28 letters, three vowels, correct phonics, and proper way to write EVERY SINGLE ONE. It's sort of like...being in an art class, a language class, and kindergarten all at the same time. Oh, and all of this is in Arabic. The teachers teach by immersion, so if you don't understand, they keep saying what they mean in Arabic (with hand gestures and all) until you get it.

Anna (Swedish Journalist at ILI) found a different apartment VERY close to ILI, and they had an extra place open, so I'm going to live about a minute's walk from school in a NICE apartment. I'll put some pictures in my journal as soon as I move into it. The girls living there right now aren't leaving until Wednesday night, so I'm kickin' it at the hotel (which has wireless) till Thursday morning when I check out.

The apartment is HUGE, and I'm only living with two other people. It has a sunroom, a living room, balcony, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and three HUGE bedrooms...and it's right above the best restaurant in Mohandseen, Tasters.

After I got to see the apartment, Anna, Meg (new roommate) and I ate dinner at Tasters, then Anna and I walked to Radio Shack...yes they are everywhere, why do you ask? I bought a camera. I left mine at home. Yes, I know I fail at life. But I had been thinking about upgrading to one with a bigger screen, higher resolution, and more pixels, and this definitely qualifies. AND since I bought it in Egypt...it was tons cheaper than in the U.S. It also has a rechargeable Lithium battery, so...no more buying batteries...ever.

Now I'm in the hotel room studying and practicing my alphabet. I'll update this later if anything interesting happens between now and when I go to sleep. I'm having such a good day, and I think I finally feel good about Cairo now. It only took four days...