Long time no blog, right?

I know, I've been slacking pretty badly lately. But you see, I find that I never have enough time for everything, even with my lighter 12 credit course load. Yesterday was my one month anniversary in Cairo, and I still haven't made it to the Egyptian Museum or the Citadel and Al-Azhar in Islamic Cairo, to name a few. I make a shameful tourist. But I suppose that is sort of the point. After all, when I'm home in St. Louis, I never make it to the Arch, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen the Statue of Liberty in New York. In the process of actually residing somewhere for an extended period, I guess it's natural to get wrapped up in the everyday scenery, not just the glaringly touristy landmarks. So for now I'll enjoy the Cairo traffic and bureaucracy as it steals all my time...Haha, don't worry, I'll enjoy the fresh fruit juices and the beautiful shawls and the colorful faces too. :)

Now that my moment of reflection has passed, I suppose I can give you some more concrete details about my latest adventures. The big news is that I spent the last weekend scuba diving in the Red Sea. Thursday night, I struck out on a wild and wondrous bus ride that took me under the Suez Canal and across the Sinai Peninsula. By wild and wondrous, I of course mean slow and arduous, because we made several pit stops to accommodate the insatiable appetite of our driver and waited at numerous Sinai checkpoints. The nearly 9 hour drive did have its perks, though, like the brilliantly full moon that illuminated the desert, and the craggy mountains that loomed over our the bus as we drove by. The majesty of the Peninsula is stunning. In the course of only two days, I saw sand dunes, rock cliffs, and sandy shores along the cerulean Red Sea. It was unreal.

The actual diving wasn't so bad either! I met Nemo face to face, and I introduced myself to some sea urchins and a lion fish. Our dive instructors said that the visibility was pretty crummy compared to usual, but I swam amidst the coral and anemones, so I was a very happy camper.

Before we were allowed to make the 4 Sea dives, which by the way earned me a PADI Open Water Diver certification, we had to practice our dive skills in a confined space the week before. There is only one indoor swimming pool in all of Cairo, and since it is somehow funded by the government, foreigners usually can't gain admission. But our instructor Osama pulled some strings, and I became a VIP member for one evening. It was pretty hilarious--the entire time we were bumbling around the pool bottom acting like handicapped fish (again with the Nemo!), there were little boys in speedos furiously swimming laps above us.

Now, for a change of subject. Hmm, it's been so long since I've written that I hardly know what's significant enough to mention. Well last night I attended a discussion panel presented by an AUC club called Al-Quds (lit. Jerusalem), where the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to the Arab League, Mohammed Subaih, spoke about ending the siege in Gaza. I'm really glad I attended, because I started learning details about the current situation, including the chlorine crisis and the lack of electricity in homes and hospitals alike. I didn't realize that within 360 square kilometers, 1.5 million Palestinians are crammed together, making Gaza Strip the most densely populated region in the world. This situation alone is problematic, and when aggravated by the shortage of supplies and constant state of violence...I can hardly absorb all the frightful statistics: 65% of the Gaza population are minors, 80% if Palestinians in Gaza are living on aid, 15000 handicapped children. Sitting here in my AUC dorm room, it's jarring to realize that this state of total crisis is only several hundred kilometers away.

I've got plenty more to update you about. For instance, I had my first session teaching Sudanese and Iraqi refugees this past Tuesday, and that was quite the experience. But I've got to be on my way, because I'm going to the Egyptian Museum with friends today (finally!), so I'll catch you later, alligators!!