Set game face to ON

Tomorrow's D-Day for me: my first day on the New Campus.

Short proposal summary: AUC is relocating from its 90-yr-old location in downtown Cairo to a site an hour east into the desert.

Short results summary: Fiasco.


Analysis: shocker. In some sense, I'm not sure what I thought was going to happen. Did I really believe that a massive building project was going to be completed on time and in a quality fashion in this country? Guess I was dreaming. The Pyramids, this ain't.

To their credit, AUC has been driving their contractors like demons, trying to make things as good as possible for the opening of the school year - during Ramadan, no less (my response? Hire Christians!). And a lot of the buildings are standing, most of them with the normal parts like windows, and doors, and such. There are flagrant exceptions to this, but on the whole, it's not that bad - overall.

Even though classes started yesterday, though, I'm hearing that none of the science labs are operational. The large auditorium (which we use for my class) is nonfunctional, although there appears to be a substitute that will either be adequate or a disaster. I'll find out next week. Supposedly the majority of the 140 classrooms will be "usable", which means (I think) desks, and whiteboards, and maybe but not necessarily lightbulbs. Forget projection hookup or any of the much touted "Smart" features of these new classrooms.

As for yours truly, I'm waaaaay up the proverbial creek. I have a big, beautiful office that is completely bare. No, wait, I'm lying. It's filthy, so I suppose there technically is stuff in there. But there's no furniture - not a stick. The picture I'm showing here is what my office will look like, insha'allah, in some undisclosed future. When it's done, my office will be obscenely large and well-apportioned. I've got so many bookcases, I'm thinking of going out and buying some pottery to put in them.

Don't even get me started on the transport system out there, or my hour-long commute each way (which I've done once and it wasn't that bad). My office stuff - most of which I need for class - is in some Egyptian Area 51 because it can't be moved into my office. First I need furniture, then I need to have the stolen battery replaced in the electronic doorlock. Then, God willing, someone will give me my stuff back (which has been boxed since the end of May, because I was told it would be moved in June. Hahaha), and at some even later mysterious date, I might actually be able to use my computer. You know. For working.

It's good to know things could always be worse. Moving the university could've been my job.