No More Sitting Still!

Last night I came to the decision I would no longer allow myself to sit in my room and watch Youtube videos and stare at Facebook.  If I am not doing homework I must be at Pepsi Gate waiting to attach myself to the next unsuspecting group going out.  I have decided if I do not have plans of excitement with people I already know (which, as of now, are very few!), then I must join others on their random excursions downtown and abroad.  I can no longer wait for people to invite me, I need to stop being polite and start inviting myself!  So now I hope to keep this page flowing with exciting posts of my grand adventures.  It is difficult for one to have adventure when they are so isolated from the city!  Did I mention we are literally in the desert!?  Even when we tell the taxi driver where to go we will say “al gama Amrikee – fee sahrah” (in the desert). 

 

I have not been learning as much Arabic as I would like so I am going to start studying on my own.  In my Arabic class we are still learning the alphabet with very little vocabulary.  My goal is to be able to have simple conversations in Arabic by the end of the semester.  The following is my current to-do list for my autodidactism:

 

1. Practice reading and writing (especially how to connect letters)

2. Memorize 10+ vocabulary every week and know how to read and write them.

3. Read something in Arabic every day and learn 5+ extra vocabulary words from material read.

4. Practice and study with friends who are native speakers or have an advanced level of Arabic.

 

My semester seems like it will be fairly relaxed, so this extra studying is possible.  However, I will not allow the extra studying to get in the way of exploration and travel as these are my priorities while I am in Egypt.

 

I no longer allowed to whine “I still have to get out to the souks!  I need to see the streets of Cairo!”  It’s my own fault and I cannot make any more excuses for my own lack of adventure.  I’m a sad, sorry sap who’s wasted too much time sitting and sulking! Yallabina!!