Yes – It has been a LOOOOONNNNNGGGG time (a month – almost to the day) since my last post. Yes – there are reasons. Mostly because it has been unbelievably busy here. In a nutshell – The beginning of March was also the beginning of midterms. Student panic. Papers. Writing and grading exams. The weekend… Continue reading In like a lion….out like a lamb
Author: Kaddee Lawrence
Moving – AGAIN
Well, actually, we are moving for the first time SINCE arriving in Cairo. AND the move is not that catastrophic, in that it is within the same building AND on the same floor. However…moving still sucks! I’m not sure if I’ve posted about this before, but our previous apartment had a distinct flaw in its… Continue reading Moving – AGAIN
Nasturtium
It is mid-February. The “changeable” weather is here. Warm one day, cold the next, windy the following. The nasturtiums are blooming – I had to smile at their happy flowers.
Winter Graduation
Somehow, I got “finagled” into going to AUC’s winter graduation. REMEMBER, I’ve only been at AUC for 1 semester, I don’t know any of the students graduating. But, as is so often the case with faculty and graduation, most of the faculty DOESN’T GO. The AUC graduation is split into 2 parts: the awards and… Continue reading Winter Graduation
Settling in (again)
The first week of the new semester is over. I only put in about 50 hours this week – getting the kinks worked out, dealing with the students trying to either add or drop my classes, finding my way again. It is the same everywhere, and yet I sometimes wonder if I have it better… Continue reading Settling in (again)
Finding balance in Dahab
Jack and I knew we needed a “vacation” after the family left. We’d been trying to decide where to go/what to do since early December. The first thought was Petra, Jordan. Everyone we spoke with said we’d freeze our butts off in Jordan in January. We contemplated “Mombasa, in a barroom drinking gin” – you… Continue reading Finding balance in Dahab
My maid won’t let me water my plants
Yes, it is true. My absolutely wonderful, Ethopian maid has forbidden me from watering or otherwise tending to my house plants. The one that started this whole thing is my “Devil’s Ivy” (Epipremnium spp) plant. They are EVERYWHERE here and I, apparently, nearly drowned mine. She gently rebuked me and said I was not allowed… Continue reading My maid won’t let me water my plants
“They” say…
“They” say it happens to everyone. “They” say it is normal. “They” say it is inevitable. Well…it has happened to me. The numbness and lethargy, mild depression, diffuse home-sickness, general ennui of being a new ex-pat. I had read and heard about the “crash”, but it hadn’t happened to me. The initial euphoria passed and… Continue reading “They” say…
All good things must end
As must the family visit. It was busy, crazy, exciting and just plain good to see family. In the last few days between returning from Luxor and everyone heading home (via Milano – lucky dogs!) we packed in more sight-seeing and some relaxing. The morning we got back from Luxor, Jack called Al Italia to… Continue reading All good things must end
One last Christmas present
Our final day in Luxor – we board the sleeper train at 9pm to head back to Cairo. We were exhausted from the Westside. We slept in. It was a beautiful day. What would the day hold? Well…I had one last Christmas present to deliver to the family. They didn’t know about it, so we… Continue reading One last Christmas present