Merry Christmas!
The prospects of having anything close to a 'normal' Christmas in Egypt were looking pretty slim, as the typical elements were nowhere to be found - no Christmas tree, no family, and no snow.
Somehow, I ended up with one of the coolest Chrismases ever. Although my typical Christmas elements didn't magically appear at my doorstep, I had some interesting replacements. No tree though. Luckily, some of my good friends from Kalamazoo had some time off their respective study-abroad trips, and had the money to come to Egypt. I've spent so much time with them, they're as good as family. And we found an interesting snow substitute.
My friends/roommates from K, Erin and Sarah (and Sarah's brother Stephen) came to Egypt for a while during their winter breaks. Sarah and Stephen stayed for about five days, and Erin stayed a little more than a week. After the first few days, we had pretty much visited all the typical Egyptian tourist spots, and I wasn't quite sure how to entertain my guests after that. Fortunately I happened to have made friends with a guy named Omar from AUC a few weeks before school ended. I told him some of my friends were coming to visit me in Cairo, and he offered to help show them around/whatever. He also offered to set us up on a trip to the desert if we wanted to go. Since I had already shown my friends some of Cairo, we decided on the desert.
Christmas in the desert was surreal. By pure chance and coincidence (and help from Omar) we had ended up in the only white place in this entire usually-a-strange-shade-of-brown country, and had ourselves a merry little Christmas. So, we found ourselves camping in the White Desert on Christmas Eve, watching the most brilliant sunset/moonrise I've ever seen.
It was awesome. I didn't get any pictures, because my camera was out of batteries, but I could probably paint a pretty sweet picture. We were standing in the middle of the White Desert (which really does look snow-covered), and had just watched the sun set from atop one of the many odd rock formations in the desert. We climbed down and walked back to our little camp site, and waited a little bit while our guide set up camp. Suddenly, in the eastern sky, an orange light broke the horizon. For a moment, I thought it was just the light from the fire of another camp site. But a few seconds later, a luminous, orange, full moon began to rise over the eerie rock formations. It was amazing. This was the biggest, orangest moon I have ever seen. And it was even cooler, because the sun was still going down on the other side of the horizon. The big ball of sunlight had disappeared, but it was still casting an intense rainbow on the horizon. So, we could stand there, and turn from east to west, and see the big orange moon, and also the strong colors from the sun. As the moon rose higher, it lost the orange color, but still kept its brightness. It ended up being really light out all night long - I had to hide my face under the blankets to fall asleep. But it was really cool to walk around the desert under the light of a full moon.
We also saw a desert fox.
And in the morning, we drove past one family's camp site where they had set up a Christmas tree and done presents - apparently Santa does come to the desert.
Needless to say, it was definitely a different experience on Christmas.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Luxor, Alex, 3 Bendaryl and a Shot of Epinephrine
Well, as is typical of me, this trip started out with a bit of "excitement".
My friend Adam, who spent the semester at Oxford, came to visit me in Egypt. We had decided to see a bit of Upper Egypt (Luxor. "Upper" is south, because of how the Nile flows), and some of Alexandria.
We started our trip with a night train from Cairo to Luxor. This train seemed to be a pretty good deal - at least a lot nicer than other Egyptian trains. We got our own car, and two meals included. One of those meals, however, almost killed me.
Probably about ten minutes into the ride, the steward knocked on our door to give us dinner. It looked like typical airplane/train/travel food - mostly unidentifiable. There was some bread, a dessert, some brown meat and noodles, and some other REALLY unidentifiable meat. I started with a bit of bread, because I was sure I knew what that was. Then I moved on to the brown meat, because I was fairly sure that was beef. After that bland experience, I decided I'd take the plunge and try the mystery meat.
Turned out to be a bad idea. I ate probably two bites of what tasted like chicken. But it was a little strange, so I decided to nix eating the 'chicken'. I returned to the brown meat and noodles, and sipped my Coke. After a few minutes, my mouth started to feel strange. Fearing something awful, I turned to my Adam, and said, "This is chicken, right?"
"I think so," He replied.
I popped a benadryl, just in case. The steward popped by a minute later to take our trays. I asked him what kind of meat the mystery meat was. Turned out... it wasn't chicken. It was fish. And in case you don't know/habitually "forget"(Dad), I'm allergic to fish. So... as my mouth began to feel stranger and the back of my throat started feeling a little tight... I reached for the EPIpen.
"Adam, you're going to have to help me with this. Because I can't do this myself."
"Okay, what do I need to do?"
"Stab me with this."
I explained the EPIpen procedure, squeezed the shit out of Adam's arm, and, man, did that thing hurt like one hell of a motherfucker. (It must be said that Adam was surprisingly calm, and administered the shot of epinephrine expertly. Although, he somehow managed to bend the needle, and for that I will not forgive him. It hurt.) With hands shaking from the epinephrine, I popped another benadryl, just to be safe. And about an hour later, I took one more, just in case. After that, I passed out (sleeping).
I woke up the next morning. We were in Luxor.
In case you know nothing about Luxor... Luxor is part of what is known as Upper Egypt. Again, Upper Egypt is actually located in the south and called Upper Egypt because of the direction the Nile flows. During Pharaonic times, when Egypt was officially divided into Upper and Lower Egypt, Luxor was known as Thebes, and served as the capital of Upper Egypt for many years. Needless to say, there is a lot of history here, and a lot of monuments to match. For example, the Temple of Luxor, Temple of Karnak, the Rameseum, Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, and the Temple of Hatshepsut. (Finally!)
Well, Adam and I arrived at our hotel quite early. We ate breakfast and wandered around the hotel until our room was ready and we could check in. Once we got settled in, we stopped at the desk to ask about possible day tours, etc. We got ourselves hooked up with a private car to drive us around the West Bank area (not THE West Bank, as in Israel... that was my last trip. JK). Anyway, the West Bank of the Nile is where the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens and Hatshepsut's Temple are located. Because of the prices of all the tickets, we decided to see the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut's Temple. We didn't get to see every tomb in the Valley of the Kings though, because one ticket unfortunately only covers entrance into three tombs. We originally decided to see Rameses II, Hatshepsut, and Ahmenotep; however, many of the tombs in the valley were closed, so we ended up seeing Tut III, Rameses I, and Rameses IX. Not disappointing at all. Well, a little disappointing that we didn't see Hatshepsut's tomb, after all, she is the only woman buried in the Valley of the Kings. But, we also got to see the tomb of Tutankhamun. I'm guessing not many of you follow Egyptology very closely... BUT, Tutankhamun was recently unveiled inside his tomb. That means that his mummy is now on display inside his tomb. It was pretty cool.
After that, we made our way to the Temple of Hatshepsut. I have been waiting SO long to see this! It was probably the most exciting thing I've done yet while in Egypt. Adam has some great pictures of me at the temple... I'll have to steal them and get them on my [nonexistent] photo site. Anyhow, it was amazing to be there.
The next day, having exhausted the most feasible tourist activities, we slept in and then spent some time at the pool. This whole time I had been relatively sick, so a day at the pool was nice. That evening, we took another night train from Luxor back to Cairo. And from there on to Alexandria. I made sure to avoid suspicious foods this time, and another episode was avoided.
Thanks to STA, Adam and I stayed in a sweet hotel in Alexandria for a fraction of the real cost. We stayed at the Palestina Hotel, which is located in Al Montaza, right next to King Farouk's palace. Our room had an amazing view of the Mediterranean. Since we got in to Alexandria in the late afternoon, we just kind of roamed the city til it was time to go to sleep. The next day, we kind of got ripped off. But we saw a lot of stuff. As we left our hotel, a taxi driver approached us, and went to his taxi, thinking that he could at least take us to our first destination. On the way there, he proposed being our driver for the day. And he surprisingly gave us a really good price. Unfortunately the majority of the talking up to that point had been done by me, in Arabic. So my understanding was a little muddled. We later found out that he had meant that good price for both legs of the journey - to our destinations and back. Although I was pretty sure that I had asked him if he meant that to start with, we ended up paying double what we thought we would. But I guess, for having pretty much a personal driver for more than half a day, it wasn't so bad. It was still frustrating to find out that communication had failed though. We went some cool places though, and had a good time with it. So in the end, mish mushkela.
The next day we went back to Cairo. And then Adam left and was off to some adventures in the more western part of the world.
My friend Adam, who spent the semester at Oxford, came to visit me in Egypt. We had decided to see a bit of Upper Egypt (Luxor. "Upper" is south, because of how the Nile flows), and some of Alexandria.
We started our trip with a night train from Cairo to Luxor. This train seemed to be a pretty good deal - at least a lot nicer than other Egyptian trains. We got our own car, and two meals included. One of those meals, however, almost killed me.
Probably about ten minutes into the ride, the steward knocked on our door to give us dinner. It looked like typical airplane/train/travel food - mostly unidentifiable. There was some bread, a dessert, some brown meat and noodles, and some other REALLY unidentifiable meat. I started with a bit of bread, because I was sure I knew what that was. Then I moved on to the brown meat, because I was fairly sure that was beef. After that bland experience, I decided I'd take the plunge and try the mystery meat.
Turned out to be a bad idea. I ate probably two bites of what tasted like chicken. But it was a little strange, so I decided to nix eating the 'chicken'. I returned to the brown meat and noodles, and sipped my Coke. After a few minutes, my mouth started to feel strange. Fearing something awful, I turned to my Adam, and said, "This is chicken, right?"
"I think so," He replied.
I popped a benadryl, just in case. The steward popped by a minute later to take our trays. I asked him what kind of meat the mystery meat was. Turned out... it wasn't chicken. It was fish. And in case you don't know/habitually "forget"(Dad), I'm allergic to fish. So... as my mouth began to feel stranger and the back of my throat started feeling a little tight... I reached for the EPIpen.
"Adam, you're going to have to help me with this. Because I can't do this myself."
"Okay, what do I need to do?"
"Stab me with this."
I explained the EPIpen procedure, squeezed the shit out of Adam's arm, and, man, did that thing hurt like one hell of a motherfucker. (It must be said that Adam was surprisingly calm, and administered the shot of epinephrine expertly. Although, he somehow managed to bend the needle, and for that I will not forgive him. It hurt.) With hands shaking from the epinephrine, I popped another benadryl, just to be safe. And about an hour later, I took one more, just in case. After that, I passed out (sleeping).
I woke up the next morning. We were in Luxor.
In case you know nothing about Luxor... Luxor is part of what is known as Upper Egypt. Again, Upper Egypt is actually located in the south and called Upper Egypt because of the direction the Nile flows. During Pharaonic times, when Egypt was officially divided into Upper and Lower Egypt, Luxor was known as Thebes, and served as the capital of Upper Egypt for many years. Needless to say, there is a lot of history here, and a lot of monuments to match. For example, the Temple of Luxor, Temple of Karnak, the Rameseum, Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, and the Temple of Hatshepsut. (Finally!)
Well, Adam and I arrived at our hotel quite early. We ate breakfast and wandered around the hotel until our room was ready and we could check in. Once we got settled in, we stopped at the desk to ask about possible day tours, etc. We got ourselves hooked up with a private car to drive us around the West Bank area (not THE West Bank, as in Israel... that was my last trip. JK). Anyway, the West Bank of the Nile is where the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens and Hatshepsut's Temple are located. Because of the prices of all the tickets, we decided to see the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut's Temple. We didn't get to see every tomb in the Valley of the Kings though, because one ticket unfortunately only covers entrance into three tombs. We originally decided to see Rameses II, Hatshepsut, and Ahmenotep; however, many of the tombs in the valley were closed, so we ended up seeing Tut III, Rameses I, and Rameses IX. Not disappointing at all. Well, a little disappointing that we didn't see Hatshepsut's tomb, after all, she is the only woman buried in the Valley of the Kings. But, we also got to see the tomb of Tutankhamun. I'm guessing not many of you follow Egyptology very closely... BUT, Tutankhamun was recently unveiled inside his tomb. That means that his mummy is now on display inside his tomb. It was pretty cool.
After that, we made our way to the Temple of Hatshepsut. I have been waiting SO long to see this! It was probably the most exciting thing I've done yet while in Egypt. Adam has some great pictures of me at the temple... I'll have to steal them and get them on my [nonexistent] photo site. Anyhow, it was amazing to be there.
The next day, having exhausted the most feasible tourist activities, we slept in and then spent some time at the pool. This whole time I had been relatively sick, so a day at the pool was nice. That evening, we took another night train from Luxor back to Cairo. And from there on to Alexandria. I made sure to avoid suspicious foods this time, and another episode was avoided.
Thanks to STA, Adam and I stayed in a sweet hotel in Alexandria for a fraction of the real cost. We stayed at the Palestina Hotel, which is located in Al Montaza, right next to King Farouk's palace. Our room had an amazing view of the Mediterranean. Since we got in to Alexandria in the late afternoon, we just kind of roamed the city til it was time to go to sleep. The next day, we kind of got ripped off. But we saw a lot of stuff. As we left our hotel, a taxi driver approached us, and went to his taxi, thinking that he could at least take us to our first destination. On the way there, he proposed being our driver for the day. And he surprisingly gave us a really good price. Unfortunately the majority of the talking up to that point had been done by me, in Arabic. So my understanding was a little muddled. We later found out that he had meant that good price for both legs of the journey - to our destinations and back. Although I was pretty sure that I had asked him if he meant that to start with, we ended up paying double what we thought we would. But I guess, for having pretty much a personal driver for more than half a day, it wasn't so bad. It was still frustrating to find out that communication had failed though. We went some cool places though, and had a good time with it. So in the end, mish mushkela.
The next day we went back to Cairo. And then Adam left and was off to some adventures in the more western part of the world.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Wonders of the World and The Promised Land
Oh the benefits of attending an American institution - Thanksgiving break. We were graciously given last Thursday off from classes, which added another day of weekend to my already three-day weekend. What an opportunity. The extra day off, my eagerness to travel, and lack of apprehension about skipping classes combined, and suddenly there was a five-day window of travel opportunity.
After much debate, careful consideration, back and forth, monitoring international politics, and consideration of possible future careers and currently held ideals, we decided to go to Jordan and Israel. Going to Jordan was not so much an issue as was going to Israel. But, much to my parents' dismay, I'm sure, we decided to include Israel in the travel plans. Mom, Dad, I'm sorry for any grey hairs.
We started our trip in Petra. Actually, that's the only place in Jordan we went. We decided to do the entire trip by land. So, we started by taking a really long bus ride from Cairo to the Taba border crossing - straight through the night. If you look at a map, there's a little area of the Sinai at the tip of the Red Sea where Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia almost touch. Taba is around there. So from Egypt, we had to cross into Israel, take a taxi a few kilometers (I could easily have run it) to the Israeli-Jordanian border, and walk across into Jordan. From there, we were supposed to be picked up by the hostel we booked, but something sketchy happened with the driver and something about owing money and police and something... don't ask, don't tell. Anyway, he didn't show up. Some of the other taxi drivers that were standing around were kind enough to ask us why we were waiting in the middle of the parking lot. We told them, and they called our hostel manager (that's how we found out about the sketch business with our driver). He then made some arrangement with some of the taxi drivers, and they took us to our hostel.
I don't remember exactly what time we got in, but it was in the afternoon. After checking in, paying, and having a cup of tea, we set off to see the Rose City of Petra.
I hope you all are familiar with Petra. If not, go rent Indiana Jones. Watch all three of them, because they're great movies, but look for Petra in The Last Crusade. Petra is where they go to search for the Holy Grail.
Well, Petra isn't really the resting place of the Holy Grail, and explorers haven't found any uncountable amount of hidden treasure. But the city is a treasure unto its own. I personally don't know the exact history of Petra, and have read some different things. The Lonely Planet guide we had with us said that it was built a long time ago, and was the dwelling place of some civilization. I've also read that it was possibly a necropolis of sorts. I know for sure that it is old. And the unquestionably deserves to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The entire city of Petra is carved into solid rock face. The carved habitations range from simple square rooms, to temples with entrances hundreds of feet high, demonstrating amazing artistic ability. I know for a fact from our donkey guide (Olivia and I rode donkeys on the way out) that an estimated 80% of Petra has yet to be excavated, and every summer Brown sends archeologists there to dig. Sweet.
We stayed at Petra just about until it closed. Then we found something to eat, and tried to get a good night's sleep. We got up early the next morning to start our long trek to Israel. Petra is located in southwestern Jordan, our first stop in Israel was Jerusalem, which is pretty much due west of Amman, in northwestern Jordan. So, we took a minibus from our hostel all the way up the side of Jordan, to the King Hussein Bridge crossing into Israel. At this point, we had to get out of the minibus, go through border control, and get on a special bus to cross the bridge into Israel - because only certain vehicles are allowed to cross the border into Israel, for security reasons. On the Israeli side of the bridge, we had to get off the bus, cross into Israel, and find another minibus to take us to Jerusalem.
Long process, and lots of changing of means of transportation. But it all went pretty smoothly, and none of our buses blew up. I'm sorry, that's not funny...
Despite the risk and (debatable) illogic of going, Jerusalem was incredible. Ok, so first off, the city was very clean, and nice-looking, and not nearly as crowded or polluted as Cairo. I love Cairo, but being clean is a nice change every once and a while. Secondly, who can deny the history and significance of Jerusalem??? No one. We had originally only intended to spend one day in Jerusalem, but quickly changed our minds and hostel bookings in order to spend as much time as possible in this wondrous city. One of my friends happened to have a friend studying at a university in Jerusalem, and he was available to show us around a bit. He turned out to be a pretty good guide. We spent a lot of time in the Old City, seeing the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Wailing Wall, and (from a far) the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsar Mosque. It was awe-inspiring to be among all those ancient religious sites, and sad to think how much conflict has risen around them, and what possible damage could be done to the sites.
After seeing Jerusalem we went to Tel Aviv for a while to see a more modern side of Israel. We didn't have a lot of time to spend there - just enough to see some of it and get a little taste of life there. Then, we were back on buses, repeating the similar but backward process of getting across borders. Once we got back into Egypt, we got a minibus and blazed and uncomfortably fast and somewhat reckless trail back to Cairo.
After much debate, careful consideration, back and forth, monitoring international politics, and consideration of possible future careers and currently held ideals, we decided to go to Jordan and Israel. Going to Jordan was not so much an issue as was going to Israel. But, much to my parents' dismay, I'm sure, we decided to include Israel in the travel plans. Mom, Dad, I'm sorry for any grey hairs.
We started our trip in Petra. Actually, that's the only place in Jordan we went. We decided to do the entire trip by land. So, we started by taking a really long bus ride from Cairo to the Taba border crossing - straight through the night. If you look at a map, there's a little area of the Sinai at the tip of the Red Sea where Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia almost touch. Taba is around there. So from Egypt, we had to cross into Israel, take a taxi a few kilometers (I could easily have run it) to the Israeli-Jordanian border, and walk across into Jordan. From there, we were supposed to be picked up by the hostel we booked, but something sketchy happened with the driver and something about owing money and police and something... don't ask, don't tell. Anyway, he didn't show up. Some of the other taxi drivers that were standing around were kind enough to ask us why we were waiting in the middle of the parking lot. We told them, and they called our hostel manager (that's how we found out about the sketch business with our driver). He then made some arrangement with some of the taxi drivers, and they took us to our hostel.
I don't remember exactly what time we got in, but it was in the afternoon. After checking in, paying, and having a cup of tea, we set off to see the Rose City of Petra.
I hope you all are familiar with Petra. If not, go rent Indiana Jones. Watch all three of them, because they're great movies, but look for Petra in The Last Crusade. Petra is where they go to search for the Holy Grail.
Well, Petra isn't really the resting place of the Holy Grail, and explorers haven't found any uncountable amount of hidden treasure. But the city is a treasure unto its own. I personally don't know the exact history of Petra, and have read some different things. The Lonely Planet guide we had with us said that it was built a long time ago, and was the dwelling place of some civilization. I've also read that it was possibly a necropolis of sorts. I know for sure that it is old. And the unquestionably deserves to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The entire city of Petra is carved into solid rock face. The carved habitations range from simple square rooms, to temples with entrances hundreds of feet high, demonstrating amazing artistic ability. I know for a fact from our donkey guide (Olivia and I rode donkeys on the way out) that an estimated 80% of Petra has yet to be excavated, and every summer Brown sends archeologists there to dig. Sweet.
We stayed at Petra just about until it closed. Then we found something to eat, and tried to get a good night's sleep. We got up early the next morning to start our long trek to Israel. Petra is located in southwestern Jordan, our first stop in Israel was Jerusalem, which is pretty much due west of Amman, in northwestern Jordan. So, we took a minibus from our hostel all the way up the side of Jordan, to the King Hussein Bridge crossing into Israel. At this point, we had to get out of the minibus, go through border control, and get on a special bus to cross the bridge into Israel - because only certain vehicles are allowed to cross the border into Israel, for security reasons. On the Israeli side of the bridge, we had to get off the bus, cross into Israel, and find another minibus to take us to Jerusalem.
Long process, and lots of changing of means of transportation. But it all went pretty smoothly, and none of our buses blew up. I'm sorry, that's not funny...
Despite the risk and (debatable) illogic of going, Jerusalem was incredible. Ok, so first off, the city was very clean, and nice-looking, and not nearly as crowded or polluted as Cairo. I love Cairo, but being clean is a nice change every once and a while. Secondly, who can deny the history and significance of Jerusalem??? No one. We had originally only intended to spend one day in Jerusalem, but quickly changed our minds and hostel bookings in order to spend as much time as possible in this wondrous city. One of my friends happened to have a friend studying at a university in Jerusalem, and he was available to show us around a bit. He turned out to be a pretty good guide. We spent a lot of time in the Old City, seeing the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Wailing Wall, and (from a far) the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsar Mosque. It was awe-inspiring to be among all those ancient religious sites, and sad to think how much conflict has risen around them, and what possible damage could be done to the sites.
After seeing Jerusalem we went to Tel Aviv for a while to see a more modern side of Israel. We didn't have a lot of time to spend there - just enough to see some of it and get a little taste of life there. Then, we were back on buses, repeating the similar but backward process of getting across borders. Once we got back into Egypt, we got a minibus and blazed and uncomfortably fast and somewhat reckless trail back to Cairo.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Desert Weekend
11/16
This was a nice little weekend trip - not too long, not too exhausting, and a nice escape from the bustling city. Destination: the Black and White Desert.
Steve, Jon, Olivia and I were the ones from my group of friends that were able to take most of the weekend away from school work. Since there were only four of us going, we got teamed up with another small group of students from AUC who happened to be going to the desert also. A few of them also happened to be from my Arabic class, so we kind of knew each other. Fortunately not too awkward.
The Black and White Desert is located to the west of Cairo. Southwest, actually, I think. The Black and White Desert is probably nothing like you imagine a desert to be. While technically part of the Sahara (I think), the Black and White Desert severely lacks the ever-stretching, rolling sand dunes that pictures of the Sahara usually show. While there is sand (of course) the Black and White Desert is famous for its rocks - the Black Desert for being inexplicably covered in smooth black stones; the White Desert for it's equally inexplicable, huge mushroom/flower-like, chalky white rock formations.
We woke up at an ungodly hour and got picked up by a taxi near the dorms. Our trip out to the place to meet our guide was delayed a little by some unusually thick fog. We actually had to stop for about half an hour or more, because it was so bad. When we finally got out to the little desert tour outpost, we were fed a traditional bedouin lunch, consisting of tomato-potato soup, pita, weird cheese, fresh tomatoes, and cucumbers. It was good. Then, we met our tour guide, loaded ourselves into some jeeps, and were off.
First we stopped at some dunes right around the Black Desert. Ok, I lied, there are some rolling sand dunes, but not many. Anyway, we stopped, climbed around in the sand, took some pictures, etc, etc. Then we got back in the jeeps and drove on to some different parts.
It was hot. The Black Desert was cool, some of the rocks had really interesting shapes.
Sometime during the late afternoon, we stopped at an area with a particularly nice view. We had only intended to stop there for a little while, however, the sand was pretty loose, and one of the jeeps had engine trouble, and it got stuck. Eventually, after hooking it up to the other jeep, and all of us pushing, and lots of hullabaloo, we got the other jeep started and drove off.
By the evening, we had reached the White part of the desert, and stopped to set up camp. The two jeeps made a little corner for our camp site, and our guides set down blankets and mats for the eating/sleeping area. We all roamed around and took pictures, and climbed on things while the guides finished setting up camp and started cooking dinner. For dinner, we had another traditional bedouin meal, consisting of guava, the same potato soup, and chicken roasted over the fire. Followed by tea time around the fire.
Sleeping in the desert was amazing. Absolutely clear sky, full of stars. Hadn't seen the starts for quite some time now, living in Cairo, so it was nice to know they're still up there. It got really cold at night though. We all had to bundle up in all the clothes we had with us and zip our sleeping bags around our heads.
The next morning, we toured more of the White Desert, including Crystal Mountain, then headed back to HQ.
These are probably some of the more interesting pictures I have, so be sure to ask to see them.
This was a nice little weekend trip - not too long, not too exhausting, and a nice escape from the bustling city. Destination: the Black and White Desert.
Steve, Jon, Olivia and I were the ones from my group of friends that were able to take most of the weekend away from school work. Since there were only four of us going, we got teamed up with another small group of students from AUC who happened to be going to the desert also. A few of them also happened to be from my Arabic class, so we kind of knew each other. Fortunately not too awkward.
The Black and White Desert is located to the west of Cairo. Southwest, actually, I think. The Black and White Desert is probably nothing like you imagine a desert to be. While technically part of the Sahara (I think), the Black and White Desert severely lacks the ever-stretching, rolling sand dunes that pictures of the Sahara usually show. While there is sand (of course) the Black and White Desert is famous for its rocks - the Black Desert for being inexplicably covered in smooth black stones; the White Desert for it's equally inexplicable, huge mushroom/flower-like, chalky white rock formations.
We woke up at an ungodly hour and got picked up by a taxi near the dorms. Our trip out to the place to meet our guide was delayed a little by some unusually thick fog. We actually had to stop for about half an hour or more, because it was so bad. When we finally got out to the little desert tour outpost, we were fed a traditional bedouin lunch, consisting of tomato-potato soup, pita, weird cheese, fresh tomatoes, and cucumbers. It was good. Then, we met our tour guide, loaded ourselves into some jeeps, and were off.
First we stopped at some dunes right around the Black Desert. Ok, I lied, there are some rolling sand dunes, but not many. Anyway, we stopped, climbed around in the sand, took some pictures, etc, etc. Then we got back in the jeeps and drove on to some different parts.
It was hot. The Black Desert was cool, some of the rocks had really interesting shapes.
Sometime during the late afternoon, we stopped at an area with a particularly nice view. We had only intended to stop there for a little while, however, the sand was pretty loose, and one of the jeeps had engine trouble, and it got stuck. Eventually, after hooking it up to the other jeep, and all of us pushing, and lots of hullabaloo, we got the other jeep started and drove off.
By the evening, we had reached the White part of the desert, and stopped to set up camp. The two jeeps made a little corner for our camp site, and our guides set down blankets and mats for the eating/sleeping area. We all roamed around and took pictures, and climbed on things while the guides finished setting up camp and started cooking dinner. For dinner, we had another traditional bedouin meal, consisting of guava, the same potato soup, and chicken roasted over the fire. Followed by tea time around the fire.
Sleeping in the desert was amazing. Absolutely clear sky, full of stars. Hadn't seen the starts for quite some time now, living in Cairo, so it was nice to know they're still up there. It got really cold at night though. We all had to bundle up in all the clothes we had with us and zip our sleeping bags around our heads.
The next morning, we toured more of the White Desert, including Crystal Mountain, then headed back to HQ.
These are probably some of the more interesting pictures I have, so be sure to ask to see them.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Aywa, Fi Mushkela: I hate laundry.
This is just a quick note to let all my faithful blog-readers know that I'm still alive... and HATE doing laundry. As it is, I hate doing laundry in the States - that's when I have a fully functional automatic washing machine and dryer, and the only difficulty is carrying a laundry basket up and down a flight of stairs and picking lint out of the lint trap. Here, I've got a trash can/keg and a piece of string.
This is my washing machine:
And this is the dryer:
With the help of the shower and a little "Tide - manual" I manage to get a load of laundry washed in about two and a half or three hours (not counting drying). During which time I barely get anything else done because I constantly have to rebalance the load so the stupid thing will keep spinning, and untangle the giant knot my clothes turn into during the cycle. I hate doing laundry so much that I have seriously contemplated buying new clothes as I need them, just so I don't have to use the washing machine ever again. On top of all that... without any heat and tumbling of a normal dryer, my freshly washed clothes end up feeling like cardboard and smelling like Cairo.
Cairo does not smell good and cardboard underwear are not comfortable.
This is my washing machine:
And this is the dryer:
With the help of the shower and a little "Tide - manual" I manage to get a load of laundry washed in about two and a half or three hours (not counting drying). During which time I barely get anything else done because I constantly have to rebalance the load so the stupid thing will keep spinning, and untangle the giant knot my clothes turn into during the cycle. I hate doing laundry so much that I have seriously contemplated buying new clothes as I need them, just so I don't have to use the washing machine ever again. On top of all that... without any heat and tumbling of a normal dryer, my freshly washed clothes end up feeling like cardboard and smelling like Cairo.
Cairo does not smell good and cardboard underwear are not comfortable.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Wheelcomb to Aegyb! No broblem!
Unfortunately, this past week I hit what is known as the bottom of the study abroad curve. If you haven't had the privilege of studying abroad or living in a different country (with a significantly different culture) for an extended period of time, this is the point in the trip where absolutely everything about your new country just pisses you off. I naively thought, before coming to Egypt, that I really wouldn't have to deal with this problem too extensively. Boy was I wrong. The amount of profanity and cursing Egypt that I did during this week, week and a half, or two weeks is immeasurable. On top of being homesick, missing my friends and family, being infinitely frustrated by Egyptian "time" and attitude, I had midterms - in classes so frustrating, I'll only be able to begin explaining why they are so upsetting.
Let me, again, begin with explaining the title. It's a bit of a jab at the Egyptian accent - Arabic does not have an equivalent to the letter P, so whenever there's a P in a word, it gets changed to a B sound (which is the closest equivalent in Arabic), and all the vowels are over-pronounced (I can't figure out why though, because Arabic has both short and long vowels, like English). I'm also mocking what seems to be every Egyptian male and under 11-year-old child on the streets of Cairo. "Welcome to Egypt" should become a national slogan or campaign effort or something. It is pretty much all you will hear as a foreigner walking down the streets of Cairo... that and a really obnoxious hissing sound, which is meant to get your attention, so that the utterer can also welcome you to Egypt... or try to sell you something. No matter how much I think my brown hair and tan skin will help me blend in, the fact remains that I am not Egyptian, and people can tell. Hence, I am "welcomed" to Egypt multiple times everyday, even though I've been living here for almost three months.
The other half of the title is me having serious issues dealing with a prevailing Egyptian attitude. "Mish mushkela/mafeesh mushkela" are phrases heard frequently throughout any given day in Cairo. Translation: No problem/ there's not a problem/that's not a problem. This can be a response to virtually everything. And while I'd love to be able to embrace this remarkably blithe attitude, sometimes there is a problem, and I just want someone to help me solve it... or at least acknowledge it.
As much as I'm coming to love this city/country, there are definitely things about it that really bother me. I can only image what Cairo was like in her golden days. (Probably about 50 years ago. Yes, also under British control.) When I walk down the streets, I can picture how all the old buildings must have looked when they were first erected, I can imagine the new streets bustling with activity, but not overcrowded or filled with trash. Today, it's apparent that Egypt has tried to keep up with the rapidly modernizing world. But they're not quite there, or things just aren't quite right. Whenever I think about it, it's like, well, Egypt is trying, but they're missing half of ever memo about updating. As you may be able to imagine, it's a little frustrating at times.
So, the combination of the "no problem" attitude, and lack of logically-working systems (traffic for example), lends to the concept of "time" in Egypt. I, myself, am not generally the most punctual person you will ever meet. But I do have some concept of time and when it is disrespectful/unacceptable to be late places. I also have a profound respect for other people's time. I hate to be the one who holds someone up from getting somewhere they need to be, when they need to be there. The concept of the importance of time seems to be completely nonexistent here. Everything happens late, things take much longer than they should to get accomplished, nobody cares that you might have somewhere (like class) to b, trains never run on time, teachers are late for class, etc., etc., etc. Perhaps one day, when I have nothing to do and nowhere to be, I'll share this attitude. Right now, however, I don't.
Basically, nothing ever gets done when I need it done, how I need it done, without some bit of trouble and run around. I don't feel like getting into the classes right now.
Let me, again, begin with explaining the title. It's a bit of a jab at the Egyptian accent - Arabic does not have an equivalent to the letter P, so whenever there's a P in a word, it gets changed to a B sound (which is the closest equivalent in Arabic), and all the vowels are over-pronounced (I can't figure out why though, because Arabic has both short and long vowels, like English). I'm also mocking what seems to be every Egyptian male and under 11-year-old child on the streets of Cairo. "Welcome to Egypt" should become a national slogan or campaign effort or something. It is pretty much all you will hear as a foreigner walking down the streets of Cairo... that and a really obnoxious hissing sound, which is meant to get your attention, so that the utterer can also welcome you to Egypt... or try to sell you something. No matter how much I think my brown hair and tan skin will help me blend in, the fact remains that I am not Egyptian, and people can tell. Hence, I am "welcomed" to Egypt multiple times everyday, even though I've been living here for almost three months.
The other half of the title is me having serious issues dealing with a prevailing Egyptian attitude. "Mish mushkela/mafeesh mushkela" are phrases heard frequently throughout any given day in Cairo. Translation: No problem/ there's not a problem/that's not a problem. This can be a response to virtually everything. And while I'd love to be able to embrace this remarkably blithe attitude, sometimes there is a problem, and I just want someone to help me solve it... or at least acknowledge it.
As much as I'm coming to love this city/country, there are definitely things about it that really bother me. I can only image what Cairo was like in her golden days. (Probably about 50 years ago. Yes, also under British control.) When I walk down the streets, I can picture how all the old buildings must have looked when they were first erected, I can imagine the new streets bustling with activity, but not overcrowded or filled with trash. Today, it's apparent that Egypt has tried to keep up with the rapidly modernizing world. But they're not quite there, or things just aren't quite right. Whenever I think about it, it's like, well, Egypt is trying, but they're missing half of ever memo about updating. As you may be able to imagine, it's a little frustrating at times.
So, the combination of the "no problem" attitude, and lack of logically-working systems (traffic for example), lends to the concept of "time" in Egypt. I, myself, am not generally the most punctual person you will ever meet. But I do have some concept of time and when it is disrespectful/unacceptable to be late places. I also have a profound respect for other people's time. I hate to be the one who holds someone up from getting somewhere they need to be, when they need to be there. The concept of the importance of time seems to be completely nonexistent here. Everything happens late, things take much longer than they should to get accomplished, nobody cares that you might have somewhere (like class) to b, trains never run on time, teachers are late for class, etc., etc., etc. Perhaps one day, when I have nothing to do and nowhere to be, I'll share this attitude. Right now, however, I don't.
Basically, nothing ever gets done when I need it done, how I need it done, without some bit of trouble and run around. I don't feel like getting into the classes right now.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Istanbul or Constantinople?
Of course it's Istanbul.
The history of this place is incredible. I know my posts are sometimes typified by a little history lesson, but this shit is just too much for me. So do your own research.
Actually, I'll just say a few things: Istanbul has been the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires. Istanbul is the only city that is located on two continents (Europe and Asia). Once an Islamic country, Turkey was secularized under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - who established the Republic of Turkey. Today, Turkey has appealed to be part of the EU - an issue that still faces opposition. Is Tukey European or part of the Middle East? Let discussion ensue...
By this point in time, I've established a nice little group of friends, and we like each other enough to take a longer trip together too. Fortunately Eid al Fitr (end of Ramadan) provided us with a nice little break from classes, and we were able to hop out of the country to nearby Turkey. Being a little unsure about travel time and costs, we decided to spend the entire holiday in Istanbul. We were given school off Thursday and Monday, so we decided to make the break as long as possible and left Wednesday evening. We landed in Istanbul some time that night. The flight wasn't too long or too turbulent or anything like that. Shortly after landing however, life got a little hectic.
First thing that happened upon exiting the plane - one of my friends realized that he had left his phone on the plane, and had to run back to get it. Then, we had to deal with visas, and money. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I think for some reason we had to pay for our visas with US dollars, which we had a very small supply of. And it took a while to find somewhere to get US dollars. Once we finally worked out the visa business, we had to collect luggage and all that. And we were probably all a little tired and hungry. So we weren't very happy about being given the run around with visas, and didn't want to be lugging bags all over the city.
The airport was a bit far from where we had decided to stay, so, being too cheap to take taxis across the city, we had the fun of deciphering Turkish, and taking public transportation. We did pretty well getting from the airport to the tram stop that would have taken us to the area of our hostel. However, we were a little too late, and missed the last tram going our direction. We were literally seconds too late too, as we saw the last tram pull away. However, we weren't sure how late the public transportation ran, so we waited a little to see if another tram would come. Some passerby somehow informed us that we had missed the last one. So then we had to figure out how to get from our present location to where we needed to be. One of our friends really had to use the bathroom, so we wandered across the street to some buildings. He went in search of a bathroom, and we ran into some taxi-van drivers. They didn't speak a lot of English, and we spoke no Turkish, so it was interesting (and a little stressful) to get things worked out. Once we communicated where we needed to go, and negotiated a decent price, we had to explain that we were waiting for our friend to come back from the bathroom - more confusion. So the few hours we had spent in Istanbul since getting off the plane had been a little stressful and confusing, and got much worse in just about ten minutes.
The ride from the tram stop to our hostel was not too long, and we probably overpaid. But it happens. So do other unfortunate things...
My entire existence was almost lost forever in Istanbul. Olivia and I had decided that it would be easier and more economical if we shared luggage, instead of each bringing our own bags. I happened to be carrying the duffel bag with all our clothes and not-so-important things in it. Olivia was carrying my backpack, with every piece of important documentation and identification I own in it. She also had a purse with her important things in it. Somehow, in the confusion of cramming all seven of us and our baggage in one van, and arguing with the taxi driver, and trying to figure out if we were in the right place... Olivia left my backpack in the van. She realized only about two minutes later. But, in the vast city of Istanbul, that was too late. The van had already been driving away for two minutes. And we had no idea where it could possibly be. My backpack had absolutely everything in it - my passport, wallet, everything. I should have been wearing those things in my money belt, but had taken it off because it got uncomfortable or something. Anyway, it was gone. As soon as Olivia realized and said something, I was paralyzed for a minute, trying to figure out what I could possibly do. Some of my friends walked to the spot we had been dropped off to see if it had been kicked out of the van, or just put down somewhere. It wasn't. There were a couple of taxi drivers waiting around where we had been dropped off. Thank goodness one useful Arabic word overlapped with Turkish - "shanta", meaning bag, is the same in both languages. My friend Dan somehow communicated that one of our bags had been left on the van that dropped us off. (I still have no idea how the communicated that, but I'm glad that it was.) And it turned out that one of the taxi drivers knew most probably where the van had gone. So, we all kind of split up. Olivia and one person went to check in at the hostel, three of my friends waited to see if the van would come back, and my friend Dan and I got in the taxi, hoping to find my bag.
Incredibly, we found it. It was absolutely a miracle. I believe in angels. And everything was still inside.
Amazing. Frightening. Too much for the first few hours in a new country. After that adventure, the rest of us found our way to the hostel and checked in. (The hostel we stayed at was pretty decent. There had been a little bit of last minute planning though, so one of my friends had to stay at a different hostel down the road - not too far away. The six of the rest of us all shared one room. Being that most of my friends are guys, the room got a little smelly.) After getting everything straight away with the hostel, we went down the road to get a beer, which was much needed.
The hostel was located right around all the touristy stuff. Actually, the majority the first night's frightening happenings occurred right between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. (Something I didn't really appreciate at the time.) So the next morning, guess where we went? That's right, the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.
The Hagia Sophia (Ayasophya in Turkish) - once a basilica, once a mosque, now a museum, famous for mosaics, awesome architecture, and fabulously decorated domes. I've been waiting to see this beauty for quite some time too. (Guess I picked the right part of the world to travel to.) It was amazing, and mind-blowing. They were doing reconstruction of the dome while we were there, so I didn't get great pictures of it. But hopefully I captured some of the wonder of it. The Blue Mosque was equally as amazing. The Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia are literally across the street from each other, but from two totally different empires. The Hagia Sophia was built during the Byzantine empire, and the Blue Mosque was built during the Ottoman empire. While the Hagia Sophia is known for it's mosaic-ed interior, the Blue Mosque is known (and titled) for the blue colored tiles that decorate its interior. Very beautiful, and very different from mosques I've seen around Cairo. Somewhere between the two of those sight-seeing expeditions, we had lunch, and exposed ourselves to the alcoholic marvel called Raki. (We did not get drunk before visiting the religious monuments... we just wanted to try the drink.) It was strange, but not one I prefer. Later, we idled away the night wandering around, then finally settling down with some beers and ghost stories. It was a fun night.
The next day, we took a boat cruise around the Bosborus. It was long, but enjoyable. The boat even stopped to pick up some beer. Unbeknownst to us beforehand, the boat trip also included a trip up a mountain in a cable car. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the place we were, but it had an excellent view of the city. So, I took some pictures. After the tour, we headed up to Taksim Sq to do some shopping - more out of necessity than anything. It was a lot colder in Istanbul than we had anticipated. While we were up there, it started raining. I bought an umbrella. Then we took shelter in a little pizza place. While we were there, the rain got pretty intense, and the power went out in the restaurant. It was really dark, haha, and one of my friends was in the bathroom when it happened. Once the power came back on, we finished up dinner, and walked back to the shopping street. It was still raining a bit, so street shopping wasn't a whole lot of fun. We sought out a bar and drank away a few hours.
Most of our nights in Istanbul ended in some sort of alcoholic indulgence. So, if I don't say it, just assume it. Our fourth day in Istanbul was spent, well, my fourth day, was spent in museums. It was another cold and rainy day, and as our shopping expedition the night before was cut short by the bad weather, we were still underdressed for the cold. So we decided to go to some museums, and hope the weather got better. Unfortunately my friend Steve and I are much more the sort to spend an entire day in a museum than my other friends. After a few hours, the others were ready to split, but Steve and I still had a lot to get through in the museums. So, we split up. I don't remember exactly what everyone else did. But I spent a solid couple more hours in the museums. And enjoyed it very much. We met up later and got dinner and did some more shopping - this time we were smart and those of us who needed it (me) bought some stuff to keep warm.
The weather the next day was just as miserable as before. We went to the Topkapi Palace. Since it was another gloomy, wet, miserable day, I don't think any of us really felt like roaming the palace grounds. We saw a few of the rooms, the Harem, and then left. That day, instead of indulging in history, we indulged in pleasure, and got Turkish baths. What an exposing experience. Oh, it was wonderful, and I've probably never been more relaxed after something in my life... but man, being stark naked in a room full of other stark naked, yet unashamed women is not something my modest self is used to. Let alone having someone else wash me. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the Turkish bath, and highly recommend getting one at some point in your life.
Day 6, last day. We spent the day at what is becoming one of my favorite activities - market shopping. In this case, shopping at the Grand Bazaar. It was really cool. The Grand Bazaar is a lot like the market places you find in other countries, except, it's covered, and the roads are paved. It was fun wandering around, getting lost in the never-ending twisting and turning of the alley ways. I didn't buy a whole lot, but definitely enjoyed looking at everything. After that, we got one last meal in Istanbul, then headed back to the airport, being extra careful not to leave anything behind.
The history of this place is incredible. I know my posts are sometimes typified by a little history lesson, but this shit is just too much for me. So do your own research.
Actually, I'll just say a few things: Istanbul has been the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires. Istanbul is the only city that is located on two continents (Europe and Asia). Once an Islamic country, Turkey was secularized under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - who established the Republic of Turkey. Today, Turkey has appealed to be part of the EU - an issue that still faces opposition. Is Tukey European or part of the Middle East? Let discussion ensue...
By this point in time, I've established a nice little group of friends, and we like each other enough to take a longer trip together too. Fortunately Eid al Fitr (end of Ramadan) provided us with a nice little break from classes, and we were able to hop out of the country to nearby Turkey. Being a little unsure about travel time and costs, we decided to spend the entire holiday in Istanbul. We were given school off Thursday and Monday, so we decided to make the break as long as possible and left Wednesday evening. We landed in Istanbul some time that night. The flight wasn't too long or too turbulent or anything like that. Shortly after landing however, life got a little hectic.
First thing that happened upon exiting the plane - one of my friends realized that he had left his phone on the plane, and had to run back to get it. Then, we had to deal with visas, and money. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I think for some reason we had to pay for our visas with US dollars, which we had a very small supply of. And it took a while to find somewhere to get US dollars. Once we finally worked out the visa business, we had to collect luggage and all that. And we were probably all a little tired and hungry. So we weren't very happy about being given the run around with visas, and didn't want to be lugging bags all over the city.
The airport was a bit far from where we had decided to stay, so, being too cheap to take taxis across the city, we had the fun of deciphering Turkish, and taking public transportation. We did pretty well getting from the airport to the tram stop that would have taken us to the area of our hostel. However, we were a little too late, and missed the last tram going our direction. We were literally seconds too late too, as we saw the last tram pull away. However, we weren't sure how late the public transportation ran, so we waited a little to see if another tram would come. Some passerby somehow informed us that we had missed the last one. So then we had to figure out how to get from our present location to where we needed to be. One of our friends really had to use the bathroom, so we wandered across the street to some buildings. He went in search of a bathroom, and we ran into some taxi-van drivers. They didn't speak a lot of English, and we spoke no Turkish, so it was interesting (and a little stressful) to get things worked out. Once we communicated where we needed to go, and negotiated a decent price, we had to explain that we were waiting for our friend to come back from the bathroom - more confusion. So the few hours we had spent in Istanbul since getting off the plane had been a little stressful and confusing, and got much worse in just about ten minutes.
The ride from the tram stop to our hostel was not too long, and we probably overpaid. But it happens. So do other unfortunate things...
My entire existence was almost lost forever in Istanbul. Olivia and I had decided that it would be easier and more economical if we shared luggage, instead of each bringing our own bags. I happened to be carrying the duffel bag with all our clothes and not-so-important things in it. Olivia was carrying my backpack, with every piece of important documentation and identification I own in it. She also had a purse with her important things in it. Somehow, in the confusion of cramming all seven of us and our baggage in one van, and arguing with the taxi driver, and trying to figure out if we were in the right place... Olivia left my backpack in the van. She realized only about two minutes later. But, in the vast city of Istanbul, that was too late. The van had already been driving away for two minutes. And we had no idea where it could possibly be. My backpack had absolutely everything in it - my passport, wallet, everything. I should have been wearing those things in my money belt, but had taken it off because it got uncomfortable or something. Anyway, it was gone. As soon as Olivia realized and said something, I was paralyzed for a minute, trying to figure out what I could possibly do. Some of my friends walked to the spot we had been dropped off to see if it had been kicked out of the van, or just put down somewhere. It wasn't. There were a couple of taxi drivers waiting around where we had been dropped off. Thank goodness one useful Arabic word overlapped with Turkish - "shanta", meaning bag, is the same in both languages. My friend Dan somehow communicated that one of our bags had been left on the van that dropped us off. (I still have no idea how the communicated that, but I'm glad that it was.) And it turned out that one of the taxi drivers knew most probably where the van had gone. So, we all kind of split up. Olivia and one person went to check in at the hostel, three of my friends waited to see if the van would come back, and my friend Dan and I got in the taxi, hoping to find my bag.
Incredibly, we found it. It was absolutely a miracle. I believe in angels. And everything was still inside.
Amazing. Frightening. Too much for the first few hours in a new country. After that adventure, the rest of us found our way to the hostel and checked in. (The hostel we stayed at was pretty decent. There had been a little bit of last minute planning though, so one of my friends had to stay at a different hostel down the road - not too far away. The six of the rest of us all shared one room. Being that most of my friends are guys, the room got a little smelly.) After getting everything straight away with the hostel, we went down the road to get a beer, which was much needed.
The hostel was located right around all the touristy stuff. Actually, the majority the first night's frightening happenings occurred right between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. (Something I didn't really appreciate at the time.) So the next morning, guess where we went? That's right, the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.
The Hagia Sophia (Ayasophya in Turkish) - once a basilica, once a mosque, now a museum, famous for mosaics, awesome architecture, and fabulously decorated domes. I've been waiting to see this beauty for quite some time too. (Guess I picked the right part of the world to travel to.) It was amazing, and mind-blowing. They were doing reconstruction of the dome while we were there, so I didn't get great pictures of it. But hopefully I captured some of the wonder of it. The Blue Mosque was equally as amazing. The Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia are literally across the street from each other, but from two totally different empires. The Hagia Sophia was built during the Byzantine empire, and the Blue Mosque was built during the Ottoman empire. While the Hagia Sophia is known for it's mosaic-ed interior, the Blue Mosque is known (and titled) for the blue colored tiles that decorate its interior. Very beautiful, and very different from mosques I've seen around Cairo. Somewhere between the two of those sight-seeing expeditions, we had lunch, and exposed ourselves to the alcoholic marvel called Raki. (We did not get drunk before visiting the religious monuments... we just wanted to try the drink.) It was strange, but not one I prefer. Later, we idled away the night wandering around, then finally settling down with some beers and ghost stories. It was a fun night.
The next day, we took a boat cruise around the Bosborus. It was long, but enjoyable. The boat even stopped to pick up some beer. Unbeknownst to us beforehand, the boat trip also included a trip up a mountain in a cable car. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the place we were, but it had an excellent view of the city. So, I took some pictures. After the tour, we headed up to Taksim Sq to do some shopping - more out of necessity than anything. It was a lot colder in Istanbul than we had anticipated. While we were up there, it started raining. I bought an umbrella. Then we took shelter in a little pizza place. While we were there, the rain got pretty intense, and the power went out in the restaurant. It was really dark, haha, and one of my friends was in the bathroom when it happened. Once the power came back on, we finished up dinner, and walked back to the shopping street. It was still raining a bit, so street shopping wasn't a whole lot of fun. We sought out a bar and drank away a few hours.
Most of our nights in Istanbul ended in some sort of alcoholic indulgence. So, if I don't say it, just assume it. Our fourth day in Istanbul was spent, well, my fourth day, was spent in museums. It was another cold and rainy day, and as our shopping expedition the night before was cut short by the bad weather, we were still underdressed for the cold. So we decided to go to some museums, and hope the weather got better. Unfortunately my friend Steve and I are much more the sort to spend an entire day in a museum than my other friends. After a few hours, the others were ready to split, but Steve and I still had a lot to get through in the museums. So, we split up. I don't remember exactly what everyone else did. But I spent a solid couple more hours in the museums. And enjoyed it very much. We met up later and got dinner and did some more shopping - this time we were smart and those of us who needed it (me) bought some stuff to keep warm.
The weather the next day was just as miserable as before. We went to the Topkapi Palace. Since it was another gloomy, wet, miserable day, I don't think any of us really felt like roaming the palace grounds. We saw a few of the rooms, the Harem, and then left. That day, instead of indulging in history, we indulged in pleasure, and got Turkish baths. What an exposing experience. Oh, it was wonderful, and I've probably never been more relaxed after something in my life... but man, being stark naked in a room full of other stark naked, yet unashamed women is not something my modest self is used to. Let alone having someone else wash me. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the Turkish bath, and highly recommend getting one at some point in your life.
Day 6, last day. We spent the day at what is becoming one of my favorite activities - market shopping. In this case, shopping at the Grand Bazaar. It was really cool. The Grand Bazaar is a lot like the market places you find in other countries, except, it's covered, and the roads are paved. It was fun wandering around, getting lost in the never-ending twisting and turning of the alley ways. I didn't buy a whole lot, but definitely enjoyed looking at everything. After that, we got one last meal in Istanbul, then headed back to the airport, being extra careful not to leave anything behind.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sinai, Dahab, and Moses: Business is Fucking Business
Well, it appears that this little blogger is taking her sweet time in updating the world on her adventures.
10/4 - This weekend brought another trip to the Red Sea, this time from Sinai peninsula. Our bus left on Thursday at midnight, and got us to Dahab around 10am Friday morning. Well, most of us. One member of our travel party had to catch a later bus, and didn't get to Dahab until around noon Friday. We decided to take the overnight bus in hopes of getting some sleep on the way, unfortunately none of us ended up getting more than maybe three hours of sleep. As soon as we stepped off the bus, we were hustled over to a truck-taxi, waiting to take us to our hotel. While everybody else fit in the cab of the truck, I had a fun ride in the bed of the truck with the luggage and some French-speaking girls... almost fell out on a few of the quicker turns, but I'm sure the driver would have stopped to pick me up. We got to the hotel, settled in, got some breakfast/lunch, and waited for our other friend to arrive. A little after noon, we boarded a wannabe-army-jeep and zig-zagged our way out to the Blue Hole to do some snorkeling. The Blue Hole is supposed to be some of the best diving and snorkeling around. It was pretty amazing. I wish that I had had an underwater camera, or been scuba certified. From what I saw snorkeling, I'm sure the diving was absolutely amazing. After a few hours of the incredibly salty Red Sea water, we headed back to the hotel to clean up a bit, catch some z's, then go get something to eat...
We spent the evening wandering up and down the shopping/eating strip, located right along the Red Sea - with a usual amount of dodging shop keepers and restaurant owners trying to lure us into their shops with good deals. Although, most of the restaurants along this strip offer free appetizers and dessert, so we did end up getting lured into one. Not bad though, pretty good deal, pretty good food - I only wish I wasn't cursed with a seafood allergy. All this travelling along the Mediterranean and Red Sea, there've been so many chances for good, fresh fish! After eating, we shopped a bit, had some interesting interactions with shop owners - ask me about the "secret of the desert" sometime - and finally headed back to our hotel to prepare ourselves... for a 12 hour journey.
Yes. We climbed Mount Sinai. It was a rigorous hike if anything. Great fun though. Right around 11 o'clock, my friends and I, along with other adventurers loaded up a minibus and drove to Mount Sinai. We were dropped off a ways from the base of the mountain, where we were flocked by the typical crowd, trying to sell us stuff. At the time, spending 40 LE on a scratchy cloth poncho didn't sound very reasonable. At this little sales-pitch-point, we met our guide, whose name [incidentally] turned out to be Moussa (MOSES!). Talk about conincidence. So Moses led us up Mount Sinai.
The hike up took about three hours in total. The majority of it wasn't so bad - we walked along the camel path that winds up the mountain. (The only bad part of that was that we had to walk by tons of camels... which aren't known for their flowery-sweet-smelling shit.) At the end of the camel path, however, were some 700 steps which we had to climb in order to reach the top. 700 steps sounds bad enough... it sounded even worse at 2am. We finally reached the top around 3am. Sunrise was estimated to start around 5:30, which left us with a solid two and a half hours of sleep. ( I know, I know... math genious right here. Watch out Einstein.)
The sunrise was gorgeous, but I was not a happy camper. We spent the night on, probably, the most exposed rock surface on the entire mountain, covered in smelly camel blankets, using backpacks as pillows. It was cold, and, having come from 90 degree Cairo weather, we were not properly equipped for the biting cold of Mount Saini. Maybe paying 40LE for one of those scratchy blankets at the base of the mountain would have been a good idea. Nonetheless, it was an excellent experience.
After sunrise, and some wandering around the top of the mountain, we began our descent. We took a different route down the mountain than the one we took up. Maybe it was the unknown terrain, or the lack of sleep... whatever the case, there was an accident. About three quarters of the way down the mountain, my roommate Olivia tripped and sprained her ankle. Luckily, Superman (my friend Steve) was with us, and he picked her up and flew down the mountain (piggy-backed her the rest of the way). We were supposed to visit the monastery at the bottom of the mountain, but given our situation, we decided to head back to our hotel.
Back at Bishbishi (our hotel), we got Olivia an ace bandage, some tylenol and ice, and did the best we could to take care of the injury. (She saw a doctor later, when we got back to Cairo.) And after our exhausting night, we all slept for a few well-deserved, much-needed hours. We woke up around dinner time, and headed back to the shopping/eating strip along the Red Sea to get some dinner. While we were dinning, we were approached by a few kids selling colorful, hand-made friendship bracelets. Most off the little buggers shooed off pretty easily, but one of the them was quite persistent. This girl was probably about 9 years old, she started bargaining with us, and it ended up being pretty funny. Two of her tag lines were "You're CRRRRAZY!" (said with extremely exaggerated rolled-r's) and "Business is fucking business!" (emphasizing the swear word). After probably ten or fifteen minutes of talking with her and bargaining, we bought some bracelets.
We left later that night and arrived back to Cairo in the morning. It was an absolutely exhausting weekend. But absolutely worth it.
10/4 - This weekend brought another trip to the Red Sea, this time from Sinai peninsula. Our bus left on Thursday at midnight, and got us to Dahab around 10am Friday morning. Well, most of us. One member of our travel party had to catch a later bus, and didn't get to Dahab until around noon Friday. We decided to take the overnight bus in hopes of getting some sleep on the way, unfortunately none of us ended up getting more than maybe three hours of sleep. As soon as we stepped off the bus, we were hustled over to a truck-taxi, waiting to take us to our hotel. While everybody else fit in the cab of the truck, I had a fun ride in the bed of the truck with the luggage and some French-speaking girls... almost fell out on a few of the quicker turns, but I'm sure the driver would have stopped to pick me up. We got to the hotel, settled in, got some breakfast/lunch, and waited for our other friend to arrive. A little after noon, we boarded a wannabe-army-jeep and zig-zagged our way out to the Blue Hole to do some snorkeling. The Blue Hole is supposed to be some of the best diving and snorkeling around. It was pretty amazing. I wish that I had had an underwater camera, or been scuba certified. From what I saw snorkeling, I'm sure the diving was absolutely amazing. After a few hours of the incredibly salty Red Sea water, we headed back to the hotel to clean up a bit, catch some z's, then go get something to eat...
We spent the evening wandering up and down the shopping/eating strip, located right along the Red Sea - with a usual amount of dodging shop keepers and restaurant owners trying to lure us into their shops with good deals. Although, most of the restaurants along this strip offer free appetizers and dessert, so we did end up getting lured into one. Not bad though, pretty good deal, pretty good food - I only wish I wasn't cursed with a seafood allergy. All this travelling along the Mediterranean and Red Sea, there've been so many chances for good, fresh fish! After eating, we shopped a bit, had some interesting interactions with shop owners - ask me about the "secret of the desert" sometime - and finally headed back to our hotel to prepare ourselves... for a 12 hour journey.
Yes. We climbed Mount Sinai. It was a rigorous hike if anything. Great fun though. Right around 11 o'clock, my friends and I, along with other adventurers loaded up a minibus and drove to Mount Sinai. We were dropped off a ways from the base of the mountain, where we were flocked by the typical crowd, trying to sell us stuff. At the time, spending 40 LE on a scratchy cloth poncho didn't sound very reasonable. At this little sales-pitch-point, we met our guide, whose name [incidentally] turned out to be Moussa (MOSES!). Talk about conincidence. So Moses led us up Mount Sinai.
The hike up took about three hours in total. The majority of it wasn't so bad - we walked along the camel path that winds up the mountain. (The only bad part of that was that we had to walk by tons of camels... which aren't known for their flowery-sweet-smelling shit.) At the end of the camel path, however, were some 700 steps which we had to climb in order to reach the top. 700 steps sounds bad enough... it sounded even worse at 2am. We finally reached the top around 3am. Sunrise was estimated to start around 5:30, which left us with a solid two and a half hours of sleep. ( I know, I know... math genious right here. Watch out Einstein.)
The sunrise was gorgeous, but I was not a happy camper. We spent the night on, probably, the most exposed rock surface on the entire mountain, covered in smelly camel blankets, using backpacks as pillows. It was cold, and, having come from 90 degree Cairo weather, we were not properly equipped for the biting cold of Mount Saini. Maybe paying 40LE for one of those scratchy blankets at the base of the mountain would have been a good idea. Nonetheless, it was an excellent experience.
After sunrise, and some wandering around the top of the mountain, we began our descent. We took a different route down the mountain than the one we took up. Maybe it was the unknown terrain, or the lack of sleep... whatever the case, there was an accident. About three quarters of the way down the mountain, my roommate Olivia tripped and sprained her ankle. Luckily, Superman (my friend Steve) was with us, and he picked her up and flew down the mountain (piggy-backed her the rest of the way). We were supposed to visit the monastery at the bottom of the mountain, but given our situation, we decided to head back to our hotel.
Back at Bishbishi (our hotel), we got Olivia an ace bandage, some tylenol and ice, and did the best we could to take care of the injury. (She saw a doctor later, when we got back to Cairo.) And after our exhausting night, we all slept for a few well-deserved, much-needed hours. We woke up around dinner time, and headed back to the shopping/eating strip along the Red Sea to get some dinner. While we were dinning, we were approached by a few kids selling colorful, hand-made friendship bracelets. Most off the little buggers shooed off pretty easily, but one of the them was quite persistent. This girl was probably about 9 years old, she started bargaining with us, and it ended up being pretty funny. Two of her tag lines were "You're CRRRRAZY!" (said with extremely exaggerated rolled-r's) and "Business is fucking business!" (emphasizing the swear word). After probably ten or fifteen minutes of talking with her and bargaining, we bought some bracelets.
We left later that night and arrived back to Cairo in the morning. It was an absolutely exhausting weekend. But absolutely worth it.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Ramadan Karim
This year, Ramadan began September 13. (That's about two weeks ago, for those of you who don't keep track of time.) Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic (lunar(moon)) calendar. Ramadan begins when the new cresent moon is spotted. (See previous parentheses.) I'm assuming that the vast majority of people who have any reason to be reading this blog are pretty well-educated, and are somewhat familiar with Ramadan. But, again, here's the low-down: Ramadan is the holiest month of the year for Muslims. It is the month during which Mohammed first received revelations from Allah (that's God). During the month of Ramadan, Muslims partake in this thing called "fasting". Fasting entails not eating, not drinking (including water), not smoking, not sexing, and pretty much not doing anything mean or bad. To be clear about this, Muslims do not NOT eat for the ENTIRE month. That doesn't make sense. Fasting takes place from sunrise, roughly 4:30am, to sunset, sometime after 6pm. Between 6pm and 4:30am: game on - eat, drink, smoke, all you want. Fasting is broken once the sun has set, and a call is issued from the mosques. Then, it's iftar time. "Iftar" is the name of the evening meal, which comes from the word that means "to breakfast". The last meal, before the day starts, is called "sohour". Ramadan days are quite long, and everything readjusts around the eating schedule. My school even has a special Ramadan schedule. All my classes are earlier and shorter, so that everyone can make it home for iftar. Late afternoon classes get pushed back even later, so that they happen after iftar. And traffic is definately something special between three and five, as all the Cairenes rush home for iftar.
Over 80% of the population of Egypt is Muslim, about 10% Christian, and a very small percent is that "J" one. Can you imagine 80% of the most wacked-out city you know (most of that 80% being smokers) abstaining from eating, drinking, and all other pleasurable activities?! You notice the difference. Ramadan affects everything. Although, it seems to get better after about the first week, once the withdrawl symptoms have subsided. I don't know about that though. I tried fasting for the first week of Ramadan... it sucked. I can't imagine an entire month of fasting. Iftar is a pretty fun time, but the rest of the day is not. Mad props to all those Muslims, fasting is tough shit.
During Ramadan, Muslims also spend considerably more time praying, reading the Quran, and being charitable. It's not just about the fasting. But that is definately TOUGH SHIT.
Over 80% of the population of Egypt is Muslim, about 10% Christian, and a very small percent is that "J" one. Can you imagine 80% of the most wacked-out city you know (most of that 80% being smokers) abstaining from eating, drinking, and all other pleasurable activities?! You notice the difference. Ramadan affects everything. Although, it seems to get better after about the first week, once the withdrawl symptoms have subsided. I don't know about that though. I tried fasting for the first week of Ramadan... it sucked. I can't imagine an entire month of fasting. Iftar is a pretty fun time, but the rest of the day is not. Mad props to all those Muslims, fasting is tough shit.
During Ramadan, Muslims also spend considerably more time praying, reading the Quran, and being charitable. It's not just about the fasting. But that is definately TOUGH SHIT.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Al Iskandreya
Last Thursday*, a group of nine AUC students set out on the Turbo Train bound from Cairo to Alexandria. Once again confused by Egypt, we landed in the wrong station in Alexandria. This lead to a fair amount of confusion, arguing with over-zealous taxi drivers, a man insisting that I spoke Arabic, and finally a crazy taxi cab ride/race to The New Hotel Welcome House.
The New Hotel Welcome House. That would be the name of our lovely hostel. Although, for 25 LE/night, lovely probably isn't the best adjective to describe The New Hotel Welcome House. Adequate might be better; however, none of us were able to shower for the length of the trip, so adequate may yet be insufficient. Anyway, it was a place to sleep, and had a great view. After taking care of all the arrival business - "checking in", paying, and causing a small rucous in moving beds to different rooms - we took on city of Alexandria.
Alexandria is located in north central Egypt, along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It was founded by Alexander the Great and served as Egypt's capital for almost 1000 years. As with pretty much everywhere in Egypt, Alexandria is full of history. Visited sites include: The catacombs of Kom al-Shoqafa, Pompey's Pillar, the Library of Alexandria, Fort Qaitbey (possible site of the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria), Al-Anfushi, and Al Montaza.
The Library of Alexandria and Fort Qaitbey are two things of greatest historical note. Alexandria was once known to have the largest library in the world, known then as the Bibliotec Alexandria (or some more correct spelling of 'bibliotec'). The library was built probably during the 3rd century BC, and its date of demolition is debatable. Today, a different building sits along the coast of the Mediterranean and claims the name "The Library of Alexandria". This modern structure houses a library (duh), two museums, and a Death Star... I mean, planetarium. Unfortunately, we visited Alexandria on a Ramadan weekend, and, as our timing would just so have it, we never made it to the Library before the early Ramadan closing time.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria was likewise build during the 3rd century BC. It was located in the eastern bay of Alexandria, on the island of Pharos, right off the coast. Listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was one of the tallest man-made structures of its time, shadowed only by the two tallest pyramids. Today, Fort Qaitbey stands where the Lighthouse may have once stood. It may even be partially constructed with some of the remains of the Lighthouse. Again, we didn't time things so well, and arrived after closing, so we did not get to tour the Fort. Instead, we spent some time hanging out alongside the Mediterranean.
The other sites were great to see also. The catacombs are (hopefully) self-explanatory by name. Pompey's Pillar is a site of Roman ruins, which were SO COOL. I got some nice pictures, and am working on setting up a flickr site or something so that I can upload all of my pictures. Al-Anfushi is pretty much a little bay area that was just kind of fun to bum around. And Al Montaza is the site of a palace, which is inaccessable. But the are around the palace has been transformed into a gigantic garden/park area that is, of course, right along the sea. We spent a few hours wandering around there.
On the train ride back to Cairo (now in my mind "home), we had a first semi-scary tourist incident. Apparently we had chosen a busy weekend to travel to Alexandria, and there were a lot of other Americans on the train back to Cairo. The tourist police thought it would be a good idea to gather all of the Americans in one of the train cars. They really only meant to make us comfortable, by surrounding us with other Americans, but that's not what was going through our minds. This plan turned out to be much more confusing that it was intended to be, because we all had to move to our originally assigned seats at the next stop. Needless to say, I'm safe, and the happening on the train was inconsequential.
*This post was started a long time ago. So, "last Thursday" means like two weeks ago.
The New Hotel Welcome House. That would be the name of our lovely hostel. Although, for 25 LE/night, lovely probably isn't the best adjective to describe The New Hotel Welcome House. Adequate might be better; however, none of us were able to shower for the length of the trip, so adequate may yet be insufficient. Anyway, it was a place to sleep, and had a great view. After taking care of all the arrival business - "checking in", paying, and causing a small rucous in moving beds to different rooms - we took on city of Alexandria.
Alexandria is located in north central Egypt, along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It was founded by Alexander the Great and served as Egypt's capital for almost 1000 years. As with pretty much everywhere in Egypt, Alexandria is full of history. Visited sites include: The catacombs of Kom al-Shoqafa, Pompey's Pillar, the Library of Alexandria, Fort Qaitbey (possible site of the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria), Al-Anfushi, and Al Montaza.
The Library of Alexandria and Fort Qaitbey are two things of greatest historical note. Alexandria was once known to have the largest library in the world, known then as the Bibliotec Alexandria (or some more correct spelling of 'bibliotec'). The library was built probably during the 3rd century BC, and its date of demolition is debatable. Today, a different building sits along the coast of the Mediterranean and claims the name "The Library of Alexandria". This modern structure houses a library (duh), two museums, and a Death Star... I mean, planetarium. Unfortunately, we visited Alexandria on a Ramadan weekend, and, as our timing would just so have it, we never made it to the Library before the early Ramadan closing time.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria was likewise build during the 3rd century BC. It was located in the eastern bay of Alexandria, on the island of Pharos, right off the coast. Listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was one of the tallest man-made structures of its time, shadowed only by the two tallest pyramids. Today, Fort Qaitbey stands where the Lighthouse may have once stood. It may even be partially constructed with some of the remains of the Lighthouse. Again, we didn't time things so well, and arrived after closing, so we did not get to tour the Fort. Instead, we spent some time hanging out alongside the Mediterranean.
The other sites were great to see also. The catacombs are (hopefully) self-explanatory by name. Pompey's Pillar is a site of Roman ruins, which were SO COOL. I got some nice pictures, and am working on setting up a flickr site or something so that I can upload all of my pictures. Al-Anfushi is pretty much a little bay area that was just kind of fun to bum around. And Al Montaza is the site of a palace, which is inaccessable. But the are around the palace has been transformed into a gigantic garden/park area that is, of course, right along the sea. We spent a few hours wandering around there.
On the train ride back to Cairo (now in my mind "home), we had a first semi-scary tourist incident. Apparently we had chosen a busy weekend to travel to Alexandria, and there were a lot of other Americans on the train back to Cairo. The tourist police thought it would be a good idea to gather all of the Americans in one of the train cars. They really only meant to make us comfortable, by surrounding us with other Americans, but that's not what was going through our minds. This plan turned out to be much more confusing that it was intended to be, because we all had to move to our originally assigned seats at the next stop. Needless to say, I'm safe, and the happening on the train was inconsequential.
*This post was started a long time ago. So, "last Thursday" means like two weeks ago.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Just Like New York, With Sand
Cairo, the capitol of Egypt, is home to over 17.5 million people. It is huge - compared to anywhere I've ever lived. I think I joked once before I left that I thought it was going to be just like New York, only with lots of sand. Well, it kind of is. Only there are palm trees and the River Nile runs through the middle of the city, and, oh, I don't know, it was one of the starting points of civilization. But aside from its incredible history, Cairo is a lot like any other big city - there's a cell phone store outside my apartment, the supermarket is easily within walking distance, the taxi drivers are crazy, and there are lots of people.
I'm sure you all have heard of culture shock. Having been in Cairo for under 48 hours, I do not yet feel the waves of culture shock. Instead I find myself slipping into "big city shock". Between the two places I've lived - Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor - Ann Arbor has more of a "big city" downtown. Except no one rides the buses, and there aren't any taxis, or nearly as many people, and it's relatively clean. I pride myself on knowing my way around and being good with directions. That is definately not the case here. It's quite a different feeling. But I'm sure, with time, I'll get to feeling my normal navigationally-attuned-self.
******************************************************************************
Well, obviously this post was started quite a while ago. I've now been in Cairo for almost three weeks. A lot has happened in that small amount of time. I still find myself experiencing "big city shock", but have also become more aware of everyday cultural differences. So far, none of these differences have been truly knock-me-on-my-ass shocking, but they are just enough to catch your attention and make you consider. For starters (perhaps most obvious to everyone else), the hijab. A large portion of the women in Egypt wear the hijab. Not every woman wears the hijab, and way fewer wear the burqa (burkha). For clarification, in case you don't know, the hijab is the head covering that leaves the face exposed, the burqa is the long, typically black, full face-covering, garment. I find that I'm getting quite used to seeing women in the hijab, but whenever a lady wearing a burqa passes, I have the incredible urge to gawk like a foreigner. I've been told that typically Egyptian women don't wear the burqa, and that the women you do see wearing the burqa around Cairo are often Saudis vacationing in the Amsterdam of the Middle East. I don't know the truth to that, or percentages of women who wear the hijab vs. burqa, but I can tell you the burqa is a lot less common.
There are lots of other things besides the hijab/burqa. Examples: vendors who wander the street with tea carts, women and children who shamelessly beg for money, "welcome to egypt" (more on that later), doing laundry (more on that too), and shisha (hookah). Shisha can be found pretty much everywhere - and for the record, it's flavored tabacco, not weed. Most of the time, you find combination coffee shop/shisha bar. I have yet to see a place for just shisha. Although, there are just plain coffee shops. Another difference, in line with the coffee/shisha places, is that there exist such coffee/shisha shops in which only men are allowed. It's not necessarily written anywhere that women aren't allowed, just generally accepted/expected things will work that way. These places are pretty easy to identify. Usually they are an opening in the side of a building (not really a door, it just looks like the outside wall is missing), out of which spill small tables and chairs, and shisha pipes. The tables and chairs are occupied by men, tended by men, and not approached by women. I think it might be "ok" for a woman to go to one of these coffee/shisha places with her husband, but it doesn't happen often, and I'm not really sure on that point. I have no idea what happens when a woman enters one alone. I'll let you know when I find out though.
As I started this post to say, I haven't experienced much culture shock yet. With the multitude of McDonald's and Pizza Huts in the commercial districts of Cairo, it looks like I won't be missing cheeseburgers as much as I had anticipated. I still get lost everytime I turn a corner though.
I'm sure you all have heard of culture shock. Having been in Cairo for under 48 hours, I do not yet feel the waves of culture shock. Instead I find myself slipping into "big city shock". Between the two places I've lived - Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor - Ann Arbor has more of a "big city" downtown. Except no one rides the buses, and there aren't any taxis, or nearly as many people, and it's relatively clean. I pride myself on knowing my way around and being good with directions. That is definately not the case here. It's quite a different feeling. But I'm sure, with time, I'll get to feeling my normal navigationally-attuned-self.
******************************************************************************
Well, obviously this post was started quite a while ago. I've now been in Cairo for almost three weeks. A lot has happened in that small amount of time. I still find myself experiencing "big city shock", but have also become more aware of everyday cultural differences. So far, none of these differences have been truly knock-me-on-my-ass shocking, but they are just enough to catch your attention and make you consider. For starters (perhaps most obvious to everyone else), the hijab. A large portion of the women in Egypt wear the hijab. Not every woman wears the hijab, and way fewer wear the burqa (burkha). For clarification, in case you don't know, the hijab is the head covering that leaves the face exposed, the burqa is the long, typically black, full face-covering, garment. I find that I'm getting quite used to seeing women in the hijab, but whenever a lady wearing a burqa passes, I have the incredible urge to gawk like a foreigner. I've been told that typically Egyptian women don't wear the burqa, and that the women you do see wearing the burqa around Cairo are often Saudis vacationing in the Amsterdam of the Middle East. I don't know the truth to that, or percentages of women who wear the hijab vs. burqa, but I can tell you the burqa is a lot less common.
There are lots of other things besides the hijab/burqa. Examples: vendors who wander the street with tea carts, women and children who shamelessly beg for money, "welcome to egypt" (more on that later), doing laundry (more on that too), and shisha (hookah). Shisha can be found pretty much everywhere - and for the record, it's flavored tabacco, not weed. Most of the time, you find combination coffee shop/shisha bar. I have yet to see a place for just shisha. Although, there are just plain coffee shops. Another difference, in line with the coffee/shisha places, is that there exist such coffee/shisha shops in which only men are allowed. It's not necessarily written anywhere that women aren't allowed, just generally accepted/expected things will work that way. These places are pretty easy to identify. Usually they are an opening in the side of a building (not really a door, it just looks like the outside wall is missing), out of which spill small tables and chairs, and shisha pipes. The tables and chairs are occupied by men, tended by men, and not approached by women. I think it might be "ok" for a woman to go to one of these coffee/shisha places with her husband, but it doesn't happen often, and I'm not really sure on that point. I have no idea what happens when a woman enters one alone. I'll let you know when I find out though.
As I started this post to say, I haven't experienced much culture shock yet. With the multitude of McDonald's and Pizza Huts in the commercial districts of Cairo, it looks like I won't be missing cheeseburgers as much as I had anticipated. I still get lost everytime I turn a corner though.
Monday, September 3, 2007
The Red Sea, Giza, and Saqqara
This weekend, as part of the international student orientation, nearly 400 AUC students spent Friday and Saturday at the Stella di Mare resort on the Red Sea. It was absolutely gorgeous. I have pictures, and will work on getting them up soon. As was expected from a five-star resort, everything was wonderful there. We had about an hour's worth of orientation stuff, and spent the rest of the two days eating and lounging on the beach. The sand on the beach was REALLY hot. The water was pretty warm as well. It was a lot of fun to watch the tide go in and out. The part of the Red Sea we were on was pretty shallow for a long way out. So when the tide went out, you could walk about 100 yards into the sea. It was fun to be out there at night, while the tide was out, until beach security started kicking people off the beach. It was quite a relaxing two days, and I would highly recommend going to the Red Sea if you're ever in the area. 
As another part of orientation, Sunday was spent touring Giza and Saqqara. In case you don't know, Giza is the site of the great pyramids. Yes, THE pyramids. And the sphinx. After being in Egypt for almost two weeks, I finally found myself face-to-face with ancient history. Unfortunately, there were around 200 of us AUC students touring the pyramids, along with the typical number of other tourists, so we didn't get to go in the pyramids. We didn't even get that close to them. But I was there, and will go back in order to get closer/go inside. Again, I have pictures, and they will be up soon. Along with going to Giza, we also went to Saqqara. I expect that fewer people know the name 'Saqqara' than Giza. Saqqara is the location of the first pyramid prototype. The great pyramids of Giza were not the first pyramids ever built. The ancient Egyptians were astounding engineers/architects/builders/artists/mathmeticians/etc., but like everyone else, they had to develop their ideas and practice. Saqqara holds the first step-pyramid, which served as starting point for later, greater pyramids. The step-pyramid in Saqqara was designed by Imhotep. Imhotep was probably THE great architect of the ancient world (along with being a bunch of other things). The step-pyramid was designed for King Djoser in the Third Dynasty. Saqqara itself is not just the step-pyramid. Saqqara is, on a greater scale, a sort of necropolis, and in ancient times was used for ceremonies and such. Much of Saqqara has been destroyed over time; however, several burial structures and temples still stand. We went inside the burial place of Meneruka (perhaps spelled incorrectly), and the pyramid of Teti. We also walked through the temple outside of the step-pyramid, and all the way around the step-pyramid. Unfortunately, no tourists are allowed inside the step-pyramid, because it is too dangerous. Like I said, the Egyptians had to practice. Although Imhotep was a great architect, he miscalculated a few things on the first step of the pyramid, causing parts of it to... collapse. Until appropriate restoration can be completed, tourists are not allowed in. But don't worry, I'll get in there some day. 
I was totally geeking out during all of this. It was SO cool. I promise pictures. Oh, but pictures of the insides of the tombs aren't allowed. Flash and such damage the precious heiroglyphics inside.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
the 3rd, 5th, and 7th lanes
Imagine: A street jam packed with thirty year old Peugeots and Hyundais, painted black and white, masquerading as our commonly-recognized "taxi". The sight of one of these taxis is quite jarring. They're nothing like the familiar New York City yellow cabs, or the Blue (call-when-you're-too-drunk-to-walk-home) City cabs. For starters, they are in a much more significant state of disrepair - often with dented sides, windows stuck half down, and fenders that have seen their fair share of benders. (The vast majority of other cars on the street share this aged, beat-up quality.) Sometimes at night, if you're lucky, you can catch a bumpin cab with some sweet LEDs. Aside from their rustically different appearance, driving in one of these things is like driving in another dimension. All elements of time and space are suspended. Back in the states, we drive huge, hulking SUVs, etc, and keep the exteriors of our cars pristine. Here, since the appearance of the cars is not such a concern, neither is space.
Forget everything you know about driving, it doesn't apply. Speed limits, at least posted ones, are nowhere to be found, or observed. Horns are employed regularly, as a means of flagging down passengers, plowing a path, simply saying hi to another cabby, or as a musical addition to the radio. (This happened. It was pretty amusing, but also one of the scarier taxi rides I've been on.) And those little dotted lines that separate "lanes"... fuck that. Contrary to popular belief, those lines actually indicate another driving lane altogether. Two lanes become three, three lanes become five, and before you know it, you're speeding down a seven-lane highway. I'd like to consider myself a pretty good driver (laugh if you will) but I could never do what these guys do. Constantly weaving in and out of five to seven unofficial lanes of traffic, these dudes have NO fear.
What's even more impressive, are the scooters/mopeds. Virtually everything in this town can be delivered, and it's done by means of boxes strapped to the back of scooters. Those third, fifth, and seventh lanes I was talking about multiply yet again for these crazy little scooter men. There is absolutely no such thing as a "lane" to them. They drive between everyone, cross sidewalk meridians, and go faster than everyone. Talk about a high-risk job. I hope those delivery guys get a raise every time they make it back alive.
Now imagine trying to cross the street here.
Forget everything you know about driving, it doesn't apply. Speed limits, at least posted ones, are nowhere to be found, or observed. Horns are employed regularly, as a means of flagging down passengers, plowing a path, simply saying hi to another cabby, or as a musical addition to the radio. (This happened. It was pretty amusing, but also one of the scarier taxi rides I've been on.) And those little dotted lines that separate "lanes"... fuck that. Contrary to popular belief, those lines actually indicate another driving lane altogether. Two lanes become three, three lanes become five, and before you know it, you're speeding down a seven-lane highway. I'd like to consider myself a pretty good driver (laugh if you will) but I could never do what these guys do. Constantly weaving in and out of five to seven unofficial lanes of traffic, these dudes have NO fear.
What's even more impressive, are the scooters/mopeds. Virtually everything in this town can be delivered, and it's done by means of boxes strapped to the back of scooters. Those third, fifth, and seventh lanes I was talking about multiply yet again for these crazy little scooter men. There is absolutely no such thing as a "lane" to them. They drive between everyone, cross sidewalk meridians, and go faster than everyone. Talk about a high-risk job. I hope those delivery guys get a raise every time they make it back alive.
Now imagine trying to cross the street here.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Arrival (A Little Belated)
I departed the Metro Detroit Airport at roughly 3:50pm, August 21 (another sign that this trip was meant to be, that's my half birthday), and landed in Frankfurt at roughly 12:30/1:00 am (6am Frankfurt time). During the two hour layover in Frankfurt, I frantically ran around the Airport in search of the "left-behind baggage counter", having realized 20 minutes after landing that I had left my most valuable carry-on in the overhead compartment. (Yes, I forgot my camera. So at the moment, I cannot capture the awesomeness of Cairo. But that will be remedied shortly.) As my life would have it, the timing was ever so slightly off. I had realized my terrible lapse of thinking in just enough time that the crew had already made a sweep of the cabin and gone on their way, and the "left-behind baggage counter" was not yet open. I waited about half an hour and finally got a hold of someone on the convenience phone at the counter, gave them a description of the precious parcel, and darted off to board my flight to Cairo. After all that excitement, and not sleeping much on the previous flight, I pretty much passed out for the four-something hour flight to Cairo. That's ok though, I didn't want my first glimpse on the pyramids to be from an airplane anyway.
The flight from Frankfurt to Cairo had a good number of kids who will be studying at AUC this year. As we got through customs to baggage claim, a very enthusiastic man herded every one of us together under a big AUC sign. We all got our bags and were quickly ushered off to three waiting buses, then uncomfortably crammed inside. I had the luck/joy of sitting in the very back row, where a 1000lb tower of luggage threatened to use me as a landing pad with every bump in the road (the roads are quite bumpy in Cairo too). The four of us in the back seat held on for dear life as passangers were slowly dropped off at their respective dorms.
I'll spare you the traumatic details as to why, but Olivia (the other girl from Kalamazoo) and I are living in an apartment in Cairo. Well, as everyone was loading the buses according to dorm, the drivers and coordinators were trying to figure out where the hell Olivia's and my apartment was located. Eventually, it was figured out, and the horrid bus adventure described above took place. When we arrived at our apartment building, Olivia and I looked at each other in disbelief. It did not look the way we expected it would. On top of that, an old woman, who spoke only Arabic, immediately rushed forward and started grabbing our bags. It turned out that she was helping us, but imagine our surprise given the circumstances. We were crammed into a small elevator- all three of us and our luggage - and were led to our apartment. A tall black Egyptian man (Arabic speaking only) was there to meet us. He spoke to us some, but alas, we did not understand. I can only assume that he was welcoming us and offering to help settle us in. Olivia and I stared, probably looking quite confused and frightened. He left shortly and we were alone in the strange, new apartment. We roamed around, trying to feel it out, not sure how to respond. A little while later, our landlord, Hossam, and a lady we had made contact with, Stacey, showed up to welcome us. Hossam told us that the black Egyptian man who had met us was named Mahmoud, and he was very friendly and willing to help. Hossam himself has turned out to be most accomodating and very willing to help us with anything.
We talked with Hossam and Stacey a while, just trying to calm our nerves a little. I think it helped. After a while, Hossam and Stacey took us to exchange money, buy cell phones, and show us around the neighbohrhood some. They even took us out to dinner. Being exhausted and very nervous about our new situation, Olivia and I retired to the apartment, and restlessly slept our first night in Egypt.
The flight from Frankfurt to Cairo had a good number of kids who will be studying at AUC this year. As we got through customs to baggage claim, a very enthusiastic man herded every one of us together under a big AUC sign. We all got our bags and were quickly ushered off to three waiting buses, then uncomfortably crammed inside. I had the luck/joy of sitting in the very back row, where a 1000lb tower of luggage threatened to use me as a landing pad with every bump in the road (the roads are quite bumpy in Cairo too). The four of us in the back seat held on for dear life as passangers were slowly dropped off at their respective dorms.
I'll spare you the traumatic details as to why, but Olivia (the other girl from Kalamazoo) and I are living in an apartment in Cairo. Well, as everyone was loading the buses according to dorm, the drivers and coordinators were trying to figure out where the hell Olivia's and my apartment was located. Eventually, it was figured out, and the horrid bus adventure described above took place. When we arrived at our apartment building, Olivia and I looked at each other in disbelief. It did not look the way we expected it would. On top of that, an old woman, who spoke only Arabic, immediately rushed forward and started grabbing our bags. It turned out that she was helping us, but imagine our surprise given the circumstances. We were crammed into a small elevator- all three of us and our luggage - and were led to our apartment. A tall black Egyptian man (Arabic speaking only) was there to meet us. He spoke to us some, but alas, we did not understand. I can only assume that he was welcoming us and offering to help settle us in. Olivia and I stared, probably looking quite confused and frightened. He left shortly and we were alone in the strange, new apartment. We roamed around, trying to feel it out, not sure how to respond. A little while later, our landlord, Hossam, and a lady we had made contact with, Stacey, showed up to welcome us. Hossam told us that the black Egyptian man who had met us was named Mahmoud, and he was very friendly and willing to help. Hossam himself has turned out to be most accomodating and very willing to help us with anything.
We talked with Hossam and Stacey a while, just trying to calm our nerves a little. I think it helped. After a while, Hossam and Stacey took us to exchange money, buy cell phones, and show us around the neighbohrhood some. They even took us out to dinner. Being exhausted and very nervous about our new situation, Olivia and I retired to the apartment, and restlessly slept our first night in Egypt.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Blame It On Her...
Hatshepsut.
For those of you wondering, "why Egypt", she is your answer. While, in all seriousness, I do not believe I am Hatshepsut reincarnate, I do hold her responsible for my fascination with Egypt (my mother is further blamed for encouraging me). I have the most vivid memory of reading a big, fat chapter book on Hatshepsut (back in the day when "chapter books" were intimidating) and writing a stunning book report on it - beginning my fascination. If you don't know anything about Hatshepsut, let me clue you in: King(Queen) Hatshepsut was one of the most powerful and accomplished female rulers of ancient Egypt. Like any great ancient Egyptian ruler, she is surrounded by incestual scandal, and, having swiped the pharaocy from her young son, questioned legitimacy - how intriguing. Nonetheless, she went down in history as being awesome. To add to the awesomeness, her body was identified in June of this year. So, perhaps this is destiny.
In any case, I am going to Egypt. I leave Tuesday afternoon, and will be back mid to late January. What will I be doing there? Well, lots of stuff. (And that's why there's a blog.) Primarily studying. I will be at the American University in Cairo (AUC) for one semester, studying Middle Eastern Culture and Arabic, in order to fulfill requirements for my major. (My major is another big factor in why i'm going to Egypt.) Other than that, I will be travelling and generally experiencing life in Cairo.
So, how am I feeling about all this? Currently pendulating between so-excited-I-can't-wipe-this-smile-off-my-face and so-nervous-my-heart-is-going-to-stop-or-I'm-going-to-throw-up.
The next post will come to you from Egypt.
'ahlan.
p.s. mad props if you can pronounce Hatshepsut on the first go at it.
For those of you wondering, "why Egypt", she is your answer. While, in all seriousness, I do not believe I am Hatshepsut reincarnate, I do hold her responsible for my fascination with Egypt (my mother is further blamed for encouraging me). I have the most vivid memory of reading a big, fat chapter book on Hatshepsut (back in the day when "chapter books" were intimidating) and writing a stunning book report on it - beginning my fascination. If you don't know anything about Hatshepsut, let me clue you in: King(Queen) Hatshepsut was one of the most powerful and accomplished female rulers of ancient Egypt. Like any great ancient Egyptian ruler, she is surrounded by incestual scandal, and, having swiped the pharaocy from her young son, questioned legitimacy - how intriguing. Nonetheless, she went down in history as being awesome. To add to the awesomeness, her body was identified in June of this year. So, perhaps this is destiny.
In any case, I am going to Egypt. I leave Tuesday afternoon, and will be back mid to late January. What will I be doing there? Well, lots of stuff. (And that's why there's a blog.) Primarily studying. I will be at the American University in Cairo (AUC) for one semester, studying Middle Eastern Culture and Arabic, in order to fulfill requirements for my major. (My major is another big factor in why i'm going to Egypt.) Other than that, I will be travelling and generally experiencing life in Cairo.
So, how am I feeling about all this? Currently pendulating between so-excited-I-can't-wipe-this-smile-off-my-face and so-nervous-my-heart-is-going-to-stop-or-I'm-going-to-throw-up.
The next post will come to you from Egypt.
'ahlan.
p.s. mad props if you can pronounce Hatshepsut on the first go at it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)