Dudes,

Here is an elephant painting a beautiful image of an elephant holding a flower. How farking amazing is that?

You are only able to draw lame things like stick figures of lollipops while this elephant can paint Madonna and child on a hoverboard daVinci-style. This is so sick. I wish she was my pet. First and foremost, I'd have her squish cars all over town. Then, I'd make her paint me some Chun-Li and Xena stuff. I'd give her some Snickers bars and a venti caramel white chocolate mocha frappuccino with an extra espresso shot as treats.

This makes you think about what other amazing things animals can do that we don't think they're capable of. Hmm...

I hear there's a snake that performs cosmetic surgery down in Vietnam. I gotta find that video...

During the very start of the surgery, when they open your eye really wide with a contraption, they forgot to put drops on my eye and it went about 40 seconds without moisture and it got really dry. Then the surgeon stuck something on my eye and I freaked out in pain and told him to stop. Then one of the nurses put drops on my eye and it felt much better and nothing hurt afterwards.

If you're gonna get LASIK, make sure your eye gets moisturized constantly or else you might feel pain.

There were 2 moments that sort of freaked me out during the surgery:

- When I saw my corneas getting sliced and flipped open

- When my eye got lasered and I could smell the burning cornea

After the surgery, my eyes teared up for about 2 hours and I slept for 4 hours. Doctors advise you (my doctor didn't say anything, though) to sleep for about 3 hours after the surgery so that your eyes heal and you won't feel the post-surgery stinging sensation.

Two days ago, I got sick with tonsillitis...again....making it the 5th or 6th time in less than a year.

The doctor checked me out and told me that I should prepare for surgery to have them removed. We all agreed. So, I might be getting another operation really soon.

I get so weak whenever I get this and my family's been really supportive and helpful during my bouts with tonsillitis.

To wrap this up, I fully recommend LASIK to anyone who has bad vision and aren't afraid of having your eyes poke around. Also, I blame Cairo for having a really polluted environment and making me have tonsillitis. When will this city go green?

I became friends with my classmate and hung out with him a couple of times. I don't think he smokes anymore. That's a plus. I think he hung out with a smoker and the stank got on his clothing and it made me puke. I was third-hand smoking. Turns out my friend knows 5 languages fluently and is only 20 years old. Isn't that nuts? Here are my top 5 languages I'd like to know: 

- Spanish

- English

- Arabic

- Japanese

Actually, those are only 4. I don't want to learn anymore than that. I've thought about others but they don't interest me that much.

Oh yeah! My cat Bambino won the Pet Pic of the Week and he's on the WFTV channel 9 website! Go on with your saucy self, Bambi! :snap:

Yes. Bask in all of that sweet, sweet glory, Bambi. This is your time to shine, Mr. Kitty Fantastico.

Maybe he's born with it. Maybe it's Catbelline.

-Nando

I'm so tired, y'all. I deserve a tiny vacation (or "holiday" as these foreigners say...wait, I'm the foreigner here.) Like one day, my teacher was explaining that "shaqah" was "fee-lat" in English. I was like "exsqueeze me?" My teacher kept saying "Fee-lat," "FEE-LAT!" I said "apartment?" and he said "No, FEE-LAAAT!!" I thought about it and went "OHHHHH, 'flat'?" And he said "yes!!" I was like "Damn foreigner."

Sayonara!

The guy in the blue is the guy I wanted to be friends with. His brother uncle is the guy with the cap. The smartest guy in the class is the one sitting next to me. They're cool peepz.

This morning, the guy in blue reeked of cigarette smoke. It made me feel better about not being his friend. No offense to my current smoker friends but I don't like hanging around smokers cos it's nasty and makes me puke. We're still friends, right friends-who-smoke? Right.

Yup! Wish me luck on finals! I hope I pass the class. Also, say "No" to drugs.

Later!

Welp, I'm on my last days of Arabic class and I've learned soooo much. I'm able to write & read (slowly for now) in Arabic. I'm days away from my final exam and I don't feel good about my skills. So, I don't think I'll pass it. If I don't pass it, I won't move on to level 1. I'm on level 0. >_<

On one hand, I'm really amazed how I've been able to quickly pick up this difficult language. On the other hand, it's still so difficult for me and I feel bad that I won't be able to pass the exam and move up a level.

My classmates are awesome. They've picked up the language really well and I'm proud of them. They're all from Tajikistan and I have such a hard time trying to communicate with them. I want to become friends with some of them and maybe hang out some time but it's so frustrating trying to make them understand me and vice versa. I've imagined how hard conversations would be if we were friends and I think it's best for both sides if we weren't. Sucks.

During our breaks, my teacher & classmates go to the Mosque to pray and I'm left alone in the class. So, I started doodling a head on a blank sheet in my notebook and as the weeks went by, the doodle became this:

If you don't know who it is by now, you don't know me AT ALL!

Yes, she has tremendous legs but that's because she's a fighter. Her fighting moves revolve around kicking and so her legs are huge.

Got a little side-tracked but yeah, I'm gonna miss my classmates a bit. It sucks I won't be able to move to the next level right away. :sigh:

Oh, by the way, last week, a classmate asked me what my occupation was in America. I told them I was an artist and an actor. Their eyes widened and they took out their cellphones and started taking pictures of me with each other. Hahaha! That got pretty weird.

Hope you guys have great day & take care!

Ma'salama ("goodbye")!

I'm up to my 3rd week of Arabic classes. Had my first exam three days ago and bombed it... It's a VERY difficult language to learn. I'm the worst student in class but there's a good reason for that: The other students are Muslim and I'm not. When you're Muslim, you read from the Qur'an (the Islamic holy book) & you're naturally bound to pick up a few Arabic words and sayings. So, they have the advantage. I'm just a silly gringo that moved to Egypt without any knowledge of the language. On the bright side, I'm learning sooo freaking much about this language and I'm expanding my vocal sounds.

Also in my class, there's this guy who I think is cool and he does Judo and I want us to be friends. Unfortunately, he doesn't speak English, I don't speak Tajik and we barely speak Arabic. Lame. It took me 2 minutes to make him understand that I wanted to fight him...with him and his Judo and me and my Taekwondo. I'd probably lose since I've been sick and lost so much weight and strength.

Here's a little bit of my handwritting in Arabic:

I'm still trying to learn the letters and the differences when they change during the beginning, middle and end of a word.

So yeah, I miss all of you, my friends & family!! I know some of us are going through some really tough times and I just want to tell you to keep strong because things will get better. Make the effort and you'll be rewarded. I'm telling myself that too.

Take care!!