What was supposed to be my 1st day of classes

So yesterday was supposed to be my "official" first day at AUC but I wanted to switch out of the course I had for the day since it conflicts with the volleyball schedule here and I really want to play volleyball. I opted to go for Ancient Egypt Religion & Ethics instead of taking Cultural Anthropology because the time fit better and also it sounds more interesting. Mae and I got to campus earlier than expected so we went to finally get our ID cards and then we went to the CORE building to try to switch some classes. Why I thought this would be a simple process is something I still try to figure out. So we get to this place where two women are trying to handle about 20 kids trying to change their schedules around and it's so unorganized it's pretty ridiculous. We got there around 11 and Mae's class started at 11:30 and so did the one that I was trying to switch into, so I'm thinking, "Hey, maybe I can get this switched and still be able to get to class for the intro and all that jazz"... Boy was I wrong. Not only did I have the most horrible experience with this woman ever, I was there for over an hour and a half trying to do the most simple thing.

So it's my turn in line and I'm sitting there with my paper all ready to tell her the class that I'd like to switch into and she goes to me "CLOSED!" I try another class and she goes "CLOSED!", after attempting 4 other classes and getting the same response, she asked me if I could move to the side to let some other people go while I looked for another class to get into. I was amazed at how she could tell me this without even lifting a finger to her computer. By this time I was so frustrated that I just left to meet the girls for some lunch and then I figured I'd attempt to go back afterwards.

I met Mae and one of her friends outside and we chatted for a while, then started walking to this bagel place on campus. On the way there we bumped into Kerry, Kayla and Deb (who wasn't feeling too well). Kerry and Deb were heading back to Zamalek and Kayla walked with Mae and I to the bagel place. After sitting down to eat, we went back to the dreaded Add/Drop room where I waited in line for the other woman sitting there helping people. After waiting for about a half hour for her, I sat in the chair and told her which class I wanted to take...and guess what? I got WITH NO PROBLEM! Feeling relief yet angered at the same time, I was so excited to have finally gotten my class that I just thanked her and walked away, letting everyone in my path know not to go to the other lady but to wait for Rhonda.

By this time it was around 1:45 pm and I had been on campus since 10:30ish and the next bus didn't depart until 2:45 so I stuck around with Kayla for a bit since Mae had to go to class and we went to the library for a few. I had to leave around 20 mins after we got there because the bus was coming but Kayla apparantly made a new friend (LOL).

I got back to Zamalek around 4 and didn't have much to do at all so I cleaned my portion of the room, walked around a bit and finally settled down to re-read The Secret Life of Bees which I remember being a really good novel in high school. I also met my roommates sister who had come in to begin packing all of her sister's things to move out and she was really nice to me, apologizing for the mess and saying how she knew I must have been pissed (she didn't know the half of it) but since she was moving out there was no need for me to release any anger out on her especially since she was being mature about the whole situation. So I started to watch Pink Panther on my computer which is HILARIOUS for anyone who hasn't seen it, and then Mae Skype'd me letting me know she was back so I headed up to her floor so we could watch it together and by that time Kayla was back from class so we just headed to meet her instead to grab something to eat. Kerry joined us to go to this really good falafel place near our dorms where they both got falafel and I got this other patty like thing filled with meat which was so delicious and Mae had already eaten so she didn't get anything.

After that we just walked back to school where we ate in the caf and then went up to see how Deb was doing. She was still not feeling well so we cheered her up a little with our loveliness and then we left because we all had class in the morning. We went down to check out the ping pong room and the basketball court which isn't really all that but better than nothing. Then I went to bed, or tried to at least because I needed to catch the 7:00 bus for my 8:30 class.

Another story all in itself. My alarm didn't wake me up in time for the bus so I ended up missing that class today and luckily I had a break between that class and my next one which is at 12:30 and that is why I'm sitting here typing this all out now in the library waiting for my next class while having a little heart-to-heart with Jamila.

My posts probably are going to get fewer in between since the "newness" of Cairo has pretty much worn out, but I will definitely write about how my classes are once I finally get to all of them and if I do anything important. Also just to say how everything is going, but I don't want to get redundant or make you readers weary of long posts, so until next time!