first post

Hey all,

So this is my attempt to stay in touch better with all of you, and I guess to make some attempt to archive my experiences here in the middle east.

I guess I'll start with this weekend; it was a low-keyed one. Our students just finished their finals so there was not a whole lot to do from a work standpoint. I had thought of going away for this weekend but I stayed in Cairo and was happy with that. It was nice to catch up with friends and have some room to breathe. Thursday night featured some fun with the Canadians at their embassy happy hour. It included my first taste of 2 true canadian beers, which as I expected were quite an improvement over the ones like Moosehead and Molson Ice that somehow make it across their borders into the US. I'll have to ask the good friend who bought them for me what their names were. But anyway, the Canadians threw a good party, so good that it spilled over into Harry's pub afterwards. So a good night.

Friday brought my introduction to the Cairo Hash House Harriers (www.cairohash.com) by my joining them on a 5+ mile run in Sukna. Finished the day with a nice Indian dinner at Bukkara in Maadi, and listening to a bit of a dissapointing concert at the rugby club. Well, they weren't terrible. They played a few good original songs during their first set, but after the first break they regressed into covering a rather strange and haphazard collection of numbers.

Saturday involved some time recovering, plus hanging on through 18-20 miles with Mark Werner through the Wadi Digla. I started to feel weak when he dropped to sub-6 pace over the last 4 miles, but I did hang on without fading so I was happy about that.

Then it was off to citystars to see Casino Royale. This guy they got to play Bond really sucks. I hate his character. Bond isn't supposed to be a meathead that makes dumbass mistakes all the time. He's supposed to be like Pierce Brosnan; smooth, smart, and a gentleman.

Today was for resting; catch up on some work. I should get out the door for 5-7 miles sometime tonight, though this is an easy training week so in general running should feel less laborious.