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.
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Congrats on the apartment. Should I be worried that you are off campus now? In terms of safety I mean. Hope your birthday was meaningful. You will probably never forget the fact that you celebrated it in Egypt - who would have thunk it?! We are all gathered in Newnan for Thanksgiving. You will be one of the people on my list that I am thankful to have in my life. Continue to learn a lot and have fun during this incredible life experience. We all love and miss you so much!
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