Three Strikes and….?

I haven’t updated since Saturday, because nothing really positive has happened, and I have spent the past few days being a big Negative Nancy.
Sometime last week I noticed that I had small, chicken pock-like bites all over me. They itched. I came to the conclusion that I had a mild case of bed bugs, and I was right. I was bummed to the extreme. Eman helped me change my sheets and fix the problem, but I couldn’t use my bed all day on Yom Kippur (ugh). Strike one.
To continue my rant, I have been having issues sleeping and I am not totally sure why, but I think I can attribute some of it to my bed. I come from a MAJOR “princess and the pea” family. We never sleep properly, and are constantly replacing our mattresses (Mom and Dad…I learned that we do this much more frequently than the average person). We go on vacation and stay at beautiful hotels, but have issues sleeping because the beds are "uncomfortable". We have changed mattresses, rooms and even hotels (insert something about an apple and a tree) in search of a better bed. However, Egyptian beds take the cake. Mine is by far the best out of all of them in the dorm, but still nothing like my fantastic mattress in 4044 Walnut Street. They are basically two large pieces of cotton stacked on top of each other. Inevitably, there is a massive dip in the middle of it that is unavoidable. Some people get back injuries by doing crazy, drunken things in college. I will be forty years old and still talking about how that bed in Egypt really messed up my back. Strike two.
My awkward sleep rhythm came back to haunt me right after Yom Kippur as I passed out at 8PM only to wake up at 4AM. After two episodes of Criminal Minds (thank you Megavideo and Raquel) I decided to go for a run and get my life together. Feeling somewhat better I jumped in the shower. We had yet to get hot water, but its so hot out that I didn’t really care. I turned the knob a little bit, just to check, and was promptly scalded by BOILING water. I don’t think my shoulder will ever be the same. Strike three.
What in the world was I thinking signing up for this? I can’t even articulately complain because I have the language capacity of a ten year old (if that). Daily life is dismal…and I just want to shout: I PROMISE I AM WITTY AND INTERESTING IN ENGLISH IT JUST DOESN’T TRANSLATE, but that’s not allowed…great.
The cultural differences may even be more trying for me than the language differences. Women don’t really go out at night, and when we are out with the guys and their Egyptian friends I feel like they may be semi uncomfortable. We spend most of our nights in the dorm, doing work and it can definitely be less than exciting.
A few of us decided to go to Cairo for a day, just for a change of scenery, so I am excited for that.
I guess the most important realization that I have had so far is that I don’t have to like it here. I appreciate everything about Egypt and I am enamored with the culture and daily life from the position as a spectator. But at this point in time, being an active participant sort of goes against the grain of everything in my life so far, from punctuality to manners to social interaction. And regardless of how positive or negative my experience is, I am still learning a lot about the world, and about my self.