Studying and Studios
Posted February 15, 2007Two weeks down. I feel tired, though a bit less so than last week. Things are improving, academically and otherwise. Classes this week were better than last week. My grammar teacher has provided us with a more teleological class structure, so I'm able to understand the material more easily. Media inundates us with vocabulary, which I often have difficulty retaining. I'm told that will come in time. Oh, and a couple people have switched out of our class, which is an improvement.
It's so nice to have an apartment. I'm able to get up early, cook some breakfast, maybe put on some tea, have a leisurely shower, catch a cab and still get to school without feeling rushed. Getting things done before class was impossible last term, so I'm loving being neither exhausted nor rushed when I start my day (no longer having 8 a.m. classes helps). This lets me save my exhaustion for nighttime, after long hours of homework.
The most exciting development of my week is without question my new recording situation. As it turns out, I am able to reserve some of the theater studios and rehearsal rooms for my own purposes, so long as AUC music students or ensembles don't need them. Since my schedule is fairly flexible, I was able to get some recording done today, and I'll be doing more soon. The room I've reserved is a dance rehearsal room, with long mirrors and those black theater prop boxes. Most importantly, it has relative silence, much more so than this apartment or really anywhere else in Cairo. The recording I get done there should therefore be of higher quality than what I've been trying in my apartment. My weekend goal is to get another song recorded, produced, and uploaded to this site. We'll see.
The dance rehearsal room, which I use as a recording studio.
My birthday party was a major success. Our apartment was filled with friends, and I estimate we had upwards of 40 or 45 people here at the peak, maybe more. Colin and Danielle bought me two very nice chocolate cakes, and there was foosball, music, and good conversation. It was a really nice way to open the term, since I really don't get to spend enough time with most of the folk who showed up. Audra, Ali, and Sinan gave me a present, too: a "Drinking Fun" Shots Tic-Tac-Toe game. Thanks, guys!
Eric Eggleston, Colin, me, Max Wallach, and Danielle at the party.
We made sure to eat most of the cake before the crowd arrived.
Shots Tic-Tac-Toe.
Sinan, Ali, Audra, and our Christmas tree, which we refuse to take down since it's the only non-Islamic thing in this apartment.
As it turns out, I'll be headed to Thailand during my spring break, which falls on the tail end of March and first week or so of April. A handful of my Cairo friends are planning a trip there, and they invited me. It would be highly uncharacteristic of me to turn down the opportunity for real Thai food. I'm very much looking forward to the trip.
