Weekend Happenings!

Boy is this going to be a lengthy post! I've got tons to tell you about the weekend!

This little clipart explains my life right now! School is exceedingly stressful and I've actually become that person who dreads going to work... Which is devastating on so many levels :( Hopefully this gets better soon for the sake of my mental health and well-being.

Now onto the weekend! As I mentioned, we were very busy! Thursday on the bus ride home from school, Jenna called the taxi service and ordered us two taxis to take us into Tagamoa for a quiet night of tasty dinner. I had been home sick from school the previous day, so I ate some bland pasta before we left and just ordered a freshly squeezed orange juice- yum! The girls and I had to wait about 40 minutes for a table big enough to fit the six of us, but we had a good time chatting and sitting on the grass (aka turf).

During dinner, one of our friends and fellow teachers from school, Shahyn, stopped by and sat and chatted with us. His girlfriend Lindsay wasn't feeling too well, so she didn't come along. After a while we decided to head out. Shahyn graciously offered to drive us now that he has his car back from the repair shop (and it's an SUV, so we all fit!)

We stopped by Rehab City to pick up his younger sister (in high school) and drop her off at home. He then asked if we were quite ready to go home, and we weren't that tired yet so we went back towards downtown Cairo near the American University in Cairo (AUC). This area is very nice and has lots of restaurants and shops reminiscent of home- there was even a Chili's restaurant! We met a couple of Shahyn's friends and sat in a cafe until the wee hours of the morning, but it was wonderful to chat and meet some new people!

Friday morning started off earlier than we would have liked since we didn't get home until about 2:30am the night before. However, we had a big day planned! After our two taxi drivers raced each other into Tagamoa where we met Shahyn again, we headed to get a pick me up at Greco Coffee in Ma'adi- delicious! We then went to the N Bar where Lindsay, Shahyn's girlfriend, had graciously set up pedicure appointments for us! It sure did feel good to be pampered and have my dusty desert feet all cleaned up!

We then split into two groups. My group (Jayde, Shanna, and I) wandered up and down Road 9 in Ma'adi which is the same street the teacher supply store is on that I visited a couple week ago! There were cutie shops and adorable handmade items- Jayde bought a beautiful crossbody purse! After our wandering, we met up with the rest of the group at Lucille's for a late lunch. According to Time Magazine, Lucille's has one of the top ten best burgers in the world, so of course I ordered one (bunless). Though it wasn't necessarily the best burger I've ever tasted, it was pretty darn good! I think my bias comes from living in the Midwest where the actual cows are! ;)

After Lucille's and our food comas, we decided to sit for a while at a cafe close by. Lindsay and some of Shahyn's friends met us at Villa 55 where we sat and chatted for another couple of hours. Just before 7pm, Lindsay and I took a short taxi ride to Holy Family Catholic Church where I finally got to attend Mass!!! Even though it was in Korean, it still felt wonderfully reassuring :)

After Mass we headed back to Villa 55 to meet up with the rest of the group. From there we headed to the Nile River for our long-awaited felucca ride!!! Though it was already dark, it was still wonderfully beautiful and relaxing! :)

boat dock

Cairo skyline and the moon!

myself, Jayde, Linsday, and Shahyn

After a lovely 2.5 hours floating on the Nile River, we decided to call it a night. Mahmoud, one of Shahyn's friends drove all six of us home in his tiny car! It's too bad we were so cramped, otherwise I definitely would have taken a quick photo! ;) Again, we got home late (after 2:00am), but it was a wonderful day spent with even better people!

Saturday morning we were up at the crack of dawn to go and get our visas renewed. I walked over to the other girls apartment where we then set off to our pick up point, Metro. We then drove into Rehab and picked up Amber. From there we headed straight to Tahir Square!! As tired as I was, I knew what a cool historical/cultural experience this was since the revolution was centered in Tahir Square. There is a strict no photos policy, so I can't show you what I saw. The government building was huge! 11 stories high with tons of tiny windows indicating the vast number of people who work there. We went quickly to the visa area where Bahaa, the human resources guru, did most of the work. Our physical presence was the only thing really required to hand our passports and paperwork directly to the clerk. After about 4 hours of standing and waiting, we officially have 3 month extensions on our tourist visas with a re-entry for the vacation in October! After a long drive back to Madinaty, I crashed for another couple of hours before doing some laundry and cleaning to prepare for the upcoming week.

Nile River during the day!