Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Sabatasher Yooleeyoo.

"Sabatasher Yooleeyoo." That means 17th of July in Arabic. That's a date that will stick in my head forever because it was the day I returned from Egypt. I said those words over and over during the weeks leading up to my departure as people asked when I was leaving. I can't believe it has already been a year since I returned from Egypt.

I haven't had many things to say about my experiences there recently, but I did have one of those monetary conversion flashes the other day. I was at the Georgia Dome for a DCI competition (more on that in another post) and bought a jumbo dog and a medium drink at lunchtime. It cost me $8.50. That one meal could feed one Egyptian for probably two weeks, if not more. I then spent another $8.00 at dinnertime at the CNN center.

Granted the prices were inflated. Perhaps that's why I was suddenly jolted into thinking about conversion. I used to do it all the time when I lived in Egypt. "Let's see..." I would think. "How much does this tameya sandwich cost? 17 cents? Wow!" Now I am on the other end of the conversion, when things seem ridiculously expensive.

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