So today was the day: my first official Egyptian foray into tourism. (Although I continually told cabbies and hustlers Mish hagawi -- "I'm not a tourist!") Three other girls and I piled over to Giza to see the pyramids, the Sphinx, and other assorteds. Oh, and to ride camels.
We got up early, and met around 0630 to head over, since Lonely Planet said the plateau itself opens at 7am. Of course no cabs were coming by, so we started walking down the road until we could flag one. I lost my first time bargaining with a cabbie. I forgot Haggling Cardinal Rule #1: Never ever ever throw out your desired price as your first option. Oops. So instead of the desired LE 20, it was LE 25 to get there.
We drive up through the first gray and cloudy Egyptian morning I've seen. When we reach the entrance to Giza, we're told it doesn't open until 800. What? Lonely Planet never lies! (There's a reason we simply call it "The Bible.") So a hustler comes over and starts telling us we have to ride horses up to the pyramids. And we say no, thank you. And he keeps up. And I wanted to tell him "we'll walk" (namshee), but end up accidentally saying "get the heck outa here"(imshee). A little more forceful than desired!
So an hour early and nothing really to do, we walk around the street a bit and then head down to the hotel at the end of the block to hide out in their bathroom for a while. When we walk back out, the road in front of us is JAMMED with tour buses. So we high-tail it up the street to where you're supposed to pay the entrance fee to the Giza Plateau. Except, best I can figure, we ended up in the midst of a million tour groups with pre-paid stuff. So we just walked straight in! Oops?!
As we walk up the road, passing the tour groups which are scattering to their various buses and leaders (my favorite was the Japanese group of elderly folks all wearing neon green scarves around their necks to keep them together...reminded me a bit of kindergarteners), all of a sudden there's something behind the fog.
It's a pyramid.
And not just "a pyramid." "The pyramid." Kufu's Great Pyramid of Giza--the one who started it all. Out of nowhere on this foggy plateau, there's a huge pyramid. It was a little amazing. Lonely Planet (now with only a 99% hit rate, we felt a bit betrayed) said only 300 tickets were available each day to enter the Great Pyramid, so we hustled over to the ticket place. LE 50 (since we're students everything's half price) got us tickets into the pyramid. Tickets in hand, we photo-opped in front of the bottom blocks, and then climbed up to the entrance. The men in gelabiyyas (look like calf-length cotton nightgowns and worn by many men here) took our tickets and asked "Camera?" "No," we all happily lied and opened our bags to show no cameras....which were in back pockets and jacket pockets. So we walk in--it's surprisingly and refreshingly warm and dry inside. The stone feels warm, not cold. Quickly we reach the ascent--a four-foot tall shaft with a reasonably steep upgrade. Handrails on either side, and the floor is wooden with horizontal strips every foot or so for steps. It's a longer ascent than we think it will be, but all of a sudden we're standing again. Walk a bit more, crouch and walk a bit more, then enter the Burial Chamber. Surprisingly bare. As in, completely bare except for a vault in one corner that housed his sarcophagus.
Upon exiting, it was a little less foggy, but still pretty bad. Some temple-looking things caught our eye on the left, so we headed over there to check out the pillars in the rock. It was a tomb for one of Kufu's viziers--his Chief Vizier, I believe. The man tells us to come in, and we hesitate. At Giza, you suspect everyone's a hustler. He says "I am watchman, I am not guide, come in." He shows us in the first room reliefs all over the wall. For something this old and this "discovered," the reliefs appear widely intact. We pull out cameras and then turn to see the sign on the door that says cameras and video forbidden (of course). He says "You will not tell outside", passing his hand over his mouth, "but in here, camera okay." So we start snapping away. Reliefs of life and people and animals from five thousand years ago onto digital cameras. He takes us to the next room, a relief-ed (relieved?) false door. At the base are images of the three pharoahs of the pyramids: Kufu, Khafre, and Menkuare, which means this part of the tomb was finished long AFTER his death. The next room is more carvings, another false door. The next room--the tomb room, now bare but for the reliefs along the walls and the carved heiroglyphs--is a place for more pictures, and, says our "watchman," a good place for meditation. We give him good--even extravagant--baksheesh, but getting the pictures was a blast.
Exiting the tomb, we head to the second pyramid--Khafre. We pay the entry fee (not as steep as Kufu, LE 15 instead of LE 50), and walk past the guards who ask "Camera?" "No." We enter heading down, this time. In the Burial Chamber there is nothing on the walls, again. Just another reminder that the inside of the pyramid was uniportant compared to the statement made by its sheer presence. Nothing on the walls except what looked like charcoal, high up: Scoptera de G. Bolazoni 2 Mar 1818. Guess we know who made it in. We take more pictures here, and then head out.
After two pyramids we're a bit done with dead things, so we start down the Causeway and there is a round shape ahead of us, after what looks like a steep drop. "God," I said. "That's the Sphinx." We're looking at the back of its head. Lonely Planet quotes someone famous as making a stellar observation: seeing the Sphinx is like meeting a tv personality for the first time--it's much smaller in person. Abu al-Hol ("Father of Terror") is not terribly big, despite the excellent photography used to make it look like he just hangs out at the base of Khafre's Pyramid (he does, I guess...what's a few hundred yards between friends?). We head over--finally something free!--and start getting pictures of the Sphinx, us and the Sphinx, the Sphinx and a woman in an atrocious paisley denim set....
Sitting a bit away from the Sphinx and crowds of Japanese and German tourists, we enjoy some granola bars (Snickers Marathon Energy is some good stuff when you haven't eaten all morning), until a man on a camel comes to the other side of the fence. He asks if we want to ride four camels into the desert and around the pyramids. All morning we've been pushing people off, waiting for when we feel like it. He says LE 20 (Lonely Planet suggests LE 25), so we look at each other and decide: Sold!
We walk around, and he comes over with two other men, and four camels in all. We get on the camels (the guides each get on with one of the girls, I end up with my own camel which suits me fine), and walk up a path. Then we gallop a little, then walk. We slow to a stop and the man gets down from his camel and starts to talk about the pyramids, and how he'll take us around them and the desert and tell us all about them. Some people, he says, will pay 120 pounds, 150, even 200. I give to you for 80 Egyptian pounds each. Photos and everything. SHOOT! Up on the camels already, and a ways away from where we started (okay, like a 15 minute walk). We start looking at each other, a little panic. I try to bargain a bit with him, lying that other friends had gotten a similar tour for 60 each, but he doesn't buy it. In retrospect, the guides must all set a baseline and agree not to go under it...typical oligopoly behavior (I can't believe I just brought microeconomic theory into my blog....), and I gave a price under it. So we look at each other and finally decide, what the heck. We're here, we all very much wanted to ride camels today, and LE 80 is something like USD $15. For $15, would I ride a camel three times around the ring at the zoo? Probably not. For $15, would I ride a camel around Giza for an hour? Probably yes. So we set off. This time a guide climbs onto my camel, and I'm in back. I refuse to hold onto him, instead scooting back to the edge of the saddle and holding the saddle on either side. It works, even when we gallop. The next time we pause, he gets onto the camel he had been on.
(NB: Lonely Planet is very up front and borderline fatalistic about riding horses, camels, and donkeys in Giza. They give disaster scenarios about being forced off your camel far away and them charging awful sums to take you back, guides mounting the camel behind women, and the guides being generally awful people. I therefore spend this entire ride not really enjoying the ride, but more worried thinking "When are they going to scam us? How do we best stay together? I have to always be able to see Giza." The other girls report that each guide tries to sweet talk them, one said Lindsey was worth 200 camels, two chickens, and the Great Pyramid. The guides also liked to gallop because then the girls put their arms around the guides' waists. They would hold the girls' hands and kiss their hands. I felt so bad when they told me, wishing that the guide had stayed on my camel, since at least I knew how to handle it. Unfortunately, P.T. Barnum is a brilliant man, and if I go back again I still won't trust any of them an inch.)
Here's another note. Every camel in Giza is apparently named "Michael Jackson" or "Mickey Mouse." I feel for the former, and am thankful I rode the latter, since Mickey Mouse seems to bestow a more docile temper. (But if your name was Michael Jackson, wouldn't you be grumpy?) And after riding a camel for an hour, your inner thighs HURT from holding on...but I thought camels would be harder to ride. They're very easy.
By the time we finish the camel ride and taking pictures we're a little wiped, but we want to see the Solar Barque, currently the oldest known boat. Pharoah Kufu had five cedar-wood boats bear his sarcophagus down the Nile to Giza, and the boats were buried at the base of his pyramid to transport his soul to the Afterlife. One of these boats was found and excavated basically intact. 4600 year-old cedar, restored to be just about seaworthy. It was worth the price of admission to go in and see this thing. First, it's huge. It really is a massive boat. Second, it's held together with no planks, no nails, no studs. It's a rope-boat. The boat is held together with knotted ropes on the inside and in between that swell when wet, making the boat watertight. Third, the little museum below had bits of the original rope and original matting that covered the cabin. 4600 year-old plant fiber, still around. I sound like Indiana Jones gone silly, I know, but just something that fragile, that old, still being around. Oh, and fourth, you have to wear these canvas booties over your shoes to keep out sand.
By the time we got out, we were pretty well wiped. I had to stand in line for a good 25 minutes to use the bathroom, and when we regrouped all we wanted to do was leave. It was about 1300, and it was getting BUSY. One surprising thing was the amount of Egyptians I saw touring there. I expected only foreign tourists, but by the time we left it was mostly Egyptian families out for a Friday (weekend) jaunt. One cab driver asked if we needed a taxi, and wanted LE 50. I said LE 15. He got pretty angry, so I told him we were going to the restaurant and left him blustering. At the hotel at the bottom of the hill (same place we'd used the bathrooms this morning), we walked into a cafe sort of thing, and got two teas and two coffees. We were wiped and wanted something to keep us going to get home. We enjoyed them (the room was beautiful--the hotel was built as an 18th-century hunting lodge for the King), and then got the bill. A cup of tea (plain old Lipton) was LE 16. That's about USD $3. Outrageous!! But we paid and left, feeling that the sitting down and relaxing was probably worth the gross price.
When we left, the man at the gate offfered to take us back to Zamalek (where we live) for LE 50. I said LE 15. He blustered more, but went to LE 45. I stuck to my guns, using my favorite excuse in any language--"We're students!" He blustered, saying nobody would take that price. Another comes over and says LE 40. No. Three are coming towards us and one shouts LE 25. SOLD! We jump in his cab and head out. Supposedly you can do it for LE 20 if you're good, but I'm still learning to haggle. From LE 50 to LE 25, though...not bad.
So we returned, and I spent a good two hours getting my photos up and running. If I missed "sharing" my Kodak album with you, please let me know. I wish Kodak would just give me a URL to post. The pictures are pretty darn good.
Tomorrow, sleeping in and Khan al-Khalili, a huge outdoor market. (Darn, and I was hoping to put away Lonely Planet for a few days....)
Friday, January 26, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Egyptian Pizza and ID Cards
What...I missed a day? Oh well. To be honest I was so physically and emotionally exhausted last night that I just took some time for me. I replied to emails, read a book, and went to bed. Didn't even bother with the "going out" thing.
Yesterday had its ups and downs. But an interesting story nonetheless.
For lunch, four of us girls decided to try and find a falafel place we had seen on the "Tour of the Hood" earlier that morning. (The club 'Friends of International Students' did an hour-long walking tour that showed us the three main parts of campus, the post office, a good koshary place--oddly enough the same place I'd eaten on Monday!--, and the US Embassy.) So we headed back after a few wrong turns. We got there and a man standing on the street beckoned us in. It was tiny, rather dimly lit and dingy, but we sat down anyways. I wanted to try fuul (fava beans), and the other girls asked for shawarma. The man said ok (we were having a little language trouble...my food vocab is lamentable), but another old man came back a few moments later. He started talking to me about how they didn't have much chicken at all but he would bring two meals--each with half the chicken. We said ok, and he gradually starts bringing back food: two bowls of tahini (sesame seed paste), two bowls of a tomato/onion salad, and lots of bread. Then comes the plate of, here you go, homemade potato chips! Not UTZ but fun all the same. Then two plates of rice, and then two plates bearing this delicious chicken. It was grilled and the spices on it were amazing, absolutely amazing.
The man that keeps bringing us the food--the only waiter I guess--is this tiny round wizened man who looks like he's about 80. That means he's probably about 60. He doesn't have several teeth and walks with a limp. Then he makes his way back with four sealed bottles of water (I harp on the seals...since there are so many empty water bottles around people sometimes refill them with tap water and sell them) and a tiny package of tissues. All this time I'm using the best and most Arabic I can to thank this man, who is trying so hard to give four American girls a good meal. Whenever I complimented him, he would always say Allahu alaik, sort of a "May God make you thus."
Was he looking for a good tip? Yeah, probably. But we had a two-hour sit-down lunch for four for LE 40. We gave him a LE 5 tip which is a bit extravagant but he was so kind. Baksheesh is a hard thing in this country. People say that fifty piasters or one pound is good, but restaurants seem unclear. I usually end up tipping more in hole-in-the-wall places than the nicer places. But that's just me.
I didn't tell the girls I was with but I definitely watched a mouse run all over the floor in the kitchen (which I could see into). But I'm not sick, nor are they. So I got a good story of a sweet man and a chicken! And two men brought the cutest little girl in. She was obviously one man's daughter, but was something like 18-24 months and just adorable. She was standing on her chair chatting away to her father and to the waiter.
Also yesterday was my course-selection oddessy. Having been told it was difficult and that the advising woman was really mean, I stressed over it. The advisor blustered a bit ("Requesting a Senior-level Egyptology class with no previous experience? Hmph!"), but gave me all five classes I wanted. I ended up with what I think will be a good schedule:
--Intermediate Arabic
--Introduction to Colloquial Arabic
--Ancient Egyptian Religion and Ethics
--PolySci Seminar: Empire of the War on Terror
--Int'l Relations Seminar: 'Delinquent:' Non-State Actors in International Politics
This is the first time I've tried to "fix" my schedule. People at GU do it regularly (the MSB does it by default)--try to give yourself no classes on Friday. Here, I gave myself no classes on Sunday, which is the first day of the work week. So every weekend my weekend matches up with (and extends!) my American weekend--starts Thursday night and goes until Sunday night. I wasn't REALLY trying to do that, but it just started working out that way and I helped it along. I didn't really turn down any thrilling classes because they were on Sunday.
This helps, however, because I can now extend any weekend trips. One girl that I'm friends with has no class on Sunday until about 1600, and another has only late Sunday classes as well. I hope I don't get TOO used to this!
Last night was the "Dorm Orientation." It was nice to have questions answered (laundry, after what hours you must sign in and out, housekeeping, the admonition to not get married in Alexandria--some girl went for a weekend and came back married. He spoke no English, she spoke no Arabic. CRAZY.), and they fed us! Lots of free....are you ready?....DOMINO'S PIZZA! Although Egyptian Domino's is different. Crust is much chewier (more like a flatbread with yeast than a sweet roll dough like we have in the US), and toppings are different. Egyptian sausage pizza is not recommended. After one bite that went into the trash. I did, however, scarf three pieces of what I can only describe as "Cowboy Pizza." BBQ sauce, cheese, onions/peppers, mushrooms, olives, and chicken. There was shrimp with peppers and mushrooms--they told me I wasn't missing much. In Egypt the accepted dipping sauces for pizza are BBQ and ketchup. The BBQ I can see, especially since it was what seemed to be the pizza sauce of choice. But ketchup on pizza? I passed.
Today I applied for two ID cards: my dorm ID and my gym ID. And you'll say Mary Claire, aren't you getting an AUC University ID, and aren't the dorms and gyms part of AUC? And I'll say Yes! That's true, but here you also need an ID to get into your dorm/ride the shuttle and get into the gym. Part of the gym ID process was a medical exam. And you'll say Mary Claire, didn't you have a full physical including blood work, an HIV test, and a tuberculosis test that was required by AUC to go? And I'll say Yes! That's true, but here you also need a doctor at the AUC clinic to fill in Chest:___________ HR: ________ BP: _______ Fit to use Gym: ________ or not fit _______ Doctor's signature: __________.
So I went to the clinic. Two nurses took my blood pressure and sent me out to wait for the doctor. Apparently here you're not called for the doctor, when one person walks out the next simply walks in. Thank goodness there was a kind man who asked if I was waiting for the doctor, otherwise I would have probably sat there for a few hours very confused. When I walked in the doctor immediately checked off the "Chest/HR/Fit to use Gym" columns and then turned to me and said "Do you have any complaints about your chest or heart?" "No." "Okay." She signs it, explains in Arabic that she's the physician-in-residence (well, for two hours three days a week) at my dorm, and tells me where to go to finish out getting the ID. Unfortunately she did it mostly in colloquial so I had to smile sheepishly and ask for English. She gave me the directions and said "Next time I see you at the dorms, no english!" And laughed. So I turned that in, and by Sunday I should be fully official. Until then I'll have to count on the gym attendent letting me in. Which he'll likely do if I'm in shorts. *sigh*
In case you were waiting with bated breath, Luxor fell through. Bummer!!! They sleeper train that you take down was booked through the weekend. So we picked another weekend (late Feb) to go. This weekend we'll do the Pyramids of Giza on Friday and the pyramids at Shaqqa and Dahshur on Saturday. A little pricey because Giza especially is a tourist trap, but Egypt without seeing the pyramids? Please! And it might be a little hard because we're all Americans, but inshallah my Arabic will help.
Yesterday had its ups and downs. But an interesting story nonetheless.
For lunch, four of us girls decided to try and find a falafel place we had seen on the "Tour of the Hood" earlier that morning. (The club 'Friends of International Students' did an hour-long walking tour that showed us the three main parts of campus, the post office, a good koshary place--oddly enough the same place I'd eaten on Monday!--, and the US Embassy.) So we headed back after a few wrong turns. We got there and a man standing on the street beckoned us in. It was tiny, rather dimly lit and dingy, but we sat down anyways. I wanted to try fuul (fava beans), and the other girls asked for shawarma. The man said ok (we were having a little language trouble...my food vocab is lamentable), but another old man came back a few moments later. He started talking to me about how they didn't have much chicken at all but he would bring two meals--each with half the chicken. We said ok, and he gradually starts bringing back food: two bowls of tahini (sesame seed paste), two bowls of a tomato/onion salad, and lots of bread. Then comes the plate of, here you go, homemade potato chips! Not UTZ but fun all the same. Then two plates of rice, and then two plates bearing this delicious chicken. It was grilled and the spices on it were amazing, absolutely amazing.
The man that keeps bringing us the food--the only waiter I guess--is this tiny round wizened man who looks like he's about 80. That means he's probably about 60. He doesn't have several teeth and walks with a limp. Then he makes his way back with four sealed bottles of water (I harp on the seals...since there are so many empty water bottles around people sometimes refill them with tap water and sell them) and a tiny package of tissues. All this time I'm using the best and most Arabic I can to thank this man, who is trying so hard to give four American girls a good meal. Whenever I complimented him, he would always say Allahu alaik, sort of a "May God make you thus."
Was he looking for a good tip? Yeah, probably. But we had a two-hour sit-down lunch for four for LE 40. We gave him a LE 5 tip which is a bit extravagant but he was so kind. Baksheesh is a hard thing in this country. People say that fifty piasters or one pound is good, but restaurants seem unclear. I usually end up tipping more in hole-in-the-wall places than the nicer places. But that's just me.
I didn't tell the girls I was with but I definitely watched a mouse run all over the floor in the kitchen (which I could see into). But I'm not sick, nor are they. So I got a good story of a sweet man and a chicken! And two men brought the cutest little girl in. She was obviously one man's daughter, but was something like 18-24 months and just adorable. She was standing on her chair chatting away to her father and to the waiter.
Also yesterday was my course-selection oddessy. Having been told it was difficult and that the advising woman was really mean, I stressed over it. The advisor blustered a bit ("Requesting a Senior-level Egyptology class with no previous experience? Hmph!"), but gave me all five classes I wanted. I ended up with what I think will be a good schedule:
--Intermediate Arabic
--Introduction to Colloquial Arabic
--Ancient Egyptian Religion and Ethics
--PolySci Seminar: Empire of the War on Terror
--Int'l Relations Seminar: 'Delinquent:' Non-State Actors in International Politics
This is the first time I've tried to "fix" my schedule. People at GU do it regularly (the MSB does it by default)--try to give yourself no classes on Friday. Here, I gave myself no classes on Sunday, which is the first day of the work week. So every weekend my weekend matches up with (and extends!) my American weekend--starts Thursday night and goes until Sunday night. I wasn't REALLY trying to do that, but it just started working out that way and I helped it along. I didn't really turn down any thrilling classes because they were on Sunday.
This helps, however, because I can now extend any weekend trips. One girl that I'm friends with has no class on Sunday until about 1600, and another has only late Sunday classes as well. I hope I don't get TOO used to this!
Last night was the "Dorm Orientation." It was nice to have questions answered (laundry, after what hours you must sign in and out, housekeeping, the admonition to not get married in Alexandria--some girl went for a weekend and came back married. He spoke no English, she spoke no Arabic. CRAZY.), and they fed us! Lots of free....are you ready?....DOMINO'S PIZZA! Although Egyptian Domino's is different. Crust is much chewier (more like a flatbread with yeast than a sweet roll dough like we have in the US), and toppings are different. Egyptian sausage pizza is not recommended. After one bite that went into the trash. I did, however, scarf three pieces of what I can only describe as "Cowboy Pizza." BBQ sauce, cheese, onions/peppers, mushrooms, olives, and chicken. There was shrimp with peppers and mushrooms--they told me I wasn't missing much. In Egypt the accepted dipping sauces for pizza are BBQ and ketchup. The BBQ I can see, especially since it was what seemed to be the pizza sauce of choice. But ketchup on pizza? I passed.
Today I applied for two ID cards: my dorm ID and my gym ID. And you'll say Mary Claire, aren't you getting an AUC University ID, and aren't the dorms and gyms part of AUC? And I'll say Yes! That's true, but here you also need an ID to get into your dorm/ride the shuttle and get into the gym. Part of the gym ID process was a medical exam. And you'll say Mary Claire, didn't you have a full physical including blood work, an HIV test, and a tuberculosis test that was required by AUC to go? And I'll say Yes! That's true, but here you also need a doctor at the AUC clinic to fill in Chest:___________ HR: ________ BP: _______ Fit to use Gym: ________ or not fit _______ Doctor's signature: __________.
So I went to the clinic. Two nurses took my blood pressure and sent me out to wait for the doctor. Apparently here you're not called for the doctor, when one person walks out the next simply walks in. Thank goodness there was a kind man who asked if I was waiting for the doctor, otherwise I would have probably sat there for a few hours very confused. When I walked in the doctor immediately checked off the "Chest/HR/Fit to use Gym" columns and then turned to me and said "Do you have any complaints about your chest or heart?" "No." "Okay." She signs it, explains in Arabic that she's the physician-in-residence (well, for two hours three days a week) at my dorm, and tells me where to go to finish out getting the ID. Unfortunately she did it mostly in colloquial so I had to smile sheepishly and ask for English. She gave me the directions and said "Next time I see you at the dorms, no english!" And laughed. So I turned that in, and by Sunday I should be fully official. Until then I'll have to count on the gym attendent letting me in. Which he'll likely do if I'm in shorts. *sigh*
In case you were waiting with bated breath, Luxor fell through. Bummer!!! They sleeper train that you take down was booked through the weekend. So we picked another weekend (late Feb) to go. This weekend we'll do the Pyramids of Giza on Friday and the pyramids at Shaqqa and Dahshur on Saturday. A little pricey because Giza especially is a tourist trap, but Egypt without seeing the pyramids? Please! And it might be a little hard because we're all Americans, but inshallah my Arabic will help.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Storming Cairo, Hijabi-style
Day Two, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Economy.
Today was a multitude of tasks, but before I go into that let me tell you (my loyal readership) how much getting emails, Skypes, Facebook messages, etc has meant to me. Being here in Cairo is an exhausting experience, but you often wonder if traveling a few thousand miles means you're forgotten. It's nice to know that I'm not. I miss you folks like hell, each one. I miss our jokes and stories, I miss chatting with you over food in Leo's, over sweaty selves at practice, over dinner at home, at family parties, on the rare occasions I see some of you. I miss you all and just thank you for helping me with this transition. It's not every day you pack up and change from arguably the most affluent society to somewhere that the minimum wage is LE 20 a month...that's about USD $4.
So my adventures. First I got up and took the shuttle to the university, hadn't done that before, with a girl from Georgetown. She lives on my floor, we had second year Arabic together, and she's a sweetheart. She had her course registration appointment, and I wanted to try and figure some things out, including my placement in Arabic (from yesterday's awful, jet-lagged placement test), sports/athletics, and where to go this weekend.
I got there and checked the results of my Arabic test. Arabic 203, they said. I checked the course description. It said something about mastering paragraph structure...but I wrote a five-page paper last semester! So I freaked out, and started trying to find the Professor (the Head of the Arabic Language Institute) to try and argue into a higher class--everyone said you could. Ok, so about 90 minutes of walking around the various University campuses, people making phone calls, and wandering MORE, I found the guy. He was administering the make-up test. So I waited for him to come out and asked (in Arabic) if we could talk about my placement in Arabic. (Well, I asked if it was possible, to which he responded very possible.) So we started talking in a sort of half English/half Arabic about my placement. Finally he opened the paper and showed me which classes did which lessons from which books and I'll be darned! They put me in the right class! The course description in the office certainly dumbed the class down and didn't put Books and Lessons. So, alhamdulilah, I'm in the right class.
Next jaunt was to get a cell phone. Radio Shack (or as their credit card reciept says "Radio Shach") was more than willing to sell me a phone. The basic thing in Egypt is prepaid minutes, everybody does them. There's no such thing as calling plans, free nights and weekends. So I bought the cheapest phone they had plus 100 local minutes... USD $72.17 . I wish Votaphone would come to America!
Went to lunch after that. Two Georgetown girls and I ended up going a bit upscale for lunch--less Egyptian food. It was a French-ish restaurant. So I paid LE 11 for a Greek salad and toast. It wasn't bad...first fresh green food I'd had!
Then we got onto the shuttle--which left a half an hour after we thought it did (so we sat in the stuffy van for almost 40 minutes because we weren't sure when it would actually depart), and came back to the dorms.
I finally gathered some gumption and went to the gym. I wasn't sure what to wear. I had planned on long sleeved tshirt and long gym shorts, but chickened out and wore long pants. When I got there the nice guy with bad English (he spoke English and I spoke Arabic) explained the procedure for getting an AUC gym ID....which involves a physical exam by an AUC doctor. Trusting they ain't, I guess. Although I found out that I can wear whatever I want to work out. But he let me use the equipment anyways. I got onto the treadmill and was way too impressed with my time....I mean I know I can't do a six minute mile and feel that nice! That was when I realized it was in minutes/km. Oops. But let me tell you, running in a tiny airless hole on a treadmill in long cotton shirt and pants is no treat. No treat at all. In fact, more of a penance. But I did an honest 5k, which is short but I was feeling tired.
Then I left the gym, another guy had come in and was chatting with the gym manager. There was only one working treadmill and I was on it, the guy tried the other one so as soon as I finished I got off and went out to the courtyard. A few minutes later the guy walks by with a cup of tea and a bottle of water. He hands me the bottle of water and we're going back and forth a little in Arabic. He says I need more water, I'm saying thank you but no (I mean, who knows if he put something in it? I'm a careful girl.). We start chatting, and he eventually sits down and is quite nice. His first comment to me was "Oh, you're the veil-girl!" Apparently not so anonymous... He's actually Saudi, but all his uncles worked for Aramco in the 80s so he grew up speaking English, listening to Aerosmith, G'n'R, U2. He gave me a really nice...well...I guess affirmation. I commented that whenever I spoke to people in Arabic, and he jumped in and said "they answer you in English" and I said yeah! He told me to just keep speaking to them in Arabic, because they want you to get better and are flattered that you take the time to try.
Oh, and the water? I carried it back up to my room, and checked it when I got there. It was sealed. Nice guy.
Just thought I'd put this out there. Mom is scared I'm going to marry an Egyptian guy. Don't anyone get that idea. I've met two guys here that aren't study abroad who I would even speak to in casual conversation...and both are highly westernized. They talk about the beautiful meeting of cultures in marriage, I don't think I'm cut out for that.
This evening I tried the food in the dorm cafeteria (lame), And ended up going out with a bunch of other American kids. We ended up splitting up, but seven of us went to a silly overpriced American-ish restaurant. And I had a blast sitting around with these six other kids just talking about home and our experiences here thus far. We got goofy at the end but it was worth the LE 18 of food for me just to sit and laugh with them.
Some more American friends, a Saudi friend. Things may actually be looking up!
Plans for this weekend: Luxor, Karnak, and Valley of the Kings!
Today was a multitude of tasks, but before I go into that let me tell you (my loyal readership) how much getting emails, Skypes, Facebook messages, etc has meant to me. Being here in Cairo is an exhausting experience, but you often wonder if traveling a few thousand miles means you're forgotten. It's nice to know that I'm not. I miss you folks like hell, each one. I miss our jokes and stories, I miss chatting with you over food in Leo's, over sweaty selves at practice, over dinner at home, at family parties, on the rare occasions I see some of you. I miss you all and just thank you for helping me with this transition. It's not every day you pack up and change from arguably the most affluent society to somewhere that the minimum wage is LE 20 a month...that's about USD $4.
So my adventures. First I got up and took the shuttle to the university, hadn't done that before, with a girl from Georgetown. She lives on my floor, we had second year Arabic together, and she's a sweetheart. She had her course registration appointment, and I wanted to try and figure some things out, including my placement in Arabic (from yesterday's awful, jet-lagged placement test), sports/athletics, and where to go this weekend.
I got there and checked the results of my Arabic test. Arabic 203, they said. I checked the course description. It said something about mastering paragraph structure...but I wrote a five-page paper last semester! So I freaked out, and started trying to find the Professor (the Head of the Arabic Language Institute) to try and argue into a higher class--everyone said you could. Ok, so about 90 minutes of walking around the various University campuses, people making phone calls, and wandering MORE, I found the guy. He was administering the make-up test. So I waited for him to come out and asked (in Arabic) if we could talk about my placement in Arabic. (Well, I asked if it was possible, to which he responded very possible.) So we started talking in a sort of half English/half Arabic about my placement. Finally he opened the paper and showed me which classes did which lessons from which books and I'll be darned! They put me in the right class! The course description in the office certainly dumbed the class down and didn't put Books and Lessons. So, alhamdulilah, I'm in the right class.
Next jaunt was to get a cell phone. Radio Shack (or as their credit card reciept says "Radio Shach") was more than willing to sell me a phone. The basic thing in Egypt is prepaid minutes, everybody does them. There's no such thing as calling plans, free nights and weekends. So I bought the cheapest phone they had plus 100 local minutes... USD $72.17 . I wish Votaphone would come to America!
Went to lunch after that. Two Georgetown girls and I ended up going a bit upscale for lunch--less Egyptian food. It was a French-ish restaurant. So I paid LE 11 for a Greek salad and toast. It wasn't bad...first fresh green food I'd had!
Then we got onto the shuttle--which left a half an hour after we thought it did (so we sat in the stuffy van for almost 40 minutes because we weren't sure when it would actually depart), and came back to the dorms.
I finally gathered some gumption and went to the gym. I wasn't sure what to wear. I had planned on long sleeved tshirt and long gym shorts, but chickened out and wore long pants. When I got there the nice guy with bad English (he spoke English and I spoke Arabic) explained the procedure for getting an AUC gym ID....which involves a physical exam by an AUC doctor. Trusting they ain't, I guess. Although I found out that I can wear whatever I want to work out. But he let me use the equipment anyways. I got onto the treadmill and was way too impressed with my time....I mean I know I can't do a six minute mile and feel that nice! That was when I realized it was in minutes/km. Oops. But let me tell you, running in a tiny airless hole on a treadmill in long cotton shirt and pants is no treat. No treat at all. In fact, more of a penance. But I did an honest 5k, which is short but I was feeling tired.
Then I left the gym, another guy had come in and was chatting with the gym manager. There was only one working treadmill and I was on it, the guy tried the other one so as soon as I finished I got off and went out to the courtyard. A few minutes later the guy walks by with a cup of tea and a bottle of water. He hands me the bottle of water and we're going back and forth a little in Arabic. He says I need more water, I'm saying thank you but no (I mean, who knows if he put something in it? I'm a careful girl.). We start chatting, and he eventually sits down and is quite nice. His first comment to me was "Oh, you're the veil-girl!" Apparently not so anonymous... He's actually Saudi, but all his uncles worked for Aramco in the 80s so he grew up speaking English, listening to Aerosmith, G'n'R, U2. He gave me a really nice...well...I guess affirmation. I commented that whenever I spoke to people in Arabic, and he jumped in and said "they answer you in English" and I said yeah! He told me to just keep speaking to them in Arabic, because they want you to get better and are flattered that you take the time to try.
Oh, and the water? I carried it back up to my room, and checked it when I got there. It was sealed. Nice guy.
Just thought I'd put this out there. Mom is scared I'm going to marry an Egyptian guy. Don't anyone get that idea. I've met two guys here that aren't study abroad who I would even speak to in casual conversation...and both are highly westernized. They talk about the beautiful meeting of cultures in marriage, I don't think I'm cut out for that.
This evening I tried the food in the dorm cafeteria (lame), And ended up going out with a bunch of other American kids. We ended up splitting up, but seven of us went to a silly overpriced American-ish restaurant. And I had a blast sitting around with these six other kids just talking about home and our experiences here thus far. We got goofy at the end but it was worth the LE 18 of food for me just to sit and laugh with them.
Some more American friends, a Saudi friend. Things may actually be looking up!
Plans for this weekend: Luxor, Karnak, and Valley of the Kings!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Koshary
Day One of Cairo...or Why anyone Suggesting Traveler's Checks should be Shot. Promptly.
Traveler's Checks was basically my day. The AUC International Student Guide recommended it. Said to bring $2,000-$2,500 in traveler's checks to Cairo to get going. Which is all well and good until you realize that nobody here TAKES traveler's checks. And by nobody I'm not talking about street stands and restaurants. No, banks do not take traveler's checks to turn into LE (Egyptian pounds). Banque Misr (Egypt's National Bank) doesn't. The frickin American Express in the Nile Hilton hotel wouldn't take them because they're Visa, not AmEx. I mean, help a girl out here. Spent four or five hours going from bank to bank trying to get someone to exchange. Nobody would. I think we're going to declare them lost and get the money back into my nice, friendly US bank account, then I'll destroy them. Rip them up and scatter pieces in the Nile or something. Screaming "Good riddance!" all the way.
So Koshary. It's kind of the Egyptian national dish. Most Egyptian food is gross. Really gross. But Koshary is a bit of a pride thing. It's a working man's meal. Layer of rice, a few layers of different pasta--a dark thin noodle, three inch pieces of spaghetti, and what looks like elbow macaroni but sliced thinly, then lentils, fried onions (which at a bad place resemble in sight and taste Funyuns), and comes with a dish of tomato sauce to pour over it. To this you can add a kind of hot oil/sauce that's on the table. It's hot, but not killer. So I had that for two meals today--one was 3 pounds (plus .5 for a tip) the other (close to the dorms) was 2 pounds even, but I gave the guy a one pound tip. I plan on coming back and maybe if I go back enough he'll help me practice my Arabic. I went to the Koshary place for dinner with two other girls and I ordered in Arabic....he seemed impressed and kind.
Walked to school and back today. It's about 45 minutes each way. On the way back (after my traveler's check fiasco) I was walking with another American guy and he wanted to change USD (cash) into pounds but didn't have a passport--most banks want a passport to change money. I knew a place on the island (my dorm is on a large and ritzy neighborhood island called Zalamek) that didn't ask me for any ID last night when I changed cash. So we walked from the University to the money exchange, and then back to campus. I only got us a little bit lost at the beginning, and ended up taking a totally different way back than I had walked down, but I got back the way I had planned to go. Another small victory.
The locals are certainly different. Having every man in the street stare at me, walk a little closer and whisper things like "ya habibi" (literally: oh my love, but with their tone: hey there sexy). Boys who look ten or twelve openly stare at my body. Weird.
I'm not sure whether you'll be surprised, upset, or understanding, but I wore a headscarf most of the day. It helped a bit with the comments. I still got them but not as much. I'm obviously American but I seemed to manage. Having the scarf made me feel a little more anonymous and honestly, a little safer. (Although you shouldn't worry about my safety in that regard--everyone looked but nobody came anywhere close to touching.) For every ten women I saw veiled, I saw one bareheaded. And the veils came in all kinds and colors: some women in the full black abaya with niqab and black gloves (picture a woman swathed in black fabric with a veil over her head that comes to her eyebrows. at her eyebrows there's a string, connecting to another veil that starts right below her eyes and flows to about her first rib.), most women in a tightly wrapped scarf with a cap underneath to show no hair, and some with a scarf loosely around their head. Mine ended up being most like the third.
Interesting things:
--as much as people talk about Egyptian couples NOT being able to be together in public, that's silly. The rules seem to be as follows: the girl must be dressed conservatively and have her head covered; they may NOT hold hands, but the girl can put her hand in the crook of her man's elbow; if seated or standing in one place (overlooking the Nile is a lot more romantic at night when you can't see all the trash) the man may put his arm around the woman's shoulders but no lower. Married couples may hold hands.
--a small store on a Zamalek backstreet is a specialty store for American toiletries. Pantene, Suave, Clean & Clear, Dove, St. Ives....etc. I turned and saw an entire display wall of "Axe" men's body spray. Even in Egypt, Axe has arrived. They're at pretty much American prices with a little extra for import.
--the majority of Egyptians seem to be relatively unobservant Muslims. To hear some tell the tale, in Saudi Arabia when prayer is called people actually STOP what they're doing and turn to pray. Here, the call to prayer echoes through the city's mosques and people continue talking, selling, shouting, and honking the horns on their cars.
--there's a flower store very near to my dorm. When I feel really homesick one day I'm going to hit the mini-mart for Gatorade and buy myself some flowers.
Traveler's Checks was basically my day. The AUC International Student Guide recommended it. Said to bring $2,000-$2,500 in traveler's checks to Cairo to get going. Which is all well and good until you realize that nobody here TAKES traveler's checks. And by nobody I'm not talking about street stands and restaurants. No, banks do not take traveler's checks to turn into LE (Egyptian pounds). Banque Misr (Egypt's National Bank) doesn't. The frickin American Express in the Nile Hilton hotel wouldn't take them because they're Visa, not AmEx. I mean, help a girl out here. Spent four or five hours going from bank to bank trying to get someone to exchange. Nobody would. I think we're going to declare them lost and get the money back into my nice, friendly US bank account, then I'll destroy them. Rip them up and scatter pieces in the Nile or something. Screaming "Good riddance!" all the way.
So Koshary. It's kind of the Egyptian national dish. Most Egyptian food is gross. Really gross. But Koshary is a bit of a pride thing. It's a working man's meal. Layer of rice, a few layers of different pasta--a dark thin noodle, three inch pieces of spaghetti, and what looks like elbow macaroni but sliced thinly, then lentils, fried onions (which at a bad place resemble in sight and taste Funyuns), and comes with a dish of tomato sauce to pour over it. To this you can add a kind of hot oil/sauce that's on the table. It's hot, but not killer. So I had that for two meals today--one was 3 pounds (plus .5 for a tip) the other (close to the dorms) was 2 pounds even, but I gave the guy a one pound tip. I plan on coming back and maybe if I go back enough he'll help me practice my Arabic. I went to the Koshary place for dinner with two other girls and I ordered in Arabic....he seemed impressed and kind.
Walked to school and back today. It's about 45 minutes each way. On the way back (after my traveler's check fiasco) I was walking with another American guy and he wanted to change USD (cash) into pounds but didn't have a passport--most banks want a passport to change money. I knew a place on the island (my dorm is on a large and ritzy neighborhood island called Zalamek) that didn't ask me for any ID last night when I changed cash. So we walked from the University to the money exchange, and then back to campus. I only got us a little bit lost at the beginning, and ended up taking a totally different way back than I had walked down, but I got back the way I had planned to go. Another small victory.
The locals are certainly different. Having every man in the street stare at me, walk a little closer and whisper things like "ya habibi" (literally: oh my love, but with their tone: hey there sexy). Boys who look ten or twelve openly stare at my body. Weird.
I'm not sure whether you'll be surprised, upset, or understanding, but I wore a headscarf most of the day. It helped a bit with the comments. I still got them but not as much. I'm obviously American but I seemed to manage. Having the scarf made me feel a little more anonymous and honestly, a little safer. (Although you shouldn't worry about my safety in that regard--everyone looked but nobody came anywhere close to touching.) For every ten women I saw veiled, I saw one bareheaded. And the veils came in all kinds and colors: some women in the full black abaya with niqab and black gloves (picture a woman swathed in black fabric with a veil over her head that comes to her eyebrows. at her eyebrows there's a string, connecting to another veil that starts right below her eyes and flows to about her first rib.), most women in a tightly wrapped scarf with a cap underneath to show no hair, and some with a scarf loosely around their head. Mine ended up being most like the third.
Interesting things:
--as much as people talk about Egyptian couples NOT being able to be together in public, that's silly. The rules seem to be as follows: the girl must be dressed conservatively and have her head covered; they may NOT hold hands, but the girl can put her hand in the crook of her man's elbow; if seated or standing in one place (overlooking the Nile is a lot more romantic at night when you can't see all the trash) the man may put his arm around the woman's shoulders but no lower. Married couples may hold hands.
--a small store on a Zamalek backstreet is a specialty store for American toiletries. Pantene, Suave, Clean & Clear, Dove, St. Ives....etc. I turned and saw an entire display wall of "Axe" men's body spray. Even in Egypt, Axe has arrived. They're at pretty much American prices with a little extra for import.
--the majority of Egyptians seem to be relatively unobservant Muslims. To hear some tell the tale, in Saudi Arabia when prayer is called people actually STOP what they're doing and turn to pray. Here, the call to prayer echoes through the city's mosques and people continue talking, selling, shouting, and honking the horns on their cars.
--there's a flower store very near to my dorm. When I feel really homesick one day I'm going to hit the mini-mart for Gatorade and buy myself some flowers.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Meine Damen und Herren
(If you correct my German, oh well.)
Well, I'm here. Here being Cairo, Egypt. The muezzin called sunset prayer a few minutes ago. It's 5:40 pm, my body isn't quite sure what to think still. I, myself, am even less sure.
Saturday morning I got up extra early and went down to GU. Met up with Lizzie and Lindsey, had coffee and hung out, then went to work out one last time with the Tri Team. It was definitely worth it. I missed them over the 4 weeks that was break. I'll miss them more over these 5 months. They're motivation in the extreme. To the point that I watered some early daffodils with puke. Showered and drove to Dulles. Parents and Suzanne were there, said goodbye (Suzanne and I shared a Cinnabon, for obvious reasons).
The flight out wasn't too bad. I met three other people going to Cairo who were on my flight. The in-flight movie was Neverwas....I slept instead. Food wasn't great, but certainly do-able.
Made it to Frankfurt around 630 local time (something like 0030 home time), then hung out for another two hours to board the flight on Lufthansa. There were about 20 of us on that flight, including a guy from Georgetown. Lufthansa was definitely more cramped than United Airlines, but I tried to sleep nonetheless. Unfortunately my seat partner was a well-intentioned but nosy German named Freidrich. No in-flight movie. Apparently the Germans don't approve of such frivolous pursuits. Freidrich hindered my sleep. This flight was, however, better than UA because I had a window seat. The Alps. Wow. Absolutely amazing. Greece wasn't bad either, and I saw the pyramids on our approach.
I was greeted by the smiling and alluring face of one Nancy Ajram, who wanted me to buy "Coca Cola....wa bass!" (Coca-Cola...or nothing!). Lizzie, I thought you'd appreciate.
Customs was mostly a breeze. The two young men who examined my passport seemed less interested in my passport and more interested in making crude comments in a language they didn't think I speak. I don't, mind you, speak Arabic well, but I know enough to know what you're saying. Got luggage, got a cart that was about 30 years old and drove like it, and made the trek with the other AUCians to the buses. Then the classic "hurry up and wait." For about an hour on the buses with our luggage. Sweet. Drove from the airport to the dorms, which used to be a hotel. Saw some familiar stores. Including a Timberland store. So I can keep it real and such.
Smoking here is the national pastime (don't let anyone tell you it's football), so I'll probably get lung cancer within a month. It was funny to see the American kids who are so unused to smoking inside light up in the lobby and think they were some hot stuff.
I'm in a triple. I signed up for a double but oh well. I probably won't die. But they put me in the corner so the internet jack is all the way across the room and I can't reach it from my desk. We'll have to look into (a) longer cord (b) room restructuring or (c) learning to love typing on my bed.
Now I have to figure out fun little details like the fact that all I have is American dollars (and very few of those!) and travelers' checks (a lot of those). Dorms are strictly segregated by gender. I want to see someone try to break the rules. Won't be me but I want to see what will happen.
So far I haven't insulted anyone. Will try to keep that up.
Well, I'm here. Here being Cairo, Egypt. The muezzin called sunset prayer a few minutes ago. It's 5:40 pm, my body isn't quite sure what to think still. I, myself, am even less sure.
Saturday morning I got up extra early and went down to GU. Met up with Lizzie and Lindsey, had coffee and hung out, then went to work out one last time with the Tri Team. It was definitely worth it. I missed them over the 4 weeks that was break. I'll miss them more over these 5 months. They're motivation in the extreme. To the point that I watered some early daffodils with puke. Showered and drove to Dulles. Parents and Suzanne were there, said goodbye (Suzanne and I shared a Cinnabon, for obvious reasons).
The flight out wasn't too bad. I met three other people going to Cairo who were on my flight. The in-flight movie was Neverwas....I slept instead. Food wasn't great, but certainly do-able.
Made it to Frankfurt around 630 local time (something like 0030 home time), then hung out for another two hours to board the flight on Lufthansa. There were about 20 of us on that flight, including a guy from Georgetown. Lufthansa was definitely more cramped than United Airlines, but I tried to sleep nonetheless. Unfortunately my seat partner was a well-intentioned but nosy German named Freidrich. No in-flight movie. Apparently the Germans don't approve of such frivolous pursuits. Freidrich hindered my sleep. This flight was, however, better than UA because I had a window seat. The Alps. Wow. Absolutely amazing. Greece wasn't bad either, and I saw the pyramids on our approach.
I was greeted by the smiling and alluring face of one Nancy Ajram, who wanted me to buy "Coca Cola....wa bass!" (Coca-Cola...or nothing!). Lizzie, I thought you'd appreciate.
Customs was mostly a breeze. The two young men who examined my passport seemed less interested in my passport and more interested in making crude comments in a language they didn't think I speak. I don't, mind you, speak Arabic well, but I know enough to know what you're saying. Got luggage, got a cart that was about 30 years old and drove like it, and made the trek with the other AUCians to the buses. Then the classic "hurry up and wait." For about an hour on the buses with our luggage. Sweet. Drove from the airport to the dorms, which used to be a hotel. Saw some familiar stores. Including a Timberland store. So I can keep it real and such.
Smoking here is the national pastime (don't let anyone tell you it's football), so I'll probably get lung cancer within a month. It was funny to see the American kids who are so unused to smoking inside light up in the lobby and think they were some hot stuff.
I'm in a triple. I signed up for a double but oh well. I probably won't die. But they put me in the corner so the internet jack is all the way across the room and I can't reach it from my desk. We'll have to look into (a) longer cord (b) room restructuring or (c) learning to love typing on my bed.
Now I have to figure out fun little details like the fact that all I have is American dollars (and very few of those!) and travelers' checks (a lot of those). Dorms are strictly segregated by gender. I want to see someone try to break the rules. Won't be me but I want to see what will happen.
So far I haven't insulted anyone. Will try to keep that up.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Plans
I thought I'd start a blog in honor of my upcoming travels, to keep you all (hopefully) entertained at the antics, fumblings, and triumphs of your very own Innocent Abroad.
So here goes: I spend from January 20th -- June 3rd in Cairo, Egypt (or in transit), studying at the American University in Cairo. No, I'm really not sure why I'm doing this and yes, I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. However, while there I'm going to learn to speak Egyptian Arabic, not make connections with any revolutionary/extremist/anti-US groups, and spend far too much time running through the desert and traipsing through ruins and museums. Oh, and pet baby camels and learn to belly dance.
While there, I'll still have GAIM and my email and will keep up with it. If you have Skype (which you should), my Skype persona is named mcperoutka. I'm UTC +2, which means seven hours ahead of anyone on Eastern time.
And the blog name? Well, Ibn Battuta is Ibn Battuta (he appears in Chapter 1 of the Arabic Book 2, making him a bit of a right of passage), and bint means daughter of. There you go.
Flights to get there are theoretically simple. At 1724 on January 20th I leave Dulles, and make it to Frankfurt International Airport Sunday morning around 0710. The next one leaves around 0925 and gets to Cairo (inshallah--God willing) around 1430. Of course there's the part where I don't speak German at all, so those two hours in Frankfurt should be a blast. (That's not technically true...I can tell you "I love you," "you have beautiful eyes," and "you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," but I don't think any of the above will get me a cup of coffee.) We can only hope and pray that I manage to pick the Lufthansa flight that does English, and that the German words for "Gate 36A, this way stupid!" are reasonably close to English.
After that, well...Mashallah (what God wills).
So here goes: I spend from January 20th -- June 3rd in Cairo, Egypt (or in transit), studying at the American University in Cairo. No, I'm really not sure why I'm doing this and yes, I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. However, while there I'm going to learn to speak Egyptian Arabic, not make connections with any revolutionary/extremist/anti-US groups, and spend far too much time running through the desert and traipsing through ruins and museums. Oh, and pet baby camels and learn to belly dance.
While there, I'll still have GAIM and my email and will keep up with it. If you have Skype (which you should), my Skype persona is named mcperoutka. I'm UTC +2, which means seven hours ahead of anyone on Eastern time.
And the blog name? Well, Ibn Battuta is Ibn Battuta (he appears in Chapter 1 of the Arabic Book 2, making him a bit of a right of passage), and bint means daughter of. There you go.
Flights to get there are theoretically simple. At 1724 on January 20th I leave Dulles, and make it to Frankfurt International Airport Sunday morning around 0710. The next one leaves around 0925 and gets to Cairo (inshallah--God willing) around 1430. Of course there's the part where I don't speak German at all, so those two hours in Frankfurt should be a blast. (That's not technically true...I can tell you "I love you," "you have beautiful eyes," and "you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," but I don't think any of the above will get me a cup of coffee.) We can only hope and pray that I manage to pick the Lufthansa flight that does English, and that the German words for "Gate 36A, this way stupid!" are reasonably close to English.
After that, well...Mashallah (what God wills).
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