It's been a week I think since I've lasted updated. Time is starting to go by slightly quicker, which I guess is due to the fact I'm getting more adjusted.

Awhile ago, I talked to the guy across the hall from me, Ibrahim, for about 10 minutes. I think I mentioned in an earlier post how I didn't understand anything he said to me when I first got here, but our last conversation was somewhat decent and I think I comprehended about 75% of what he was saying. It's cool, of course, to know I'm getting better, but the 25% of what I didn't understand is the hardest part, and will take many years and cost hundreds of live to learn.

I and some of the flagship students went to a cafe last night to watch the game between the U.S. and Ghana. It was highly disappointing because I thought we were gonna make it to the quarterfinals, but that's soccer for you. A guy there stopped and asked me if I was from Sweden; so far, I've had guesses of Sweden, Russia, Germany, England, and the Netherlands haha. I suppose being an ambiguous-looking white person has it's advantages.

Speaking of which, last Friday evening I went to a market with a friend name Scott, and a friend named Hannah, the other student from OU. We eventually made our way to the Corniche (I don't know how to spell that in English, only in Arabic, ha) and along the way I got stopped by a group of people, and there were two girls who said "welcome to Egypt" to me. I said thank you, in arabic of course, and turned around. Two seconds later, one of the girls jumps in front of me, and grabs onto the shoulder straps of my backpack, and starts screaming to me in Arabic saying she wants to marry me haha. She wasn't joking or anything like that, it was pure desperation due to the fact I am American I guess. Luckily, her friend eventually pulled her off of me, but not before the approximately 50 people within earshot got to hear the whole fiasco.

The next day, I went with my friend from Alexandria, Gamal, to tour some churches in the area. We found out the Pope of the Coptic Church was going to be at one of them for a monthly meeting. My friend asked the priest of that church if we could talk to him because I was American, to which he told us to come back later and try. We did. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. There were almost mob-like crowds (who were also wanting to see him), iron crowd-control gates which I was pulled through, and the Pope himself.

When we got to the area to meet him, I was in line with about 10 people, with a further 20 or so trying to establish themselves in the line. Eventually, Gamal and I got to the front, and Gamal explained I was American and couldn't speak Arabic very well but that I wanted to meet the Pope. The Pope said "welcome to Egypt," to which I replied "shukran" (arabic for thank), and he and the priesthood laughed at that. He then drew a cross with his thumb on my forehead as a blessing, and allowed us to take a picture with him. Almost everyone, according to Gamal, gets refused a picture with him, so I feel very fortunate. It's an understatement to say I didn't wake up that morning expecting to meet the Pope of 12 million followers.

This weekend is the 4th of July, then the weekend after that we go to sinai. That's going to be a huge trip, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm trying to concentrate as much as possible on my schoolwork so the time will go by quicker. I would say that I feel better about being here right now than a week ago. I'm more used to everything, have a routine, but still far enough from the end not to have some sort of anticipation. Plus, it's getting more rewarding by everyday learning new things and seeing improvement.

I suppose the tone of these blog posts have changed a bit since the beginning. I'm more in a concentration mood than a jovial one, although we all here have our laughs. We were all talking a few days ago about the likelihood of being under more subconscious stress than we realized. I never worry about being here, or have homesickness, although there are things I thoroughly miss. But I think that the constant analyzing and formulating that your brain has to do in a foreign environment takes its toll more subtly than expected. I'm sure once I get out from under some of this schoolwork I'll be able to write more entertaining posts. Everyday after class, there is a very apparent mental fatigue from concentrating to a foreign language for 4 hours.

I guess that's it for now. I'll try to update more often I suppose but not much really will happen until Sinai. Later.