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.