been busy

Hmm where to begin. I can't believe its been so long since I've posted. What a looser. Anyway, there are three things that I will talk about, and only three. I hope you like them.

1. Ramada is still going on, and I'm still fasting. I remember way back at the beginning (three weeks ago) I had focused on doing a week. But once I started, it never really made sense to stop. Go big or go home. As a result of my fasting, my understanding of all the things that go along with Ramadan have grown deeper. For example, its well known that everyone is cranky as shit during Ramadan. After working all day and not having anything to eat or drink, I can now relate. It's also well known that some of the best meals of your life will be eaten during Ramadan. There are two reasons for this. 1 Food tastes soooo much better when you're really really hungry. You simply appreciate it that much more after not having it for an entire day. 2 People take cooking to a whole new level when they're preparing for iftar (the meal that breaks the fast). I've had a number of fantastic iftars. The first was at Tom's place, a feast of Tai cuisine, with delicious coconut flavored chicken and pasta. Then there was Nisrin's incredible Iftar. She prepared a delicious ginger chicken dish complimented by Lebanese meatballs and home made hummus. However, this past weekend I had an Iftar that all Iftars wish to become. I was invited up to Taher's place (one of my bosses) in Alexandria to enjoy one of his mother's iftars, a feast unmatched. Walking into the dining room, I was faced with this...



Enough Said

And here's Dody enjoying his Iftar



2. Two weekends ago, Chris and I finally got off our collective asses and decided to finish the painting Kent and Megan left behind. It started with finding the same color paint (luckily it was the only blue they had in the paint store across the the street) buying all the needed supplies, and conning some of our friends to come and help out. We were successful on all fronts. Step one was of course to tape up all the trim. Without a latter, we decided that Chris being the tall handsome man he is, would use the table to reach the top trim. All went well until we realized how big of pain in the ass it was to move the table. The top and bottom of the table are not, how would you say, connect at all.


After taping, we invited Kelly and Andrea over to help out with the painting. And when I say invited over, I mean offered them food of their choice, drink of their choice, and sexual favors... of their choice. Painting went rather well, with only minor spillage. All in all it was a great time. The wall might not be, um, one color, but its many slightly different blue patches, when looked at from a distance, are actually quite beautiful.



And of course we had to break in the the new paint job with some beers.



3. So the last few weeks have been quite hectic, but the next three weeks are going to be even crazier. This coming weekend is Eid, the great feast at the end of Ramanda. A number of us are planning a trip to Siwa for the four day weekend. Siwa is an oasis in the far west of the Wester Dessert. When we get there, we will be camping in the dessert for three days and two nights. Activities will include horse back riding, sand dune surfing, and hot spring swimming.

Two weeks after Siwa Chris, Harrison (crazy Nigeria) and myself are on the facilitation team for AIESEC in Egypt's national conference. It's four days of pure AIESEC craziness. The latest numbers just came out, and we're expecting a delegation of around 280 members, with a team of 8 faci's. Should be fun fun fun. October is going to fly by.

Oh, and one last thing. This past weekend I went horse back riding in the dessert, with a horse that liked running fast. And while I screamed, Harrison surely screamed louder.