Intensive studies, moderate nightlife

It is currently Sunday afternoon at about 12:30 p.m. and I just began week 3 of classes here.  Time is going by quickly.  Or is it?  This point could be argued, but I’ll save it for now.  

As far as school is concerned... I am taking classes at an intensive language institute called the Sibawayh Center.  Intensive might be an understatement.  (Might is facetious.)  I have five hours per day of one-on-one instruction Sunday thru Thursday each week.  I have two main teachers - one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  My first class is from 9-11:30 in the morning with Amel (translates to “hope” in English), a 24 year old Egyptian woman whom I have come to absolutely adore.  We spend the first 30 minutes or so talking about what we did the day before, what’s going on with our family and friends, the news, books we are reading, and anything else that may be on our minds.  After class with Amel I have a break until my 3 p.m. class with Zanneb.  She is also 24 years old and was born and raised here in Egypt.  Although she is a great teacher, I believe she is in the wrong profession and should leave her current job to take up stand up comedy.  She could be the first prominent female comedian in Egypt!  I don’t even think she tries to be funny most of the time, she just is.  Bottom line, I love both of my teachers and I’m excited about getting to know them better over the next several months and gaining them as lifelong friends.  

This weekend was interesting.  Since our school week is over on Thursdays and we begin on Sundays, Thursday nights are like our Friday nights at home.  We were all happy to have reached the end of the school week and were looking forward to a relaxing night out.  We decided to go to dinner with some friends in Mohandessin, the district in Cairo that accommodates cheaper prices for “the engineers”, (the literal translation of the name) here in Egypt.  The restaurant was a quaint place located on the rooftop of a high rise overlooking the Nile River.  The view was stunning, the company exceptional, and the prices reasonable.  I had lasagna for dinner and a cafe au lait all for 38 LE, about 7 USD.  After dinner we sat at a coffee shop and visited for a few hours and then came home and called it a night... Wild huh?  Although charming, my night life here in Cairo definitely holds a stark contrast from what I am accustomed to at home.  In Texas, I spend 6 days out of the week anticipating girls night which usually consists of dinner, drinks, stories, laughing, and going out dancing, amongst other miscellaneous adventures we wind up embarking on, all of which has led to the creation of an intense sisterhood bond between a group of about 15 girls whom I cherish dearly.  The significance of this creation is not to be taken lightly as it has been the utility of my survival on many occasions.  Given that, my transition into a place where I am largely disconnected from such ties has not been an easy one.  Michelle and I have found it to be extremely uncommon for two women, or men for that matter, to have a cocktail or a glass of wine for an evening out on the weekends.  Alcohol is served in many places around the city, but consumption is looked down upon immensely as it is against Islamic doctrine.  Most people here prefer sheesha (hookah), which I personally choose to refrain from using.  Despite its’ delicious taste and smell, it is the worst kind of smoke you can inhale because it goes straight to your lungs, and unlike the majority of Cairo’s population, I enjoy breathing and would prefer to keep my lungs free from black fumes.  With that being said, most of my nightlife here results in a lot of sitting and visiting with a cup of coffee or tea.  Don’t be mistaken, I enjoy this incredibly.  The problem begins when my anxiety kicks in from too much time sitting still, followed by my thoughts wandering away from table conversations, which in turn presents an attitude of arrogance and disinterest in the group on my part, although that is not the case.  Ultimately, I succumb to explaining my somewhat aggravating tendencies to have a need to be more active in order to maintain my attention, focus, and enthusiasm.  That being said, Michelle and I have decided to go on an adventure next weekend in search of a safe, possibly westernized, getaway destination for times like these when it would just be nice to have a drink and mingle with other young adolescent students and professionals.  The anxiety can be maddening, but minor in hindsight... I digress.