We've been in Egypt for two days now, and are becoming a bit more acclimatised to everything, in particular the language and our flat. Bikey deserves much commendation for arduously hunting out a flat, staying up until 3am (in the freezing cold - more about that in a sec) and even cooking up a delicious meal ready for us. Some of the inital problems with the flat are being ironed out slowly but surely - this morning we had our Bawwab's (security guard and general all-round gofer) wife and another woman in to clean, mop and scrub the house clean, we ordered some electric heaters and have also had the plumber in to try and solve a) the mysterious flooding of the bathroom floor via the sink base b) why the tap in the kitchen only flows at a leisurely trickle c) the lack of hot water in the kitchen and the other bathroom.

Mr C has given me a housekeeping budget, which was initally 1000LE i.e. £100 for a month, but after hearing that Bikey and flatmates only spend £15 between them in a week on food and other expenses, he's decided it should be enough for two months instead. He is determined to embrace poor student life, eschewing Western branded products like Persil and Fairy for the Egyptian equivalents and urging me to write my blog offline to save on internet bills.

I have been rather concerned about what I'm going to feed the poor man for the next two months, much to Mr C's amusement. For the first few days I've asked to be let off cooking while I accustom myself, but I don't think I'll be able to put it off any longer. That said, I've been trying to be less of a 'Princess' (as Mr C would say) and to get on with the task of cleaning out cupboards and dubious looking brown specks in the kettle.

We went to Diwan to find out about our Arabic lessons, but we won't be starting until next weekend, as Diwan has an Eid holiday this week. We have both been trying to cram some revision in before our tests, so we don't have to start from scratch again. Bikey showed us some of her calligraphy which was very impressive - now she has DSL she might be able to scan some in for you all to feast your envious gazes upon - and I'm keen to do some as well, though I'm pretty much cack-handed when it comes to things like that. Or even to handwriting in general.

As far as my elective goes, I still haven't managed to track down my tutor, which would be a good starting point. I think I'll try and drop in at his office this afternoon and sort something out. Bikey's teacher says that in Egypt anything goes - i.e. I can go in as little or as much as I like - which means I should be able to do all the things I plan to do, namely:
1.Learn a decent amount of Arabic
2.Be able to communicate with locals in 3ammiya (Egyptian dialect)
3.Go to Dahab and try snorkelling and scuba diving (if the water's not too cold)
4.Go to Luxor and Aswan with Mr C & family
5.Start revising for finals!