5/28/07

I actually have work sitting right beside me...I will do work tonight, i will do work tonight, i will do work tonight....

Today was a pretty standard day at the lab...actually not so standard, my material just got extremely complicated for myself, but for the most part in a good way...a challenging way. I learned so much today and I'm sure I will learn more in the next few.

In the bathroom at the site there is this gecko that hangs out on the walls (I started using this bathroom after I got my period since there is a waste basket in there...I no longer use the mastaba spot), He is a pale yellow and blends in the the walls. The bathroom there, as I'm sure I mentioned before is just a hole in the floor basically...it's really hard to aim when you're a girl by the way. Anyways...the gecko is in there a lot since there are a lot of flies. He startles me every time I go in there. Today I saw him go for the kill and grab this huge bug with his mouth. I was most intrigued so i watched him wrestle it and prepare his meal. He kept shaking his head violently, bug clenched in his mouth. He then jumps back when he sees me...shakes his head some more and then the next thing I know I have a half alive bug whizzing past my face...yes..the gecko threw the bug at me. When I went inside and explained the story to Richard and John, Richard said that perhaps it was an offering and that the gecko was trying to please me...John agreed adding in that I do spend a lot of time in the bathroom...which is tue, because as most of you know I have the saddest excuse for a bladder, and here I drink 5 bottles of water and about 4-5 cups of coffee...maybe tomorrow I will keep track of how many times I pee...but maybe that is very unnecessary information, if you have spent an afternoon with me, you know how it goes. In fact, my first day here Richard took me aside to check and make sure I wasn't have intestinal/bowel issues already....it was a really awkward an embarassing conversation partly because I think he might not have believed me at first when I just said it was my bladder,,,but now I think he knows I was telling the truth since I'm a pretty consistent pee frequenter...

Oh wow..my entries have regressed into discussion of urination..I need to get out of here...

Another thing that has been bothering me is not being active. I work all day of course, but I just sit at my lab table. I don't do very much walking, I don't get a lot of exercise and I always led a pretty active life before coming here. I can't really do any exercise outside either because it's too hot, and jogging is not something you do in Cairo. Today, I was so desparate to do some sort of exercise activity that I tried to make a jump rope in my room...it didn't work. So instead i turned on some music and danced around my room for a half hour...laugh if you will...but there's nothing wrong with dancing by yourself after a long day's work.

Speaking of long day's work..tomorrow i don't have to work all day! I'm not sure if we are working a half day and finishing at 1:30, or if we are going to return after lunch and work until 3:30. Apparently we are meeting up with another zooarchaeologist that Ricahrd knows.

We are also only working half of the day on Thursday because we are moving out of the Villa and into the large apartment for the rest of the stay. After Thursday we are on our own with laundry and meals. I've been kind of spoiled these past 3 weeks in terms of that. We will probably eat a lot at that one delicious restaurant I write about. The other night between two people there was a plate of falafel, a mashed bean and herb salad called bassara, pita and baba ghanoush, tomatoes and cheese (which i didn't eat of course) and 2 cokes all for under 6 dollars...it's incredible...one of the best restaurants i've ever eaten at, with the best middle eastern food, costs less for two people, than my shampoo and conditioner did...less than 2 boxes of granola bars that I bought...it is unreal.

All in all,..yay for short weeks! It is almost the 29th...which means, only 16 days until I get on a plane! Only two more Fridays of Egyptian excursions.