Reality

Assalam u alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu,

I was going to set the title for my post yesterday as "And Now Reality Sets In" but today that makes things sound really pessimistic. Alhamdulillah "reality" was very good today. Today I was alhamdulillah much quicker at remembering words and rules and understanding what the teacher was saying. (Writing in English feels funny. Please forgive me if my grammar slips a little; I am in a place neither wholly English or Arab.) Today our lesson was about "Maktab al-Barqiyah wal maktab al hatif" which is the telegram office and the "phone" office (like the Centralis that we called you from before). We also did the lesson about time and how to write the time from the clock as well as the months of the year and the seasons. I really get mixed up with the genders when I'm doing numbers because for example, when you have a number between 3 and 10, you use the opposite gender form for the word. For example, thalata ashhur instead of thalath ashur even though shahr is masculine. I hope I don't sound like I'm trying to impress anyone with my Arabic (Abdullah, Khadija, Sauleha, did you hear that?!) but I am just trying to give you an idea of what I'm learning.

My teacher is incredible. He is more my friend now than a teacher. Everyday he commutes for an hour and a half on a bus to get al-Diwan and teaches all day, from eight o'clock in the morning till seven-thirty at night. That's his schedule everyday except Friday.

In appearance, he is pretty fit, without any excess fat or paunch. He has a reddish beard that is not very long. His skin is light-coloured and he reminds me a lot of Zachariah al-Khatib in terms of mannerisms and the way he gestures with his eyes and eyebrows. Insha'allah I'll try to get a picture of him and send it to you if we can find the time to get a firewire.

I think we know need to start cooking ourselves. We could eat Tomatoes three times a day for four months, but I don't know if that is efficient or healthy. Insha'allah on Friday Mustafa and I will get some meat and rice and tomatoes and try to make some salan. (oh boy.)

Mohammed el-Ramly called today.

What else is there to say? There was a fog over Cairo this morning. Cairo is most beautiful in the morning. There aren't any smooth-looking youth smoking cigarettes or honking cars, nor is there the stinking smell of cigarettes or sheesha (I think its called sheesha here, not hookah. I'm not sure about that, though). You can feel the ancient-ness of Egypt emanating from the ground, as if the city had existed for eons. I realized that I know nothing; I have seen nothing; I have done nothing. There is so much of the world that I have not seen or even dreamed of.

(That's supposed to be optimistic.)

(I think.)

Ma 'asalam,

~Ameer