Cliff – Spoofy Randomness

Miss or Not, Part 2

And that, my friends, is a wrap on Not on a Camel! This is the last comic of the series. It’s been a good run, but my contract is up and I’m back in America now so it’s time to end it. Thank you to everyone who read my silly little comic.

Josh gets a cameo here for the sole reason of I needed someone taller than me because of the panel design. And panel two is true in two senses: sometimes, especially with foreign languages, what is meant as a good-natured joke doesn’t always land and I was being cautious, and there was so much stuff at that school that was completely ridiculous/sometimes edging on the illegal side that it would not present well…

I did get the worst food poisoning of the entire two years the weekend before I was due to come home, hence the lateness of this comic. Not fun when needing to pack.

The final panel obviously does not include everyone I met, but I just didn’t have room/skill to draw everyone. I tried to stick to people who had appeared previously, but Rhonda did get to appear for the first time. She is a teacher at Schutz that I got to be good friends with and would have likely appeared in the comic had my update schedule been better this year.

And yes, that is a picture of my visa with ‘WORK IS NOT PERMITTYED’ circled (I did not add the circling). That was a thing that caused much frustration, including (as I later discovered) some of the issues with getting into Turkey. One of the requirements for me to stay at this job was to go to the visa office every few months and lie to a government official, claiming I’m a tourist. That is an experience I will never do again and I absolutely hated it, to the point that I almost left multiple times and probably should have (note: this was not revealed to me until I was already in the country, one of many omissions I encountered). The only thing that kept me from doing so was my life outside of work; I didn’t want to jump ship without completing what I set out to do.

That being said, overall the last two years was a very positive experience and I’m glad I did it. To my friends in Egypt, I miss you already! To everyone else, Egypt is a wonderful and safe place and I hope you get the chance to go sometime!

July 3, 2019

Trams

True story. We went five stops after smoke started coming out from under the tram before they finally called it quits and we had to walk from Mostafa Kamel instead of our usual stop in Roushdy (added about a half mile, so not horrible).

The oldest carriages are from 1975, and they haven’t updated any of them in over twenty years with the exception of the ‘tourist tram’ added in 2009 (5 LE, I haven’t ridden it yet but it is a little more luxurious), so it’s not hard to believe it’s the oldest tram system on the continent. I haven’t tried the downtown trams yet as the routes are a bit confusing (and I haven’t had much need to go there). It is, however, a very cheap way to get within walking distance of almost anywhere and I really don’t mind them (so long as they don’t break down). Cliff and I take it home every day, and my horribly failed New Years’ Resolution is to get moving fast enough in mornings to take it as well instead of Uber. Convincing myself to walk a half mile to the station early in the morning hasn’t gone well…

And yes, people do ride on the back coupling.

With thanks to Maximilian Dörrbecker for the tram map.

March 21, 2018

The Turkeys at the Turkish Consulate I

Ref: Arrow | Headphone phone conversations

Ugh. This process. This was over month long process to try to accomplish. Cliff was already set; he had gotten a six month visa before coming to Egypt that was still valid (this was before things got political between America and Turkey). And yes, the phone menu is literally in an unbreakable loop. All of these things actually happened (plus running out of money on my phone twice in calling Turkey). I won’t say too much more because this is only Part I.

Even before I came to Egypt, I had started to buy TV shows and movies on iTunes instead of DVD. This turned out to be very helpful because it meant I could have my movie library with me without taking up too much space in my luggage! Since I don’t watch too many current shows, I don’t pay for TV service (even stateside); I just subscribe to the show on iTunes and the newest episodes appear a day after they show on TV. Both Cliff and I are fans of the Arrowverse shows, so we get Otlob orders and have dinner and TV nights until Cliff falls asleep in the middle of episodes. Good times.

December 13, 2017

Dr Pepper

First of all, let me make one thing clear: if you are not Muslim, DO NOT TRY THIS JOKE. Alcohol is harām in Muslim faith, meaning that it is forbidden to drink it. Moustafa and Aya were also drinking Dr Pepper when they pulled this one on Alaa (and obviously the Dr Pepper was not spiked). It resulted in much hilarity. It also led to the discovery that Dr Pepper is available at one grocery store! We then had a hard time convincing Moustafa that root beer doesn’t have alcohol despite having beer in its name.

Because Egypt is approximately 90% Muslim, this also means that it is difficult–but not impossible–to find alcohol here. Most upper-class hotels do allow foreigners to come in for a drink, and there is one chain of stores (appropriately called Drinkies) allowed to sell it, but apparently not corkscrews to open the wine, oops. I don’t drink much so it’s not a big inconvenience, but if you’re the type to enjoy a good brew with your dinner, you’re gonna be severely limited in your restaurant choices. But hey, drunk driving isn’t really an issue here! You just have to watch out for all of the normal drivers…

Lots more people showing up in the comic! I tried to show everyone who was at Thanksgiving. I thought I had everyone, then I realized I didn’t draw myself. Oh well. Oddly, I have not shown many Egyptians in the comic. That should be changing as I make more friends and attempt to learn more Arabic. Emphasis on ‘attempt’.

November 29, 2017

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kind of a nifty little mashup of the three comics–thankful for having the ability to bring back Spoofy Randomness as a brand! And of course you can show how thankful you are that Spoofy Randomness is back by donating to the comic’s Patreon to support the comic through the holidays!

Panel 1 is what was meant to be its own comic when the news was first announced that girls would be able to enroll in the BSA program. I never had time to make it, so this works. (Technically Sally can’t join for a couple more years, but the point stands.) Also of note (I think I’ve mentioned before) is that events in SR: Scouting takes place before SR: Not on a Camel. And yes, Sally has been part of a co-ed Scouting program before.

Us Americans at AIA are planning on having our own little shindig (along with a few others) at my place to celebrate, which is nice. And hey, Cliff FINALLY made it into a comic! Amazed it took this long; he is my counterpart in the science department as well as teaching math. And he’s from Texas, hence his Dallas Cowboys shirt.

I don’t really have anything to say about Percy. He’s Percy. I am playing as him in the Ultra Moon game, though. He uses a Delibird with Splash. It’s been interesting.

November 23, 2017

Character: Cliff

Miss or Not, Part 2

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Trams

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The Turkeys at the Turkish Consulate I

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Dr Pepper

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Thanksgiving

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