Filling the Days, Filling the Calendar

When you have a full-time job, a good chunk of your day is scheduled for you. You get up, you go to work, you come home, spend time with family, go to bed. Repeat. Your time at the office probably is filled with various tasks to be accomplished in a timely manner. And you usually see and talk to other people during the day. So when you don't have that day-filling, time-filling, social-functioning job, but you are a person who has those needs, you must look elsewhere to be fulfilled as a human being. Right? Well, I am one of those people who needs places to go and people to see. Go figure.

This morning I met a woman for coffee. We wound up talking for quite a length of time, and she asked if I wanted to hang out while she had her tennis lesson so we could have lunch together. It was a beautiful day so I hanged. Lunch was lovely and the company was great.

But what I realized the most is that I really do not only need to be out and about, but out and about and interacting with people. And not just a "hello" "how much?" "only looking" kind of interaction. But that getting-to-know-you thing or potential friend-building kind of socializing. I don't really think of myself as an easy socializer, but I do need it so I make myself do it. It's like taking a pill: it doesn't actually hurt, just need to remember to do it, and it is in fact good for you. If I forget? There are long-term consequences, like anxiety and depression and that's not good.

So as we were winding up our lunch time today, I decided to see what I could learn about Scuba classes. The Red Sea is supposed to be great!fantasticals!bestest! for Scuba. And I have always wanted to learn. (On a side note, when we honeymooned in Saint Lucia, I would have loved to learn but I wore thick glasses at the time and was concerned that I wouldn't be able to see much without my glasses and I didn't invest in a prescription mask just for the one time. We went snorkeling instead and LOVED it. They practically had to drag me out of the water. Since then I've had LASIK so the eye balls are functioning in HD now.) And now we have a wonderful opportunity to learn and a great chance to go diving multiple times while here in Egypt. The first part of the class starts .... TOMORROW! Good timing, eh? Tomorrow we'll get fitted (I'm assuming that's for masks, etc.) and then into the pool on Wednesday. Sweet! Something to do and it will be with other people who are interested in the same thing. Time-filling and social-functioning!

Also tomorrow, we are having a maid start coming. Labor is cheap in Egypt and everyone, EVERYONE, has a maid. We wound up hiring a Filipina. It is well known, "apparently," that Filipina maids are of a much higher standard than Egyptian maids, and will work much harder and pay more attention to details. The word is that they also cost more. Well, turns out that the Egyptian maid we interviewed wants about the same amount as the Filipina we interviewed. Once we took into account references and the language level, it was a no-brainer. So tomorrow morning I am supervising someone cleaning my apartment. (And I'm going to need to figure out what to get for cleaning since I don't have much yet.)

And I am scheduled to start Arabic classes soon. And I am meeting people and doing social-functioning time-filling fun-filled activities. And apparently that is what I need to do.