This entry is about 3 times longer than it needs to be
March 07, 2005
In complete contrast to last week, this one has had a good start, and to quote Wooderson , �It�s fixing to be a lot better, man.� Especially if Mini and I actually go to her beach house on the Red Sea as planned. (Oh please! Pretty please!)
Cherry (new co-worker) and I bought a coffee maker for the office. For the first time since I left Philly I�m drinking actual brewed coffee. It�s not as good as I remember it. Then again that might have something to do with the fact that we are still experimenting with the coffee grinds, amounts, and the water here (mmm, fluoride!). Anyway, the first day we got it Cherry and I just stood in awe watching as it brewed the first pot of coffee. Our whole office is really small, so people were popping in to see what the smell was all about.
Also, I�m loving my hair lately. It�s grown out quite a bit from that awfully short hair cut from a few months ago, and the dye has "settled" into my hair and isn�t as artificially red as it initially was. Now my hair has a gorgeous red sheen to it, and I discovered an amazing new hair care product last week, so my curls are wonderfully formed.
It�s the little things.
So, some of you guys have shown some interest in my freelance project. I don�t know if I�d define it as freelance exactly. (Uh, then again, what is it?)
Anyway, a family friend from the Kuwait days now works for a British NGO that is helping train the employees of the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights. We met up for coffee a couple of weeks ago, and then last week she emailed me saying that she had some translations she wanted me to do for the training manual. (As Mr. Inkwell gleefully pointed out, yes, this does mean that I am indirectly working for THE MAN. Oy.) Anyway, I was willing to do this as a favor to my friend, and because I thought it would be interesting to see what was being written, but she, being a professional and I guess us not being that close actually, said that I would be paid (and handsomely, I must say.) The entire document was ten pages/ 6,500 words total, and was basically defining the role of environment in sustainable development-->human rights. I worked on it over the weekend, and submitted it last night (weekend here is Friday and Saturday, FYI). It was dense, technical writing, and took me much longer to translate than a document of similar length at work would, but in the end I�m making 1/3 of my monthly salary, for what boils down to two full days of work. Not too shabby.
I really love translation. I have ever since my first literary translation class at Penn. I don�t know what it is, but there is something I find oddly satisfying about the act of translation. Odd, because it�s not as if, in translating, one is actually generating anything original. (Though, certain translation criticism will argue otherwise.) But when I�m done with a translation, I feel really satisfied, like I�ve accomplished something. And it is good.
With this project I consulted my mom a lot, because the language was, like I said, just so dense and technical. So, we sat down Saturday and went over some stuff that I didn�t think was clear. (Don�t worry�with Egyptian mother�s day just around the corner, my mother will be handsomely compensated for the help she offered.) My mom, being who she is, later got online and downloaded all this information about sustainable development, human rights, and the environment�topics which, atypically, she knows very little about. She came back to me yesterday as I was editing the translation and said, �This stuff�s amazing! I never realized that there was a link between the environment and human rights!� To which I responded with a wide-eyed, disbelieving look. It is not hard to believe that my mom knows EVERYTHING, so the fact that she so readily admitted her naivet� about this particular topic amazed me. She explained to me that growing up, environmental issues were not widely discussed, especially not in Egypt, and human rights were understood to mean political human rights. It was great though. My mom was so excited about her newfound "discovery" and I think she was really interested in the idea that to most people of my generation these understandings are taken for granted. (I think, right?)
We burst out laughing when my dad walked into the room, asked what we were doing, and then responded, �Wait, what does the environment have to do with human rights?�
Heh.
One thing I have to say about my move back to Egypt�it�s brought me a lot closer to my parents, especially my mom, who a few years ago I would readily admit to strongly disliking. (Oh, I look back at that with shame.) Despite her faults, which are aggravating and not insignificant, she�s a really amazing woman, and I get to see evidence of that everyday. I was never the kid who was really close to her parents, and a lot of the times now the physical proximity just drive me nuts, but I think that despite certain issues that will not be resolved anytime soon, my relationship with my parents is currently the best it�s ever been.