Observations | Egypt, Government :(, Narnia

BOYS’ DEAN’S OFFICE – I’m soooooooooooooooo bored…

I’m tired, I’m hungry, I’m cranky, I want to sleep

… and I am on duty. *sigh* So is the life of a dean on duty. I’m in the middle of a Friday-Saturday-Sunday stint here, and while I like being on duty more than I like being off, I’m still wondering why I haven’t moseyed on over to the apartment for one of those (3-hour long) 20-minute naps.

But alas, I am distracted. I keep looking at the copy of The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis that I stole from the library, and I’m craving to continue reading it, more than almost any book before. I’ve got guys coming in and out of the office wanting to chew the fat, so there’s that. I’ve got this blog to write, people online to chat with, news sources to check up on (amazingly, I’ve done a better job in keeping up with U.S. current events here than at home). I’ve got stuff to do.

But nonetheless, that nap does sound good…

Three (probably super unclear because the Sandman is drifting over me) Observations:

1. “No no no, perhaps you don’t get it – I’m going to Egypt whether you let me in or not!” Because of the bombardment of no help from Ethiopian Airlines and the bad attitude (B.A.) from the Egyptian embassy, I knew that Lauran’s and my trip to Nairobi on Thursday would require an extra dose of aggression. But, from where? I’m not necessarily strong enough to take care of this on my own; they hadn’t listened to me before, so why would they now? I considered all my options before deciding on bringing with me the most evil, vile, power-filled man/machine that Africa has ever seen:

Yes, that’s right. Only the villainous Social-Life Terminator could have the cojones to take down an airline and an embassy in one fell swoop. It was on like Donkey Kong.

Three hours later, Lauran had gotten his yellow fever shot, we’d driven by the embassy, and I’d walked out of the Ethiopian Airlines downtown office with two round-trip tickets to Cairo.

It’s official; I’m going. Thanks SLT!

2. “Hey Chris, you should teach government, really! I mean, we have the opening, we need someone to do it, and you’d do a good job… yeah, you interested? You are? PSYCH!” In a lesser sense, this was what happened with my Government class.

On the way back from the Egyptian embassy on Thursday, Lauran, the person who’d unofficially offered me the class, told me that Doug Hartzell, history guru, had already volunteered to take the class. It had apparently been mistakenly assigned to Lauran, while in fact, it was Doug’s baby. He even had the history book’s teacher’s edition that I’d been looking for. So apparently, I’m out of this job.

I’m not too worried though. I have stuff that I do in the dorm, so teaching might take from that a bit. Also, there’s always a chance that some other class might come up that needs a teacher, so I might be able to step in and take that one. Or heck, I haven’t even talked to Doug yet. Maybe Government and I aren’t finished. Only time will tell…

3. “There are two kinds of people in the end; those who say to God ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says ‘Thy will be done.’” – C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce. I read “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Many times. That’s one of the classic books I treasure from my childhood. As time passed, however, I’ve done a horrible job of reading more of C.S. Lewis’ writings, and I’ve needed an excuse for quite some time to get “back in.”

So with the Narnia movie going to theaters so soon, I’ve the best reason to re-ignite my interest in this department. Elvin picked up the soundtrack to the movie, which features incredible songs by Jeremy Camp, Jars of Clay, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Bethany Dillon (to simply name a few). I also began reading The Great Divorce just yesterday, and although it’s incredibly short, I’ve been burning through the pages as fast as I’ve ever read anything. After this post is done, I think that I’ll spend some time on my bed, finishing up the book. Or maybe just drifting off and finishing it later…

Allright, so that’s what I’m off to do. Tomorrow morning is another Mount Kenya prep-hike, tomorrow night is banquet, and after that’s another sure-to-be-disastrous Chiefs game. Miss ya!

-cw