Having been terribly bored in my Egyptian class the last few weeks, I decided to see if I what the next level was like. I got to class at 9am, and tried the 4th level of Egyptian Arabic. Nothing short of amazing. I am much happier in this class, and decided to switch. Sure there are lots of things that I don’t know yet, but I would rather be challenged then to be sitting in a classroom wishing that I was somewhere else.
Arabic Foosha is getting more complicated, with all the new vocabulary and grammar structures. Mostly this is because this session of Arabic is focusing on politics and the language of newspapers.
After class today, I walked home with a couple of classmates. Instead of waiting in a taxi for a half an hour or more, we decided to walk. It takes a lot of concentration going over the bridge, over the Nile, to get to Zamalek from Mohandeseen. It still takes the same amount of time, but I suppose it feels like it is going faster because you have physical movement. Walking towards all the car exhaust wasn’t so pleasant, but enjoyable walk nonetheless. Then we decided to go get a coffee at Simonds.
Simonds has the best cappiccino’s in Zamalek, and has been in Cairo since 1889. It reminds me of a cafe that you would see in Italy.
I got home, and then went out right away while I still had the energy to go and get some things. I went with Ginger downtown to get more paint and some gesso.
Yesterday I bought wood panels, that I will paint on. I bought 3 of them, and they are bigger than me. It is so exciting and I look forward to the potential of what will happen to the surface. Today I put the first layer of gesso on these three panels.
One thing that I know to do next time is to have panels that are thicker, since these are so large. I think that usually people want to have thin panels because they want to save money or to have it be lighter in weight. It is very important to have something that is sturdy. There is always a learning lesson in every project.
After I get back from Alexandria on Sunday, I will begin painting them and putting Arabic calligraphy on them as well.
