Kaddee’s Cairo Chronicles

Slowly but slowly, the pieces are falling into place.

It looks as though the wedding is really going to happen. People keep RSVPing and saying they are going to show up. What is up with that!!?? I am excited, amazed and terrified, all at the same time.

We had some (potentially) great news from Cairo recently. We’ve been corresponding with some departing faculty over there (see Jack’s blog – “Brush with Greatness”) and have purchased some household items. (It seems so odd to be buying appliances and things, sight unseen, from people we have never met! I gather that this is how it is done with AUC relocatees, because they all think it is normal.) We have, upon sage counsel, contacted the housing manager, and, we believe, secured a tentative guarantee of housing. YES, I realize that this is a pale victory, however, we are relatively certain that we now know where we will be living!!

For me, a control freak, the overwhelming lack of what I know and what I can control, is really uncomfortable. So, to have an “almost certain” housing assignment is a major step! I still do not know what I am teaching for the fall, nor do I know when or how we are shipping any of our stuff, nor do I know any of our _actual_ travel plans (I only know what I have requested). So there is sooooooo much that I don’t know. Any knowledge that I can gain is well appreciated!

I keep telling myself, mish mushkela (no problem).  It will work.  Things will fall into place, but patience has never been one of my more prevailent virtues, and the current situation is really highlighting this fact!

Between school, the wedding and the house, things are a little hectic. Add to that the “incidentals” of going to Egypt (vaccinations, house repair, packing) and things get a bit out of hand. This week was time for me to get my eyes checked, begin my vaccinations (luckily I’d done a lot of the basic ones before going to Namibia/S.Africa in ’03) and attempt to begin the organizational nightmare of going thru “stuff” in the house.

Unless you have moved in the recent past, you probably have no idea how much stuff you have. My office is FILLED with stuff, and every attempt to sort it into one of the three “S” categories (ship, store, sell) has initiated, what can only be described as, the “SPROING” effect. This is when what seems like a normal, manageable amount of stuff continues to grow exponentially the closer you examine it. What had seemed like a perfectly tidy office is now a disaster area scattered with half-filled boxes and stacks of unidentifiable (but obviously desperately important) stuff. I can feel myself hyperventilate just thinking about it. I do understand that, somehow, it will all work itself out. Very little will be stored or shipped. The rest will become SEP (“somebody else’s problem” – from Hitchhikers Guide) and no longer concern me. I look forward to that day – cuz right now I’m a bit overwhelmed. Thanks for listening.