exhuastion, excitement, entertainment...

today is the first day i have nothing scheduled since i started working and taking arabic lessons. lianne and i continue our ventures around the city -- or at least this side of the nile :) the east side, that is. due to a sketched map that my friend drew, we are piecing together complicated cairo where straight roads are rare and traffic lights, painted lines, and arrows merely decorate streets.

i have some fun opportunities to hang out with my new egyptian friends. although the fun ensues, frustration creeps in as i assert twice the amount of energy to engage those around me leaving me exhausted. relationships are important to me -- i enjoy getting to know people and finding out what they think and who they are. however, lacking arabic-speaking skills greatly hinders, or greatly slows, this process. most of the time, this motivates me to study harder and spend more time with my friends, fellow teachers, and other arabic speaking people. but there are times when i feel like a burden to those who must translate.....or feel awkward as conversations continue and jokes are laughed at....and i have no idea what's going on. this is a good portion of the time.

this is inevitable. my determination to learn constantly brings me back to these situations where, as awkward and sometimes annoying as they can be, i can learn. patience with myself and others is so important, but this is way easier said than done, especially when you're the outsider.

while on our adventure about (lianne's canadian...notice her influence upon me?) the city, we happen upon a starbucks. we enter - mistake number one. we order - mistake number two. we indulge - mistake number three. we'll stick to more domestic enjoyments from now on.

all in all, i'm learning a lot (obviously), enjoying my new life in egypt, and setting practical expectations for myself -- i will not learn arabic overnight, and once i do become more proficient, i will NEVER be a native speaker. such is life. but i will do my best to learn as much as i can while i'm here and have a great time doing it. i feel like i'm giving a motivational speech of some sort. silly me.