Saturday, October 1

Can it really be October? It seems that the first day of October brought some cooler weather with it. Today was the first day that I haven't turned on the air conditioner. It's so nice to have the windows open with a fresh breeze coming in. There seems to be a different feel to the air. It's not as heavy and oppressive as it was before; instead, it hints at the cold months that will eventually come. I love it.

Since Joe's in America, it's been an extemely quiet weekend for me. I would have hung out with some people from school, but since they all live in a different section of the city, I was too lazy to go all the way there. Instead, I've just been bumming around the house.

The neighbor's asked if they could show our apartment to some people since we told them we are moving out. Unfortunately for me, the house cleaning woman didn't come today, so I spent a good deal of the day mopping floors, dusting, etc., etc. I forget how much work it is to keep this place clean. The neighbors have instructed me three times not to tell the people how much we pay. I guess they are hoping for much more than Joe and I pay.

The funny thing is that Joe and I don't really have a place yet. We may have a place in Maadi (where the other teachers live) if the man living there now decides to leave. If he doesn't, then we have two weeks to find a new place. That's life, I guess. We're hoping we can find something that's not too outrageous, but that has better appliances than we have here. It's like this place is sending us signs. The air conditioner, the washing machine, the TV, the faucet - all of it's going to hell. The aches and pains of renting in Cairo, I guess.

Tonight, I was walking by the brand new cafe that opened across from us. I can't quite figure out what was going on over there, but I think they were slaughtering an animal in front of the cafe. There were people all gathered around, and I thought I saw a man flipping a slab of meat on a table. Another man was hosing off the sidewalk. There was a pretty bad stench wafting in the air as well. I just don't get it - are they slaughtering an animal because Ramadan is coming soon or is it because the cafe opened? I'm probably way off.

You see, it's always interesting. I know I say it often, but sometimes it's as if I wake up suddenly with the feeling ,"Where am I? How did I get here?" How did I get here? I guess that's the randomness of life. You never know where it will take you.