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Immersing myself in a new culture for four months means many things. Some bouts of Egyptian culture I will bring back with me to the United States, while others must be left here. Here are a few phrases (both in modern standard Arabic and Fusha Egyptian Arabic) that I most likely will say all the time when I get back:
In Sha’Allah: which means “God-willing.” I will probably use this phrase the most because it is something that I frequently add to phrases which, in my vocabulary, closely relates to hopefully. I say it all the time and when I am talking with people on the phone or online I keep having to stop myself from saying it and instead replacing it with “hopefully.”
Yahnee: means “like.” I don’t say this as much but sometimes when I am stuck with a word I don’t know how to say, I used “yahnee” and wave my arms a little, hoping that the person understands what I am talking about.
Yalla: one of the most important words because I have said it even before I came to Egypt. It means “Let’s Go.” Everyone says it here and everyone in Israel says it as well. Great word. You should use it to.
Mumkin: means “maybe.” Let’s go to the park later, mumkin. That is exactly what we use it for here and that is exactly what I will use it for at home.
Shukran: “thank you.” Plain and simple. Just like I said Merci after returning from France or Todah when I came back from Israel, it will be a nasty habit to break for the first few weeks, but slowly I will settle in.
La La La: “no no no.” This can be used in many ways. It normally is used in relation to telling a taxi driver that I will not pay him more money because of the color of my skin. It also is used for people trying to sell me something or when someone misunderstands what I want to eat or drink or smoke.
Shwaya: “in between” or “kinda.” The best example is anytime anyone asks if she speak Arabic (Tetekelim Al-Arabia?) we reply “shwaya, shwaya.” It’s that “well sorta” “I do, but I don’t” mentality.
In another instance of “do as much as I can before I leave next week,” we decided to head to the Giza Zoo, if only for the reason of playing with lion cubs. Yes, with a little bribing (i.e. 10 LE) we can hold a lion cub and take photos with it. We also got to play with some monkeys and feed some other animals. Fun? Sorta.
For you see, the Giza Zoo is a place of utter horror by western standards for a place to keep animals. First, the zoo has very rundown facilities, no apparent maintence staff or upkeep, and the habitats for the animals are atrocious. Case and point: as we are walking along, we see a dozen or so lions being held in cages. Not in a natural habitat (or even an unnatural habitat, for that matter). Simply barred cages with loud music playing, kids screaming wanting to hear the lions roar, and in some instances, several lions in one cage. At one point, three younger male lions began pacing around inside their cage and – reminiscing about my Lion King days – looked like they were getting ready to attack. It was horrible. They simply don’t know how to take care of these animals.
Once we bribed the zookeepers to play with lion cubs, we walked back and saw caged tigers and the zookeepers did as much as they could to provoke them! Yelling, singing and poking fun at them, to the point of utter annoyance to the animals. I have videos but I can’t seem to figure out how to put them up on here, so go to my youtube site to view all the videos: http://www.youtube.com/somedude535http://www.youtube.com/somedude535
We walked around a little more, got mobbed by little Egyptian kids (and big ones too) and played with some monkeys before being disgusted enough to leave. I was appalled at the conditions but how often do you get to play with lion cubs?
It was incredibly interesting to say the least. Now back to studying! Don’t forget to check out my videos: http://www.youtube.com/somedude535.
Little men, cruising through the heavy Cairo traffic on their mopeds. No, this isn’t an unfamiliar scene to anyone who has been in Europe, or even some congested American cities. What is unique is what they have on the back of their moped. No, not a family of five (although you can catch that on a regular moped), but a metal box with an advertisement attached, displaying a five-digit number to, what else, but McDonald’s. Or Pizza Hut. Or Euro Deli. Or Fuddruckers.
One aspect of Western culture that is evident all over Cairo is the advent of the food delivery service. Western food in particular is a sign of social status and in a place where a Radio Shak can employ ten people at any given time or a sports restaurant can support two dozen employees, restaurants galore offer delivery service all over Cairo. For a small fee (less than $1 usually) or no fee at all, most establishments offer quick delivery to your door, regardless of how far away you live.
One website, however, that I didn’t learn about until about a month ago, was otlob.com. Check it out if you like. It is the ultimate food delivery website in Cairo. You pick your neighborhood, it comes up with several dozen restaurants that deliver to your area, and you pick from thousands of items on the menu. Since a delivery surcharge is usually added, a tip is not required. Thus far, I have ordered Little Caesars Pizza, Fuddruckers, Hardees and Euro Deli (two of which are within three blocks of where I live), but I still don’t feel like getting out of my pajama pants and walking.
But clearly the best part is when the delivery boys arrive at the dorms. They tell the person at the front desk who ordered and the attendant shouts into the microphone (which echoes around the entire first floor common area): (screech) “Mr. Adam” (screech).
Exactly one week from today I will be doing as the Romans do, and not as the Egyptians do. With less than seven days left, clearly we are cramming as much as we possibly can in, still not quite ready to believe that we are all leaving here soon. Between my final days of classes (this past Monday) and my only day of finals (this upcoming Sunday), I have five days of no official academic commitments, so I am free. Free to lounge around and hang out with friends. Free to sleep. Free to procrastinate. I have set up goals for my papers and finals so that I can do one fun Cairo thing a day and study. Yesterday, I went to the Egyptian museum, which was rather disappointing, although the King Tut exhibit was pretty incredible. Much of the artifacts I simply have seen, in action, in temples, tombs and monuments elsewhere in Egypt, so just being thrown into a warehouse-museum with little or no labels doesn’t quite do it for me.
So with seven days left, we went back to the Pyramids, to say our goodbyes.
We got up early and were the first ones into the Pyramid complex this AM (yes!). We spent a little more than we bargained for but hey! how many times do I live in Egypt? We were there early enough to go inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, which if you recall from one of the posts the first week or so, is the only remaining ancient wonder of the world. It was incredible. We walked around all three of the huge pyramids and then took a camel ride to an incredible overlook (much better than the last time) and I managed to stay on the camel this time. Enjoy!
So as school ends, this post just sat in my draft box for much of the semester. I don’t know why… but here goes.
The American government is notorious for spending our money. By no means do I oppose big government – reasons for government tend to outweigh reasons against it – but rarely do I actually see my tax dollars at work. Yes, everyday when I drive down the highway, or turn on the faucet to clean water, but those basic tenets of my life aside, actually seeing American tax dollars hard at work is very relieving. The U.S. Department of Defense just asked for some ridiculous amount of money to fund the “wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq (to the sum of $150 billion, I believe), so clearly I am not seeing results there. A bridge to nowhere in Alaska is also a waste of my tax money. But interestingly enough, I have had the pleasure of utilizing several gifts from the American people. The USAID, or United States Agency for International Development is the group responsible for the dispersal of billions of dollars worth of aid worldwide, and lucky as I am, I now classify myself as a benefactor of American aid here in Cairo!
The “reputable” institution known as the American University in Cairo is a private institution and considered by most the best school in the Middle East. Funnily enough, this private institution receives millions of dollars worth of American aid. Adorned on one of the walls in the lobby of my building illustrates that my building is a gift from the people of the United States. Congratulations! your own private instutition cannot even afford to build housing in one of the cheapest cities in the world. They are reliant on the American taxpayers, who clearly don’t need health insurance for the poor children, voting rights for the most oppressed people in a democracy (DC residents!!), or bridges that don’t collapse into mighty American rivers. My school can afford a new $400 million campus in New Cairo but they can’t even afford housing for its students (let alone maintain it to livable, American standards, since this school seems to preach “The American Way” of education).
Don’t worry – it’s not only my multi-million dollar residence hall that has been donated by the American people. Walking on Greek Campus downtown, I notice another plaque… this time on the side of our library. Yes, the big, ugly, hulking building on campus was built by the American taxpayers. This, so I am told, ensures the freedom of the word (i.e. Hosni Mubarak’s censors can’t walk in and shut it down), but I think that the University would have enough clout that should we actually build our own library and fill it with books that are uncensored, we would be able to do it. I mean, my professors regularly talk about their hatred not only for the Egyptian government, but also the American one, as well. So the library is a gift from the American people. Guess what else is? All the library scanners are. And most of the computers are. The projectors. The laptops. Most technology around here has a USAID sticker slapped on it, as if we are supposed to appreciate the donation from the Americans and forget about how the whole administration has created more of a problem than they have solved, both in Iraq and all around the world. It sickens me on both ends: the fact that a private institution in Cairo – one that charges $15,000 a year in tuition, when the average family makes about 10% of that a year – cannot afford to deliver a world-class education to its students ($$$) without the help of the American people? And that the American government allows this to actually occur.
Since when did Gucci-wearing, Egyptian millionaires need to use Microsoft Office 2007 with the super-updated image library and internet servers on par with the Pentagon? American University in Washington doesn’t even have Office 2007. Furthermore, half the students here don’t even use the technology provided; it’s the international students who actually do work and utilize the library. The only reason the local Egyptian students ever use the library isn’t even for educational purposes! since the library provides a sort-of natural sunblock for those sitting in its shadow. Imagine if America knew their tax dollars were being consumed by a bunch of rich snobs as a form of sunblock?
Man, they would be upset.
Only to be surpassed by realizing that more of their tax dollars are being wasted on an unwinnable war. But hey – at least some U.S. tax dollars are going towards blocking something. Cause it’s not like the Democrats are even making a valiant effort to blocking the war.
So this post is finally coming to fruition (ironically now that all of my classes are officially over).
On the two days a week that I have classes, I have yet again fallen into a manageable routine. So here goes:
Every Monday & Wednesday, I wake up on the dot at 8:20am and check my email before hopping in the shower. I tend to catch the shuttle at 8:55, which takes twenty minutes to get to Downtown. After getting off at the third stop, I swing over to the Fateer stand on Faliki Street where I get a fateer (thin pancake with sugar) and a bottle of water from the market. From 9:30 until about 10:45 I have my Introduction to Political Economy class, which is one of my favorite classes. After that, I sit on the cafeteria terrace on Greek Campus and chat it up with friends or grab a cup of coffee from the Aroma Coffee stand on campus. I putz for awhile, either reading The Economist or just relaxing ignoring any work I may have to do.
From noon until 1:20 I have my Comparative Politics of the Middle East class, which is the most painful since the professor has no idea what he is teaching. Yet again, being a former ambassador doesn’t qualify you as an academic. I am sorry. No matter how close you were with Slobodan Milosevic, you have no right to teach at AUC. After class, I grab an ice cream cone with Katie and we walk back to Greek Campus where I grab a beef luncheon sandwich and another bottle of water for lunch – yet again – on the cafeteria terrace. Since most likely I haven’t done my work for my next class, I walk up to the Mac lab on the 3rd floor of Social Sciences building where I read articles from Foreign Affairs, New York Times, and Washington Post, amongst other media outlets from Pittsburgh, Murrysville, and Washington DC.
I finally get to my work during my hour and a half off, and print for free since the Mac lab doesn’t charge for printing. Beautiful since the Library charges about the same rate as they do in America. At 3pm, I head to my class down the hall, where I still have mixed feelings about the class. Issues in Middle East Politics is taught by a world class intellectual who knows the Middle East inside and out but a lot of times I just wish he would stop asking us so much and just give us an insight into his brain. He actually just took us to the Arab League where we got to hear one of the ambassadors speak.
After my Issues class, I have to hot-foot it over from Greek Campus to Faliki Campus (we have three campuses in Downtown). I then hafta book it up four flights of stairs to my Survey of Arab History course from 4:30 until 5:50. This class is interesting, however, I didn’t sign up for the “History of Islam” which is essentially what the class was. We talked for 2/3 of the class about the rise of Islam and the Muslim Empire and then briefly touched the thousand years prior and the thousand years after. It also helped that I read The Economist during class under my notebook. Had I not, I probably wouldn’t have survived.
After class, I would run down Muhammad Mahmoud Street to catch the 6pm shuttle, which I made half the time and the other half I didn’t. So yes. Two days a week of classes and I’ve fit into my routine. I take the same hallways, go thru the same doors, get the same food, sit at the same areas basically every day.
I guess I will just have to get into a new routine when I return to AU in January.
So, in my normal state of mind during some of my classes (read: daydream, doodle, don’t pay attention, doze off), I realized that I leave Cairo exactly one month from today. Yes, December 19th I will be catching a cab back to the airport to take a flight to Rome for a few days before returning to the United States and getting back into my life. Weird? Yes and no. Lately, I have been in a funk since this is the first time I have ever missed Thanksgiving, which is, by far, my favorite holiday. We’re not discussing it anymore. Also, I am missing the height of the semester with my Fraternity, although there definitely are some pluses to being here.
I will be traveling this weekend to Luxor (to see King Tut) and next weekend I will be backpacking across the central Middle East (Israel, Jordan & the West Bank) visiting the beach at Eilat & Aqaba, Petra, Amman, back to Jerusalem (!!!) and finally returning to Cairo with only a couple weeks left in the Egyptian capital. Also, as of today, I have no major assignments or presentations due until finals week (that will be fun), so I can finally just relax and sit at cafes until all hours of the morning.
But with only a month left, I have compiled a list of Must-Do’s/See’s/Eat’s before I leave:
Back to the Pyramids – I have been twice but neither time have I really been close enough to touch ‘em or go inside ‘em. So one of these days I am going to go out very early and just explore the Pyramids all day.
Khan el-Khalili – the biggest market in Cairo and where I will be buying all of my gotta-have tourist junk. Been there once but literally had like 5 pounds on me.
Egyptian Museum – I have only planned this, say fifteen times, and I hear it takes two trips to really see everything… oops… time is running out but I will do it! It has the largest collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts anywhere in the world. So clearly it is a must-see.
The President’s Building on AUC Campus – Okay so one of the buildings – the President’s Building – is a former palace and I have only been there once. It is quite amazing.
The American Embassy – I know where it is and I just want to go in and say I’ve been on American soil while in Cairo. Why not?
Cairo Zoo – Not necessarily a must, but I hear if you bribe the zookeepers (who abuse the animals, meanwhile), you can play with lion cubs and monkeys.
Taboula – A great Lebanese restaurant that we went to my third day here. Meghan and I sat for four hours smoking shisha and discussing our life problems. I want to relive that (and the amazing food, minus the life problems) just one last time.
McDonald’s Delivery Service – Just once. I just want to have McDonald’s deliver me my McArabia to my doorstep. I’m not lazy. It is just one of those things that I truly cannot feel like an Egyptian until I have done that.
Unlimited Beer & Wings – Hard Rock. Clearly just one last time.
Latex – So there is this club at the Nile Hilton called Latex. The name says it all. I mean if you don’t choose clubs by their name, you really aren’t living. I hear its sketchy, but what college kid doesn’t live for sketchy moments.
Cinnabun – They deliver as well. Need it one last time…
So that is my list. Kinda long but I am sure I can square most of it away. I have one month, which seems like a very long amount of time, but since I have been here nearly three months already, chances are I am not going to get to see everything.
Taxis are the best way to travel around Cairo. They are dirt cheap, mostly reliable, friendly, but most importantly, they are deathly terrifying. That may sound like the antithesis of “best way to travel” but in fact, it just adds to the thrill. This is Africa people. I don’t expect to be shuttled around in an air-conditioned, leather filled luxurious taxi cab; I’d rather roll around in a cab with lumps in the worn down seats, windows rolled all the way down, and doors that sometimes open and sometimes don’t.
The metered system was introduced here in Cairo years and years and years ago but due to inflation, the meters in cabs have become a sign of the past, as inflation skyrocketed and the cab companies couldn’t keep up. So, in the typical way of doing things in Egypt, it is at the discretion of the passenger to determine the cost of the ride. Yes, you heard it correctly: I decide how much I want to pay for each ride, depending upon distance traveled, friendliness of the driver, time it took, etc. The key, however, is to get out of the cab before you actually pay. That way they can’t just simply start driving off until you pay what they want. It is pretty easy to just get out, grab your wallet and toss ‘em a few pounds. Now, sometimes – as an American especially – the cab driver will begin arguing with me in Arabic. Most of the time I just shrug him off, yelling back something like “I live here. I know the prices.” or “Five pounds is way more than enough. There was no traffic” in a jumbled mess of Arabic and they usually sulk off, ready to scam the next tourist they can find.
Other times, especially if we are coming from a tourist attraction or the airport, the cab drivers ask how much we want to pay before he even takes off. My favorite is the 80 pounds from the Pyramids one time (we normally pay 20 or 25) or the 20 pounds from campus to Zamalek (a ride that, at max, should cost 5 pounds [less than $1, mind you], and sometimes if I am lucky, I can pull off with 3 pounds). The drivers are usually friendly enough and the prices can’t get any better. Here are just some examples of prices we pay here for taxicabs:
–AUC Campus to Zamalek – 4 km – 5LE (90 cents)
–Zamalek to Marwa Palace (other AUC residence hall) – 6 km – 5 LE also…
–Zamalek to the Pyramids – 15 km – 20 LE (less than $4)
–Zamalek to the Airport – 30 km – 40 LE (less than $8)
**Most of the time, I just get in and have the cabbie take me anywhere in the city and toss him Chamsa Geenay (or 5 pounds).
Also, one of my favorite parts about taking cabs (and driving in general here) is driving at night, mainly because no one really likes to use their headlights. Just like horns, the use of headlights at night is a sign of letting people know where exactly you are. Sometimes, mainly when driving on deserted roads in the middle of the Sinai desert at night, headlights are used as a way of communication with passing cars. One time our driver and another had a 1/2 km conversation by flickering their lights. Kinda weird, but cool, nonetheless.
As for honking goes – as is true with all drivers, Cabbies aren’t unique – there is a language which takes a little bit to figure out. One short honk means, “I am here. I see see you there. No worries.” Anywhere I walk, I get a dozen or so cabbies just honking (since we normally walk in the road). I like to think of it as a “Hey. How are ya?” kinda greeting. Can’t stop to say hello, but I see you. No worries.
Two short honks usually means: “I am coming through this intersection and I don’t really want to slow down to see if there is another car coming.” AKA: it is when you hold onto the “Oh Sh*t Bar” if the cab has one. I have sometimes got in a cab at Midan Tahrir (where AUC is) and gone the ten minute drive home without stopping once. Sometimes I fear the cabs have no brakes… Two honks can also mean, “Hey, I need to get over the four lanes to make this exit in 100 meters. Please kindly move.” The nice part about Cairo, however, is that most of the time you can squeeze between the donkey cart and minibus on the October Bridge and no one gets too upset. Just a few exchanged words and life goes on.
Finally, three honks (or more… lots more) means the obvious: “GET OUT OF MY WAY.” They shout LOOK OUT while visibly not making any attempt to recalculate their path, let alone slam on the breaks. This rarely happens – only on expressways usually – which I dare not walk along. Since we have no visible traffic laws (or traffic lights or stop signs or lane markers or crosswalks or pedestrian laws or…) it becomes a free-for all on the streets, and so I always find myself walking into traffic knowing that the cabbies and other drivers will simply drive around me. They always do. I haven’t been even nudged yet, let alone be hit by a moving vehicle and I take some pretty risky moves, like walking caddy-corner across one of the busiest ten-lane roads in Downtown Cairo. I just know where the cars are going to go and how much room I need to be good. I listen to the honks of the buses and cars and not once have I been yelled at once (except by my friends who freak out).
So I think it is time to graduate to Honking 201, since I got the basics down in Honking 101.
The theme of today’s blog post is buckling up.
First, today is November 16, the birthday of my only sister, Kaelah. She turns sixteen and if you are from Pennsylvania you know that that means – yes she will be behind the wheel of a car maybe – just maybe – before the start of Friday rush in Pittsburgh. So buckle up Pennsylvania! Yet another teenage driver will be terrorizing the roads of Murrysville in the coming weeks (I can say that since I am not a teenager anymore).
Next, I am buckling up for the final four weeks of classes. Yes, I only have seven class meetings left per course (I only have Monday, Wednesday classes), so we are finally getting to the conclusion of many of the topics of the courses, although in my Survey of Arab History course we still have only been through about 300 years of Arabian history. It is a very interesting class and the topic is great because the professor is passionate about the subject, but the course is supposed to stretch from pre-Islamic times to the present, which is about 1,500 years of history and we are never going to make it to the present. But it is a bit too late to complain.
Now that my huge 20-page term paper and Comparative midterm are over, I can destress a bit and hang around Cairo. Wednesday night – post-nap of course – I went with a couple of friends to Chili’s for a salad (which I have basically been craving since I left in August), cherry-Coke (diner syrup style, of course), and bottomless tortilla chips. Beautiful. All for about $7. I mean clearly it was an entire day’s food budget but you gotta reward yourself sometimes.
After, we met with a friend of Carrie’s and ventured over to the Cairo Jazz Club, one of the most exclusive clubs in Cairo (I really have no idea why…) where, unfortunately, since it was Wednesday night, they are very picky with who they let in. A few of our friends had been waiting there for awhile and only half of them got in; we ended up waiting for about fifteen minutes before the bouncer ushered the four of us in without question (Meghan and I actually, based on our dashingly good looks, got the look after a few minutes but we didn’t want to separate from the other group). Now: Cairo Jazz Club is very exclusive. The rules on the wall state: Couples only, Reservations required, and a valid passport stating we were at least Twenty-Five years old. We fit one of those requirements so 1/3 isn’t too bad… but they are very picky about who gets in (mainly foreigners without question). Some would call it racism, while the club calls it “limiting the crowd size, as too many gentlemen has proved destructive before.” So we had fun dancing at Cairo Jazz while tons of creepy old guys stared at all of us, but we ended up having a good time anyways.
Thursday. I. Slept. In. Big surprise there, but I needed a little sleep since I had been up until 4am the night before (cough, cough). I really didn’t do much. I watched a movie or two and just generally relaxed all day, heading to Dido’s for dinner for some pasta and going to Versailles for shisha and conversation. After, Katie and I, as well as Ilaria and her friend Hassam, took an adventure to the African Diplomatic Club.
As fancy as it may sound, it really wasn’t. I mean it was cool brushing arms with the genuinely unimpressive, yet still flamboyant diplomats of African delegations in Cairo, but I felt kinda like at home, sipping beverages on plastic chairs, listening to a blend of African tribal music and insultingly-trivial Euro-trash music. On the way home in our friends BMW (yes the first time I had been in a private car in all of Cairo), Katie and I decided to buckle up, for no apparent reason, other than the fact that I sat on the right side in the back and the shoulder strap came down over my left side, snapping in place with the buckle strategically placed next to the door. Weird? I’d say so. It was also the first seatbelt I have worn since flying down the George Washington Parkway on August 25 towards Washington National Airport, driving my friend’s convertible, top-down, taking in the last fresh breaths of air for a few months.
Now, I am just sitting at a coffeehouse in the middle of Giza, updating my blog – I should be writing a paper on Muhammed Ali – and sipping a cappuccino with a friend, realizing how little time I have left here. So I am going to buckle up and enjoy my last few weeks before I return to reality and all the problems – or blessings depending on how you look at it – that have plagued my life since I have been gone. Cheers!
They all have something to do with what I did yesterday.
I decided that instead of sleeping in until 2pm (a norm around here), I would get up and head to the Citadel for a good afternoon before heading to the Hard Rock for dinner.
Meghan, Carrie and I left Zamalek around 11 and walked downtown, enjoying the beautifully sunny, but not excruciatingly hot day. The weather here has finally dropped into the 70’s and it appears as if it is here to stay. So anyways, we walked to downtown, grabbed some Fafela and then caught a cab to the Citadel.
**Now if you recall an earlier post, say first week in September, you may remember that our first attempt to get to the Citadel prior to starting school, failed miserably. Although we did get to see another cool Mosque and explore Islamic Cairo and Khan el-Khalili, two months later we finally made it back to The Citadel.
So a little background quickly… The Citadel is an old fortress atop a hill overlooking all of Cairo. Located on the eastern edge of the city, it provides amazing views of Islamic and Old Cairo, Downtown, and of course, the Pyramids. The most prominent building at the Citadel is the Mohammad Ali Mosque, which was built during the reign of Mohammad Ali during the mid nineteenth century. Also, there are several museums and cafes, and the normal tourist shops.
So we are driving along on our way to the Citadel through traffic on a Friday (which shouldn’t really occur since Friday is the day of rest) and this car in front of us cannot make it over the speedbump. Which brings me to the first highlight… as it takes a good thirty seconds to get over the speed bump, our cab driver – who is also laughing hysterically – leans over and says “Chinese Cars!!” Clearly we laugh, but eventually we make it to the Citadel. We were probably the only “tourists” who didn’t come on a bus so we weren’t quite sure where to stand. The main entrance was filled with Muslims heading up to the Mosque for Friday prayers and there was not another tourist to be found. So after some encouragement from Egyptians, we walked through security as if we were locals (which we are!).
At the top of the Citadel, we first went to a mosque that I cannot quite remember the name of, but it was basically deserted, and was very peaceful and serene. One of my favorite parts about Cairo (and Egypt in general) is the checkered patten that adorns practically every sidewalk, street, building and archway. Most of the time it is black and white but sometimes they get adventurous and paint it black and red.
We then went to the Egyptian Military Museum, which was housed in the old palace at the Citadel. Not gonna lie: the building itself was much more impressive than the artifacts. First, half of the museum was either closed off, roped off, or genuinely in a state of disrepair. All of the “A’s” had been removed from every single plaque, which was confusing. Also, the museum just kept going on and on and on. But clearly my favorite part – as is anytime they name something after the October War in general – is the fact that Egypt still celebrates the October War as a victory. Yes they surprised the Israelis and broke through the line, but was then defeated a couple weeks later and the Israeli army almost invaded Cairo. I mean, I am biased but I think it is completely naive to overlook the fact that they lost the war. Anyways, after the museum we grabbed a cup of tea, took in views of Cairo overlooking the whole city and the Mids, and went to the National Police Museum, which smelled bad and I could probably count the amount of interesting artifacts on one hand.
After, we went to the highlight of the Citadel (and really the only reason I went), the Mohammad Ali Mosque. This is one of the most impressive mosques in all of Cairo and one of the largest as well. Compared to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, it is significantly smaller, but in my opinion the Citadel is much more impressive. It has a very personal feeling that is incredibly inviting to pray in, which is what a house of worship should be. Magnificent, yes, but also allows for one to reflect and really get in touch with a spiritual side.
But highlight number two came upon our descent from the Citadel. As we were leaving, swarms and swarms and swarms of Egyptian children came over and tried talking to us. It first started out with a teenage girl taking her 1990’s style camera and trying to take a photo of me. Cute. But she just kept doing it. And the kids kept pushing us a little with their movements and about halfway down the hill, Carrie, Meghan and I were separated from each other as crowds of kids were grabbing at us and holding our arms and hands and trying to take our photos (or have us take a photo of them, we couldn’t tell). So I now can say that I have had a Lindsay Lohan or Zac Efron moment where people were swarming around us and we had no control over it. At no point did I feel unsafe, it was just awkward and uncomfortable.
After that, I met Erin and Tim at the Hard Rock Cafe for unlimited beer & wings (yes it is legal for me to drink here). For 100 Egyptian Pounds (LE), or about $18, we can get unlimited beer and wings Friday, Saturday & Sunday from 4-11pm. Clearly a steal. As we were at the restaurant, in typical Hard Rock fashion, they got up and started dancing to the YMCA. So, think about what the YMCA means and now relate it to the third highlight of the day: YMMA. I’m not going to spell it out; you can figure it out for yourself.
Following that, the Al-Ahly versus Tunis Game was on (football for those of you unaware) and it was the Championship game. At the Hard Rock, they switched the channel from music videos to the game, but by halftime with Al-Ahly losing 0-1, we decided we needed a nap. So after our waiter had brought me celery instead of french fries, he told me no more crazy requests. So in typical Adam-speak, that means ask as many crazy things as possible, which finally brings us to the fourth highlight of the day: asking the waiter if they have any bunkbeds for us to sleep on during halftime.
So that was our day. I finally got to cross the Citadel off on my to-do-list as well as unlimited beer & wings. It was a great day, although Al-Ahly lost the championship… but shhhh we don’t discuss that. Now I need to hunker down and get to work. Have a great week!
Oh and my two favorite photos of yesterday…
First, the museum is a cooperation between Egypt and North Korea… interesting….
And along the same lines… I had to check my nuclear weapons at the door.
It has been about two months since I put gasoline into my car so I am currently out of the loop on the price of gasoline in the states. But thanks to OPEC, and hurricanes, and wars, and bitter little comments made against some government, drivers in America are probably paying near-record if not record high gas prices. When I left Murrysville in mid-August, I believe gas was $2.79 a gallon; D.C. was a little higher, as usual, but in general almost everywhere in America prices were about $2.75 to $3.00 a gallon. Well that just isn’t the case here in Egypt.
Like in the U.S., gas stations around here (mainly named Misr or Egypt) have large signs in front displaying the price of gasoline. The only difference is there is no space to change the price of gas. It is simply just a permanent fixture on the sign. Why you may ask? Because gas here in EGYPT is wicked wicked wicked cheap. It doesn’t fluctuate like it does everywhere else in the world. Literally, the price of gas never changes.
For example, most of the gas stations sell gas for 85 or 90 piasters, which is less than one pound, per litre. So after a little math, 1 gallon equals 3.78 liters, so the 90 Piasters multiplied by 3.78, gets us to 3.40 pounds per gallon. With the 5.60 Pound to Dollar ratio, a gallon of gas in Egypt costs a whopping 62 cents. Sixty-two cents! Less than a dollar. Don’t you wish you could pay less than a dollar for a gallon of gas? Albeit many of the cars around here are quite fuel-inefficient and if you did have a car here in Cairo, you would spend countless hours in traffic, but still 62 cents for gas!?!?! I’m not sure who I should be thanking, but OPEC seems like a good group to thank, for both the low prices here and the high prices at home!
But not for very long…
Yes, it is that lovely halfway point in the semester that most college students dread. Midterms. Clearly all of my professors decided it was a great idea to schedule their midterms on two days at the end of October. When they originally told us, the end of the month seemed so far away… well it’s here.
Monday: Survey of Arab History Midterm
Tuesday: Comp. Politics of Middle East History Test
Wed: Political Econ Paper due (10-15 pages on Capitalism); Political Econ Midterm; Issues in Middle East Politics Midterm due which is actually just a 6 page paper.
So, as you can tell, I am a bit stressed.
Also I woke up today not feeling well. So midterm week is the best week to be sick. Right?
Well… I will survive (in Sha’Allah). Wednesday is only a few days away and I am also going to a Halloween (read: Drown myself in Midterm sorrows) Party that night. Then, at 6am (I won’t go to sleep), a bunch of us are leaving for the White Desert which is a few hours west of Cairo, kinda near the Libyan border for one night of desert camping.
Sorry this post has been rather uneventful. It’s the dull point in the semester I’d say. Be back Friday/Saturday - ish.
Following a quick trip to the W.C. (water closet), it is only customary to wash one’s hands and then dry those hands properly. Many times one has two choices: either using an amazing invention known as the paper towel or suffer through a hand-dryer, where most of the time, the water is just redistributed elsewhere on your hands. In Cairo, I rarely have the ability to choose.
Most WC’s here do have the hardware to offer the availability of both options, however, about 99.5% of the time, the key item, the paper towels, are absent. All over campus, in the dorms, at restaurants, and in places where you just need to dry your hands, these seemingly important part of one’s hygiene just doesn’t quite make the budget. I don’t get too upset because most of the time, the water from washing your hands is a much needed relief to the Cairo heat. I have, however, been to a few – I can count on one hand – places that do have paper towels. One of which is TGI Fridays, where I almost took the entire roll and pocketed it in desparation, placating my fears of being somewhere in the future where I would have neither paper towels nor a hand dryer.
The other place, where I was graciously offered paper towels was at Al-Azhar Park, where we watched the sunset over beautiful Cairo. Now, we paid a 3 pound entry fee to the park, modest, but still excessive in my mind for a city that completely lacks any greenspace whatsoever, but anyways… as we were leaving I was ushered into a quite fancy bathroom. Upon my arrival at the sink to wash up, an attendant (aka a little man) turned on the faucet for me (I got my own soap) and even turned on the dryer for me, I mean seriously, for 3 pounds he better. But then – out of nowhere – he hands me a paper towel, as a supplement to the hand dryer I just used. The quality was dull, but still, it was a paper towel.
Now I just gotta get these Egyptians to start to use real paper towels. Ever heard of Brawny?
So we decided to go to the movies. But – as the day progresses – I realize we didn’t quite pick the right film.
The only American film playing at the Metro Cinema Downtown was The Kingdom starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner. I must admit, it wasn’t that bad of a flick, but seeing a movie about Islamic terrorists blowing up an American compound in Saudi Arabia and the aftermath… probably not the best idea to see it in a theatre full of Muslims. Anyways. We arrived at the theatre to find that it was only 15 LE (less than $3), which is steal compared to the American cinemas, where you shell out ten bucks just to see the film. For under $1.50 more, we got popcorn and a can of Fanta. Great, right? We then proceed to the small theatre (we also had assigned seats) where we eagerly awaited the feature showcase.
About ten minutes late (this is Egypt), the lights dimmed and the screen lit up with none other than a DVD menu. The first few “previews” or commercials, as I would call it, where individual DVD’s that someone had to manually operate from the screening room. Most were for Vodafone, my cell provider, but a couple of random previews were completely out of focus, not properly fit to the screen, and just not good news. I was slightly worried that the entire film was going to be portrayed in this manner. But much to my satisfaction, the actual film was crystal clear and fit properly to the screen. Another plus to Egyptian cinema: there is an intermission! I thought this was a great idea so I could run to the john or grab some more popcorn, but I quickly realized why the intermission was necessary: everyone really just needs a cigarette break.
So. Like I previously mentioned, the film was decent. Not much thinking involved to understand the plot, but I did feel as if it offered some glimpse of hope in relations between the Islamic Middle East and the West. The film portrayed most Muslims condemning the attacks on the Americans and showed their willingness to do what is right and punish those responsible for the attacks, but I did leave the theatre with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
Several scenes in the movie portrayed violence against either the terrorists or the American FBI agents investigating the attacks. A huge majority of the crowd cheered and clapped whenever the terrorists were being targeted, but whenever the Americans were being targeted, a few claps and cheers did occur. I wasn’t too scared to walk out of the theatre following the flick because most of the individuals in the theatre felt compassionate about the film. And we were actually greeted with kind smiles from most of the other Egyptian movie-goers.
Coming from the Burgh, rain, just like the Steelers, is a way of life. The weathermen always simply add a 30% chance of rain to the forecast in order to keep their jobs. Then, living in DC for two years, it rarely rained, but when it did, it was always relaxing and welcomed. Watching thunderstorms with the O-Staff from the Letts Sky Lounge or the Beach were great bonding experiences. But, now living in the desert in probably the most polluted city on the planet, rain brings about a different feeling: fear.
Glancing at a weather forecast for Cairo, Sunny & 87-90 degrees is the norm here, even for the end of October. Two months in, we had maybe three or four cloudy days, and no rain whatsoever. I didn’t mind too much, although a long weekend of chilly temperatures (read: 60’s & 70’s) in Istanbul & Athens, really made me desire a cooling off period and I clearly desired rain, as well. My reaction to rain in Istanbul was slightly along the lines of finding an oasis full of chocolate, Dr. Pepper, and J. Crew clothiers, so upon my return to Cairo Tuesday, I learned of an impending rainstorm looming around the Nile river valley, which got me extremely excited. At dinner we heard thunder and a rather loud thunderstorm rolled through Cairo during the night, and in the morning, much to my satisfaction, it was raining out!
But I was only excited for a good thirty seconds.
Because in Cairo, when it rains, it rains polluted water.
Not polluted as in stinky or smelly raindrops (they sure are), but polluted as in yellow raindrops. You can’t see it until you get out of the rain and realize that white polo shirt you are wearing to fit in at AUC, is speckled with yellow dots of varying sizes. It also leaves dirty marks on the jeans you just washed upon return from holiday. What a great welcome back to Cairo, right?
I constantly to have to remind myself that this is the Third World and that being in the most polluted city in the world, things will be a little different. But honestly, how much can rain showers differ?? I was told by a friend here that Cairo Rain is quite scary. It pours and pours and pours and all of the great dirt, trash, and just gross things that make Cairo disgusting to begin with on a hot and humid day, are now thrown all together in one wet mess, which makes me glad I have my vaccinations.
