DAY OFF, ROUND V

Working on my presentation.  It seems like no one but Marjorie Venit has ever written anything substantial on Kom el-Shoqafa.

Can I call the worship of one aspect of a god out of many micro-henotheism?

DAY OFF, ROUND IV

Henotheism (n.) – devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of other gods.

Whoops, seems like that wasn’t what I was looking for after all.

DAY OFF, ROUND III

Working on my presentation on Kom el-Shoqafa, the Great Catacomb.  Should be pretty cool.  Right now I’m writing about the blend of Greek and ancient Egyptian cultures that led to the symbolism found in the catacomb.

I’m trying to remember the term for the worship of one aspect of a deity.  Page just asked William what it meant a few days ago.  Why can’t I remember it?  Whyyyyyyyyy?!

P.S.

Lord help us, for Monika and I have found the upscale shopping street in Cairo…

DAY OFF, ROUND II

Cairo is so different from the Oasis. It’s much busier and more cosmopolitan, but has less fresh produce. It does, however, have about the same ratio of phone stores to residents…

I’m sitting in Costa Coffee on El Falaky Street, my new home, drowning in a cup of coffee the size of my face. Sad music (from that horrible CD they play over and over) surrounds me as I beg for forgiveness from my notebook of unfinished daynotes. I’ve been here way too long–the lights are starting to make everything blur together!

I’m hoping to get the chance to explore a little on my own on our next free day, since we’ve got a more flexible schedule now that we aren’t traveling. I’m interested in going to Zemalek, taking a stroll along the Nile, and (most of all) spending a day outside!

When I get back to Happy City I’m going to relax on the roof with my hookah and an episode of The Simpsons. For dinner, I’ll have these fantastic street-sandwiches of chili and green peppers that Adam and I have been eating almost every night. I’m killing my arteries, but it tastes so good!

DAY OFF

We were showered with white paint as we exited the library of the American Research Center in Egypt. It was the last leg of a long walk around central Cairo, for a little bit of business (getting our AUC library cards and finding the Rare Books building) and a little bit of pleasure (finding a tailor to shorten my cargo pants). Afterwards, Adam and I went off on our own to look for a BlackBerry in the maze of electronics stores, butchers and bakeries that is the Cairo city plan.

It feels good to be back in this place, with its dirty streets and well-dressed women, stinking fish markets and antique Victorian-style apartment buildings. Cairo is filthy and beautiful, the best of both worlds.

I am currently working (i.e., fixing my daynotes and doing some research) in the first American-style coffee shop I’ve encountered since New York.  Been here since 2:00, still going strong!