I am racing all over Cairo trying to maintain meetings with all kinds of people. It's really crazy, I keep making appointments with a ton of different people and end up double booking myself all over town, so I have to cancel. Wanting to play with Wa'el is actually causing problems, because I'm getting asked to play with other people and I have to turn them down. One part of me feels like, well, I'm here to play with Wa'el, so it's ok to turn them down, but the other part knows that it's a bad idea to limit your contacts right off the bat when you move to a new city. Losing the phone was bad too, cause I already had a ton of numbers in it. And to find some people again I have to go trekking through the city to their neighborhood, and since I lost the phone I haven't had time to do that, so some people might think I'm dead or something. I'm going crazy! Things have gotten out of hand so fast and I'm not good at handling it. I wanted things to be simple, to play with Wa'el, but since I took so long in nailing him down, in the meantime I met a bunch of other people that now want a piece of me, and as usual I'm out trying to make everyone else happy before myself. I don't like problems man. I want things simple. I notice that I really have trouble feeling at home, even with the ultra hospitable Egyptians, I can't let myself settle, even when I'm invited into their homes as their friend. The Sudanese guys that I hang out with are always so excited to see me, and I know they love me, and they're great people, but when I'm at their place I still feel like an outsider, like I'm just there to observe. We jam and tell jokes and have a good time, so I guess I participate, but I can't help feeling like I'm not part of the family. That's just me tho, it's not that they're showing me in any way that I'm not part of the family. Thats just me ragging on myself and not allowing myself to get comfortable. I'm in their home, I should feel at home, right? I brought over another friend of mine named Shams to their house, and I could see how immediately at home he felt. Of course, he knows some of them well from before and has played gigs with others. I think I'll feel more settled with time and things will become clearer. I had a great lesson with Wa'el the other night. he is just such a pleasure to watch, as he has the most refined technique and amazing sound ever. It just makes me happy to watch him play.  I really want this band to happen, I know it would be amazing. Little by little, shwaya shwaya, I know things will fall into place