Saturday, October 27, 2007

Miss.er.y.a

I've been away from this space so long, I thought I wouldn't be coming back. But I guess I couldn't keep away after all :) So...what have I been up to? I'm hoping the title won't throw you off into thinking I've been wallowing in misery - au contraire! It's to be read strictly phonetically and here's why it applies...

1. I've been wallowing, not in misery, but in Misr. As in Egypt!! It was a trip of a lifetime - an absolute dream come true! When you think Egypt, you think pyramids right? When I tell you that that was just a teensy-weensy part of the magic that is Egypt, you'll know why I'm still in a daze! Right from seeing mummies, the pyramids, the fascinating temples to a cruise on the Nile to bargaining a la Fashion Street to being offered 400 camels for my hand in marriage, it was a wonderfully eventful trip! So that's one reason for the title - I was mistaken for a "Misr-iya" or Egyptian woman, several times, much to my delight, since I think that Egyptian people are very very lovely, inside and out!
Here are two of the 454 pictures I took in Egypt -one is a shot I like a lot personally, of the land of the 1000 minarets. The other one is the obligatory shot of person-in-front-of-the-Sphinx-in-front-of-the-Great-Pyramid.

2. I've been missing in action for a while. I realized recently that since June, I haven't had a single weekend really free to do such mundane things like change the broken brake light in my car, and change my wardrobe from summer clothes to warmer clothes. I've been in airports 13 or 14 times in the last month! So much traveling (for family, work, school and fun) in fact, that there are cobwebs in my guest bathroom since I haven't cleaned it for over 2 months :) Hence, I've been 'miss'-ing-from-this-'area' :)

3. For some reason, I can't help thinking how much better this year is turning out for me personally than last year. Lots of things have been gathering momentum for me, though my job is the one thing I was certainly happier about last year than this one. I've had lots of chances to travel, made good progress on my dissertation, have lots of things to look forward to even for the rest of the year, and then I wonder, is sadness defined by the happiness that precedes or follows it? If I'm happy now, last year this time was it "Misery aa?"

4. Finally, a tongue in cheek reflection of how many married people have recently told me either directly or by example, why I'm lucky to be single, independent and in a position in life where I can do things like take off on a trip to Egypt. So it's great to be a "Miss" - err.. yeah! At least for a little bit longer :)