One month.

Two days ago was the one month marker since I've been here. Needless to say, a large part of me is wishing that I could go back home now. There are lots of things I've learned in that one month that either make me dislike it here, or make me like it here. Today, in particular, is the mail system. I was sent a package last Thursday, and reception says that they'll call my room when they get it. Not very effective if I'm not in the room, eh? Then how will I know? I don't feel quite comfortable going up and bugging the receptionist every single day if I have mail. I just got a letter from Mom (Hi, Mom) that was postmarked in the U.S. on the fourteenth...

I would've never gotten it if I hadn't asked for my package.

I miss having my own mailbox at Gettysburg and email alerts when I get packages of things. I hate the mail system here. They have mailboxes, why don't they utilize them for God's sake! D=

Thanks to Alex for the idea of putting GIFs in blogs where there are no relevant pictures. Click for animation

Another thing I dislike... that sort of ties into the whole Egyptian time thing and my previous rant that I must emphasize again - it takes forever for someone to do their job they are paid to do. Seriously, I'm starting to think that the Egyptians take cues from the Italians and the French - the Italians for their laziness and sudden siestas (the whole "I'm going to take a break and do what I am being paid to do later, mkay?" attitude, especially when something's urgent or important) and the French for the sudden fondness of revolutions and protests.

You'd think since Egypt was in control of the British for a while (Cairo especially) that they'd adopt some of the promptness of the British society. 

Guess not.

Thankfully, last night we went to Cafe Arabica, which is a cafe that allows you to draw on their table covers and take them with you! We sort of went crazy...

The entire placemat.

My section: very BBC-esque, and Harry Potter themed.

A violent game of Dots.

We colored on one side and then the other side started as a game of Dots. And then evolved to a violent game of Dots. And then evolved into scribble wars. All in all, it was a great start to the weekend, and a good way to get my mind off of lots of the stressful things that have happened in the past two weeks.

Tomorrow is the ResLife trip to Ain Sokhna. I finished my book I bought at Diwas used for 10 L.E. (Mom, you'd like it! It's like Dan Brown's stuff), and found out that the AUC Library has popular fiction books! I checked out one for myself, from an author whose series I have started already at home (Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon) and decided to pick up her spin-off series as well (Lord John series). Score.

What I finished last night.

What I am going to read next!

So, other than that, things aren't going as eventful as they were during orientation. I have a paper for Modern Judaism & Zionism to write (my topic is on the Holocaust, of course, what else after spending a summer at USHMM!) and my grad class is going very well, also. My professor says absolutely hilarious things. She's a hoot. Things like: "You can always tell an archaeologist because when they walk they look at their feet and run into things." WHICH IS SO TRUE. I always look at my feet when I walk, even if someone's talking to me, I look at my feet! Also, I never remember where I'm going, and I have a hard time recognizing places because I'm always looking down. It so fits! I mean, the whole looking at your feet when you walk when you're an archaeologist is because of field survey/field-walking where you have to watch where you're going to look for shiny objects or anything that might be a site indicator.

But still. One more sign I'm going in the right career path.

Tomorrow is Ain Sokhna, a Swiss Red Sea resort, for a day of the beach and dolphins. God knows I need to get away from the smog and light pollution (or just Cairo overall) for a day!