(no subject)
It's 7.30am and I'm up and breakfasted!
One mild compensation of this climate is my inability to sleep in the mornings, which makes me into an early riser, something I associate with good character and happiness. I got up early from Mohammed's place and walked under all the dusty trees in Garden City, which is always beautiful but even nicer with this cool morning that will soon evaporate. And now I'm sitting getting some of this early cool air into the flat and Pandora is sitting defiantly on the window ledge with the sun shining through her coral-pink ears all twitching and fur ruffling due to the breeze and chirping birds and traffic. She knows she's not allowed but this ledge has less access to the roof so I'm watching her closely as an indulgence.
I had a visitor recently, a writer called Shumon who I knew really only casually, but think is a really interesting person so I invited him to have a public conversation with Shahira, and we all hung out a lot. He then went to Alex and Amman before having another 3 days in Cairo, and he's on a research grant so I suggested he stays at mine instead of the hotel and save some money. Bit embarrassing that the cleaner didn't show when I was counting on it because I'm accustomed to a certain amount of grime - can hardly be otherwise, in Cairo - and Shumon is clearly a clean freak, but he took it with good grace. I would feel like I've done a good deed but he's so nice to have around it was great. Plus he was, not without a certain amount of mild manipulation I think, extremely complimentary to Pandora which is a very simple but guaranteed way to gain my eternal approval.
Pandora is getting all excited and chattering about birds and just leapt onto the AC extractor and that's a step too far. I had to pull her bodily through the wrought iron curlicued window thingy which is enormously undignified for her and elicited a loud whinge and that glassy 'is this happening?' stare. Bad cat.
I have 9 days to fully complete an EU application. It's like writing a PhD thesis in 9 days, except the emphasis is on conformity, repetition and dogged commitment to someone else's ideas. It sucks and I hate it. There is a certain zone I can get into where funding applications can be satisfying, but not EU. But it's 50,000 euros and we need them. Wish me courage.
One mild compensation of this climate is my inability to sleep in the mornings, which makes me into an early riser, something I associate with good character and happiness. I got up early from Mohammed's place and walked under all the dusty trees in Garden City, which is always beautiful but even nicer with this cool morning that will soon evaporate. And now I'm sitting getting some of this early cool air into the flat and Pandora is sitting defiantly on the window ledge with the sun shining through her coral-pink ears all twitching and fur ruffling due to the breeze and chirping birds and traffic. She knows she's not allowed but this ledge has less access to the roof so I'm watching her closely as an indulgence.
I had a visitor recently, a writer called Shumon who I knew really only casually, but think is a really interesting person so I invited him to have a public conversation with Shahira, and we all hung out a lot. He then went to Alex and Amman before having another 3 days in Cairo, and he's on a research grant so I suggested he stays at mine instead of the hotel and save some money. Bit embarrassing that the cleaner didn't show when I was counting on it because I'm accustomed to a certain amount of grime - can hardly be otherwise, in Cairo - and Shumon is clearly a clean freak, but he took it with good grace. I would feel like I've done a good deed but he's so nice to have around it was great. Plus he was, not without a certain amount of mild manipulation I think, extremely complimentary to Pandora which is a very simple but guaranteed way to gain my eternal approval.
Pandora is getting all excited and chattering about birds and just leapt onto the AC extractor and that's a step too far. I had to pull her bodily through the wrought iron curlicued window thingy which is enormously undignified for her and elicited a loud whinge and that glassy 'is this happening?' stare. Bad cat.
I have 9 days to fully complete an EU application. It's like writing a PhD thesis in 9 days, except the emphasis is on conformity, repetition and dogged commitment to someone else's ideas. It sucks and I hate it. There is a certain zone I can get into where funding applications can be satisfying, but not EU. But it's 50,000 euros and we need them. Wish me courage.