Takin' It Easy at Karnak
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Sunday, February 21, 2010
My Friend
I just got to hang out with Monte for the weekend and I've got to say that if there is one person's friendship that I truly value from my time in Egypt, it would be Monte's. There are few people in this life that you meet and thoroughly get to know and all I can say is that I have been blessed to have a guy like Monte be one of those people. The guy is is an inspiration with his discipline, dedication to not short changing himself with life, his conviction, his courage to follow what is right, and his honesty. I feel like I am lucky if I find a friend that has one or two of the traits that I just listed and that is why I am blessed to have a friend like Monte.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Continuing to Serve
In some ways I feel like I've become selfish since I've been back. When I go to classes, I feel like it is all about me. It's about me absorbing the material and then spending a lot of time studying it so I can do better. I know in a lot of ways that it is pretty irrational to feel like I'm selfish because I'm using my time to open up more doors for my future, but coming back from Egypt kind of changes my perspective.
Tonight, I was doing room check and one of the guys on my hall got to talking with me. I've been pretty sure for awhile that he is depressed, but I came to a full realization that he was depressed when he randomly mentioned to me that he hadn't been eating and he gets really tired all of the time. We chatted a little bit more and then I realized that I was 5 minutes late for our RA Meeting.
I ran over to the dorm and got heckled by an authority figure that I just don't really click with, but it was worth it because the guy on my hall is worth infinitely more than the AF being annoyed about my untimeliness.
The meeting got out and I got this idea in my head (God?) that I would give my taco's from "Taco Tuesday" to the guy on my hall. I came back to the dorm and grabbed some fruit, oatmeal, cereal, and some canned food from my puny stash of food and brought it up to him. I think the look of his gratefulness will probably stick with me for awhile. There are some people that just say "thank you" because it is a cultural custom, but he was genuinely thankful. Giving him some food reminded me of the finer things in life- helping people because, for me, that's practical Christianity.
Tonight, I was doing room check and one of the guys on my hall got to talking with me. I've been pretty sure for awhile that he is depressed, but I came to a full realization that he was depressed when he randomly mentioned to me that he hadn't been eating and he gets really tired all of the time. We chatted a little bit more and then I realized that I was 5 minutes late for our RA Meeting.
I ran over to the dorm and got heckled by an authority figure that I just don't really click with, but it was worth it because the guy on my hall is worth infinitely more than the AF being annoyed about my untimeliness.
The meeting got out and I got this idea in my head (God?) that I would give my taco's from "Taco Tuesday" to the guy on my hall. I came back to the dorm and grabbed some fruit, oatmeal, cereal, and some canned food from my puny stash of food and brought it up to him. I think the look of his gratefulness will probably stick with me for awhile. There are some people that just say "thank you" because it is a cultural custom, but he was genuinely thankful. Giving him some food reminded me of the finer things in life- helping people because, for me, that's practical Christianity.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
A Morning Sat Remiscing
I woke up this morning and was thinking about what my focus is in life right now. I've pretty much summed it up to this: STUDYING, finalizing the details on a solid, ENJOYABLE career, deepening my relationship with God, starting healthy, straightforward, honest relationships with people, and becoming a good athlete again. I look at where I am this school year and where I was in the 2007 school year and I my priorities have changed.I still feel my demons in the closet struggling to get out and go wreak havoc on my life, but they don't speak to me as loudly or maybe I'm just learning to tune them out.
I'm back at Walla Walla U. and at times it feels like I didn't even go last year. The school is the same and none of the buildings have disappeared. The good friends that I made are still here. The cafeteria food hasn't changed. They still serve Sobe's in the SAC for outrageous prices and I'm still disappointed by the fact that the ice cream machine still isn't fixed- damn, but maybe that is best since I'm trying to be an "athlete" again...
Everything seems the same, but I know I'm different. Sometimes I feel like nothing has changed, but I know I've changed in a lot of ways. When I got back to the US for my first two weeks of being home, I struggled with acting like the person I was in September 2008 and being the "Eric" that had grown up a bit while being in Egypt. The two seemed to clash a little bit and since the "Eric" prior to going seemed the most normal and could blend in with the family, so I chose that. It didn't last long until I realized that the two don't go together very well and my sense of peace was going away.
So here I am back at WWU and I've been thinking about the experience of being in Egypt. I remember the distinct musty, stale, polluted taste/smell of the air in Cairo. I remember my laughing, excited "hellions" for students. I feel the hot sun and the nights of not being able to fall asleep because my sweat made the sheets stick to my skin. I taste the morning beans for breakfast and the scrumptious Egyptian version of spaghetti, Kushary. I'm to the point where I actually wouldn't mind having some rice with Ayesh and a nice eggplant sauce. I hear the blown-out speakers of the mosque making the "call to prayer". All of it is so far away, but somehow I've been changed by it. As I sit here recalling all that happened around me, to me, and inside of me I can't help but think that somehow on the 6th of October, 2009 I'm a different person. I'm still figuring out how, but one thing that I am certain of is that Egypt did change me.
I'm back at Walla Walla U. and at times it feels like I didn't even go last year. The school is the same and none of the buildings have disappeared. The good friends that I made are still here. The cafeteria food hasn't changed. They still serve Sobe's in the SAC for outrageous prices and I'm still disappointed by the fact that the ice cream machine still isn't fixed- damn, but maybe that is best since I'm trying to be an "athlete" again...
Everything seems the same, but I know I'm different. Sometimes I feel like nothing has changed, but I know I've changed in a lot of ways. When I got back to the US for my first two weeks of being home, I struggled with acting like the person I was in September 2008 and being the "Eric" that had grown up a bit while being in Egypt. The two seemed to clash a little bit and since the "Eric" prior to going seemed the most normal and could blend in with the family, so I chose that. It didn't last long until I realized that the two don't go together very well and my sense of peace was going away.
So here I am back at WWU and I've been thinking about the experience of being in Egypt. I remember the distinct musty, stale, polluted taste/smell of the air in Cairo. I remember my laughing, excited "hellions" for students. I feel the hot sun and the nights of not being able to fall asleep because my sweat made the sheets stick to my skin. I taste the morning beans for breakfast and the scrumptious Egyptian version of spaghetti, Kushary. I'm to the point where I actually wouldn't mind having some rice with Ayesh and a nice eggplant sauce. I hear the blown-out speakers of the mosque making the "call to prayer". All of it is so far away, but somehow I've been changed by it. As I sit here recalling all that happened around me, to me, and inside of me I can't help but think that somehow on the 6th of October, 2009 I'm a different person. I'm still figuring out how, but one thing that I am certain of is that Egypt did change me.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Giardia = Fun???
Yep, the title says it all. I've evaded all the nasty stuff that Egypt has to offer: Schistosomiasis, Rabies, Malaria, etc. but I finally got hit with the one of the smaller guys- Giardia.
Over the past weekend we went to the Field President's house, which is something we SM's always look forward to because they feed us tons and we just get the chance to relax. The weekend wasn't so relaxing for me this time around. I shamefully ate a minimal amount of food and sat and my butt because I was just straight up SORE! I'd lifted weights two days in a row before, but I wasn't expecting the kind of soreness I ended up getting. I figured I'd just run my body into the ground by the week's activities and didn't think much of it other than wow my body aches. Then, the fever started, then the diarrhea, then the bloating, then the absolute loss of appetite, and then somewhere in between all of those MAJOR gas issues smelling like rotten eggs. At first I kind of enjoyed making Monte and Daniel suffer, but then it just became overpoweringly obnoxious.
So, by the end of the weekend I hardly ate anything and then came back to the school and was thinking, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY STOMACH!?!" Then I remembered that the school nurse had put out a notice that Giardia was running through the school. So I checked it out and, YEP, all most all of the symptoms lined up.
Now, I'm on my first does of "flagyl" ( the pills dissolve really fast, pretty bitter stuff) and I'm relishing the fact that this parasite that is causing me to suffer is also joining me in my suffering. The saying is all too true- misery loves company. Well off to the toilet and then to classes again!
Over the past weekend we went to the Field President's house, which is something we SM's always look forward to because they feed us tons and we just get the chance to relax. The weekend wasn't so relaxing for me this time around. I shamefully ate a minimal amount of food and sat and my butt because I was just straight up SORE! I'd lifted weights two days in a row before, but I wasn't expecting the kind of soreness I ended up getting. I figured I'd just run my body into the ground by the week's activities and didn't think much of it other than wow my body aches. Then, the fever started, then the diarrhea, then the bloating, then the absolute loss of appetite, and then somewhere in between all of those MAJOR gas issues smelling like rotten eggs. At first I kind of enjoyed making Monte and Daniel suffer, but then it just became overpoweringly obnoxious.
So, by the end of the weekend I hardly ate anything and then came back to the school and was thinking, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY STOMACH!?!" Then I remembered that the school nurse had put out a notice that Giardia was running through the school. So I checked it out and, YEP, all most all of the symptoms lined up.
Now, I'm on my first does of "flagyl" ( the pills dissolve really fast, pretty bitter stuff) and I'm relishing the fact that this parasite that is causing me to suffer is also joining me in my suffering. The saying is all too true- misery loves company. Well off to the toilet and then to classes again!
It's Getting Hot in Here
108 degrees yesterday. 104 degrees today. Ahhh, yes what I was expecting when I left the US. It is finally starting to really steam up here and I will be honest that I am glad about it. I was expecting it to be 115 degrees when I landed here and to be coming to the desert, but my haphazard research on the weather turned up to be QUITE inaccurate.
When I got here it was pretty hot and it kept me awake at night for a week or two, but ever since then it has just gotten colder and colder. I will admit that about 75% of my time in Egypt I have been cold! I didn't bring any proper winter gear because I thought to myself, "Pah! I'm headed to Egypt, it's the desert and deserts only get cold at night and in that case I'm just going to cuddle up in my sweet little sleeping bag." Wrong, DEAD wrong. It got down to about 40 for a lot of winter and I was just going IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE COLD!!!
Anyways, enough said about the weather other than I am excited about it, but I'm guessing by the time I leave I'm going to be crying about how I miss the cold. However, for the meantime, I'm going to attempt to use up the wild amount of deodorant that I brought with me.
When I got here it was pretty hot and it kept me awake at night for a week or two, but ever since then it has just gotten colder and colder. I will admit that about 75% of my time in Egypt I have been cold! I didn't bring any proper winter gear because I thought to myself, "Pah! I'm headed to Egypt, it's the desert and deserts only get cold at night and in that case I'm just going to cuddle up in my sweet little sleeping bag." Wrong, DEAD wrong. It got down to about 40 for a lot of winter and I was just going IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE COLD!!!
Anyways, enough said about the weather other than I am excited about it, but I'm guessing by the time I leave I'm going to be crying about how I miss the cold. However, for the meantime, I'm going to attempt to use up the wild amount of deodorant that I brought with me.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Slammed, BUT Ready for Some More
The last few days have been SO BUSY!! I'm in charge of a field day for 156 Sudanese kids from a nearby grade school and it has been quite the challenge to organize the day. The kids are coming tomorrow and today I'm asking myself, "Do I have everything ready!? Is it all taken care of? Did I make any mistakes?" I'm such a procrastinator by habit and I don't want to put anything off on this one. I want it to be good. I want it to run smoothly and the kids to have a good day.
Anyways, so as to why I'm feeling slammed. I've spent over 20 hours on this thing for the past three days and my body flat out told me, "NO" last night. I worked on this project from 1pm-12:30am, with a two hour break to go workout and eat dinner. So, when I finally had everything completely lined up I decided to go to bed. As soon as I stood up, it was crazy, I just started feeling cold and by the time I got to my room I was shivering. I ended up shivering until 3:00am and the whole time I was thinking, "Great... I work on this thing like a donkey and now I've got a fever... Fantastic."
I woke up this morning at 6:30 and I feel just fine. No symptoms of fever. I'm not even tired and I've actually got a bit more..."spunk" to me than I've had over the past two days. I'm excited about this field day. My students are excited about it. The other staff are excited about. All the excitement gives me the energy to push on or my body is taking a serious beating and I'm going to feel it when this is all done, but for now I'm alright and ready for some more!
Anyways, so as to why I'm feeling slammed. I've spent over 20 hours on this thing for the past three days and my body flat out told me, "NO" last night. I worked on this project from 1pm-12:30am, with a two hour break to go workout and eat dinner. So, when I finally had everything completely lined up I decided to go to bed. As soon as I stood up, it was crazy, I just started feeling cold and by the time I got to my room I was shivering. I ended up shivering until 3:00am and the whole time I was thinking, "Great... I work on this thing like a donkey and now I've got a fever... Fantastic."
I woke up this morning at 6:30 and I feel just fine. No symptoms of fever. I'm not even tired and I've actually got a bit more..."spunk" to me than I've had over the past two days. I'm excited about this field day. My students are excited about it. The other staff are excited about. All the excitement gives me the energy to push on or my body is taking a serious beating and I'm going to feel it when this is all done, but for now I'm alright and ready for some more!
Jordan Day 5: Returning to the "Adoptive Motherland"
Petra to Aqaba:
I woke up early again and got on a bus headed to Aqaba. The bus driver wasn't the nicest guy, to put it nicely. He told me there weren't any seats left- even though there were six of them- and that I needed to take a taxi. I told him that it was REALLY important for me to get on the bus because I'd miss my ferry if I didn't. After about two minutes of me practically pleading, he said, "fine, but you have to pay an extra JD." I laughed inside because the whole time he just wanted more money, but I couldn't do anything because I was a captive to his game.
The ride was embarrassing, to put it lightly, because my feet stunk REALLY bad. I hadn't taken a shower the night before and made the bad choice of wearing flip flops. Let's just say that I had a refresher in "Hygiene 101". I laugh now, but the smell was so bad that the guy next to me was covering his nose with his jacket!!
When I got back to Aqaba I jumped off of the bus in quite the hurry because I was embarrassed about my feet. I got in a taxi and headed for the port to Nuweiba. When I got to the port I went to a bathroom and washed my feet off! After that I got my ticket taken care of, with a few hang ups. Evidently my $50 wasn't good anymore because it was the old one and so I had some challenges there, but it all got taken care of. When I was on my way out of the office, I stepped on a kitten sitting by the door. I will admit that I jumped and the ticket agent joined the throng of one of many Jordanians that laughed at me. I said goodbye and walked out of the place.
I asked around for where I should be going and they pointed me towards the bus depot down below. While I was on my way down there I ran into the guy that was my traveling buddy at the beginning, Andrew. It was good to see him because he was a familiar face and we sat down to talk about our adventures of the trip.
Time passed by and soon we loaded up on the ferry to Nuweiba. Once again, it left two hours late, but it was all good because I wasn't in a hurry. If I couldn't catch a night bus to Cairo, then I knew I would have to stay in Dahab for a night and do some free diving the next day while I waited for the bus out- bummer! The ferry ride was good. Andrew and I talked about life, traveling, he gave me advice on careers, recommendations on places to see in countries, the character of God, how things change in life, swimming, and smoking. It was a good conversation!
When we got to Nuweiba, somehow we ran into a German guy, Matthew, and he decided to stick with us since we knew the place. We went to get our re-admittance visa and the guy canceled my 12-month visa since I left the country. I'm still not sure if he was just trying to scam me for $15 or not, but I'm leaving in 6 weeks so I'm not too worried about having a Travelers Visa. We walked through security without any problems, even though the "metal detector" went off. I love the security checks in Egypt! I always get a laugh every time.
After the security check we jumped on a mini bus to Dahab with two other Australians and three people from New Zealand. For the life of me, I can't remember their names and it's killing me! The bus ride was quite the party since all of us had a lot of stories to tell from our trips. The two Australians, a couple, had been traveling for five months and had six more to go before their world tour was over, or until they ran out of cash. The three New Zealander's, a guy and two girls, were on a three month travel through the Middle East and Egypt was their last stop.
When we got to Dahab we all decided we'd go out to eat together after they'd gotten their rooms. I went for an hour and a half swim that was truly amazing! I felt like I was thrashing about for the first half of the swim, but as time went on "the feel" came back and I just cruised. That's one thing I've missed a lot here, swimming!
After my swim we went to dinner and relaxed together. I gave them "the lowdown" on Egypt and they told me about India because I have an immense amount of interest to travel there. We finished up with our dinner, said our goodbyes, exchanged our emails, and Matthew and I headed off to the bus station. The bus ride to Cairo went by fast since I slept the whole way. It ended up that Matthew came and stayed with me at the school for a few nights, as he explored Cairo. Then he went to Luxor and came back for two more nights to stay before he headed back to Jordan. He was another really good guy I met on my travels.
In conclusion of my travels to Jordan I will say that I really did have the time of my life. I don't think I enjoy traveling alone very much, even though I met a lot of people, but it's just nice to have a friend along. Jordan will forever stand out as my first time really going out on my own, though, and what a good first experience!
I woke up early again and got on a bus headed to Aqaba. The bus driver wasn't the nicest guy, to put it nicely. He told me there weren't any seats left- even though there were six of them- and that I needed to take a taxi. I told him that it was REALLY important for me to get on the bus because I'd miss my ferry if I didn't. After about two minutes of me practically pleading, he said, "fine, but you have to pay an extra JD." I laughed inside because the whole time he just wanted more money, but I couldn't do anything because I was a captive to his game.
The ride was embarrassing, to put it lightly, because my feet stunk REALLY bad. I hadn't taken a shower the night before and made the bad choice of wearing flip flops. Let's just say that I had a refresher in "Hygiene 101". I laugh now, but the smell was so bad that the guy next to me was covering his nose with his jacket!!
When I got back to Aqaba I jumped off of the bus in quite the hurry because I was embarrassed about my feet. I got in a taxi and headed for the port to Nuweiba. When I got to the port I went to a bathroom and washed my feet off! After that I got my ticket taken care of, with a few hang ups. Evidently my $50 wasn't good anymore because it was the old one and so I had some challenges there, but it all got taken care of. When I was on my way out of the office, I stepped on a kitten sitting by the door. I will admit that I jumped and the ticket agent joined the throng of one of many Jordanians that laughed at me. I said goodbye and walked out of the place.
I asked around for where I should be going and they pointed me towards the bus depot down below. While I was on my way down there I ran into the guy that was my traveling buddy at the beginning, Andrew. It was good to see him because he was a familiar face and we sat down to talk about our adventures of the trip.
Time passed by and soon we loaded up on the ferry to Nuweiba. Once again, it left two hours late, but it was all good because I wasn't in a hurry. If I couldn't catch a night bus to Cairo, then I knew I would have to stay in Dahab for a night and do some free diving the next day while I waited for the bus out- bummer! The ferry ride was good. Andrew and I talked about life, traveling, he gave me advice on careers, recommendations on places to see in countries, the character of God, how things change in life, swimming, and smoking. It was a good conversation!
When we got to Nuweiba, somehow we ran into a German guy, Matthew, and he decided to stick with us since we knew the place. We went to get our re-admittance visa and the guy canceled my 12-month visa since I left the country. I'm still not sure if he was just trying to scam me for $15 or not, but I'm leaving in 6 weeks so I'm not too worried about having a Travelers Visa. We walked through security without any problems, even though the "metal detector" went off. I love the security checks in Egypt! I always get a laugh every time.
After the security check we jumped on a mini bus to Dahab with two other Australians and three people from New Zealand. For the life of me, I can't remember their names and it's killing me! The bus ride was quite the party since all of us had a lot of stories to tell from our trips. The two Australians, a couple, had been traveling for five months and had six more to go before their world tour was over, or until they ran out of cash. The three New Zealander's, a guy and two girls, were on a three month travel through the Middle East and Egypt was their last stop.
When we got to Dahab we all decided we'd go out to eat together after they'd gotten their rooms. I went for an hour and a half swim that was truly amazing! I felt like I was thrashing about for the first half of the swim, but as time went on "the feel" came back and I just cruised. That's one thing I've missed a lot here, swimming!
After my swim we went to dinner and relaxed together. I gave them "the lowdown" on Egypt and they told me about India because I have an immense amount of interest to travel there. We finished up with our dinner, said our goodbyes, exchanged our emails, and Matthew and I headed off to the bus station. The bus ride to Cairo went by fast since I slept the whole way. It ended up that Matthew came and stayed with me at the school for a few nights, as he explored Cairo. Then he went to Luxor and came back for two more nights to stay before he headed back to Jordan. He was another really good guy I met on my travels.
In conclusion of my travels to Jordan I will say that I really did have the time of my life. I don't think I enjoy traveling alone very much, even though I met a lot of people, but it's just nice to have a friend along. Jordan will forever stand out as my first time really going out on my own, though, and what a good first experience!
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