I couldn't be happier that I have a week off from school starting this afternoon, even if it will be a break mostly consumed by work on senior project and college apps. I'm going into the break with some significant milestones reached. Earlier this week, I completed BOTH essays I have been working on! I feel immensely relieved that I can finally label all 20 pages as finished.

The rest of the week was really busy, and I was overwhelmingly tired through much of it, but I managed to do some pre-writing work on my third essay: The Cityscape of Cairo as a metaphor for Egyptian History. My process folio is now filled with photographs I took I might want to use a jumping-off points, along with a map of the downtown I broke down into pieces representing specific eras and trends. I've been mulling this essay over in my head for practically two months, so although it will be a complex piece, I'm hoping to finish it fairly quickly. Ideally, I want to be done with it by the end of my first week back.

And, last but not least, pictures. Here's some of those urban landscape images I've been inspired by:
View from the top of the Cairo Tower.
The Islamic Quarter. Although beautiful and historic, the cleanliness and orderliness of the neighborhood is very unlike the rest of the city. I think of it as something like EgyptoDisney.
The Khan el-Khalili, the famous centuries-old souk/tourist trap. I like the contrast between the market itself, which embodies the typical image westerners have of the Middle East, and the people visiting it, such as my camera-wielding friend. While Western money keeps places like Islamic Cairo protected, it comes at the cost of some of its original character. I'm not sure what, if any, balance can be reached between the two.
This was also taken in the Islamic Quarter. I'm not sure what it says about Cairo. I do know, however, that this is one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.