Spinning round and round
June 21, 2006
First of all�thanks so much to everyone for your wonderful birthday wishes. Seriously, I haven�t felt this loved on a birthday since my 20th when all my friends conspired to throw a surprise party that couldn�t be beat (and which truly surprised the hell out of me), which concluded with me passed out in an armchair due to the consumption of various illegal substances provided by my friends. See? LOVE.
This year�s birthday also happened to coincide with Greg�s arrival from San Francisco for a 6-day whirlwind visit to Egypt before heading off to Morocco, which means that I have been busybusybusy since Friday. Emails will be responded to, just not before Saturday at the earliest.
I picked Greg up from the airport at 7:30 pm on Friday, and then it was off to PG�s flat, where Greg would be staying. Greg was given 15 minutes to wash up before I whisked him off to our favorite Nile-side hangout in Zamalek where friends were waiting for the festivities to begin. The turnout was great. People I didn�t expect to show up did. People I didn�t particularly want there (not because I do not like them, but because they would have thrown off the chemistry of the group) did not show, and I was able to spend a good amount of time talking to everyone I wanted to.
The next morning, bright and early, art-therapy Hoda and I got Greg on the Spanish train and we headed north to Alexandria. I have never been a huge fan of Alex (sorry, Infinity), but with Hoda�s expertise (she lived there for 6 or so years) we managed to hit all the best spots, got a very VIP tour of the new library (thanks to Hoda�s friend who is the assistant to the Director), and had a phenomenal fish dinner. My god, we ate so much. We got back to Cairo just in time to catch most of the USA-Italy match (tears), and I�m assuming all those involved collapsed in exhausted heaps upon arrival at home.
The rest of the week so far has been a whirlwind of activities�at some point Greg and I went to the khan al-khalili market, the pyramids (though we had to rush off and didn�t get a good look at the sphinx), seen a few more World Cup matches, gone to art therapy, and eaten a few nice meals. And that�s just during the time when I haven�t been at work. Greg has proven himself to be a good sort of traveler, and with absolutely no Arabic has managed to see more of Cairo than I�ve seen in my two+ years here.
More than the things we�ve been doing, I�ve been enjoying the discussions Greg and I have been having. Conversations have revolved mostly around culture, identity, and technology, and how complex the world has become. We were standing in khan al-khalili haggling over the price of some spices when Jing (who Greg knows) called me from China on my cell phone. That single event launched a conversation between Greg and me which lasted through the rest of our time in the market, into dinner at a downtown restaurant, and all the way until I walked with Greg to PG�s place before hopping in a cab home. (With interruptions to haggle, take pictures, hail cabs, and eat of course.)
For the most part it has been a great week.