Cat in Vancouver: first week back...

Well, I've been back in Cairo for about a week- I would be lying if I said I hadn't been dreading my return just a little bit (okay, maybe a lot!)- in some ways I think I was remembering only the worst- it was actually really nice to see some of my coworkers again, but there are other things that I totally forgot about that I am having some trouble adjusting to again-- like how loud and inconsiderate people are, how dirty everything is and how I cannot be sure that water will come out of the tap when I turn it on each time... that REALLY sucks... sometimes we forget how lucky we are living in a first world country...don't take it for granted today while you're standing in a shower with perfect water pressure that allows you to completely rise the shampoo from your hair...

While I am pretty sure I don't want to stay here much longer, I am trying to make the best of it while I figure out what to do next-- I've re-joined my running club- we ran at the track on Wednesday night and this morning we did 15K downtown-- not my favourite route as even at 7am we were avoiding maniacal drivers, garbage, donkey carts, homeless people and animals (sometimes dead ones)-- today a flaming bus was also added to the obstacle course... my legs weren't tired but I had to stop because my lungs were burning... someone told me that breathing the air here is like smoking a pack a day, and I believe it...

On the plus side, we had ou

r weekly breakfast at one of the runners' houses, this particular one happens to live in a houseboat on the Nile. Here are a few pictures from today.... some of the runners after breakfast; the view from the houseboat; and something that reminded me of home-- a rowing practice!

Right now I am borrowing someone's unprotected wifi signal, but I got a usb modem yesterday-- it's not easy to set up, but once I have it working I will be able to connect to the net from my laptop anywhere i want-- it should make the drive to work a little more tolerable...