The daily grind

It’s been two and a half weeks, and I’m finding my rhythm. 

Every morning at 9:00, I make the trek to work (all five flights of stairs) and help Maher stay on top of all of the written communication that needs to go out (newsletters, prayer updates, project proposals, grant applications, progress reports etc). It’s not difficult work, but it can be tedious and very time consuming. Each foundation/donor organization has its own template and set of questions it wants answered, and I’m not always sure of the level of detail expected. Some want super wordy, in-depth descriptions; others want bullet points. Oof. 

I’m loving being back with my tribe. It feels so natural to be working shoulder to shoulder with them, even though we all do different things. 

YFCL staff and volunteers

After work I’ll sometimes take a walk down Slaf Street to buy fresh produce at the corner stand. The locally grown fruit is delicious, but I get most excited about the fresh mint leaves. They use mint in everything here, and it is completely delightful. 

If I’m feeling more adventurous, or simply desperate for some fresh milk, I’ll make the slightly longer trek to the grocery store chain nearby. It’s only a 10 minute walk, but you take your life into your hands as you contest with the mad drivers on the road. An especially tricky part is crossing Dekwaneh Circle, a roundabout of sorts that has cars coming from six different directions and everyone has the right of way. It’s intense. I’d take a photo of it...but I’d be hit by a car...so I’m making survival choices. 

My evening ritual is to sit on my balcony with a cup of fresh mint tea and watch the light transition behind the city skyline. Every night there’s a football (soccer) match on the pitch just below me, and I like to observe how the cars weave through and around my block. If you forget about standard rules of the road and think of how pedestrian traffic flows in, say, midtown Manhattan, you’ll get a better sense of how things work here. Mmm...but even Midtown is ordered and precise compared to this, so never mind. 

In addition to drinking mint tea in the evenings, I barricade myself in the living room with the AC on and practice my Arabic. So far I can say very useful things like, "I like to make eggs for breakfast" and "I want to make chicken for dinner, but you're not invited." Perhaps the most useful phrase though is this: Arabe tabahe mish'm'nieha bas ambet haalem (phonetically spelled to say: My Arabic is not good, but I am learning). 

That one's going to be on repeat for a while.