How many girls does it take to catch a cockroach?

Four, it seems. XD XD

The painters are finally gone (I think) and maybe we'll get our house back again, and do IMPORTANT STUFF like getting internet sleeping in beds again.

I had my test yesterday - after getting in a half-hour late XD XD XD See, I use my mobile as an alarm clock, and my mobile time is still set to home time, so when I looked at it and it said 5.30 I thought I had another hour of sleep XD XD completely forgetting about adding two hours. So I woke up fifteen minutes later, it suddenly clicked what the time really was, and I was all, 'ARGH LATE TEST SCREAMZ' and then decided not to stress because then I'd forget everything I'd learnt. So I took my time. Mosied to school. Waltzed in fashionably late and still finished the test before everyone else. I didn't notice two questions, which was dumb, so I got 37/40.

Went and hung out at Zak's yesterday. Is like a haven. Long walk home though. Still tireeeed. Had a nap in lesson today, and then sneezed unexpectedly (twice), and half my stuff fell off my desk. Too busy giggling to be embarrassed.

I am having a series of the weirdest dreams, involving people from school (putney), work, and the desert. Really interesting, but very weird.

Heidi is going to the 'mids on Freitag mith Zax and co - maybe they will ride camels! ^^

Sorry for not being interesting yet ever sporadically interesting. And anyhow, since my boss reads this, I have to censor my thoughts accordingly! Even if Wandsworth Borough Council don't believe in censorship, eh, John?

Counting down the days...nearly a month gone already, which means there's only 11 to go. Home home, sweet home, how I miss thee and stuff.

Still just want my mama, though.

It's getting cooler. When I walk to school in the morning, I can't stop staring at the sand. The light here is different. You know how in the morning, the light is pale blue? Here, it is bright orange. There is no pale blue light at all, at any time.

Yesterday, I made chicken. You want to know that? Yes. Yes, you do. I argued with my teacher the whole lesson (she keeps using the WHOLE. PAGE. for stars to say how great I am!)(WASTE.) and tomorrow we have a midsessional. Which they insist on calling midterms. Huh. I'm planning on a post-exam raid to Zakia's ba'da al imtihaan (POST-TEST)(see how much I learn?) and there will be merriment and stuff.

I am very tired. Being a mama is not something I am turning out to be good at. Did I mention everyone in my class is married? They're all pretty much my age, and they are so surprised that I'm not. It's odd to be the odd one out! In a left-out kind of way! XD XD

I miss my mama.

HELLO.

So sorry for not updating sooner...I've tried to distribute messages among people to tell other people I was okay!

Anyway, the long and longer of it is THERE IS NO INTERNETZ IN THE PYRAMIDZ. I mean, there is, but I've had insane amounts of trubble finding a net cafe that was close. I've found one that is almost next door to the first one we went to (which was RUBBISH), and the secind one we went to (a week later) was okay, but faaaaar. Leaving the house is no joke - 6 floors, and the lift doesn't work. I will be so fit by the end of the year, if the lift never gets fixed! I might not be recognisable! wishful thinkingXD XD

I've paper-diarised for a few days, so I'll save that for later. In the meantime - school, builders, dodgy stomachs and watermelons!

Not yet seen a camel, but my friend Pirosa (sp?) is going to see them on Thursday.

School! We had placement tests and they put me in level 2. The Markaz (centre) is a 12-minute walk from my house, and my classes start at 8. It's 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. Our weekends are Thursday and Friday - this is unusual even for Misr (Egypt), since the normal weekend is Friday and Saturday (yawm al jum'uah, and yawm al sabt - i.e. Jumuah and Sabbath). It's a bit odd when you think of Monday as midweek.

I really like the girls in my class - there's 7-ish of us - 2 Americans, a French girl, a couple of Russians/Slovenian/Dagistani, etc, most of whom speak good English. AND AND. ZAKIA. I bumped into Zax on our third day here, right at the school - turns out she was enrolling, too, and also lives ten minutes from us! She's over when she's free, and our class is at the same time, although she's in mustawa' level 3. So I get to meet the cool people in her class and we hang out together in our break. Our parallel lives continue, it seems. Isn't it funny? We cross continents and STILL we're only ten minutes away from each other.

The flat was a bit of a shock when we walked in - from what my cousin told us we were expecting...I don't know, something vaguely palatial, I guess. And I suppose it was - if you left the palace for about 16 years, and then flooded it so all the floorboards came off. So anyway, the floors are being retiled, which means builders everywhere, and then it will be repainted - which means painters will be everywhere. Woo.

8 minutes left, I'ma reply to some comments, kthxbye!

Gah, I am a tired person. I think my 4-day-old headache must be a tension headache or something, since sleep hasn't cured it.

I'm up early! Again! I have to burn some DVDs of all the stuff I've been ripping over the last few days. It's taking forever.

Computer-stuff: it won't be/isn't ready to take. Apparently, I bought the wrong kind of hard drive, but I really don't believe the guy who advised me could make a mistake like that. Maybe I bought the wrong one? Either way, it's all a bit pointless now, since we can't take it. Le sigh.

I've just started the burning business...*twiddle fingers*

Heidi came over to drop her luggage last night - they came reeeeally late (all the girls came, yay)(and Kaya)(and I haven't seen Kaya for a squillion vermillion years)(it was vey nice to!) and I was still frantically packing/unpacking/repacking. Mostly, it was boxing up the stuff on my desk and shelves, 'cause I don't want them sitting around gathering dust for a year. It was horrible to leave all that work to the end; all I wanted to do was go downstairs and spend time with mum.

I'm kind of just writing out of boredom now, and nothing better to do while my discs burn. Okay, one DVD is done. Next one!

I didn't get a chance to call everyone anyone last night, so please forgive me. You are all in my du'as and I will miss you. But you know! A year goes quicker than you think, and inshallah, we'll be back before you know it.

My usra/free: Always always in my duas, dunno what we'll do without you. Please call my mum every so often to make sure she's okay and to keep her company! I know she would appreciate it.

Maybe I should get breakfast. Yeah. I need to go to the library again because I forgot to take a couple of things back yesterday. 46% done!

47%!
48%!

*bored*

I just realised that Bry has a new blog for her transatlantical fantastickal adventures which lives aboard a pirate-ship, and the Captain said to meee...we're going this way, that way, forwards and backwards, over the whole of the sea; a bottle of rum non-alcoholic beverage to fill my tum, and that's the life for me!

Etc.

Packing like maniacs. Dropped in to the liberry this morning. Waah. =(

If only I could commute every weekend.

I got mum a chilli tree! Actually, it is a 'morris gaas' being as how I would never have said it in English XD

It would be really nice to have nothing left to do tomorrow...I'd better get off the spinsternet, I guess. XD XD

Today it's finally sinking in, that this is our last day. I've been up since 8 frantically ripping CDs (need sources of intellectual enrichment XD XD).

Everyone just realised that no one's packed any shoes yet, and the house rumbled with this collective groan of yet another suitcase. XD

The last few days have been an alternation of sitting on suitcases, and zipping them shut. Last night, we had some peoples over to dinner, which was when it finally began to dawn on me that we were really leaving. I can't uncouple the thought of leaving from thoughts of my mummy. We've been in a haze of anti-panic for the last couple of weeks, but it's finally finally descending into all-out chaos, panic and irritability. Potent stuff. XD

One last visit to the liberry (I still have books to return XD XD). I have a list of errands scrawled over my hand so I won't forget them.

Dear Everyone at BTP,

Thank you so so so much for yesterday. I'm so touched, and so sorry to be leaving! 'Everyone' includes all the staff (obviously!), the postman(!), the kids (<3), and ALL the borrowers! It's been a great six years - for everyone who came yesterday, it was so nice to see you! Those of you who couldn't make it, I'm sorry I didn't see you, but I was thinking of you.

I don't know how you feel about being named on the internet (dun dun dun!) so I won't, but the card! It was so nice! THANK YOU.

My little brother's nabbed my football stickers and almost claimed the chess set, the card makes me choke with laughter every time I open it, the book will finally get to see all the places it talks about but has never visited (hah), yet an0ther book will stay firmly undercover (oo the new Artemis Fowl is out!!) and the chocolate and polos will be selfishly carefully savoured for as long as possible, when I'm as far away from BTP as I've ever been. And the cake? The cake is only a distant gastric memory.

I'm sorry I couldn't oblige you with the appropriate tears (hah!), but I came home and wept for England. So there we are!

I'm extremely jealous of how much fun the Saturday kids will have without me (*pout*) and soon there will be a new Fab Four and you will be GREAT.

Also, Blogspot is weird. I may migrate to a different one soon, because I'm too dim to figure this out XD XD

And Kas, MR. POSTMAN IS GREAT.

So!

This will be my Egypt blog. Eventually. When it starts working.