I left off on Monday night/Tuesday morning, and there's not much to say about Tuesday night, really. A few of us went to get dinner at Dido's Al Dente, our little pasta gem, and then just came back to our room and ate together. Nothing too terribly exciting there.
This morning, I woke up feeling pretty crappy. I got up a few times before 7:15am, when my alarm goes off, but when it did, I got into the shower like I normally would despite the rumblies in my belly. Usually I'd feel much better after a hot shower, but not this morning. I was curled up in fetal position until 8:15, when April and I caught the elevator down for breakfast. I got to the Mezzanine floor and decided that it just wasn't going to happen for me today. I came back up to the room, changed into my sweatpants and crawled back into bed, where I stayed, watching movies on my laptop and CNN/Al Jazeera/BBC News, until 2-ish when April got home. By then, I was feeling a little better [read: well enough to stand up straight] and got dressed and did some laundry in the tub. I was really looking forward to the Sufi music tonight, so I wanted to move around and judge whether or not I should go. I ended up fine and got some things done between 3pm and 7:15pm when the vans left for Sufi.
I can't lie and say I had a good time because I didn't. There are very few times in my life where I've hated my height - I've come to accept it for what it is and always will be - but tonight was one of those nights. I was sitting behind Andrew and Prof. Sullivan, and the window between them was filled by Ted. I couldn't see anything that was going on and it was miserable. I wanted to cry the whole time because all I want to do, in the short period of time we have left, is to experience authentic Egyptian fine arts like music and dance, and tonight was my opportunity and I couldn't experience it to the fullest. Everyone kept telling me I should have just stood on the side, but even when I stand up, there are still people sitting down who would block my view. It was kind of just a lose-lose situation, and the prospect of the Zar Music being canceled because of the size of our group makes it feel worse. I know I'll get over it, but it just really sucks that I could hear it, and see the tops of the performers' heads, but I couldn't see the rest.
On the van ride back from the show, everyone was in a peachy mood, singing Disney songs and various 90s hits, except for me. I just wanted to keep to myself and be quiet for a few minutes, but then Bridget cracked a joke that I was just waiting for, and I couldn't help but smile, so I let it all go and just enjoyed the moment. We got back and decided to go for some dinner around the corner, where we went to get shisha for April's birthday. Surprisingly, the food was pretty good and the service was a lot faster this time. Cynthia joined us, and just like clockwork, as soon as she left, Omar and Ziko showed up to hang out.
As soon as they got there, they were asking where we were going when we left. None of us had really planned on going out, but as soon as they said it we were all like, well, we're only in Egypt once, so let's go. We piled into Omar's BMW and Ziko's car, and sped toward Al Azhar Park. The park was closed, so we went towards Muquttam and ended up at this gorgeous lookout point where we could see the entire city lit up. We had a nice photo shoot, and tried some barbecued corn, and it was fantastic fun. I really needed something like that to cheer me up after the Sufi debacle.
After a while, we got back in the cars, and while the boys prattled to each other in Arabic, we all just kind of glazed over and came to when they finally decided where to go. They took us to a little shop for some juices, and while Omar was inside getting us some sugar cane juice [which was interestingly delicious, although grassy-tasting] we blasted music for Sonja and had a sing-along to "Colors of the Wind". 
It was epic. At that point, it was somewhere around 2:15am, and Bridget and I have a quiz in a few hours, so we asked Omar to take us home, and he kindly obliged. Now, at 3:05am, I am ready to pass out, and just hoping with all my might that tomorrow's quiz goes smoothly for me. I know I'm doing fine in the class - I do all my homework, and I participate all the time - but quizzes are important, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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