update

maybe i should just say that i've just been so terribly busy lately that i haven't gotten a chance to blog... pwahahaha... well not really... if there's anything to blame, it would be my slow internet connection that's deterring me from uploading any type of content... text, photos, videos...

so what have i been up to the past few weeks...
well i did have that interview on monday april 26th... i declined their offer, and i don't think i'll go into much detail as to why - the children were cute... let's leave it at that


i still don't know all the arabic letters, but whenever i see words i try to cut it up by trying to identify each letter in the word.  i'm also trying to read the 3 letters that are on the new license plates... seems like a lot of cars in alex start with Sheen (س) so i think that's one of the letters i've got down for now... there's a few more, but i'm not about to try and hunt down the letters on this keyboard (yet)... not the most progress, but a little

on my idle time, i've spent it mostly on watching various youtube channels.  don't think i've watched this much youtube ever... travel vloggers, exercise vloggers, cosmetics vloggers... it makes me want to become a vlogger too... though i don't know if i could decide on strictly a certain topic to vlog about cus my thoughts and interest bounce off in all sorts of directions

something i do want to do more of is doing more photography
i'm also itching to do some crafty stuff, but debating if i should buy materials i need for that or just hold off... so far it seems holding off is winning the debate
i guess i just want to find myself a creative outlet of sorts, but yet i don't want to spend money doing it... so maybe photography is a good thing since i have the equipment i need for it... just gotta go out there and shoot more

the cooking is going relatively well... i'm constantly welcoming new recipes, but maybe it puts people on the spot when i ask...
plus i've got restrictions like no oven, preferably no beef, mutton, and i've gotta be able to make it with readily available ingredients here in egypt....
so what do i have to work with?
chicken, egg
olive oil, sunflower oil
milk, butter, yogurt
rice (egyptian, jasmine, basmathi), flour, lentils, chick peas, pasta, oatmeal, sesame buns, croissant, egyptian bread, corn starch, baking powder, corn flour(meal)
cucumber, tomato, potato, carrot, eggplant, onion, garlic, cilantro, chilli pepper, olives, lime, zucchini
banana, apple, peach, strawberry, watermelon, (grapes are starting to appear, but i think they're still pricier than what i'm willing to spend)
oregano, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, basil, bay leaf, chilli pepper, turmeric, sesame seeds, cinnamon, sugar, mixed curry powder
tomato paste, canned corn, canned mushroom, canned tuna
honey

i've probably left out a few other things but that's basically the jist of it... there's of course fish and seafood too, but without proper ventilation in the kitchen, i'm not sure if i'd want to be cooking fish... maybe some prawns and calamari?

haha i just remembered the other day i was at this supermarket trying to figure out all the different salt packages... and there was one labeled 'chinese salt'... turns out it was msg... pretty funny


ohh yea... last week i went to renew my tourist visa at the passport office.  well i actually went on friday april 30th as that was my one month mark on the tourist visa i got when i arrived in cairo.  according to my lonely planet: egypt guide, they say the passport office is open 7 days a week which apparently isn't true cus the old security guard told me they're closed for friday prayers and i should come back on sunday.  which is what i did.  again according to the lonely planet guide, they say visa extensions are processed before noon... so i arrived around 11am... the first floor was just packed with locals applying for passports (not sure what other services are offered there as all the signs were in arabic...)
i found an office door was open and a lady was in there so i asked where i should go to extend my visa and she told me to go upstairs... *whew* i didn't have to be among the chaos on the first floor.  so up i went and i remember the lonely planet guide saying to go to window 6... how mysterious cus the windows were numbered 1 through 10 but there was no window 6... it went from 5 to 7... how strange i thought... so i went to the lady on window 7 and asked where i could renew my visa... she told me i needed a copy of my passport, visa, and passport photo... i had all except a copy of the visa, so i ran down and out the building to this guy who had a photocopy machine outside around the corner from the building (how smart is that)... lots of people were trying to get stuff copied and of course there was no line of sorts so you just had to shove your document to get his attention... finally i got the copy of my visa and rushed back to window 7 with all the stuff i needed... then she told me to go to window 5... now they're all next to each other and sitting next to each other without any dividers... so i slide on over to window 5 and tell the man i want to renew my visa, he took my copies, photo, and passport and handed me an application and told me it was 8L.E.  i handed him the money and filled in the application... when i was finished i handed it back to him and he gave it to the lady in window 7... for a while nothing was happening so i stood in front of window 7 to get the lady's attention and then she asked 'how long do you want to stay?' and i asked 'how long can i stay?' and she said 'it's up to you, as long as you want...'  wow i haven't felt so welcomed by a government body before... so i uttered... 'uhmmm can i stay a year?'  she didn't say anything... just after a while she told me to go to window 1 and get some stamps and bring them back to her... so i shuffle over to window 1 and the lady hands me a paper with some numbers and i'm not sure what to make out of it so i take it and i'm about to go over to window 7 with it... turns out that's the price for my visa extension... so i pay her the 83.10L.E.  she gives me a bunch of different stamps which i take back to the lady in window 7.  then the lady tells me to come back in one hour...
i leave and go for a walk and then get something to eat
i get back an hour later and she hands me my passport with my visa extended for a year...
overall, a pretty easy procedure, but a tad bit inefficient?  which sorta seems to be the theme here... a lot of people working, but little is being done... most places here are overstaffed and inefficient... i guess it's good that they're employing people since there supposedly is a pretty high unemployment rate here, but it just means people are getting paid even less, and there's not much of an incentive to be efficient, let alone a concept of customer service...