We are already well into November. How did that happen? If we're not careful, two years will have flown by and we won't have done half the things we wanted to do here!
My Arabic classes have finally started. It seemed so much easier to learn Spanish and Italian. Fortunately, Egyptians are very happy to see Americans trying to learn their language so they will practice with you. (In fact, yesterday I practiced with one of the Embassy drivers, and he fed me lunch.) In my class there are three other students: one from Italy, one from Japan, and one from Korea. Interestingly enough, I have spent a year in Italy, 10 days in Japan, and some very long hours in the airport in Seoul. It is funny to hear the Italian throw in a few words from her native language under her breath and I understand, even though it was been 20 years since I heard Italian regularly. (As a side note, she didn't think some of the hand gestures I remembered were appropriate for a grown woman to make. Go figure. Seems that the teenager in me still lives!)
Anywho, classes are started and I have learned "my name is ...", "what is your name?" (both masculine and feminine versions, my address, my telephone number (and numbers 0-10), "where are you from?", "what country/city are you from?", "what is your nationality?" An interesting array of questions to start a conversation. But honestly, it is not easy. There are all these sounds that we aren't use to making, like "ah" but pronounced from the throat. Do it over and over and you might find yourself lightheaded. And the "kh" which is pronounced without the "k" (or if it is there, I can't hear it) and is a very hard "H" sound. I have another class today.
The husband and I also started our scuba classes. This course comes with a big study book. So there is plenty of homework to go around. Last week we did our first confined water dive, which means we geared up and got into the pool and breathed under water! Many of you know that I grew up in a pool, not a house, so it should be no surprise that I love the idea of breathing underwater. And even as scary as it might seem to rely on equipment to breathe, it hardly required any faith to actually test it out; we were in 4 feet of water. When I put the regulator in my mouth and went under for the first time, it was almost underwhelming. Not sure what I was expecting -- perhaps the world was going to turn over and the sky was going to become pink -- but I could still breathe just fine, go figure. The gear does require much thinking and if you aren't used to thinking about breathing or how you breathe, learning scuba will probably change that for you. (You might also want to try mediation for a dry land experience on breath awareness.)
We moved about the pool with all our gear on and were underwater for about a total of 30 minutes, in just a few minute increments. It is pretty amazing. There are a total of 5 in our class, another couple and a single man. The other woman was told to relax. A lot. And I thought I could get tense about things like breathing. Anyway, our second class is tonight!
Let's see what else has been going on. I went to the general's house last night with a bunch of spouses (including a husband) from the husband's unit. Met some new people. Heard what the general views as the issues that might be concerning the spouses and listened to the issues the spouses had. Not many complaints at all. There is a pregnant woman who is getting the run around from the insurance people about where she needs to go to give birth. Apparently someone thinks she should go to Germany to give birth because it is closer than going to the US. (Uhhh, where is she going to live Germany? What kind of support system would she have there while she waits to get her child a passport so she can bring him/her back to Egypt? I don't think someone thought that through all the way.) At least the general is now aware that this is an issue and hopefully she can get what she needs.
Our neighbors at the Coptic Church continue to have lots of celebrations. This past Tuesday the music was blaring and then the traditional wedding recessional music came on so I peeked out the window. Then traditional Egyptian music, think fiddle, started up and we saw the bride and groom going into the church. She was all in white and the groom was in a black suit. When the car horns started to call out into the evening, the wedding was over. But each night since there has been some sort of celebration next door at the church community center. Ululating. Music (at a reasonable volume). Car horns. It is already beginning to blend into the background noise of the neighborhood.
Well, that's it for now. Gotta go to a bazaar at the local expat community center and then Arabic. And I need to instruct the maid on cleaning the bathroom mirror.
