Tuesday, December 23, 2003
On vacation in Murfreesboro until January 5th. I'll resume posting from shortly after January 9th. I know it looks bad having month-long postless stretches, but this is a travel blog, and there's nothing interesting to report from the Boro, except to mention that it was cited in a recent Strongbad e-mail.
Monday, December 08, 2003
Just a short note on my whereabouts. I'm in the Philadelphia area, sponging off of friends at Swat and in Philly for the next week, then going up to New York on the 14th and flying back to Nashville the next morning. After a few weeks at home for the holidays, I arrive in Egypt early on January 9th.
The frisbee banquet last night was a blast, with Roban, Ben Ben, Collin, and I (half the Earthworms class of 2003) making a surprise appearance. The team is recovering from a lackluster fall, and still waiting for Ben Saller, aka the Little Gay Mule, to fulfill his solemn vow to eat a cow's heart if Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor of California.
The frisbee banquet last night was a blast, with Roban, Ben Ben, Collin, and I (half the Earthworms class of 2003) making a surprise appearance. The team is recovering from a lackluster fall, and still waiting for Ben Saller, aka the Little Gay Mule, to fulfill his solemn vow to eat a cow's heart if Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor of California.
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Russia ditched the Kyoto Protocol Negotiations, explaining that complying was too costly, and Putin argued that Russia might actually benefit from global warming, saying:
"We shall save on fur coats and other warm things."
Fantastic.
As an excuse for my non-posting, I've been sick (now better), then getting ready to go back to the States, which is only a few days from now.
And I still don't really have time to post anything. I'll miss my Egyptian family, especially Hasna' (8) and Ali (3). The latter is the most rambunctious little terrorist I've ever seen. You may say that this is a negative stereotype perpetuated by the Western media, but it is true that a disproportionate percentage of three year-olds fit any reasonable definition of the term "terrorist". The other day, during Eid (the four days of celebrating and giving kids money and new clothes at the end of Ramadan), the family was out on their farm with the cousins, sitting around drinking tea, while Ali ran around amusing himself. He disappeared from sight, which is always a harbinger of trouble to come. 15 seconds later, he reappears, somehow amount a donkey, yelling and beating the donkey with a large stick. The poor beast of burden tolerated his new master for a ways, but after Ali intensified his attack, the donkey suddenly started galloping, if that's what donkeys do, just as the two crossed a bridge over the irrigation ditch. Ali held on for a while then took what looked like a nasty tumble. I was worried he might be hurt, but after a short pause he jumped back up, clapping his hands and screaming in delight.
"We shall save on fur coats and other warm things."
Fantastic.
As an excuse for my non-posting, I've been sick (now better), then getting ready to go back to the States, which is only a few days from now.
And I still don't really have time to post anything. I'll miss my Egyptian family, especially Hasna' (8) and Ali (3). The latter is the most rambunctious little terrorist I've ever seen. You may say that this is a negative stereotype perpetuated by the Western media, but it is true that a disproportionate percentage of three year-olds fit any reasonable definition of the term "terrorist". The other day, during Eid (the four days of celebrating and giving kids money and new clothes at the end of Ramadan), the family was out on their farm with the cousins, sitting around drinking tea, while Ali ran around amusing himself. He disappeared from sight, which is always a harbinger of trouble to come. 15 seconds later, he reappears, somehow amount a donkey, yelling and beating the donkey with a large stick. The poor beast of burden tolerated his new master for a ways, but after Ali intensified his attack, the donkey suddenly started galloping, if that's what donkeys do, just as the two crossed a bridge over the irrigation ditch. Ali held on for a while then took what looked like a nasty tumble. I was worried he might be hurt, but after a short pause he jumped back up, clapping his hands and screaming in delight.
