THEN, I spoke English with occasional Spanish. I was surrounded by people mostly like me, in dress, thought and values. NOW, I still speak mostly English with a growing vocabulary of Arabic. I complained about the electronic junk-mail and the time it takes to learn all the new technologies. NOW, my computer IS my office and contact with the rest of the world.
Time is still extraordinarily precious and scarce.
Since the computer is my main source of current, professional information and my work associates are spread out over the U.S., Middle East, Asia and North Africa, my only choice is to continue to develop a high level of computer skills. I am grateful for the solid foundation of knowledge I brought to Cairo and am aware on a daily basis how much MORE there is to learn. Whether it is learning to negotiate the Ramadan rush hour traffic or to operate a new CD-ROM for International Advising, I find patience, a sense of humor, openness, and practice, practice, practice keep me focused on what I have to do next. THEN, I intellectualized about all of these ideas and learned about them in theory. I have learned that a combination of people and technological skills is required on a daily basis.