Egypt is constantly full of surprises

For some reason I haven't been posting as much as usual this month. So let's see... I finished my exams. All of them went really well, except for my media final, but even that wasn't too bad. Now we have a week of class left to make up for swine flu. Yesterday was the Islamic New Year, which went by almost completely unnoticed by most of the Egyptians I was with. The response I got was more or less a "oh, it's the new year? Oh, that's cool, I guess. Kul sana w enta taib." Last night, a bunch of us gathered at my friend Frankie's apartment for some real Louisiana gumbo! Even though guava leaves had to be used in place of bay leaves, it was still delicious. Frankie is quite the cook, and lives in a beautiful apartment overlooking the Nile. And everything in there actually works!

In completely different news, I found out something very shocking the other day. Turns out that one of my teachers spent 22 months in jail with no charges against him. He just got released in November 2008. Apparently he went to a party that was hosted by a guy who tried to join a jihadist movement in Iraq. The police told his mother that he was being taken in for questioning and that he would only be gone for an hour, and then he disappeared for almost two years. The thing is that Ehab, my teacher, is one of the sweetest people I've ever met in my life. He has the demeanor of a kindergarten teacher. He doesn't even haggle when he's shopping because he's too nice, even when he knows he's being ripped off. The idea that he could be a threat to anyone or anything is completely ridiculous. And yet they held him for 22 months without a trial and without any charges being filed against him. Increased "security" since the assassination of former president Sadat made this completely legal. Now, I've been asked not to write about Ehab's arrest to protect Egypt's image, but this is not the first time that I've thought the Egyptian government did something completely stupid and wrong. Another example is killing all the pigs because of swine flu. My disclaimer is that I don't think particularly highly of any government, and I still think Egypt is an amazing country with some really wonderful people. But I absolutely believe that governments should be criticized when they are in the wrong. If a government is so concerned with its image, then it should act in accordance with what it would like its image to be. That goes for the United States too (equality and freedom for everyone? Ha!). Anyway, the only articles I could find on Ehab's imprisonment were from old issues of the Caravan, the AUC school newspaper. Click HERE and HERE to check them out.

the past few weeks...

Well, I guess I've got some catching up to do, regarding Thanksgiving, Eid al-Adha, and my new apartment.

I always have mixed feelings about Thanksgiving. Certainly, I have a lot to be thankful for and I love eating huge platefuls of all my favorite comfort foods and being with family, etc, but I also cringe every time I hear someone say "Happy Thanksgiving." I mean, what's so happy about the genocide of Native Americans? What about all those smallpox blankets? Did we forget about those? So for my Arabic class, I wrote a paper about the history of Thanksgiving and about the myths we've created around the holiday. Keeping this history in mind didn't completely stop me from enjoying the feast, though. I had my feast at the Maadi House, which is some sort of hangout spot or something for people connected with the US embassy. For Thanksgiving, they opened it up to American AUC students and served turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie. It was so good! I even drank wine for the first time since I've been in Egypt. Then when I got home, I got on skype and got to see the majority of the Campbell clan at Sue's house. This was very special to me, and it meant a lot to be able to see and talk to everyone as if I was right there in the room. Modern technology is truly amazing sometimes.

The day after Thanksgiving marked the first day of the four-day feast of Eid al-Adha (عيد الأضحى). Eid al-Adha is a religious holiday in which everyone who can afford to slaughters cows, goats, or sheep in honor of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for God (in the Islamic tradition it is Ishmael instead of Isaac who is being sacrificed). Unfortunately, I missed the first day when all the slaughtering takes place. But I swiped some pictures from a friend's facebook (thanks, Carl!):

Yeah that second picture is a bunch of kids standing next to a pile of heads. So I missed all the cool stuff (this coming from a former vegan!), but I heard all the shouting and partying going on until 2 or 3 in the morning outside my window every night. Seems like a pretty good holiday, in my opinion.

Other news is that I've begun moving into my apartment downtown. I definitely romanticized it before, but it's still better than being on campus. My first week there, the kitchen sink broke, the toilet stopped working, there was no hot water, and the light went out in my room and in the main bathroom. The bawab (doorman) got someone to fix the sink and toilet, but everytime I talk to him about the lights he says, "mumkin bokra, inshallah" (maybe tomorrow, God willing). That's a fairly common response when trying to get things down around here, I've found. I'm not too worried about it though. I understand the importance of being patient and flexible, and lights aren't as pressing as the kitchen sink and toilet. In the meantime, I'll get a lamp for my room. Everything else about the apartment is great though. It's less than a 10 minute walk from the bus stop and the metro, and on my street there's a bakery, a liquor store, a grocery, a shisha cafe (shisha and tea for less than a dollar!) and a fresh fruit and juice stand. Basically everything I could possibly want, and it's all just right outside my door.

Now I'm getting ready for finals, which seems weird. We've missed so much school this semester because of swine flu, and the weather just started feeling like October last week. In two weeks I leave for Paris to spend New Year's Eve with Ellen, the Mom gets here on Jan. 5th. The next month is going to move so quickly!

Riots and Birthday Celebrations

Things have been getting a little crazy over here ever since Algeria's soccer team first entered Cairo. It was made worse after Egypt lost to Algeria in Sudan on Wednesday. My media teacher told me on Thursday morning that 12 Egyptians had been killed in Sudan by Algerian football fans. I haven't heard anyone else saying anything about it and am 95% sure that this is false, but I have heard several accounts now of Algerian fans coming after Egyptian fans with knives after the game. The news reports I've been reading have been saying drastically different things. Egyptians were attacking Algerians; Algerians were attacking Egyptians; everyone peacefully parted ways after the game without the slightest fuss. I don't trust a lot of the things I hear here in Egypt (many have said that the Algerian soccer players injured themselves when they got to Cairo), and international news sources tend to talk about Egypt and Algeria in sensationalized and often racist terms, but there is definitely something going down and I want the full (and factual) story. President Mubarak has recalled the Egyptian ambassador from Algiers and is talking about "defending Egyptians' dignity," while calling for Algerian officials to ensure the protection of Egyptian citizens in Algeria. I passed by a protest in front of the Algerian embassy Thursday night while celebrating my birthday, but I wasn't around when people started flipping police cars and stuff. See here for a video of the riots: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8369983.stm. I don't know how much international coverage this is getting, if any, but it's all anyone's talking about here.
(Yes, things are a little crazy and some people are getting a little rowdy downtown, but I assure that I am safe and everything is ok.)

For the most part, however, I was in my own little American world this weekend (for better or worse). Birthday celebrations included beers, karaoke, staying in my apartment for the first time, and a rowdy and mish munasib (not appropriate) 80s-themed felucca ride. Mostly the felucca ride was a chance for drunk heterosexual Americans to get away from the gender segregated dorms and make out with each other, but there was also a lot of dancing and I had some good chats with some friends from class. The two Egyptian guys who were running the felucca wanted me to take pictures of them kissing each other. While I thought this was totally awesome, I was also surprised by how open they were being about it. Of course, then one of the guys went around trying to kiss all the girls on the boat and ended up getting punched in the face by a girl from my class. Most of the time I feel horribly embarassed whenever I am in a large group of Americans, especially a large group of drunk Americans, because they inevitably make fools of themselves or are otherwise loud and obnoxious or just plain offensive. I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't have a good time, because I did, it's just that a lot of the stuff that was going on on the boat were not Egypt-appropriate, and if I hadn't had a few drinks I would have felt extremely uncomfortable. On the other hand, sometimes it is nice to have an outlet in which to let loose and forget about what's "appropriate" for a few hours.

Anyway, I will be 22 in a few hours. I guess that's pretty cool. Time to study for my next media exam.

bahbak ya masr!!

This weekend was awesome! Mostly because of sports. Egypt played against Algeria (their archrival) here in Cairo on Sunday to qualify for the World Cup, and things got a little crazy. First of all, the Algerian team was attacked on Friday when they arrived in Cairo, and three players were injured. The two teams have a fairly violent history. Apparently, in 1989, an Algerian player struck the Egyptian team's doctor in the eye with a glass bottle (or something like that), causing him to go permanently blind. Interpol just dropped the arrest warrant on the Algerian player this past April. After some threats from FIFA following the attack on Friday, Cairo stepped up its security a bit, and the game went on in a fairly peaceful manner. And what an exciting game it was! Egypt needed to win by two points in order to still be considered for the World Cup, and they did it! Egypt won 2-0 by scoring in the first and last minutes of the game. Now the two teams are tied in the rankings, and will play again in Sudan on Wednesday. I watched the game in Rehab, on the outskirts of Cairo, with a few friends. After the game, the streets were filled with people who were making flamethrowers out of hairspray and lighters, or standing on top of moving cars, all cheering and shouting. It reminded me of what Franklin St. was like when UNC beat Duke at a home basketball game, except Egyptians do this sober. If it was that crazy in Rehab (which doesn't usually have a lot going on), I can only imagine what it must have been like downtown or in Nasr City, where the stadium is. I took a lot of great pictures, but they all got deleted somehow when I tried to upload them onto my computer. Fortunately, Dana got some good ones too:

Ahmed hooking me up with some face paint.


Celebrating the victory!

Plans for the Future

I found an apartment last night! Dana and I will be living downtown with a French guy named Hugo. The whole mixed gender thing is generally frowned upon in Egypt, but either the landlord doesn't care, or we're getting an exception because we're foreigners. The apartment is right off one of the main squares, on the fifth floor, with an old glass elevator that feels like it's straight out of Wonka's chocolate factory. There are balconies off of every room, an oven, a washing machine, and one and a half bathrooms (with hot water!). It's also fully furnished, with a couch wrapping around most of the living room. And it's only 1,000LE (about $181) per month, with maybe an extra 100LE for utilities. It's walking distance to the metro, two liquor stores, about a hundred shisha cafes, al-Hurriya (the bar with 8LE Stellas), and just about anything else a bunch of Western grad students could want. The room that will become mine has two twin beds (which will be very good when the 'rents come to visit or when friends want a place to crash on the weekends), and it's also the only room with air conditioning (which I'll probably never use). I can't wait to move in and start cooking real food! I don't want to eat ramen ever again. We move in next month!

Moving on from that excitement... I had two midterm exams this week and I have one left. I didn't do as well as I was expecting to on the Fusha vocab exam, but I think I aced the Egyptian colloquial exam. My ECA exam was open book, which I thought was a bit strange for a language exam, but I liked the format. We each sat at our own computer with a headset, and had to listen to the questions in Arabic and record our responses.

Tomorrow is my Fusha grammar midterm. It will be difficult, because there's a lot of things to keep in mind, but oh my god, I love Arabic grammar so much. I love its rules and organization, and how lyrical it is when produced correctly. The more Arabic I learn, the more I want to learn, and also the more I understand the value of poetry in Arab culture. I appreciate Egyptian Arabic as well, but I don't connect with it as well. On the one hand, it is still new to me and my ear is still adjusting to it, but still, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to speak it fluently. I have enough difficulty expressing myself verbally in English, so how can I hope to do so in Arabic? I think too much before I speak and I'm just not chatty enough to be able to speak it smoothly and with confidence. But I won't lose all hope just yet. Maybe someday I'll get it. But what I think I would be really good at and would really enjoy is translating Arabic texts, particularly Arabic literature. I would love to just bury myself in written Arabic for the rest of my life. This is the new dream. I'll teach English and take Arabic classes until I'm good enough to translate full-time. AUC is considering adding a master's program in translation, and when they do, I will be all over that. I can't believe there used to be a time when I thought Arabic was not important for me and my studies!

And finally, I will leave you with some links. My brain is starved for stimulating conversation and debate, so I've been burying myself in blogs. Most of my favorite articles come from Jos, my fellow Hampshire grad. Go figure. The first is on the UN's consideration for transgendered people in a report on counter-terrorism measures, and the second is on hate crime legislation and how it actually hurts the marginalized groups it claims to be protecting. Both are definitely worth reading, even if you don't agree.

http://www.feministing.com/archives/018501.html
http://www.feministing.com/archives/016825.html

Hampshire Pride

Sometimes I am so proud to be a Hampshire graduate. I met some amazing people, some of whom are already doing amazing things with their lives. While scrolling through some my favorite blogs, I came across this interview with a friend of mine, Jos Truitt. Jos speaks very well about privilege and the intersections of identities, particularly as it relates to feminism and queer issues. These are the conversations I had at Hampshire, and why I feel such a lack of intellectual stimulation now that I'm gone. Please check it out:

www.feministing.com/archives/018770.html#more

Ramblings about privilege

I know it hasn't been long since my last post, but I just want to mention a few things. First of all, I figured out how to change some of the settings so that people who don't have a blogspot account can still comment on my entries. So, comment away!

Second of all, I am very much aware of how shallow this blog is, and it really bothers me. It certainly serves its purpose of letting friends and family back home know what I'm doing, but oh God, how I miss academia and Hampshire conversations! I miss talking about identity and power and privilege. I miss feeling uncomfortable during discussions, because it usually meant I was learning something. I mean, here I am, an able-bodied, middle-class, white American who is able to study (towards no degree, I might add) in Egypt thanks to the trust fund my grandfather set up for me, and the only person I'm discussing privilege with is myself. And I still haven't figured out how exactly that privilege transfers to Egypt. Living on campus at an American University is a strange experience indeed. I am more or less oblivious to the subtle manifestations of privilege and power (institutional or otherwise) surrounding gender, race, religion, sexuality, etc. in Cairo. Sometimes it is more obvious, like when my Arabic teacher won't let Sarah, one of my classmates, play a taxi driver in a role-playing exercise because women can't be taxi drivers. The religious aspect is more apparent in the news, such as the debates around the niqab, or the government killing all the pigs (which are raised by the Copts) allegedly because of swine flu. The sexuality aspect is one I am particulalry cognizant of, especially since I am dating an Egyptian man. But as for sexual orientation, I quickly learned that I should not talk openly (such as in a blog?) about the past relationships I've had with women, or about my own queer identity. But ask me what it's like to be an American woman living in Cairo, and I'd have to tell you that honestly I'm not really sure. Like I said, I live on an American campus, where most of my friends are also American, or at least international. Even though the school is 80% Egyptian, I don't think I can name a single Egyptian student, except for Mona, the grad student who substitute taught my colloquial Arabic class today. I know this is largely because I am in the ALI department, which is geared more towards non-native speakers of Arabic, but still. The social scene is very divided, and as far as I can tell, the school does very little to integrate the international students into the larger student body. The fact that it is difficult (and expensive) to get off campus only increases my inability to become familiar with and therefore adjust to Cairene life. I know I've idealized getting an apartment as the solution to all of my problems, but I really hope that actually living in Cairo will help me figure a lot of this stuff out.

Oh, internet gluttony...

My internet is fixed! Which means my productivity level has plummeted over the past 24 hours. I'm also sick with a pretty bad cold, which doesn't help my motivation. Going to the health clinic was an interesting experience. I was told to drink warm water with salt, and they gave me lozenges for my neck. I was like, I'm pretty sure you mean gargle the salt water, not drink it, and I think you mean my throat, not my neck. I was reminded of an email Kace sent me a couple years ago about her first experience in a pharmacy in China. She told them something like her hair was on fire when she meant to say she had a fever. At least I didn't have to rely on my Arabic for treatment. Who knows what I would have told them.

Last Thursday was a pretty busy day. I had my media midterm, which went really well. It was difficult, and I definitely needed to study as hard as I did, but my efforts really paid off. My room is still covered in notecards with words like "eminent delegation," "his royal highness," and "deputy" in Arabic. Thursday night there was a Halloween party across the street from campus (I didn't think anyone actually lived out here yet), and I got to forget about studying for a few hours. I went dressed as a bro-dude, where I generally made everyone uncomfortable with my androgyny. I had drawn on some facial hair, and one guy said, pointing to my shoulder and then my face, "so, the tattoo is real, and the soul patch is fake, right?" Correct. The soul patch drawn on in glittery brown eyeliner is fake, and a sunflower would be a pretty lame tattoo to just draw on if I was going as a bro-dude. Good job. Overall, the party was pretty weird. There were drinks available, and I realized just how low my alcohol tolerance has gotten since I've been here. It was mostly international students from all over the place: America, France, Lebanon, Bahrain, Norway, etc. I met some cool new people, but there was something still weird about it. I didn't get that feeling of bonding with people that I did from Hampshire parties. I had a great time, but I still felt somewhat disconnected, like something was missing. I guess I'm still adjusting to the AUC social scene and to Egypt in general.

(me with two of my suitemates, Anne the grad student and Dana the hipster. Shukran to Dana for the picture)

Actual Halloween was fairly uneventful. Danielle's mom sent her candy and clove cigarettes (which are now illegal in the states), which she was nice enough to share. I used to smoke cloves on occasion at Simon's Rock, and seeing as they're no longer available in the states, I thought I'd let myself enjoy just one. I think the clove, plus the weather change (it's unusually cold in Egypt right now), plus not enough sleep is what made me sick. Speaking of sleep, I still haven't slept through the night, but at least the nightmares have stopped.

Now I am getting psyched about November. Lots of birthdays this month (mine and Dana's are two days apart = party time!), new apartment (inshallah), more midterms, and Thanksgiving! I feel most like myself when I'm busy and stressed, so this should be a great month. Anyone who wants to send me a card (not necessary, but would be greatly appreciated) should probably do so now, cos it takes about three weeks for things to get here from the states. Here's a repost of my address:

Carol Campbell (*has to be my legal name because I have to present my ID in order to get my mail)
American University in Cairo
New Cairo Campus
AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74
New Cairo 11835, Egypt.

Sending lots of November love!

an update

It rained on Monday!! Just a light drizzle at most, but still! It was absolutely wonderful. It rains for about five days out of the year here, and I got to experience one of them. My Fusha (modern standard Arabic) grammer teacher, Inas, said that people in Egypt all start to pray when it rains. It's like a direct link to God opening up, so this is the time to ask God for whatever it is you want.

Things are definitely setting into a routine here. I wake up early, go to class, come home, take a nap, study, go to sleep. Some days, if I don't have too much work, I'll go downtown or to Rehab for shisha and mint tea. Over the weekends I spend as little time on campus as possible, usually in shisha cafes downtown. Some friends introduced me to a great little place that has Stella (the Egyptian beer) for only 10 LE ($1 = 5.5 LE). At first glance, it looks like someplace that would be frequented only by gruff old Egyptian men. It's smoky and crowded, the lights are a little too bright, and the occasional chess board is set up in a corner. It took me a moment upon first entering to realize that next to the older Egyptian men trying to watch a soccer game were tons of international AUC students, mostly Americans living in the Zamalek dorms. Ah, cheap beer bringing people together. It's beautiful.

After the shock of how much I spent on food in September, I'm slowly figuring out how to lower my food costs. There's a place called El-Omda on campus that has pita sandwiches and koshary. Koshary is pasta and lentils with tomato sauce and some sort of dried onions or something on top, and it only costs 7 LE. The pita sandwiches you can get with falafel or ful (beans) for 3 LE, or my favorite, the magnum, which is falafel, ful, boiled eggs, french fries and lettuce stuffed into a pita pocket. It is so good and so filling, and only costs 6 LE. These are much better prices than the 25 LE I was spending on pizza from Tabasco or the 20 LE I would spend at McDonalds. I've also been stocking up on Cup of Noodles from the Quick 24 on campus. I'm still looking forward to my off-campus apartment. In just one month's time I will be able to cook for myself!

Not much else is new. I have my first midterm exam tomorrow for my Arabic media class. I like my media class because I'm reading news articles in Arabic, which makes me feel like the vocabulary is useful and relevant in understanding what's going on in the world. I can begin to have intelligent conversations in Arabic and move beyond talking about myself, my family, and the weather. It's strange to hear my classmates worry about what grade they'll get on the exam. I forget that most students in the ALI program are also students elsewhere, and that their home institutions have things like grades and GPAs that students are supposed to care about. Personally, I want to do well on this midterm in order to judge my own personal progress in the class and to see how much of the material is actually staying with me. But that's just me. Grades aren't something that mean a whole lot to me.

This weekend! Ein Sukhna (the Hot Eye) by the Red Sea to visit Sherif. Also, Halloween parties in the desert? We shall see!

Next weekend! Beyonce by the Red Sea!

I miss you

Egypt makes me realize that I have feelings. Lots of them. It's refreshing, but also overwhelming sometimes. Sometimes I feel lonely and disconnected, and sometimes I feel exhilarated and ready for adventures, but I am always missing everyone so intensely. So please, family and friends, send me an email. Let me know what is going on with you. How is work/school/family/life etc? My email address is doolerfc [at] gmail [dot] com.

Sending lots of love, as always.

A Few Things...

First: Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize!
Just one question, though... Why? What has he accomplished thus far to actually earn it? You can't hand out the Nobel Peace Prize to people with good intentions for "change." Meanwhile, our troops are still in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the other hand, maybe it will give more legitimacy to some of his proposals for change.

Second: Egypt and the Niqab!
Egypt is trying to ban the niqab, the full-facial veil, in all-female sections of universities. The argument is, if everyone in the class is female, including the teacher, then what reason do you have to wear the veil? On the other hand, what reason does the government have to ban it, if it supposedly doesn't matter either way? Politics! The sheikh of al-Azhar originally intended to ban the niqab in all public universities, but women aren't standing for it. My understanding, from past research on Sufism in Egypt, is that al-Azhar University was appropriated by the Egyptian government and is now used as a tool to grant religious legitimacy to government decisions. But whatever you think about the niqab, this is just one more instance of the (male) establishment trying to dictate how women should dress, without bothering to consult the women themselves. I know U.S. media would have people believe that the veil is a symbol of oppression, but the reality is that it is usually something women choose to wear, whether for cultural and/or religious reasons, and many find it quite liberating to be free from the male gaze. The niqab is not explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an, but it is one interpretation of modest dress and covering oneself. Some women who wear the niqab also wear gloves in order to keep even their hands covered.

Somehow I was able to understand an entire conversation about the proposed niqab ban in Egyptian Arabic the other day in one of my classes. I'm very excited about the progression of my language skills now that classes are a little more reliable (though I've heard rumors they're thinking of closing school again). My vocabulary is becoming increasingly political, and includes things like "Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking discussions" and "settlements" and "minister of foreign affairs." It's a relief to not feel like I'm learning Arabic in a vacuum. I'm learning how to talk about issues that are of major concern in Egypt and the Middle East. Now I just need to review my notes on recent Egyptian history and politics, so I can use my new vocabulary with some degree of intelligence.

Lastly: Dooler and the Disturbing Dreams!
In completely unrelated news, just because I want to put it down, I've been having really bad nightmares lately. For the past two nights in a row, I've watched the people I'm with in my dreams become horribly disfigured or mutilated right in front of me. They start off as strangers, but as soon as I come to know them, their fingers are chopped off, or their bones begin to disintegrate, or a cat is being skinned alive. Really disturbing, messed up stuff. I even dreamed that I woke up screaming, and I'm not sure if I actually did. I wake up feeling groggy and physically sore, and have headaches all day. I'm getting 8 hours of sleep and I'm drinking plenty of water, so I don't know what the problem is. Dana tried to help me analyze my dreams, to maybe figure out what my subconscious is trying to tell me, but we couldn't come up with anything. Insha'allah (God willing) I will sleep better tonight.

Eventually I will have a normal week

First week back from Swine Flu Break has been a crazy one. The semester has been extended by four days for ALI students, but our exam schedule will stay the same. So we'll finish our exams, and still have almost a week of class left. The other three days we missed have to be made up, meaning Saturday classes and/or extended hours. There's a lot of work to be done in order to stay on track, but I'm grateful to actually be starting classes now.

There was a holiday this Tuesday for Armed Forces Day, so of course I got myself into all kinds of adventures. On Monday night I went to a wedding party with Sherif near his town, about two hours from Cairo. It was lots of fun, and went from 11-3am or so. There was a lot of dancing, mostly split into two groups: the men and the women. In more conservative families, men and women celebrate in different rooms, or on separate sides of a barrier. I was the only American at the party, as well as the only girl in a big group of guys, so I got a lot of stares. And Sherif's friends are so much fun! Nearly all of them are named Ahmed. One of the Ahmeds made a joke, saying, "We didn't have enough money to buy names for each of us, so we just bought one and shared it!"
At one point in the night, we went to a different wedding party, where Sherif's sister and her husband's family was. She wasn't expecting to see us, and the look on her face when she was trying to think of how much English she knew was priceless. That night, I stayed at Sherif's family's house, where I got to hold his 4 month old niece, Habiba (which roughly translates to "sweetheart" in English). I wore his sister's pajamas, which were bright orange with stripes and said "Princess" on them. Hi-larious. His mom was great, and frequently offered me cookies, tea, sandwiches, fruit, and anything else I needed/wanted. The best part was when she tucked me into bed under the mosquito net. The net was absolutely necessary. My feet and arms are completely covered in bites from the hour or so I was sitting in the living room before going to bed.

The next day we all slept in late, having not gone to sleep until 4am. Sherif and I caught a bus back into Cairo, where we met Ahmed the Chessmaster and some of his chess friends from the UAE at T.G.I.Fridays. Once again, I was the only American and the only girl. This is not a dynamic that I mind in the slightest. Everyone I've met has been really nice and been making concerted efforts to speak as much English as possible. I, in turn, use my sparse Arabic when I can. I'm getting better at picking up the gist of conversation, even if I don't understand specifics or am unable to take part in Arabic. Anyway, we watched the soccer game against Costa Rica (we lost, 2-0) and smoked shisha (of course). Smoking shisha at T.G.I.Fridays absolutely delighted me. Particularly because it was basically on a boat on the Nile. That will probably be the best Fridays I will ever go to in my life.

After dinner, we went to Ahmed's apartment to hang out. In order to get in, I had to be dressed up like a boy (not difficult for me) and snuck in. While there are many exceptions and some degree of flexibility, gender segregation is still a prominent part of the culture. So Sherif brought me a big jacket and a hat, and I took out my earrings and didn't smile or say anything on the way to Ahmed's apartment. My nose ring closed up as a result of taking it out for too long, but I'm not too upset over it. I think it's hilarious that in 24 hours I went from wearing princess pajamas to sneaking around in full drag.

I finally got home at 5am Wednesday morning to find that I had no electricity in my room. My computer was dead, as well as my phone because of the two days without charging it. So I had no way of setting an alarm for class. I was actually ok with this. I didn't really want to wake up in 3 hours anyway. So I slept through class, which turned out to be fine. My teachers just want me to write a page or so in Arabic about the wedding party I went to. I got the electricity fixed in my room, but now the internet isn't working on my computer. Sad face. Dana is being awesome enough to let me use her computer until I get mine fixed.

Otherwise, weekend has been pretty awesome. Found a bar that had beer for 8 LE (about $1.50) on Thursday. Last night Dana and I met up with Sherif and Ahmed and some of their friends at a cafe. Then Dana, Sherif, Ahmed's little brother and I went out dancing. It was supposedly a salsa dance club, but they played mostly techno music. It was a little expensive, but a lot of fun. Today, Dana is taking her international service exam thing, and then we're meeting up with Sherif downtown to watch the soccer game somewhere. Studying will have to happen at some point, but I really like getting the most out of my weekends.

Hamkatain fi al-maghreb (two crazies in Morocco)

You'll probably get more details about my trip to Morocco from Dana's blog (canyouhearthedistancecalling.shutterfly.com), because I just want to put these details down quickly so I won't have to worry about it once the crazyness of making up lost classes begins.

Left for Morocco on Sept. 23, the day after getting back from Hurghada. Seeing my host family again was like a dream. They are just as crazy and as loving as ever, and didn't seem to mind our last-minute intrusion whatsoever. It's nice that after over a year, I still feel the same connection with my family here. Even my old admirers in the souk remember me and pick up exactly where we left off, trying to kiss me and asking to marry me. This is the closest family I'll have for a while, so I'm very glad to know they'll always be here for me. When Dana and I arrived, their new study abroad student, Ashley, was there, as well as the study abroad student before me, Kacey. When I was here last year, my host family could not stop talking about Kacey, so I was very excited to meet her. She is now here teaching English, something I could definitely see myself doing here in the future.

After a couple days of being extremely well fed in Rabat, Dana and I started our crazy backpacking trip through the country. It looked something like this:

Friday, Sept. 25: train to Marrakech, where we arrived in the afternoon. Marrakech is still not my favorite city, with its tourist traps and all, but I liked it much better this time around than last year. The heat was bearable in late September, and Dana and I were not restricted to the time-table of my study abroad group. We explored the souk, and only got ripped off once. We were dragged to a tannery and received a tour that we didn't ask for, with all the old familiar nauseating smells of the one I went to (hungover) in Fes last year, only to be told at the end of the tour that we owed them 100 dirham. But hey, it's not Marrakech if you don't get ripped off. After getting sufficiently lost in the souk and temporarily making friends with a Mexican tourist, we spent the evening in a hotel lounge drinking Moroccan beers. They were better than Stella, the Egyptian beer, and more alcoholic, but less then half the size and a bit more expensive.

Saturday, 9/26: Visited the tombs of Saadin Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour ed-Dahbi (c. 1603?), then to Bahia Palace (c. 1860s). Both were gorgeous. For lunch, we had lamb meshuie in the middle of the souk, and after we finished we were shown where the lamb is cooked. After a feast for lunch, we walked to they cyber park and tried to get on a finnicky free computer, then walked the long way to the Jardin Majorelle. The gardens are my favorite part of Marrakech, and even one of my favorite parts of Morocco as a whole. It started to rain a bit while we were at the gardens. First rain I'd seen in over a month! It was a blessed sight to see, sheltered under the trees of the garden, with the bright blue and yellow terracotta vases around us. Zweena bzef (very beautiful). That night, we took an overnight train from Marrakech to Tangier. Our bunkmates, two British citizens from Gibraltar, realized as soon as the train pulled away from the station that they had left their passports in their hotel. Oops! After frantically trying to figure out what to do, including a brief period in which Dana and I thought we might have the room to ourselves, they found a solution with the help of a couple Moroccan men. They got their hotel to send their passports on a commercial bus to Tangier, which would arrive about an hour after them, with still time to spare before their 9am ferry to Spain. As awful as it was to see their initial panic, I was grateful that it was not Dana and me in that position, and that they were able to work everything out.

Sun., 9/27: Arrived in Tangier early in the morning, and immediately got on a bus to Chefchaouen, about 3-4 hours away. Chefchaouen is absolutely gorgeous! It was rainy and foggy, and there were mountains everywhere with a huge lake nearby. It would have felt like home, if it weren't for the cacti also nestled in the mountain. We didn't do much in Chefchaouen, but made it to a cyber cafe and made some friends at a restaurant in the old medina: Ibrahim, who was nice enough to speak in Modern Standard Arabic so we could communicate; Sliman, the sheep-herder who speaks English to spite the French; and Omar, the inspirational speaker who showed up a documentary/conspiracy theory film on 9/11. They gave us free food as we talked about absolutely everything.

Mon, 9/28: Got up early and left for Tangier. Had paella and beer for lunch before making our way through the old medina in search of Spain. With the uninvited help of a local who showed us the five important features of the kasbah (mosque, communal water fountain, baker, Qur'anic school, and hamam) for the meager fee of 30 dh, we finally made our way to the lookout point. Spain was a bit overcast, but we could definitely see it! As with most liminal spaces, I felt very connected to the Strait of Gibraltar, that body of water that connects Spain to Morocco, Europe to Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. Once we'd had our fill of the view, we went to the American Legation Museum- the only U.S. national monument on foreign soil. Apparently, Morocco was the first country to recognize the U.S. government after we'd split from England. We saw a letter in George Washington's handwriting to the then-ruler of Morocco. Very cool! Also saw a picture of King Muhammad VI with George Bush that made me cringe a little. After our little piece of America in Morocco, we went to Caid's bar in the basement of Hotel el-Minzah. This bar was the inspiration for Rick's Cafe in the movie Casablanca. Dana and I each got ourselves a gin drink, with promises to actually watch Casablanca as soon as we can. At some point during the day, we were given free Tangerines from Tanger, which absolutely made my day. Then we took then 9pm train to Fes.

Tues., 9/29 - We arrived in Fes around 3am. We went to three full hotels before finding one that would take us. Then woke up at 8:30 to explore the medina before our noon check-out. Fes's old medina was not quite as steep and horrible as I remember it being (like I said, I was horribly hungover and it was dreadfully hot when I was there last), but the streets were still fairly steep. It was raining hard when we woke up, but luckily it stopped while we were eating our breakfast (Moroccan crepes, chocolate croissants, and mint tea: yum!). Most interesting thing I saw in the medina was a bunch of guys cutting into a camel's head. I watched with the morbid fascination of a 12 year old boy, and wished I'd gotten a picture. Around noon, we took a train to Meknes, where we found a place to chill and smoke shisha (a thing surprisingly hard to do in this country). Dana and I talked about issues of identity, privilege, orientalism, etc, and it made me miss Hampshire like whoa. After our shisha and a delicious lunch, we got on a train back to Rabat, where we smoked more shisha on the roof with Mehdy, Hamid, and Zechariah.

Now we're just chilling in Rabat with the fam for a few days until we head back to Egypt. Yesterday Bahia took Dana and I to the hamam, along with Aya (my little sister). Dana scrubbed herself so hard she broke skin, which I think my host mom found pretty funny. She loves telling stories about how we screw up. The first story she told when I arrived was about the time I lost my glasses in the ocean one day last summer. It was then brought up again three more times that evening. This time around, Dana knocked the hookah over and left burn holes all over their rug. We like to make sure we're not forgotten.

Today Dana is in Casablanca, visiting the Hasan II mosque (third largest in the world), while I stay home with the family. And tomorrow we leave for Egypt! I can't believe what a month it's been! In September, I: started classes, went to Alexandria and Hurghada, had classes canceled, and backpacked all over Morocco. It's been great, but it's definitely time for things to settle down. And this post is much longer than I was expecting, so I'll leave it at that.

Love!

ana fi al-maghreb!

I am in Morocco!
See Dana's blog post: canyouhearthedistancecalling.shutterfly.com

More later!
Love!

Eid El Fetr in Hurghada

I am making the most out of this swine flu break! I just had yet another incredible weekend. Sherif planned a weekend in Hurghada for me, Dana, Danielle, Will, and Katie. We left late Thursday night, after I had spent the evening hanging out with Sherif and his friend Wa'el. A sleepless seven hour bus ride later, we finally found ourselves in Hurghada! After a nap, we went to the beach and swam in the Red Sea, then returned to the hotel for our first Egyptian beers! Well, first for me, anyway. Egypt's leading beer is called Stella (not to be confused with Stella Artois). It's not great, but it comes in huge bottles and is much cheaper than non-Egyptian beers. We played pool and smoked shisha with Lotfi, the owner of the bar, who soon became one of our favorite features of Hurghada.

Saturday was our desert day. This was my favorite part of the trip, although I was expecting to be sick of sand. It all started off with the six of us being piled into the back of a van with no seatbelts, while being thrown around with every bump in the sand we hit as we charged through the desert. Every once in a while we would stop to get some pictures of the Red Sea Mountains until we made it to the little desert camp. We rode camels, ATVs, dune buggies, donkeys, horses, played with snakes and turtles, watched a beautiful sunset, and watched a guy swallow a sword that was on fire. The ATVs were my favorite. As we were heading towards them, I joked around saying, "Haha, I don't want to be that kid who gets stuck at the end and winds up being left behind." So then guess what happened? I was totally that kid. As everyone else took off, my ATV shut itself off, leaving me in the middle of the desert. I trailed a group of Europeans back to the camp, completely humiliated in the most hilarious way.

Sunday was our rest day. We went to the beach and just chilled. That night, we went to Hard Rock Cafe and told our waiter that it was Sherif's birthday, but to call him Alfastar (the name of a tour group in Hurghada-- it seemed fitting for Sherif). Then Monday we spent all day on a boat. We went snorkeling, and the waterproof camera that Mom got me for graduation took the most amazing pictures! We played in the water pretty much all day, jumping off the top of the boat for fun and getting horribly sunburnt. We stopped at an island for about an hour and a half, where I was surprised to see several topless women. Crazy Europeans, don't you know where you are?

That night we took the seven hour bus ride back to Cairo. Our taxi ride from the bus station to campus was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend. Our taxi got a flat tire right in front of a military base. After our driver left us in search of a new tire (his spare was also flat, of course), some men in uniform came over to tell us not to take pictures of the base (not that we were to begin with). Then they got really friendly and offered us water and tea. They repeatedly got in trouble with their superiors for fraternizing with us. When the tire was finally replaced, we were all very sad to leave our new soldier friends. Then our driver led us in song the entire way back to campus, much to the enjoyment of the folks in the cars around us.

Now I am leaving for Morocco in about 3 hours, with very little sleep. Best swine flu break ever!

Swine Flu!

School is canceled until October 4th due to swine flu.

You should all remember Egypt's initial reaction to the threat of swine flu, which was to slaughter all the pigs in the country. Here's an article about it: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25412517-23109,00.html. Of course, people cannot catch swine flu from pigs, and there were no reported cases of swine flu in Egypt at this time, but they killed them anyway. When I first heard this, I remember thinking, "Oh no, this is the country I'm about to go to?" The answer is: yes. Yes, it is. Apparently the Egyptian government was in part responding to international criticism regarding their ability to handle crises. Yeah, you sure showed them, Egypt!

From what I've gathered, the first reported case of swine flu came from AUC this past summer. They quarantined the Zamalek campus, just as one of our new campus dorm units is quarantined now. And now, just as over the summer, classes are on hold for a couple weeks. But AUC is not the only school affected by this. From what I've heard, all universities (and all schools in general?) in Egypt are closed until October. I understand feeling the need to do something about swine flu to keep it from becoming an epidemic, especially considering the sheer number of people in Cairo alone (about 18 million), but this is a bit ridiculous. Granted, closing schools makes more sense than killing pigs, but it's mostly frustrating at this point.

But, always the optimist, I'm sure I'll make the most of this break. Dana and I might go to Morocco for the rest of the month. I miss my host family there terribly, so it will be nice to see them, especially now that my Arabic is a little better. And Dana's never been to Morocco, so we'll do a bunch of the touristy stuff too.

Until then... skype me! My info is on facebook.
love, dooler

Alexandria

I went to Alexandria this weekend! But first, a funny story... I just got an email from the International Student Affairs office saying that they have my debit card that the CIB ATM swallowed up! They said I should pick it up before 2pm tomorrow or they'll destroy it. Too bad I already canceled the card after a CIB representative told me it would be destroyed automatically. Oh well.

But Alexandria! I had a really great time there. It was nice to get off campus and out of Cairo for a little while. We left yesterday (Friday) at 6:30am. When we got there, we went straight to the Alexandria library, which was absolutely gorgeous! When didn't have quite as much time there as I would have liked, but I did have time to buy a cookbook from the bookstore. Once I move off campus next semester (and hopefully before that), I plan on doing my own cooking. No more McDonald's or pizza with cardboard baked into it. While at the library, I found the feminist section, and decided I wanted to live there. There was one book called "Sexual/Textual Politics," which I was very tempted to steal.


From the library, we went to the Qaitbay Citadel. It was basically this old fortress with tons of interesting nooks and crannies to explore. It had the most beautiful views of the Mediterranean from its tiny little windows.


After the citadel, we stopped for lunch, then made our way to the hotel. I took a nap (waking up at the crack of dawn is not something I'm used to), and basically slept until dinner. Then Dana and I went to a shisha cafe and ate Hardee's for dinner. I had a really funny experience at the cafe. I was heading to the bathroom, and the bathroom attendant asked me, "waled ao bint?" (boy or girl?). I was wearing men's pants and a plaid shirt, and I get this question a lot anyway, so I didn't take offense. But when I answered "bint," she raised her eyes as though she was surprised at my answer. Then the women in the bathroom all looked at me and started laughing and trying to joke with me in Arabic. I only understood some of it, but it was all pretty funny. While I do find it incredibly entertaining to watch people's confusion about my gender, I have been seriously thinking about purchasing some women's clothing while here, and possibly letting my hair grow out some. We'll see how long that lasts...

Anyway, the next morning (today), Dana and I woke up at 8am to take a dip in the Mediterranean Sea, since we missed our chance yesterday in favor of nap time. It was glorious. We went to the private beach by mistake, but it was only 25 LE (about $5) for the two of us, and we pretty much had that section of the beach to ourselves. I definitely preferred it that way, considering it was my first time baring that much skin in Egypt. (Side note: one of the biggest differences I've noticed between Morocco and Egypt is the lack of constant sexual harassment here. Men aren't following me for blocks, calling me "gazelle," asking me to marry them, or groping me in public-- all good things!)

At 10, we checked out of the hotel and left for the catacombs. The 'combs were really cool. They were about three stories deep into the ground, with a combination of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian design. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures, but I got a pack of postcards with pictures of the tombs and everything for 5 LE (less than $1 US).

Our last stop on the tour was a Roman amphitheatre. Operas are still performed in front of it to this day, with the ruins in the background.


For more pictures from Alexandria, check out my facebook!

love,
dooler

bleeegghghhh

Today was the second day of classes, and I'm already using up sick days. Apparently the pizza that's sold on campus is making a few people sick. I'm not surprised, as I found a piece of cardboard baked into my pizza the other day. In addition to the pizza, I tried a sip of water from a water fountain on campus, thinking that it might be worth getting used to the local water if I'm going to be here for a whole year. So now my stomach hates me. Fair enough.

Some of you might be thinking, "you went all the way to Egypt, and you're still just living on pizza??" Pretty sad, I know. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of food options on campus. Another reason why I plan on living off campus next semester. Dining options include McDonalds, Subway (coming soon!), an Italian fast food place, Cinnabon, and Tabasco. Tabasco is our "dining hall," which I expected to be a cafeteria-type place, but instead has a medley of more fast foods. I'm a little disappointed by the lack of Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern food on campus. Tabasco has schawermas, but not much else in that department. I mean, I know it's the American University in Cairo, but do ya think we could have a little less American and a little more Cairo? Oh well. After this episode, I think I'm going to start cooking (gasp!) in our little lounge kitchen, which consists of a fridge, microwave, and hot plates. We'll see how that goes.

Anyway, classes yesterday were great. I really feel like I've been placed into the right levels. In the states I would be starting Intermediate MSA (Modern Standard Arabic), but with the Arabic intensive program, I've placed into High Elementary. Everyone in my class, which consists of 5 or 6 people, seems to be on more or less the same page. Some people have a better hold of the grammar, while others have a broader vocabulary, but I think it will even out soon enough. My Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) class, on the other hand, is set up to kick my ass, I think. It's at the complete beginner level, but it is simultaneously similar enough and different enough from MSA as to completely confuse me. I'm pretty dedicated to learning it though, as it will be the most useful dialect of Arabic that I'll ever learn. Tomorrow is the first day of my Arabic in Written Media class, so Inshallah (God willing) I'll be feeling well enough to attend.

Bad news bears

The ATM on campus ate my debit card today. No worries though, because I got out enough money to last me a couple weeks and I have a backup credit card. It is, however, a pain in the ass. Mom is going to send me the new card (thanks, Mom!), which made me think to post my AUC address here. So here it is!

Carol Campbell (*has to be my legal name because I have to present my ID in order to get my mail)
American University in Cairo
New Cairo Campus
AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74
New Cairo 11835, Egypt.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend! Classes start tomorrow!

RAMADAN '09!!!

I just had the best night of my life, hands down.

But first, the less interesting stuff. Yesterday I got my class schedule! I placed into High Elementary Arabic, which isn't so bad considering their standards. The other people I've talked to who placed in the same level have also completed chapter 15 in the first book of Al-Kitaab, so it sounds like I'm exactly where I should be. My Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) classes run from 9:30 to about 12:45, and then I have Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) until 2:30. Classes start Sunday, and I can't wait!

Wednesday night I went out with some friends again. We had Iftar (the breaking of the fast at sunset) with Ahmed and Sherif, then to a cute cafe/lounge for hookah and tea. Katie sang Hotel California and was asked for an encore, and we all played Truth or Dare and Never Have I Ever. It was so much fun. Ahmed and Sherif are excellent hosts.

Which brings me to... THE BEST PART.
Last night was epic. Our Egyptian friends met our small group of Americans in Zamalek at 9pm with a bus they had rented for the evening. We went to what I can only describe as an outdoor lounge/club on the outskirts of town, by the desert. We could see the pyramids from the club. We ate, smoked hookah, and danced our asses off. There was even a lion cub! Which I nommed on, of course.


The music and energy of the place was incredible. The entertainers came out dancing and dragged us all on stage. Somehow I ended up with some sort of dancing stick, which Dana and I held (without hands) for a game of limbo. Dana, by the way, is my really awesome suitemate. We are planning on getting an apartment off-campus together next semester, where we will hold parties like last night ALL THE TIME.

When the music stopped at 4am (please don't stop the mu-sic, mu-sic, mu-sic...), we decided that would be a good time to hop on some camels. The sun was just beginning to peek through Cairo's polluted skies when we set out for the desert. We stopped for tea in the middle of nowhere with a beautiful view of the pyramids and played a game with the locals before heading back. Finally got home at 8am, and when I woke up this afternoon I was afraid it had all be a fantastic dream. People don't really play with lions, dance with strangers, and ride camels through the pyramids all in one night, do they?

(Sun peeking through polluted Cairene skies at sunrise and Ahmed on a horse with the pyramids)


(some of the crew, from left to right: Sherif, me, Dana, Frankie, Danielle, Katie, and Ahmed)

Rabbit, rabbit!

Happy September everyone!
Today was fairly uneventful. There's not much to do during the day until classes start. Most things are shut down due to Ramadan. The night life is pretty happening though. I missed the bus to the Khan El-Khalili bazaar, so I went to Rehab instead ("rehab" hardy har har). We smoked some shisha (no random Egyptian guys this time) and drank mint tea (my favorite!), and made it back to the bus stop by midnight. To be back on campus by 12:30 makes it a pretty early night by Cairo standards, as far as I can tell.

Despite it being a huge busy city (with roughly 18 million inhabitants), Cairo seems pretty laid back. I'm making lots of friends and having a great time. I couldn't be happier right now.

Hampshire prepared me well...

...for getting things done at a disorganized school.

It's really a mess right now, but at least it's laughable. Every part of registration requires that I have already done some other part, but I don't find out about the pre-req until I've already stood in line for hours. Example: I went to get my ID this morning at 8:30, when it opened. After waiting for two hours, I was told that, as an ALI (Arabic Language Institute) student, I needed "the white card." They couldn't tell me anything more than that. So I went to the ALI office, where they said that I needed proof of payments in order to get my "white card." Luckily, I had printed out my proofs of payment before leaving the states and even had them on me. So I handed those over and received my mystical white card, which some people would actually call a "registration card." Fortunately, when I made it back to the ID office, the people in line took pity on me and let me in at the front so I wouldn't have to wait another two hours.
After that hastle, I went to activate my ID. I was told to come back in an hour, but when I came back in two hours, it still wasn't activated. When I checked back at 5 o'clock (five and a half hours after I had dropped it off), he told me that it still wasn't activated and that he didn't even have it anymore. He gave it to someone else, and lord only knows if I'll get it back tomorrow.
Of course, I can't get my email address until I have my ID card, which also opens the door to my room. But I'm taking it all in stride. I'm not frustrated, but just sort of rolling with it. Things work on Egyptian time here. If someone says we're leaving at 9, we probably won't leave until 10:30. There's no use getting upset over it, because that's just how things work. Things seem to be getting done eventually, and that's fine by me.

Aside from the crazy registration process, I've been having a really great time. Last night I went to the City Stars mall with some folks to pick up cell phones. I have never seen such a huge mall in all my life. It was something like six stories tall and just expansive. They had restaurants, a grocery store, and all kinds of shops. After getting phones, we ran into a group of Egyptian guys who took us to a hookah bar somewhat nearby. They were incredibly friendly and hospitable, and we had so much fun! I sipped on fresh mango juice and a lemon-mint hookah for hours, and it only cost me the equivalent of 4 US dollars. Two of the Egyptian guys, Ahmed and Sherif, let me talk to them in my broken Arabic and offered to show us around Khan El-Khalili tomorrow night. It was so refreshing to get off the compound that is AUC's new campus. The new campus, while beautiful in it's own way, is more or less in the middle of nowhere. It's located in the outskirts of Cairo that is still under development. Outside my window there is a chain-link fence, and beyond that is a brick wall, beyond which is construction and a highway. I was a little overwhelmed by it on Saturday. I was feeling lonely on a strange campus that looked more like Disney's interpretation of Cairo than Cairo itself, and I felt like an outsider because, well, I am an outsider. But last night's adventuring in Heliopolis was so refreshing and fun that it gave me a complete new attitude about the city and my time here. I'm really looking forward to learning more about this huge crazy city. School stuff will work itself out, but in the meantime I'm going to relax and enjoy the ride.

First 24 hours, in pictures

Well, I made it to Cairo safe and sound. It didn't take long for me to unpack the two bags I brought. Here, my room:


After unpacking, we went on a falucca ride down the Nile.


This morning, we visited Old Cairo and saw the fortress of Babylon, St. Mark's Church, the Crypt of the Holy Family, the Ben Ezra Synagogue, and one of the oldest mosques in Egypt.




More to come later, when I am a little more rested.