I'm in Athens now and sitting catching up on email and others' blogs at an internet cafe on one of the main streets in Athens. I start hearing loud group chants, of a higher octave than normal. I turn to my right to see a huge protest of middle aged greek women walking down the street with banners, chanting at top volume. They've been walking by for sometime now, thousands of them. I don't know what their grievance is. Nice when the surreal comes to you and you don't have to seek it out.
April 2004 Archives
Firstly, I know these short entries are boring, but I figure people might be worried about me. With no further ado. Dan and I are now back in Cairo. We will hang around for a few days then fly to Greece. Israel did not kill us, and it may have made us stronger, but I'm not sure of that yet. We just had a wonderful huge breakfast for 2$ and now we're off to meet people.
If you know me and you know my roommates, and you would like to sublet my room for the month of May (and June if you like) I would be happy to provide it at a reasonable cost. I live in the DuBoce Triangle next to the Castro in San Francisco in a great flat. The room is furnished with a couch and a loft queen bed. Comment here if you have an interest and I'll email you. Thanks. -Gene Wood
In case anyone is worried, the scene here is ok. Jerusalem is in mourning for 3 days over the murder of the hamas leader Rantissi. All the shops are closed, it's quiet. You can read more news about the event. This is my attempt at allaying your fears.
I have now been in Israel for a few days with Dan/Thomas. I'm still alive and fine. I am however writing everything in my journal instead of on my weblog. Hopefully when I get some free time (not in an internet cafe) I'll be able to write up everything. Until then you'll have to deal with merely imagining all of the great things I've seen here in Jerusalem. I'm staying in a Monastery which is great. Everything is old. Everything is holy. Everyone is stepping on everyone else's toes. It's amazing.
I'm still here in Cairo, and here is a summary of what's gone on. Went to the pyramids, walked around and marveled. Went to the Citadel and saw amazing mosques and military stuff. Went to the Egyptian museum for about 15 minutes then left in pain, went to doctor got muscle relaxant, went home and slept. I leave on a bus on Friday morning to go to St. Catherine's monastery to meet Dan. Not sure what I'll do today or tomorrow, but I'm sure I can figure it out. Mosquitos are unbeatable. Can't figure out how to escape them. Life is a lot more difficult here. Looking forward to western europe as well as having a traveling companion. Hope all is well back home. I miss it more than you can imagine.
So I'm here. And it's about as different as different can be. It's also really tough. Like difficult. Like a math test you didn't study for. So I'm safe, so far. I'm sad in my alone and distantness, but it's really interesting. Here that is. Is interesting.
