Today I had an unexpected chat with a dear friend who had been diagnosed with cancer (Hodgkin's Lymphoma) in December.
Today she told me that she only has one more treatment left!
Today she looked beautiful and cheerful, with all of her cute baby ducky hair growing back, and was FULL of laughter.
After my 30-minute date with her, I shifted my attention back to my papers for school but then I started thinking...
I feel like I've taken many things for granted while I've been in Cairo these past months, and even though there have been things that drive me completely crazy--there are also things, that I never expected, that made me fall so deeply in love with the city. Today I actually thought how hard it would be to leave. *It was like one of those moments I had right before I left Uganda--where I felt that no one at home could relate to the things I'd witnessed or seen. I actually didn't want to leave Gulu, at all!*
I really love that living in Cairo is like a roller coaster ride--it keeps you on your feet at times, makes you more independent and street smart, all the while throwing plenty of bumps in your path. Maybe that's what I've needed to stay focused, who said life was supposed to be easy?
When it rains here, it's magical and unexpected. I absolutely love the rain, at any time. When it rains here it makes me think of home--a special place. I enjoy the little things in life and because here those things are often hidden by other objects, sometimes of mass destruction it seems, I lose sight of what's most important to me.
My amazing loved ones here, and the ones who have visited me, has helped me with so many things (finding a flat to live in--three times, teaching me how to blow shisha rings, inviting me over for Christmas movies and dessert baking with their family, letting me stay at their place so I could have a quiet place to study, having rebellious nights with me in a secret garden, letting me lean on their shoulder after eating old calamari and tasting really gross camel steak, loaning me money the time(s) my credit card was stolen or lost, yelling at Egyptian boys for grabbing me, eating massive amounts of food and then telling everyone we only had salad *multiple times*, listening to me complain about some of the mean Egyptian men, laughing at the times I've tried to go on a "cleanse", allowing me to use their shower when I didn't have running water, teaching me how to say Arabic-cuss words, not leaving me in a Nile Boat the time I had too many drinks and gave my phone to a homeless person, allowing me to snuggle endlessly with the cutest Princey-dog ever).
Today she told me that she only has one more treatment left!
Today she looked beautiful and cheerful, with all of her cute baby ducky hair growing back, and was FULL of laughter.
After my 30-minute date with her, I shifted my attention back to my papers for school but then I started thinking...
I feel like I've taken many things for granted while I've been in Cairo these past months, and even though there have been things that drive me completely crazy--there are also things, that I never expected, that made me fall so deeply in love with the city. Today I actually thought how hard it would be to leave. *It was like one of those moments I had right before I left Uganda--where I felt that no one at home could relate to the things I'd witnessed or seen. I actually didn't want to leave Gulu, at all!*
I really love that living in Cairo is like a roller coaster ride--it keeps you on your feet at times, makes you more independent and street smart, all the while throwing plenty of bumps in your path. Maybe that's what I've needed to stay focused, who said life was supposed to be easy?
When it rains here, it's magical and unexpected. I absolutely love the rain, at any time. When it rains here it makes me think of home--a special place. I enjoy the little things in life and because here those things are often hidden by other objects, sometimes of mass destruction it seems, I lose sight of what's most important to me.
My amazing loved ones here, and the ones who have visited me, has helped me with so many things (finding a flat to live in--three times, teaching me how to blow shisha rings, inviting me over for Christmas movies and dessert baking with their family, letting me stay at their place so I could have a quiet place to study, having rebellious nights with me in a secret garden, letting me lean on their shoulder after eating old calamari and tasting really gross camel steak, loaning me money the time(s) my credit card was stolen or lost, yelling at Egyptian boys for grabbing me, eating massive amounts of food and then telling everyone we only had salad *multiple times*, listening to me complain about some of the mean Egyptian men, laughing at the times I've tried to go on a "cleanse", allowing me to use their shower when I didn't have running water, teaching me how to say Arabic-cuss words, not leaving me in a Nile Boat the time I had too many drinks and gave my phone to a homeless person, allowing me to snuggle endlessly with the cutest Princey-dog ever).
So thank you, Olivia, for being so courageous and wonderful--and for reminding me of these things. I bet you never expected to touch so many lives.
I'm so blessed to have you in mine.
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| Right before the most hilarious Phi Delt formal. ;) I miss you! |
*And for those of you who want to read Liv's hilarious and touching blog, here you go. Enjoy.*
http://hashtagcancersucks.blogspot.com
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