Hugo Pooed in the House

I didn't get a picture, but Hugo pooed in the bedroom floor tonight. I saw him do it so maybe it was my fault. I was reading for Methods class and watched him wee wee on his wee wee pad in the bedroom, then he started sniffing around it and by the time he'd assumed the squat position and I realized what was happening, it was too late. But it was ok. I took him right outside and it was solid so easy to clean.
He's such a sweet puppy.
Anyway, we came back in and I was talking to him about what I was doing this time last year. And I thought, "why am I not blogging evey day so I'll have a record of it?"
So I talked to Hugo some more, grabbed my glass of wine and opened the computer.
Hugo is pulling at my pyjama legs right now but if I ignore him long enough he gives up.
Anyway, today was all right I guess.
Only slightly depressing.
I still feel scared that I won't be able to finish all my papers on time and I'll flunk out. So today I was even thinking about looking for a job as a manager (or even just as a worker) at Dominoes in Jasper. The stress I feel has been making my mouth get ulcers. And I don't even feel like talking to Sayed. Even though he ALWAYS makes me feel better.
I know I'm not stupider than the other cretins in my program. I just don't know if I can produce work as fast as I will need to here.
Anyway, I spent all day today working on a paper on that Tanagra figurine for Hellenistic (I found some Cupids with the same face veil so that is very promising. Or maybe they are Eros. Anyway, I didn't make much actual writing headway, but finding the cupids felt like a breakthrough.
And I didn't do any work on the Theban Tomb paper and that should be my priority. I have to meet with Dr. Robins tomorrow and tell her I didn't get anywhere over this past week.
Well, I did make a chronological powerpoint, but I still don't have all the images I need and now I'm confused about finding them.
I chose a painting to talk about for Methods - a watercolor and pencil of the Hypostyle Hall at the Temple of Isis at Philae. I love that temple and I hate/love Orientalizing art. It made me think maybe I should choose Orientalizing for my second subject instead of Medieval. Except I don't even know when Orientalizing is. I think it's like 19th century. Or maybe a little later.
I'm illustrating this with a painting by the Orientalist Frederick Bridgman from Alabama. And the watercolor by him that I want to present for Methods next week. And a picture of a Tanagra type figurine (not ours from the museum, but one very like it in Germany) and a cute-ass picture of Hugo. Because he's great.
But it all really makes me wonder, what WAS I doing one year ago today?
Today, is Hugo's 10 week birthday. And at least I have it recorded.
Oh, I forgot the part about the parade and the women in pink walking for cancer awareness. Hugo was scared of the parade and noise and then we joined the walkers and he kinda liked it. A little. They loved him - well, who doesn't?

Emory

Another epoch in my life is beginning. I got moved from Tuxtepec to Atlanta and have been going to school at Emory for three weeks now. It's a lot of work and a ton of reading and I'm not sure how I will do in Dr. Robin's 18th Dynasty Tombs class. But, here are some cute pictures around campus. I am so afraid I'll flunk out my first semester.

Colonia Obrera Fauna

A nice rooster in Colonia Obrera. I shot this picture while we were waiting for the Tux-Van.

Scented mysteries and chemistry

UNPA students primarily (until they started the nursing program to make money for the school) studied sciences like chemistry and biotechnology. They have 2 labs. I have a few pictures here of the chemistry lab. It is amazing how well-equipped it is considering that it is so far out in the middle of nowhere, jungle. Completely impressive.
Another factor, though, that put the blight on life at UNPA was the stench. There was (possibly) a garbage dump or landfill nearby that I liked to call the compost initiative. We speculated on its existence because of the presence of the vultures circling over the hilltop behind the school. The circled like hornets around a hive. It was eerie sometimes.
But the smell might also have come from the processing of hule/ule from the groves all around. Ule is rubber. Men walk around tapping it from the trees and they sell it to people who process it into latex that is then sold to companies to manufacture whatever they want. The process, and the ule itself, has a pretty rank smell.
So we never knew if that dogfood smell was coming from the compost initiative or the ule processing. And maybe we'll never know.

Walking around Tuxtepec Part 2

Here we have a house with wood slats on the walls of the upper part - an unusual architectural feature for Tuxtepec. But the reason for the picture is actually, if you look carefully, two animal heads mounted on the walls. I think they might be deer. Or gazelles. Or something. They are real, anyway. And mounted on an exterior wall like that, on an upper floor, they are just really bizarre.
The next picture is the pedestrian bridge. We walked across it once and it was totally fun. But the city condemned it - I think the day after we walked across it. And they roped it off and took up the boards. Some helpful soul has apparently replaced some of the slats so that the more daring, or lazier, pedestrians, can still use it - if you're willing to risk it. I wasn't.
The beautiful green wall in the next picture just speaks for itself.
And the last one should read, se recibe escombros. Whoever receives the scrap-metal here needs a lesson in remedial spelling. :)

Oops. My description doesn't match the order of the pictures. And I don't know how to fix that without moving a lot of shit. So I'm leaving it. You can figure it out.

Walking around Tuxtepec PArt 1

There are far too many interesting things to take pictures of in Tuxtepec. So, I will dedicate a brief series of pictures from around town to this project.
Since the rains have set in, the weather is actually mild enough to make walking enjoyable again. So EY and I have been walking around, looking at stuff. And it is making me like Tuxtepec again and I think I will miss it.
Here I am posting a picture of the painting of Super Dog. This is on the wall of a veterinaria place that treats sick animals and sells dog food. Can is apparently the spanish for canine or dog.
Another pf these pictures is a basketball court near the cemetery where somebody has tried to write FUCK on the goalpost, but didn't quite get it right :)
The bottom picture is a grave at the cemetery. Here the cemeteries are called panteones. This one caught my eye because of the Greek temple design and the colors.
And this corrugated iron wall painted white was just pretty.

Masked Children

These kids were re-enacting something in the town square one day last week. I always walk through the square on my way home and usually something is going on. That day there were a lot of kids in various kinds of costumes.
I had my hands full of heavy sacks of groceries so I only stopped long enough to get these 2 pictures. I kinda wish I'd gone back for more photos. There were kids dressed in what looked like pirate costumes, too. But I think they might have been Benito Juarez.
The people here sure know how to make good use of their public spaces. They never do anything this cool at home and here it's commonplace.
I wish Tuxtepec would spiff up their big band and play concerts in the bandstand :) Maybe that's asking a little too much though.

Cheaters

My students took their final exams last week and during the first class - the 9am nursing class - I confiscated THIS!
I noticed a piece of paper sticking out from under the test of one student and she was holding her arm over her exam in a suspicious manner. So I walked over and picked up her paper and this little, tiny, cheat sheet was smiling up at me.
I think that more of them had a copy of it. 5 people failed the exam. I think they had just not studied at all because they were planning to cheat and then when I put them in alphabetized seats and busted this one with the cheat sheet, they got too scared to use it. I was proud of myself :)
My only problem was what to do.
I confiscated the cheat sheet and let her finish the exam. I ended up subtracting 2 letter grades from her exam. She failed the course when all was said and done. Hahahahaha!!!!!

Mr. Egg

I keep having these epiphanies that I need to use this blog instead of stupid FaceBook. So I'm gonna try to get back into the swing of it.
This is a store that we pass every day coming home from work in the Tux Van. I love the Mr. Egg sign. And, you can't see it in the picture, but there are bins of ground corn alongside the sacks of dog food and animal feed. If you want to make corn bread, you can't get cornmeal any other place. You have to go to the animal food store. Heh heh.

Iguana

We got to work yesterday to find this giant iguana dying on the steps of the Centro de Idiotas. We all had to poke at it and take pictures, but then some Mexican professors who knew NOT what they were doing came out and decided they needed to pour peroxide on it's ass because it looked wounded. Something was protruding, anyway, like hemmorhoids or something. We thought it was awful that they kept fucking with the poor thing. And it did die eventually that day. Who knows? But at least I got some good pictures of the local fauna :)
But now I come to the moral dilemma part. Well, not really moral dilemma so much as a complaint about myself. After I looked at these pictures I started to feel like one of those assholes at Abu Ghraib that took pictures of themselves posing with the humiliated prisoners. Should I feel that way? I don't know. But I kinda do. I need a drink. :)

UNPA pineapple

The token pineapple in front of the gates of la UNPA.
Who will get to eat it, I wonder?

Cairo Flat

Sayed found me a flat in Abdeen for the summer. It was a 20 minute walk from the museum and next to Abdeen Palace, in an "Egyptian" neighborhood - no foreigners living around there. So there were no western-style supermarkets and we were close to a nice street market. The rent was 2500LE (about $500) per month and had two bedrooms and one bathroom.

Sick of FaceBook

I would much rather just keep this little blog with nobody reading it than deal with facebook crap.
Here I am in Mobile, AL. I went to see Ginger and Mommy. Ginger and her friend Amy ran in the Azalea Trail Run, a 10k thingy. It was fun. Unfortunately, Mommy's dog was dying - we thought- and I missed seeing Ginger fly across the finish line.
The dog lived.
But it was a very good trip away from the horrors of thesis writing here.
I finished my thesis, btw, and passed my defense and now am just waiting to get it back from the grad school so I can make the necessary corrections. Blah blah blah. Everything seems blah today.

Talkin to Sayed

So how sweet is this, Sayed goes into Aswan to use the internet cafes to talk to me. This morning he surprised me because I thought he would wait till Friday. It was really cool to have morning coffee with him. He's really the best. And I'm not biased at all, no.
In other news I will not be able to drink green beer for St. Patrick's Day because of thesis work. I have not been posting because of thesis work. I have not been doing anything because of thesis work. Why, again, did I put myself through this?!?!?! I don't know. But I must get back to work.

My man Sayed

I know this is out of chronological order and all, but I was just feeling happy about my sweet-heart and wanted to post his picture. Probably it's all the romance associated with Hathor :)
This is my felucca captain, Sayed, who has my heart with him in Aswan.

Opening the tomb

Our inspector Mahmoud was finally able to meet us and open our tomb. Here he is with Ganawy, the guy that is supposed to help us with the heavy stuff, and some other guy who hasn't come back since so I don't know him.
The opening of the tomb was pretty cool in a very low-key sort of way. The locks had actually been sealed from when it was closed when the Italians left not long ago, so they had to break the seals. Cool.

Going to Work in the Tomb

We are working in the tomb now and it is sooo cool! I can't find anything to complain about aside from the brutal starting hours. We have to get up at 6:30 every morning so we can leave here at 7. The transport to and from the tomb is this cool truck called a taxi balady. A lot like Guatemalan transport, but with a cover :)
Our driver is Nagag. I think that's his name.
Anyway, we have a site manager named Mustafa who is also an inspector for the SCA, but he is second in command of the Harwa project and in charge in Tiradritti's absence. He is very nice and funny, and he comes over in the mornings for coffee then goes with us in the taxi balady to the tomb. Here are some pictures of AJ, Mariam, and Mustafa on our way to work in the mornings.

Mohammed and Shicko

Some pictures of Mohammed, Ragab's nephew, and Shicko. I love these guys. I feel so much like we are family. It felt like it then and it still feels like it.

Shicko

Ragab's nephew Shicko (Shee-ko) works for him in the shop. Shicko ROCKS!!!! He's the nicest, sweetest, kindest person I met in Cairo. Well, one of them anyway. He works in the afternoons and nights. He has a little brother, Mohammed, who came up during a school holiday and worked with us. Ok, I say us because I was always there. But I washed some dishes and felt like I was working. Sort of. Maybe I was just in the way. But Ragab says I was part of the shop and I belonged there, so it's probably all cool.