My week in Palestine (:

I started my journey to Palestine at 6 AM, departing from a very small bus station in Heliopolis. After a confusing departure, 7 hours later I was at the Taba crossing explaining over multiple times why I was learning Arabic and not Hebrew and what I was doing in Israel. Luckily I wasn’t held for too long and I luckily escaped without an Israeli stamp on my passport. The questioning and various processes through Israeli security took forever and by the time we got out, it was already Shabbat – the Jewish holiday where EVERYTHING SHUTS DOWN. So all public transportation had already ended, forcing us to take an expensive cab ride into the city where we discovered there weren’t any more buses to Jerusalem that evening and we’d have to spend the night. We found a nice hostel in my guidebook that had ridiculously Southern American décor but very friendly receptionists and staff. The whole city was closed resulting in aimless wanderings searching for something to eat. My friend and I happened upon what looked like a sandwich place where we attempted to ask the man if he had any food. He gave us a helpless glance and what sounded like “I don’t speak English” in Hebrew. We then ask, in Arabic, if he has any food – another shrug and muttered Hebrew comes out. Then in both French and Spanish we ask for the third and fourth time – the same result. Then we try to pantomime the act of eating a sandwich… no luck and after a few awkward minutes of staring at each other in silence, realizing that we had literally no way to communicate with each other, we finally left. During our subsequent wanderings we discovered a place called Mom Africa where a bunch of African men were playing dominos with Beyonce’s live in concert DVD playing on the televisions. We were delighted to smell what seemed to be food and eagerly entered the restaurant. We found a beautiful and friendly Sudanese woman who spoke Arabic! It was so comforting to hear someone speak a language we understood that it was almost Carthartic. When we asked what they had on the menu she led us directly into the kitchen to show us the various options. We essentially asked for the platter, leading to a series of salads, meats, and breads being brought out to us. The food was rich and delicious, especially when paired with the cold mango juice and the woman’s conversation about her reason to move to Israel. After a delightful night enjoying the ambiance and the amazing food we finally retired in our dorm-style hostel. The next day, since the first bus didn’t run until 4:30 PM (Shabbat – why do you hate me so???), we went to the beach to recline in the sand. We made another friend and spent some time learning basic Hebrew words like “thank you” and “where is the…”  

In Jerusalem (finally) we were picked up at the bus station by a friendly couchsurfing host. We spent the evening enjoying a glass of whiskey while making up on-the-spot songs about any number of things. Apparently I seemed to enjoy Jean Claude Van Damme a little too much so a series of songs about our relationship immediately ensued. The next morning I took the bus to Bethlehem and was picked up by two friends in Beit Jala and explored the wall for a bit before returning to their house in Beit Sahour. Seeing the dividing wall and its graffiti was breath-taking in its monstrosity and saddening in the content of the words. One of my favorite quotations written on the wall said, “An eye for an eye and the whole world would be blind.” I think this sums up how I feel about the peace process. Yet it’s hard not to have an extreme stance while being stopped for numerous checkpoints and discovering how truly restricted the movements of typical Palestinians are in their daily lives. For instance, one friendly shopkeeper I had shay with explained how he could only go into Jerusalem during the Christmas season because there aren’t any major Muslim holidays or events for the people to “identify with.”

On day two in Bethlehem I spent the day exploring the entire city; the walk was long and uphill but it was truly breathtaking. Both Israel and Palestine have breathtaking views and Bethlehem, especially during night, was simply divine. I found this amazing local bakery that had tons of sweets which I, of course, indulged in. I learned quickly that most other countries don’t have the Egyptian penchant for all things diabetes-sweet yet I had the cravings nonetheless. Some of my favorite treats included a custard stuffed pastry with powdered sugar, a rich date and nut stuffed piece of phyllo dough, and a delicious chocolate cream stuffed cookie. Because I visited Palestine during the Eid al-Adha holiday (a Muslim week-long feast and family holiday), all the refugee camps were closed and  I wasn’t able to get a guided tour as I had initially wanted. Although I realized that many people on the street or at little shops could be just as elucidating as the directors of these camps; so many of them had amazing stories and experiences about their life under occupation and the ways they attempt to make it work. So many people felt invigorated and inspired by the recent UNESCO vote to include Palestine and were eagerly awaiting the chance to become part of the United Nations. One of my closer new friends, Hamza, and I discussed the UN bid in great depth. I was fortunate enough to meet a very friendly guy willing to muck through my imperfect Arabic without resorting to English out of exhaustion. From our conversations (over shay and Turkish coffee, of course) I was able to gather that he believed Palestine would gain legitimacy and increased international power from the inclusion into the UN. States would be able to communicate and negotiate with Palestine on an international level and allow for increased legitimacy and oversight into all the actions of the national leadership. I was really taken aback by the calm and serious manner with which the Palestinians talked about their situation; although it was clearly not a positive situation they seemed focused upon the ways to make it better and the small steps they had already accomplished. My time in Ramallah showed that Palestine, in spite of everything, still managed to maintain its sense of community in a vibrant and bustling city. 

After a slightly confusing drop-off from the servees (service taxi) my friend and I sought a big cup of coffee and a place to relax. We found the adorable Stars and Bucks to be exactly what we wanted. In an obvious take off of Starbucks, the local Palestinian chain had a very vibrant interior décor with an extensive menu of coffee, snacks, and sheesha (which they call arghila here in Palestine). I loved my coffee and bought four big bags of it, partially as a souvenir but also because I need it for my recently developed caffeine addiction – something I thought wasn’t genetic but seems to run in my family. We explored the neighboring shops, finding an amazing clothing store with truly unique designs and I convinced myself that bolstering the Palestinian economic system was worth spending a little more than I wanted.  We then took a side trip to the nearby village of Taybeh to see the locally famous Taybeh Brewery where the only microbrewery in Palestine is located. WOW was it amazing beer! They have a few different varieties including light, dark, amber, and gold. The owner’s wife gave us a tour and showed us a video of the little brewery’s fantastic growth into an internationally exported beer. The beers tasted really great, especially since I have had nothing but the three beers available in Egypt (Stella, Sakkara, and Heineken – all boring), and I loved seeing the photos of Yasser Arafat visiting the factory. I loved it so much and, again, I was just contributing to the Palestinian economy, so I bought 12… and a mug…and some coasters. But that’s all I swear! After leaving I realized that 12 beer bottles are extremely heavy to carry, especially since I was going to have to carry them around for the  next 2 days. We retired to a rooftop sheesha (arghila) bar and enjoyed with wonderful Palestinian trend of “fresh” sheesha where the core out a piece of fruit (usually an apply) and fill it with tobacco and cover it with foil. The coals sit on top of the fruit and it results in the most amazing, smooth flavor. My sheesha was watermelon and mint with a fresh apple – simply divine and perfect for a tired body. My friend was staying the night in Ramallah ( I had to catch a bus back to Bethlehem so I could then bus to Jerusalem in the morning) so we met up with the couchsufing friend at the sheesha bar and later went to a restaurant. Khaled was effervescent and friendly, readily talking about any issue and willing to lend food suggestions at the restaurant. His advice did not go unheeded and we had the hummos, bakdunsiyeh, goat cheese, onion, and olive pizza,  and the chicken and almond “pie” which had flavors similar to the Moroccan bastilla but with a more savory texture. The food was amazing! I wish I could have stayed there forever eating. While in Palestine I had tried another typical dish called Mousakhan which was a piece of bread covered in sautéed onions with a delicately spiced half chicken on top. The flavors were extremely aromatic and I loved the moist chicken! Food was just one of the many things I adored about the country.

After my last night in Bethlehem smoking sheesha and talking to my new friends I headed to Jerusalem the next day. Unfortunately the people I was staying with, more couchsurfing hosts, were going to be out of the apartment until 7 PM so I had to lug around my backpack, laptop, and 12-pack of beer until then while exploring the city. My heavily-weighted self lumbered around at a relatively slow pace until then, being able to explore various parts of the old city and eventually exploring the town of Talibeyah – where my family had once lived. The city was now 100% wealthy Jewish Israelis but I was still able to find what I think was my grandfather’s old home. The house looked beautiful with intricate architecture and was still in great condition. The house was surrounded by security cameras and various alarms, something I found very intriguing. The light on the second floor was on so I stayed around for about an hour knocking on various windows and doors hoping to awaken someone so we could talk; unfortunately no one stirred. After finally arriving at my “couch” for the night, my new friends told  me that it could be because the house is owned by a wealthy foreign Jew who just leaves the middle light on while he’s away, explaining the extensive security network. I was relatively disheartened I wasn’t able to see the house during daylight hours nor was I able to converse with the current owners. However, it was pretty amazing to see a place my family had lived in almost a century ago. Growing up in a transcient, military family there aren’t many places where I feel a deep connection to. Being in Palestine and the Jerusalem area really made me feel as if I was at home. I spent a wonderful evening with my Israeli hosts eating the traditional dish of Shaksouka (something very similar to the Mexican huevos rancheros) -  a dish with chili peppers, bell peppers, onions, cumin, and tomatoes with eggs poached inside. It was eaten with the deliciously fluffy bread and homemade labneh – I was lucky enough to couchsurf with a host who also loved cooking! We spent almost an hour looking at his herb garden and comparing the various Hebrew, Arabic, and English words for the herbs and spices. I finally tried the traditional licorice liquer of Arak and realized, as I had expected, that I don’t like it and it tastes like licorice. Surprise Surprise. Once again, I was handed a glass of whiskey on the rocks (this time it was Johnnie Walker Black Label) while we discussed various esoteric questions like anatomical developments over time in the human body, homosexuality, conflict, and Yiddish grandmothers. After a fun evening I finally took the bus from Jerusalem to Eilat (where I had spent that fateful first night) and then on to the Taba border crossing. Things went smoothly (but took forever) and I eventually was off to seek my bus. By the time I arrived all the buses were filled and I was forced to take a Taxi. There was only one taxi left and we were forced to agree to the outrageous price of 150 EGP per person to take the 7 hour journey back to Cairo. We luckily were in a very fast car and the journey only took about 5 even though we had a brief altercation with the driver who claimed we agreed to the price in US DOLLARS. Hah! We paid him the agreed price (not in dollars, of course) and eventually got back to Cairo where I tiredly collapsed in my bed. I had such an amazing time in Palestine and in Jerusalem that I cannot wait to return! 

I'm Sorry, But That Pumpkin is Too Big For You

So last night I was accosted by my bowab because a package notification (birthday present from my mother) showed up at my door. Because it's Egypt and naturally is shambles, this resulted in a series of chaotic events. I had ordered something a month ago on Etsy that had also sent a package notification that it had arrived. I had been getting late notices but since the post office doesn't open until 8:00 and it closes at 2 (mind you, I leave for class at 6:30 and return around 5) I had been putting it off. Last night proved I couldn't put it off any more. The postage delivery man must have put the fear of Allah into my bowab because when I finally came home he spent a good 20 minutes making sure I understood enough Arabic to know what was going on. The gist of what I surmised was that my package was at Ramses (three post offices away) but because of the fact that it's from America and it was insured there was an issue with getting it to me. Plus since a holiday is coming up my bowab said I either had to get it today or wait until the end of November. I woke up early today to venture out and track down my packages. I was there right when they opened: 8 am sharp Egypt time which ended up being 8:35 in real life. The woman found my package from Greece with zero problems. ID, sign here, date here, passport here, ID number here and 20 pounds later I got it! Please note that this is an extremely efficient process, especially for Egypt. Now the second package... at this point it's about 9 am and I've already missed my first class completely. It wasn't actually a package notification but the actual customs form she had filled out that was somehow removed from said package. Not sure I want to know the details about its removal. There was a series of half-Arabic half-Hindi numerals in no particular pattern strewn across the page. I tried calling what I thought was the number (and about 50 variations thereof) to no avail. Egypt recently added an additional digit (or two) to all cell phone numbers (why, I honestly have no idea). Thus, everyone's contact list has become incorrect and you're consistently called or texted by would-be strangers (that Egyptian society teaches you to ignore) when in fact you're ignoring your poor friend who was just looking for recipe advice. Thus I assumed the number dilemma was somehow related to this bizarre phenomena. The woman at the post office immediately noticed it was missing a few digits and clarified the ambiguous numbers (seriously, they wrote the zero as if it was a khamsa...). She called the number (on my cell phone, of course) and proceeded to talk to the man amiably. I was able to pick up enough to know she said I was a student who was unable to pick up the package from their post office and asked that they deliver it to her post office so I could come pick it up from her. Seriously, this is what happens in Egypt. She hands the phone over to me and the guy says something like delivery at 11...something something something... 150 pounds. So I'm thinking, wow this sucks I have to come back at 11 and miss all my classes today, oh well at least it'll all get figured out. So I stayed home from school today and caught up on my applications for summer fellowships (let's not even talk about that) and gave them the very large window of two hours to get their stuff together. I show up at around 1:30 looking for my package. The woman looks extremely surprised and says, "Didn't the man tell you? They're going to take the package from Ramses to Attaba and then from Attaba to Zamalek and then I'll call you. It'll be a week." ....say what? What happened to my 11 o'clock something? She takes down my number again and says she'll call when it has arrived. I call the number she clarified earlier only to have the man immediately start yelling. He figures out I'm the 'tauliba ela mohamed mazhar' and starts saying relatively incomprehensible things. Not sure exactly what we decided on but he concluded with "tauib, maa salaama." So he either got fed up with me and hung up (very likely) or we accidentally agreed on something without my knowledge. I hope it was the former because I would hate for us to have agreed on, "oh yeah just come pick it up and I won't tell you where it is or how to find me; I'm also not going to tell the other helpful lady so she could assist you in  your sad American search for packages." 

After the stressful conversation I decided to wander throughout Zamalek aimlessly searching for something to cheer me up. While waiting to go to the post office I was antsy and ate seven pieces of basboussa I had sitting in the fridge. This did not settle very well and I was craving salty and complex flavors. During my wanderings I happened upon a magazine stand that had a beautiful photograph of a piece of shrimp. Naturally I was extremely intrigued and stopped everything I was doing (albeit, I wasn't doing very much at all). I opened up the magazine to discover it was an Arabic food magazine that had side-by-side English translations!!!! Honestly there really isn't anything better than this. As a stress reliever at night after I get home from school I've become addicted to stumbling on food-blogs and developing an extremely complex series of folders and subfolders in my bookmarks for recipes. I was very pleased to find what looks to be an interesting combination of semi-Western foods with Egyptian flavors in addition to a few "modern" twists on Middle Eastern classics. It. Was. Awesome. I literally stood on the side of the street and skimmed through the entire magazine. I know myself and if I had waited until I arrived home I would have been forced to immediately leave once again to buy groceries to prepare the recipes. One man (clearly annoyed by me reading a magazine on the side of the road) walked by and said, "oh my gah." I'm not sure who taught Egyptians this phrase but every time I hear it I can hardly prevent myself from bursting out in laughter!

My dusty "squash"

Upon completing the magazine I went into my favorite vegetable stand to see what fresh items they had today. Since I came earlier in the day than I usually do I was greeted by a few beautiful items that are usually gone by the time I arrive. I saw two perfect eggplants, some wonderful green beans, a nice amount of smooth tomatoes and....wait....what is that? I saw some sort of large orange-y squash thing hidden in the corner. I ask the man what it is and discover it's called arae aesl (قرع عسل). I knew aesl meant honey so I assumed it was some sort of sweet squash and proceeded to tell the man I wanted it. He immediately switched to English to warn me that it's "mish sweet" or not sweet. He seemed extremely concerned with my purchase. He even stopped a nearby woman to ask her how she prepares it as a "warning" for me. I heard her say that she roasts it with sugar and something else in the oven. She, too, looked skeptical of my abilities to prepare this interesting "sugar squash." I buy it anyways and he tells me that it's for 5-6 people and I can't possibly eat it all. I'm not sure how to express the concept of freezing in Arabic so I just smiled and said mumkin. On the way home, carting my very large squash and various other vegetables I realize I'm out of milk and wanted to check out the spices at my local kushk. I wander in only to have everyone stop what they're doing and look at my squash. I pick out the spices I wanted (I found sesame seeds!), some milk, and some packs of yeast that I'm sure will come in handy (thus far I have only ever seen the weird blocks that frighten me). I go to pay and the man points at the squash and laughs. He and the other men all say something quickly in Arabic and laugh...I was able to get the gist and I heard the word kabeera and sagheera mentioned frequently. Since I know my adjectives I could only guess that they were laughing that such a small person had such a large squash. He, too, switched to English and informed me that it was too big for me. He asked me what the squash was called in English and I told him I had no idea "mAerafsh" something that was really funny to them as well. He then asked how I could possibly cook it if I didn't know what it was and I told him "I'll come back tomorrow and tell you" (by the way I did this part in Arabic and it was awesome). I have since returned to my apartment to google the phrase they taught me. It turns out I bought a pumpkin! I feel like I should have recognized it but it's so surprising to discover something so familiar in a country like Egypt that I didn't realize what it was! I am now looking up ways to make pumpkin puree and I think I'll be toasting the seeds to make a healthy snack! I never really grew up eating pumpkin so let's hope I like it. It looks like I'll have more than enough to experiment with! I was planning on going to the mall today to put together my costume for Halloween since the American embassy is hosting a huge party next Thursday. My costume is a secret, for now, but I'll post pictures if I ever get it together! This new food magazine and surprise pumpkin may make it hard for me to get out of the apartment!

Oh yeah and my birthday party is tonight! My friend, Erin, and I will be having a joint 21st birthday celebration tonight. Her birthday was yesterday and mine is Monday so we thought we could combine forces. Since Thursday is the first night of the weekend here it's the perfect night to celebrate. Though I'm not sure how pretty or thin I'll be in photos if I'm covered in pumpkin goop and full of half-cooked pumpkin concoctions. I think the cost-benefit analysis will prove that culinary concoctions far outweigh everything else, though. 

Scuba Diving!

So here is my promised post about all the exciting trips I've done the past few weekends. 3 weeks (or maybe 4) I went to Ain Sokhna, a beach on the Red Sea, with AUC. I remembered my trip to Luxor and the awful sunburn I received so I meticulously slathered myself in sunscreen, taking care to remember odd places like ears and behind the neck. Naturally this sort of attention necessitated that the sun remained impotent, shining only a few rays upon the otherwise chilly day. The extremely salty water combined with the slippery moss-covered rocks ended up being a bizarre sensory experience. Since the trip was paid for by the university, I assume that is why we ended up in the weird, cold, pebbley (read: no sand) beach. Instead what we received was a sea-urchin packed cold water experience. Luckily there were TONS of dolphins. I probably saw over 20! The first sighting resulted in an almost instantaneous group-think reaction in which everyone started free-styling over to the dolphins, myself included. By the time we got there we could no longer see them and were confusedly paddling around, searching for them. One of the other students had somehow managed to find a floatie and was in the back of the group.  He calls out, "Does anyone see them?" Only to have everyone start screaming because the dolphins had started jumping not 5 feet behind him. He quickly tries to turn around to see himself surrounded by dolphins! That experience was pretty much amazing and worth the hours I spent slurping down salt-water and stepping on sea urchins. We migrated to the pool the resort offered to play a variety of water-games including the typical water polo, volleyball, etc. but we also played an interesting Egyptian game. Everyone had to stand in the center of the pool (the fish) while the 4-5 fisherman swam around the outside of the group. They were holding a beach ball and had to peg whoever they wanted to "catch." Essentially it was dodgeball in the water but in a much more in-group/out-group sort of way. By my clever manuevering (also known as going under water frequently and hiding behind larger men) I made it to the last 3 people! At that point, however, the angry fish who had already lost were eagerly watching the game, pointing out my trick and informing the fisherman. I was quickly pegged by three balls at once. At least I beat the rest of them :P

The next weekend I went to Hurghada for my scuba diving certification! We spent two full days diving with two dives a day, steadily progressing to the final depth of 18 meters (something like 30 feet). It turns out scuba diving is incredibly exhausting. While fully equipped in my scuba gear I had to walk like an elderly grandfather with osteoporosis, hunched over and grabbing onto nearby objects or people for balance. Our oxygen tanks were so heavy that the slightest movement would send me toppling over. Luckily I was surrounded by quick-acting men who sort of followed me around waiting for me to fall over. I imagine this is what toddlers feel like. While under the water it was pretty much fantastic. I loved it. Unfortunately I had a lot of difficulty clearing the pressure from my ears and had to descend individually with the instructor every time. While under water at the depths we were diving our bodies experience two atmospheres of pressure! Needless to say my ears were in a lot of pain yet I was able to finally make it to the bottom. Something about congestion or allergies made it hard for my ears to equalize (like when your ears pop in planes). Regardless of my pain I was completely amazed by the marine life we saw! I have never been a huge fish person but I absolutely adored diving. We were able to see a 10 foot Moray Eel fully extended swimming through the reef! I was told this is an extremely uncommon sight because the Eels typically stay coiled within the reef, leaving only their head or part of their tail exposed. We also saw lion fish, tube fish, clown fish, these interesting purple crescent shaped fish I couldn't name, a huge napoleon fish that was battering a rock, and a blue spotted eel. I had such an amazing time and our stay on the boat was fantastic. They served us meals and after every dive we were greeted with smiles and pieces of fresh melon or guava. I really really enjoyed diving and I'm really happy I'm going to be fully certified FOR LIFE! PADI Certification is an international lifetime license that I can use anywhere! Next stop: Great Barrier Reef. For real.

Last weekend was the 6th of October 3-day weekend and I went on the Arabic Language Institute trip to El Sahel beach on the Mediterranean coastline. El Sahel, besides being one of the prettiest beaches in Egypt, is also extremely close to Alamein - the site of one of the major battles during WWII. The trip was extremely low-key and allowed us almost complete free time to experience the crystal clear water and soft white sand. I honestly have never seen a prettier beach in my life. While swimming I could look, from above the water, to see my whole body and any marine life swimming under me. I spent most of the trip lounging in the sand, swimming, or doing homework in the sun. I had left my non-face sunscreen at home so I purchased a new SPF 45 at the store during one of our rest stop breaks. I think this sunscreen lied about being waterproof and even though I reapplied about 6 or 7 times I ended up burning my whole back quite terribly. Since I was doing homework/working the whole time, it also took quite a while to realize I was so burned. On the trip back home, sitting in the chairs turned out to be less than enjoyable. I also really enjoyed our trip to the Commonwealth cemetery. It was really interesting to read the history about the great battle that was there in Egypt but also to see how the architect chose to arrange the variety of nationalities at the cemetery. The trip was exactly what I needed: a relaxing break from the stressful week prior.

I am sure you have noticed that I am only talking about my weekends. That is intentional. My weekly routine is extremely consistent: I wake up at 5 AM or earlier every day to get ready/make breakfast/pack my lunch/and do last minute studying before boarding the 7 AM bus for my 8:45 class. I have class until 3 PM at which point I either stay on campus to work out or study. I end up arriving at my home at around 8 or 9 PM most nights and then I make dinner and start my homework. My days/nights are extremely uneventful because I spend so much time either at school or do school-related work. Luckily exercising has been a really nice break and I have started running during my lunch breaks while studying Arabic as a nice stress-reliever. Cooking also always makes everything better. Class has been really hard but I just had a test this past Thursday in Printed Media (where we read Arabic newspapers) that went really well! I have seen a large improvement in my Arabic skills and just the other day I was able to have a conversation with my bowab (doorman) in Arabic! He doesn't speak any English so our conversations are normally limited to just greetings and pleasantries. This time, however, we were able to talk about our family and class and it was pretty exciting. I really love Egypt and having the ability to practice the words I learn in class every day is inexplicable.