My conscientious objection to fashion in general is severely under-appreciated here. I actually have to wear real clothes on a regular basis, and its really starting to hurt my soul. I miss my sweatpants and t-shirts. I never liked to think of myself as frumpy per se.. I'm just.. comfortable at heart. Real clothes are for real occasions, and I'm just not one to think of every day as a real occasion. That and I'm running out of new outfits. Everyone has already seen all the clothing I have to offer. Even if I wanted to switch things up, I really couldn't. I have some initial thoughts as to why the pressure is on here and not at home, but I don't really consider them particularly pc so I'll just leave them in my head for now.
On food:
- Well, the bread diet ended. Not really sure what it was supposed to accomplish anyway, but I don't think it worked. Not that I was so strict about it anyway (Friday night shwarma and the brownie incident?).
- I've always had a healthy appetite for tea, and it has only increased since I arrived here. I'm still not sure why that is exactly, but I think its something to do with the fact that at least the tea isn't water (eh almost). Now, as result of this increased tea consumption, my tastes have become ( I hope) somewhat more refined and I've started to notice that tea here just hasn't been tasting good. I'm not sure if this is because I've gotten pickier or because the water here just tastes horrible, but I'm leaning toward the latter. I've also finally invested in some Twinings instead of the usual Lipton, which i've heard actually tastes like dirt to those who know any better.
- I made basboussa last night! (bread based.....) I didn't keep it in the oven long enough, so it wasn't all pretty and brown on top like its supposed to be, but I thought it was pretty ok (for having come from a box..)
- Some culinary truisms:
- If the recipe starts out with you whipping butter and sugar together, you have to be an idiot to not produce something delicious.
- Add lemon to anything, anything, and it will taste better.
- Pending further experimentation, the same miiiight be true of plain yogurt.
On society and entertainment:
I have been blessed thus far with the company of particularly pleasing set of individuals. They are friendly, helpful, attractive, and fantastic dancers, diners, and bowlers. May things always be so easy, because God knows I'm not one to put forth the effort usually required to make lasting friends. I have that whole foreign advantage thing here, but it's something that I still have yet to see as more of a blessing than a curse.
-This week:
- More bowling!
Its all about the shoes. We got mad style. Furthermore, I got velcro.
Probably my best bowling score ever. Nothing like a little competition to improve accuracy.(Click to enlarge)
- I had to evaluate a 'traditional Arab music' performance for class, so I attended a performance by the Sharara Sextet, which was taking place as part of the 19th Annual Conference and Festival of Arab Music at the Cairo Opera House. I was accompanied by my spectacularly attired partner in crime, Mido, and we took the place by storm. No pictures of how good we looked, unfortunately, but you can use your imagination.
- I went to a fashion show tonight, but didn't take any pictures because I was a little.. distracted..
On my sanity:
I had a dream Sunday night that I was washing some Egyptian's car in the street under my building (it looked eerily similar to the car I dropped a broom on) and that a bunch of interns were jeering me from the top of the next building, asking me why I was here. But I couldn't answer them. Just mumbled something about applying for an internship next summer and they all stood around and shook their heads like mhmm sure you did. (All the interns were Asian by the way, not sure if thats relevant)
~
Continuity aside, the thought processes presented here should give you a pretty good idea of how my weeks in general are going nowadays. Mix in a few house parties, laundry, some Egyptian drama, fresh juice and authentic German pretzels, and you're all caught up with the life of Lauren.
