So we can ignore that weird middle part of my day... that part where I took a 4-hour nap, ran errands and had a group meeting.
That just leaves the beginning and the end.
The day dawned early. Too early. I was the opposite of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when I got up at 7:30am. (Blurry-eyed and un-bushy-tailed?) Abdalla and I were going to check out the post office, which I've been curious about since I got here, before heading to the Turkish Embassy for a visa.
There is only one post office in Qatar, from what I've been told (though I have seen other ones in strip malls...). Everyone has their own PO box number, so you never actually put a street address on letters and packages going through the post to Qatar. Personally, it doesn't quite seem like there were enough post office boxes for every person in Qatar.
Architecturally, it resembles a pigeon roost, which is what the website says it is supposed to look like. Something about letters being like roosting pigeons or something. It just reminded me of the Pigeonhole Principle. I'm such a nerd.
In addition to a bunch of post office boxes, there was also a QNB branch (a bank), a few random windows to purchase stamps or exchange money, and a little food shop where we got breakfast. Carack and a spiced cheese roll...
The Embassy took no time at all (since we were told there was visa-on-arrival for both of us) and I was back home... for my nap. Tonight was a wonderful CMU tradition.
The day before Reading Day (the day with no tests in the middle of finals week), the faculty and staff of the Pittsburgh CMU campus stay up until the ungodly hour of 9:00pm to cook omelets for the students during the annual "Almost Midnight Breakfast."
Rachelle, one of the CMU alums who currently works here in Qatar, has advocated for this event, and I loved it. At CMU-P, it is held in one of the largest spaces on campus, and I don't really know who is making my omelet (if I even decide to get an omelet with the huge lines). Here, I knew every faculty and staff member, at least by face if not by name. In addition, I could wander among all the different groups of people, since I knew most of them too. It's the little things, such as attending an event for two hours and feeling like it breezed by. Also, just to clarify, 9:00pm is not "almost midnight." Not if you've ever had a project due at midnight...
People are trying to get me to stop talking about leaving... but it is what's on my mind these days. Sadly, taking the place of studying and projects that need to get done! Today I spent the day helping Khaled, Samreen, and Keghani with planning the CS End-of-Year Banquet. I sat by a card that people were signing for Dean Thorpe; I got very craft-y and cut out and glued together placecards; and I designed and cut the name tags.
Basically, I sat at a table and had fun while Khaled ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, Keghani kept mentioning things that Khaled needed to do, and Samreen was upstairs exhausting herself with another project.
But, the event was a success! Samreen and I started by making the Computer Science Pictionary words into slips of paper, then attempting to print from the stubbornest printer ever. So I missed the opening, which included a geeky facts quiz about the professors that Keghani put together.
Janahi and Ahmed, a pair of guys that seem attached at the hip, helped with a slideshow of nerdy quotes (including some good Chuck Norris ones) and customized pick-up lines for each professor. These lines might have included jokes about hard- and software, shortest path algorithms, optimizations, and single hops... a computer science love-fest.
We had good food, some music provided by Kaleem... and then the skits.
This is totally something only CMU-Q can do. (I take that back... there are some professors and students at CMU-P that are distinctive enough to do this with.) First go the students: we pick a few professors with some quirks and create skits revolving around them.
My favorite was Khaled-as-Majd, a bipolar, marker-throwing tyrant who cares. Janahi-as-Khaled-Harras (my networks professor) had some nice moments too.
Next, the professors to get to jab at the students that are perpetually falling asleep in class, that ask a lot of questions, and that are just very distinctive in their walking or talking. "Janahi" and "Ahmed" were in a few different skits; "Khaled" had a in one as well.
We were all cracking up; it was like all of SCS was in one, great joke.
I didn't want to leave! It is an "end-of-year" thing, so everyone was talking about the future or the past. I still can't focus on the "now" of finals next week.
I can, however, focus on the "now" of finding people to hang out with. While on my way out, I ran into Fatima, Maria, Waleed, Hira, Zaid, and others playing charades on the cut with movie titles (a popular game around here). So, of course, I sat and gave my two cents, making Waleed act out John Tucker Must Die. (He didn't succeed, just for the record.)
I saw them again as Abdalla and I were headed out of EC. There were four of them that were very close to jumping into the car and heading to City Center, but they were smarter than we were and went off to prepare for finals week.
This weekend, I signed up for the "Undergraduate Conference for Information Systems." The main reason? Because today they took us on a desert safari.
I believe the term more widely used around here is "dune-bashing."
There were about two dozen of us in eight Land Rovers, driven by guys who would do this on the weekend anyway. Our drive, Mahmoud, was probably enjoying getting his car full of girls (and Abdalla) to cheer as we bounced around in the sand. After a little under an hour's drive to the Mesaieed area, all of the drivers got out, deflated their tires, and after that... no roads, just sand.
And, like always, the most thrilling part was coming up to the crest of a dune and only seeing sky in the windshield, until slowly it pivots down until all you can see is sand.
I didn't hurt that as soon as we started the real fun, he put on current pop music with some great pounding bass as a soundtrack. We spent a good hour trundling around, stopping every so often to take pictures on the top of this or that dune, or overlooking the Saudi Arabia border (that's as close as I'm going to get to a country that's not very easy to enter as a tourist... a female one at that).
After the amazing dune-bashing session, we stopped at a camp alongside the Arabian Sea for our late lunch. They pulled out a volleyball, which we tossed around for quite a while. (It was clear that the drivers were way more practiced than the students). Then there was a bit of wading (my pants are still damp), a bit of posing with a camel (which stepped toward Allan every chance it got) before the call to dinner. I had smelt the meat being grilled for a while, so it was easy to sit around, dig into the pita (that no one around here calls pita, they just call it bread) and dips and hotdogs and kabobs, and chat with the others around.
The way back had a few little hills and bumps, but the most fascinating part was seeing the amount of people around. As it was getting dark, we went down a dune to a flat area, where there was a Cruiser drifting with another dozen parked toward it, watching; right next to it, a steep hill that a half a dozen Land Cruisers were waiting to race up and coast (slide) down. There were little 4x4s and dune motorcycles and buggies doing their thing too.
Not to mention the vehicle every twenty meters along the beach having a family cook-out. I'm convinced that the half of Qatar that doesn't go picnic on the Corniche on Fridays after prayers goes to Sealine.
I got in the spirit by wearing "traditional" Pittsburgh clothing - a fleece, a hat, a scarf, and gloves... not many people noticed, in the sea of beautiful, multicolored traditional dress. The great part is, people weren't necessarily even wearing their own country's!
KayKay in Singaporean and Urmila in Indian garb (I think).
Varun, his Desi self.
The Student Affairs staff (in random travel wear)
Tessa in something I'm assuming is from Brunei.
My beautiful Sudanese girls!
Boys from the subcontinent (and Shaza still looking gorgeous). (Note Allen's wrap! Knees!)
Arash in eastern Iranian wear (because apparently they differ... and I'm not sure if I got the east versus west thing right; it actually might be western Iran).
Samreen in her pantsuit (and I'm wearing pant I got in India)!
Mathew just wore a dress shirt (boring) but Shahriar (front left) got in the spirit with his Bangladeshi clothes.
Jimmy wore something from a Middle Eastern country... can't remember which one, but he didn't have anything from Kenya to wear.
Some of my favorite traditional costumes, though, were the ones where the guys were allowed to wear shorter skirts than I am! Besides just wandering around and taking pictures with people (and eating food), there was the International Day show that Fatima and Maria put together. Being on "Arabic Standard time", it was scheduled to start at 5:30. At 8:00pm, the first act (Mridula doing an awesome traditional Indian dance) was just finishing up.
There were other Indian dances, a Dominican song (sung by Melissa, our study abroad coordinator), an African dance, a Bangladeshi anthem, an English poem, a presentation about Azerbaijan, an impromptu salsa/latin dance session, more dabkeh, an Iranian dance (that was also performed at Coffeehouse), and I'm sure there are other performance I'm forgetting.
What I won't forget, though, it how people reacted to those performances. For a few of the dances, instead of just sitting and watching, people from the crowd stood up and joined in! The final dance, an encore performance of the "Desi Dancers", turned into a giant jumping mob. It was a bunch of fun.
As if that wasn't enough for a day, Abdalla gave me a ride to Ezadin Towers (yet another fancy hotel!) where Kelsey was throwing Ziad a surprise party! We weren't there for the actual surprising, but we were there for the cake.
When the cake was getting lit, the manager was having a hard time lighting them... so another guy with a lighter came up and started helping him. Then another guy. There were eventually half a dozen people gathered around these 20 candles trying to get them lit! We sang "Happy Birthday" in English and Arabic, then he blew out the candles.
Then, the photo shoot started. Ziad was wearing a striped shirt, as were another two or three guys at the party. So after the group picture, all of them jumped in together... someone yelled "Arab picture", and all of a sudden the photo shoot got "racist."
They didn't leave anyone out... there was the Africans, the East Asians, those from the subcontinent, the Khaleejes, the "white people"... Just goes to show how diverse this place is!
After the final photos, a few of us ended up at the souq, enjoying some karak and sheesha. They kept flipping channels on the TV we could see, but on every channel, Fred knew exactly what was going on. And I think Ziad (the birthday boy) had a good time.
If it looks like I'm blowing away... I am! It was super windy and actually sprinkled a bit. (The waiters broke one of the large umbrellas trying to take it down, and some of the sheesha stands - that weren't being used thankfully - got knocked over.)
This morning I was up bright and early. Sheikha Mozah (the "queen" of Qatar) was supposed to come and we were supposed to have an EC-wide picture and I was supposed to be in it.
But, mystery of all mysteries: it rained (and thundered and lightninged!) overnight, so it was canceled! We still showed up, and Abdalla and I snacked on the remains of a buffet breakfast, but no picture.
What really crushed me was this e-mail I got later:
Sadly, due to inclement weather the Annual Photoshoot with Her Highness has been canceled. The Qatar Foundation hopes to reschedule sometime in the fall.
The fall?! I won't be here in the fall... Though I hear she is coming to the ABP commencement (according to my roommate who attends), but that is later in May. Not thinking I'm going to delay my trip just to see the Sheikha, as cool as that would be.
A nap improved my mood (though I am still being a "bad" TA and not going to the class). Instead, when I got up, I headed straight for office hours then my own class.
A lot of today was spent doing my ROTA teaching (which I have pictures of now! I'll just post them next week). Two boys from Cornell, a girl from Cornell, another girl from Carnegie Mellon, and I are presenting a poster at CMU's Meeting of the Minds about what the RAEL (ROTA (Reach Out To Asia) Adult English Literacy) program is and our curriculum development within it. That took up the rest of my day, including my dinner time. Since I've been on such a health food kick (not... cookie dough sadly is not health food), I decided around midnight to make some chocolate chip pancakes.
And, of course, cooking alone is no fun, so Fatima-and-Maria (those two are attached at the hip) came over to help my eat my blobby creations. They turned out better than my cookies. Breakfast at midnight is the best! (Too bad it isn't waffles though...)
After another lovely night of sleep (sorry I keep mentioning it, but one forgets how wonderful it is!), I woke up and spent the morning catching up, working on final projects, writing some postcards, turning in some homeworks early (gasp!)
This afternoon was the first Ultimate Frisbee scrimmage I've been to in a while. It is getting hot, so they booked the field from 4pm until 6pm, when there is a bit of a breeze and the lower 90s weather is decreasing down into the 80s (35C to 30C). I played pretty well; (Professor) Khaled kept making me run, but we won in the end.
After a very productive day, I was excited for my adventurous evening. The first "adventure" was going to the residence halls' event and making fried ice cream... I've always wondered how it works, and the secret is to wrap it in a slice of bread, then refreeze it, then fry the outer bread. So easy, so delicious, and so, so wrong.
Next was the search for dinner, which was quickly found when an event at CMU-Q had half of the members it was supposed to. A buffet was set-up, and I met some more random EC people (as I do fairly often), and hung out with Sidra, Zaid, Omer, Abdalla, Fatima, Maria... my inter-uni group that always entertains me.
Then, it was time for the event of the night... a Qatari football match! Two of the best teams in the country were opposing each other. (I didn't realize there was more than one team in Qatar...) Over 15,000 people turned out to the stadium, and it was definitely different than other matches or games I've been to. First off, there was the price... 10 riyals is less than $3. Even very low-ranked baseball games are $5, so this was impressive for me (though not for Abdalla). Next was the cheering: it was very musical, with drums and horns and clapping. No spelling out words or cheerleaders, just beating and chanting.
Next, of course, was the concept of the "family" section. I was a bit at first that we weren't in the male section, where all the cheering was going on, but after ten minutes of their incessant cries (which were very clearly and loudly heard from our side of the stadium), I was glad we were a bit removed.
There was no halftime show, no loud peddlers selling peanuts (though there were quite ones selling candies and scarves), and no assigned seats.
There were, however, little bundles of squares of paper that, when something exciting happened, or just when one felt like it, one could toss in the air like confetti. I wanted a packet, but never got a chance to buy one. It was halfway through the second half (and Abdalla had hinted a few times to leave, but I was still enjoying myself), and all of a sudden, a dark little boy, holding a packet of papers he has picked up from the ground, begins talking to me in Arabic.
I immediately turn to Abdalla to see what the little boy wants, and they have a conversation that ends with him giving Abdalla one of the papers. He turns to me, I smile and ask for some, and he carefully peeled off three from his rubber-banded stack. (See? He already likes me more than Abdalla.) Little Omar had stolen my heart right then and there.
I was so infatuated with his cuteness that when he passed by again (after giving the rest of his papers to other random white people in our row), that I had Abdalla take a picture of us. And the rest, they say, is history:
(I mean, the rest is actually that he went back to his family and collecting papers, while Abdalla, Maria, Fatima, Zaid, and I went to bandar for some carrak and a chat, in addition to singing obnoxious songs and helping me with my Urdu. I'm supposed to learn to count with this. Even when we left after midnight, there were still Qataris out on the road celebrating their win.)
How many hours of sleep has Corinne gotten in the last four days?
Food is a much better subject. I grabbed a quick dinner at LAS with the Urdu-speaking gang (who constantly had to remember that I was around, and switch to English).
Then, there is this vending machine in the rec room at CMU-Q that is wonderful. For 1 riyal, you can get a juice box (mango even!) or some chocolate wafer candies or some chocolate cookies. For 3 riyals (just less than a dollar), you can get a mini-cup of hot chocolate (which isn't well-mixed, so there is this huge sugar rush at the end).
There is a cluster of computers in the room right next to the rec room... can you guess where Khaled and I have been coding for the past few days? Nothing is better at 2am than that hot chocolate.
Today, my Service Design group (Maria, Fatima, Mathew, and Ghada) spent an hour wandering between a few of the libraries at EC, researching for our re-vamp of the CMU library.
We have TAMU-Q first:
Next was Northwestern, up on the third floor of CMU. Even in this part, you can see why people make fun of them for being "Barney" and proud of purple.
Next we glanced in at the LRC (Learning and Resource Center)...
... which is right above the library of ABP (the Academic Bridge Program). Georgetown is in the same place (the Liberal Arts and Science - LAS - Building), so we went to the School of Foreign Service library (with a great little cameo by Fatima). We actually found our library head there, doing his own research through their archives. Traitor. (Or he knows where to find the information, which is his job.)
I stopped into the Islamic Studies library, which was right next door.
If it looks like all the libraries are empty, they weren't. Around here, there are a few people who are sensitive about having their pictures taken, so I just avoid the issue by avoiding taking pictures of them.
As a final random note, as I was wandering around EC tonight, there was something going on at the Ceremonial Court - some rehearsal for something. If anyone knows what this "something" is, let me know... the music sounded good, and I think I saw some dancing!
I've decided that the ECQC people (*cough* Varun *cough*) owe me a t-shirt for my kind and thoughtful lending of my laptop for displaying the slideshow during the event today.
Someone get on that.
I was sitting doing nothing (well, actually laying down, thinking about napping, but not actually able to) when I get a call from Varun. I had taken my computer to him yesterday about not being able to access the internet, and it was a stupid proxy problem that I should have been able to find myself. Anyway, he noticed it was a Toshiba, with an S-Video socket, and so asked me to lend it to him. I said yes, and that I'd be at uni in less than 30 minutes.
I hop in the shower, and by the time I get out, I have a missed call. I called back, and it was two of the ECQC crew, waiting outside the dorms to get the laptop! I dressed and hurried it downstairs, then ran into Daedri on the way up. We had a chat about our spring breaks as she had some of my cookies. Meanwhile, I got to be laptop-less for an hour before ECQC, which forced me to find people to hang out with. Shaza and Amal and a few others were in the library courtyard, so I chatted with them until Sidra and Abdalla and Maria and Fatima came up, so we could all sit together during the show. These event are just big EC reunions; they bring together all the colleges and you get to catch up with all sorts of people. Did I mention that Zaid was the emcee? And Varun was the head of it all... such an amazing job he did! Not only was every institution in EC represented by a team, but there were sponsors so the production value was very high. The winning team (which was Cornell by the way) got flat screens! Each of the three people on the team! The questions were pretty good, though some were very hard and some were less so. One of my favorites was showing a clip of this Youtube video and asking for the singer of the original song or the instrument the kid was playing on.
The correct answer is, of course, Jason Mraz or the ukulele. I think the team that didn't answer it correctly was a little too focused on the artist, because I would think they would've gotten ukulele. (That is also one of my favorite videos, for the record.)
ECQC lasted 3.5 hours (which is a bit long... that is one major criticism I had. Though part of it might have been because my computer crashed, so by proxy, my fault. But hey, they were running Windows!) After, there was a buffet, and I said my goodbyes to the IMPAQT group. There is a chance I will see them tomorrow (since they've wanted to see my dorm room to compare it to Pittsburgh) but I'm thinking they will have enough wrap-up stuff to keep them busy.
After talking with them, I'm very, very glad that I came here for an entire semester. A week is just not enough!
It is weird to think that 24 hours ago I was at the Taj Mahal. That also explains why I'm exhausted now.
Going this morning was worth it; I'm very glad we stayed in Agra for an extra day. I was up at 5:30, then waiting by the the West Gate when they finally opened it at 6:45.
The marble that the Taj is build from is translucent, according to Max, which explains the different colors it takes one in different lighting. The morning one is by far my favorite. I wandered the grounds for a few hours, then walked back to the hotel to get Max, get our things, and get breakfast.
Then, the hours of travelling started with a few minutes on a tuktuk, then five hours on a bus to Delhi. That five hours includes a rest stop, which has my official "worst bathroom in India" title. It also included puchina-flavored chips and "Tasty Tomato Fryms."
We got to a road right on the southeast outskirts of Delhi, and paid another auto-rickshaw probably a bit more that what was fair to get us to Max's aunt's house in the southwest.
I got an hour at the house, searching for and finding the backpack I had left there and raiding the fridge for leftovers.
I was cutting it close when I left the house at 18:00, since I was supposed to be checked in my 18:30. The cab driver got me there in record time.
However, Delhi airport has this convention that travellers must have print-outs of their bookings. Since the printer at the house hadn't been working, I had nothing.
I raced downstairs to the Jet Airways office, but was then directed upstairs. When no one was there, I prayed as I went back down that they would just give me the print-out instead of making me run back again. The agent, thankfully, gave we what I needed to get into the check-in desks, albeit a few minutes late. No one said anything, and I made the flight.
A few more hours until I was in Doha, getting picked up by Abdalla, seeing some friends, and feasting on shawarma. Home, sweet home.
While driving around today, Max and I saw "Indi...ah!" painted on the side of a bus. It was ambigious, so I'll offer a few different ways that I read it.
"Ah" like "Aha! I discovered something" : this interpretation is what I thought after I got India "figured out" on the second day. However, things never ceased to surprise me. At times, such as when biking through Rajashtan, I felt like an explorer among the people.
"Ah" like "AAAah! Help!" : this interpretation is what I thought about India while staying in some not so pretty hotels, while getting heckled on the street to give money or buy something, and when kids would grab at my bike or clothing.
"Ah" like "Aww, that's cute" : this interpretation was while I was around well-behaved children, who stared but didn't talk. It was the feeling I had when a family shared their sweets with Max and me at the Elephant Festival.
"Ah" like "Awe, pure awesomeness" : this interpretation came with the forts and the Taj Mahal, as well as the sunrise and the boat ride. I was blown away by those opportunities and sights.
"Ah" like "Ahhhh, a refreshing glass of water" : this interpretation came after we bought any 15-rupee bottle of water, and after showers at night.
"Ah" like "A...B...C..." : this interpretation didn't help us, since the majority of the signs were in script, which we couldn't pronounce.
"Ah" like "Huh? I can't understand you" : this interpretation happened a lot with rickshaw drivers and hotel owners. Every so often it happened with Max too.
And lastly, "Ah" like "I can't believe I just went to India." : this interpretation is by far the truest. And I am so glad to be home now, and thankful for this way of life. I didn't get a chance to connect with any Indians or very many other tourists while I way there, but I know that some winter, I'd love to come back to the south of India, and go through the jungles, waterways, and beaches.
I'm not done with India. But I am done with this blog post and ready to fall into bed.
Today dawned a funny yellow-ish cloud cover, probably left over from the fog last night. My day was very productive, bouncing from class to class, grading papers and coding. I guess that's why it hasn't sunk in that I'm leaving for Dubai in just a few hours.
I think it is also the fact that Dubai doesn't really seem like another country. The UAE is, but I'm thinking that I'll enjoy being a tourist again for a bit. I've lost that sense of wonder (and freedom and time-less-ness) around here. However, the days are still spinning by so fast!
People keep teasing me that I'm starting Spring Break a week early (since it begins on the 26th for me). But speaking of Spring Break, I'll have lots of adventures to tell you from the distant, wild country of India! While I was working (and wandering around) at uni today (yes, I'm using that word "uni"), I saw a whole production set up on the majlis. While I didn't get to stick around for more than a few minutes of the talk (and a few bites of the food), the speaker, Patrick Awuah. I'm not going to be able to do him justice, but the little that I caught was him talking about how the roots of problems come from apathetic leadership. His goal, then, was to groom young people into leaders that would make a difference. I'm sure Shaza and Maria and Fatima could tell you (since they are all lined up and attentive in the picture).
I tried to get ahead on my work for next week, since I'm leaving at 05:30 tomorrow and getting back at 07:30 on Sunday (just in time for classes). That leaves not very much time that I want to be doing work during the weekend. And I have I mentioned it still hasn't sunk in yet?
After a productive evening (so good to be saying that!) Abdalla and I splurged on TWO riyal DIPPED ice cream cones. Big spenders, I know, but I'm not going to be around in this currency for a full weekend... Instead I'll be using UAE dirhams. And, according to Google, 1 Qatar riyal is 1.00942492 UAE dirhams. So a one-dirham ice cream cone? Forget about it.
While I was around in my building, Daedri came up to say hi (and have a snack). I walked in on her this evening getting her hair extensions, so seeing the final product was pretty cool. And, a little bit more culture in my life, since I've never seen anyone get extensions put it. Six hours to get them braided in? That's a lot of patience! Daedri looks much different... but we're already enjoying playing with them.
I'm off to Dubai shortly! I'll have some internet, so still be posting (Insha'Allah) but it is traveling, so I can never guarantee anything!
A spectacularly unproductive evening followed what set out to be a good day to work on my Computer Networks project.
Lunch is a necessity, so I don't feel guilty for the hour there. Abdalla and I went to an Arabic restaurant, where I had rice and "meat." Here, there is chicken and there is meat. Meat translates into lamb or beef, because of the halal regulations banning pork.
Also, it was a Friday afternoon, so all of the families that just went to prayer were at the restaurant we were originally going to go to (where you sit and eat on the floor... way cool). The crowds reminded me of going out to brunch after church with my grandparents every Sunday when I was staying with them in D.C. Except, you know, Muslim. However, the distractions began at dinnertime.
The Campus Life of Qatar Foundation decided that they would do their part for Haiti, so I attended a fundraiser barbecue. The main food was similar: hotdogs and hamburgers. What wasn't the same was the sides: more pita, less buns, crepes, juice, chocolate pebbles. I got to run into all sorts of friends from the dorms: Fatima and Maria, Sabrina and Utsav, Michael and Zaid.
However, Daedri and I had to run. She had convinced to go meet some of her friends downtown. We got a taxi from Education City to the souq in what was supposed to be a short tea break with these "pilots-in-training" who are attending a pilots' school nearby. None of us were that hungry, so Daedri and I decided to be "adventurous" and try the "Selection of Moroccan Pastries." If you can't tell from the picture... it was the biggest waste of 20 riyals I've spent in this country. They were cookies (biscuits) from packages from a supermarket! The cheesecake was much better, so Hamed and Rushdy shared. They also wanted to share their smokes, but we both passed on that.
So now, I'm feeling a bit stressed, since there is only one day left in the weekend, and it is a bit full already. This week is going to be tough! Get ready for some short blog posts, people.
Turkish Embassy for a visa.
ething about letters being like roosting pigeons or something. It just reminded me of the Pigeonhole Principle. I'm such a nerd.
of 9:00pm to cook omelets for the students during the annual "Almost Midnight Breakfast."
wander among all the different groups of people, since I knew most of them too.
