I wasn't successful earlier today in getting a picture of the animals about to be slaughtered.  The fruit and vegetable street a few blocks over was PACKED with people buying and selling fruits and vegetables in prep for the feast tomorrow after the morning prayers.  The markey area had an air of excitement about it. There were more cows over there than sheep, tied to lamp posts.  Two or three cows passed me at eye level before I realized they were in a small sized pickup truck bed, munching on hay as the driver slowly weaved through the crowd.  I bought some tomatoes and bananas from the street vendors (itnayn wa nus for a half kilo of bananas, about 50 cents, and wahid wa robaa for a half a kilo of tomatoes, about 22 cents) But I was too shy to pull out my camera to photograph the animals waiting to be killed, I didn't want to draw a ton more attention to myself.  I find that in this neighborhood, my neighborhood, I care alot about how I'm perceived. I worry about our neighbors seeing Drinkies Co. delivering beer (but they do so in secretive black baggies).  I try to greet our bowab and his wife with 'Salam Alaikom' (standard greeting of peace be upon you) as much as possible.  And I've enjoyed getting to know our neighbors (but I'm avoiding them right now because for some reason I have totally brain farted their youngest daughter's name, the only daughter who stil lives at home. It is soooo rude of me and it's been a couple of days and I can't remember! The mother is Buzayna, but I can't remember the daughter and I am so embarrassed!). But this afternoon I didn't want to look like a gawking tourist -so I kept my camera in my purse.

Anyways.  I can't sleep. I can't sleep because animal after animal is being slaughtered in the dirt lot behind my apartment complex. And they take forever to bleed out and their dying sounds are horrifying.  I'm vegetarian because I don't digest meat well, and I honestly don't mind reasonable, responsible meat eating by others, but this mass slaughter is totally freaking my vegetarian self out.  I'm about to go shove some earplugs in my ears and attempt to get some shut eye in prep for another day of attempted final paper writing. "Attempted" because Egypt is so dang distracting I got very little done today.