Stop lights, drinking fountains, bathroom, and lightning
i'm sure you all thought we were going to play the "one of these things is not like the other..." game, but i'm sorry to disappoint you. i am happy and proud (i guess?) to say that i am back in good old Orange City, Iowa. It was kind of a three day trip from northern Israel to hear with a lay over in Cairo; but i made it and couldn't be better. I definitely miss Agouza, but as i look outside at the superbly green (if something can be superbly and color?) grass and tilled fields i can only count my blessings.
With all of my travels, as i'm sure you've all experienced, i think i calculated about 46 hours of no sleep. However, when i got home i couldn't wait to look at all the little trinkets i had purchased in Egypt :) Thankfully, i didn't have to work today and slept in (as if you all needed to know that...?)
Here are a few of the "oddities" i noticed when i flew in (this is copied and pasted from an email i just sent, so forgive me for the repeated parts, longevity, and "non-MESP" audience. i don't feel like retyping it :)
After a nearly three day trip from Tiberius to Jeursalem to Taba to Elat to Cairo (all bus) to Frankfurt to New York to Detroit to Omaha (airplane) to hug my parents and brother and then on to Orange City (by car), I am not as tired as i thought i would be. One good night's sleep and i am swell.
There are many "oddities" that i notice about this country of mine. After exiting JFK airport, i looked and saw no cars coming, and proceeded to cross the road. However, out of the corner of my eye I saw a man waiting...i realized he was waiting for the walking light to change and then i realized that there were stop lights on this road and then i realized that i had to obey them again. In Cairo few of the stop lights are used. They exist, but are dark and non-functional. As i walked through the next airport i ran across a drinking fountain (actually two next to each other). I took a drink and had an epiphany! I no longer had to pay for water and could drink anytime i wish. This greatly upped my already excited spirits. I possibly overused the drinking fountain (if this is possible) and thus had to go to the bathroom (normal, i think). I was easily pleased when i remembered how numerous, FREE, and clean the bathrooms in this country are (yes, even those at roadside gas stations:)
Finally, not to imply that these are the ONLY four oddities i am acutely enjoying, i was honored to have a near front seat to an amazing lightning show on the way home from the airport. God is good. The irony is that one of the many things i was excited to see in Iowa again was (is) the thunderstorms...it was a great day to be home.
My parents treated me to an 11 pm breakfast at the Sioux City Perkins where i enjoyed a tremendous 12. Four hearty blueberry pancakes (YES!), 4 over easy eggs, and four strips of bacon...I cannot explain to you how superbly delicious it all was. I must also say that i did not finish it on my own...you may be thinking, "What? he couldn't finish that bit of food?" You're thinking correctly. I have found that my stomach has shrunk over these past two weeks. This is due to my Israel trip. We ate bread and peanut butter in the morning and falafel sandwiches at night. Two smaller meals a day :) except for one day we splurged and ate Thai food (very good by the way). Needless to say, while i could have finished the tremendous 12, i was full before i was finished. I'd like to think i could always eat this little, but i'm afraid this will not be.
With all of my travels, as i'm sure you've all experienced, i think i calculated about 46 hours of no sleep. However, when i got home i couldn't wait to look at all the little trinkets i had purchased in Egypt :) Thankfully, i didn't have to work today and slept in (as if you all needed to know that...?)
Here are a few of the "oddities" i noticed when i flew in (this is copied and pasted from an email i just sent, so forgive me for the repeated parts, longevity, and "non-MESP" audience. i don't feel like retyping it :)
After a nearly three day trip from Tiberius to Jeursalem to Taba to Elat to Cairo (all bus) to Frankfurt to New York to Detroit to Omaha (airplane) to hug my parents and brother and then on to Orange City (by car), I am not as tired as i thought i would be. One good night's sleep and i am swell.
There are many "oddities" that i notice about this country of mine. After exiting JFK airport, i looked and saw no cars coming, and proceeded to cross the road. However, out of the corner of my eye I saw a man waiting...i realized he was waiting for the walking light to change and then i realized that there were stop lights on this road and then i realized that i had to obey them again. In Cairo few of the stop lights are used. They exist, but are dark and non-functional. As i walked through the next airport i ran across a drinking fountain (actually two next to each other). I took a drink and had an epiphany! I no longer had to pay for water and could drink anytime i wish. This greatly upped my already excited spirits. I possibly overused the drinking fountain (if this is possible) and thus had to go to the bathroom (normal, i think). I was easily pleased when i remembered how numerous, FREE, and clean the bathrooms in this country are (yes, even those at roadside gas stations:)
Finally, not to imply that these are the ONLY four oddities i am acutely enjoying, i was honored to have a near front seat to an amazing lightning show on the way home from the airport. God is good. The irony is that one of the many things i was excited to see in Iowa again was (is) the thunderstorms...it was a great day to be home.
My parents treated me to an 11 pm breakfast at the Sioux City Perkins where i enjoyed a tremendous 12. Four hearty blueberry pancakes (YES!), 4 over easy eggs, and four strips of bacon...I cannot explain to you how superbly delicious it all was. I must also say that i did not finish it on my own...you may be thinking, "What? he couldn't finish that bit of food?" You're thinking correctly. I have found that my stomach has shrunk over these past two weeks. This is due to my Israel trip. We ate bread and peanut butter in the morning and falafel sandwiches at night. Two smaller meals a day :) except for one day we splurged and ate Thai food (very good by the way). Needless to say, while i could have finished the tremendous 12, i was full before i was finished. I'd like to think i could always eat this little, but i'm afraid this will not be.
posted by Dunkleburger at ٩:٤٨ م
1 Comments:
I'm glad you finally got your pancakes. I will, in shah allah, be having my own very soon. Here's too a long travel period (imagine me raising a glass of beer- or maybe water, water goes well with pancakes). Anyway, it's late, and I might be getting delirious as I wait for this late night taxi to the airport.
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