Crepes

Maria Theresa Gelat
May She Rest in Peace

I had a rough night yesterday and stayed in today. I decided it would be very apropos to make crepes for dinner tonight since my grandmother and I used to make crepes all the time when I was a child and later on as an adult. My suite-mate, Ellen, and I decided to finally splurge on a non-stick pan yesterday at the store so I knew that I had the perfect pan to make crepes. Finding a mixing bowl large enough to make the HUGE crepe recipe I have loved for so many years turned out to be an issue. I ended up choosing a pot typically used for pasta instead. I went through about 2 liters of milk - I have no idea how much that is in "US" measurements (which I am starting to loathe, by the way). Much whisking and a ton of butter later and I ended up with a very large stack of pancakes. I knew my grandmother would have been proud of what I made tonight and I was able to hang up a crystal in my room in memory of her today. She always used to have these beautiful crystals hanging in the window of her bedroom; when I'd go wake her up in the mornings (to make crepes, of course) the crystals would cast brilliant spectrum of light all across the room. Ever since then I have always loved crystals, rocks, and all things magical since I used to believe that fairies were attracted to sparkly items (like our crystals). It's hard knowing she'll never know how my stay in Egypt ends or that we can never cook another meal together...but I know she's proud that I'm here and I was lucky to find such a kindred spirit in my own grandmother. Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan's wife, once said "Every single moment that we were alive and we were together was miraculous - not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural. We knew we were beneficiaries of chance. . . . That pure chance could be so generous and so kind. . . . That we could find each other...that was wonderful."

I leave tonight at 1 AM for my flight to Aswan and then it's 4 days and 3 nights traveling back up the Nile by way of Luxor, ending in a flight back to Cairo at 3 AM (the same day as the first day of school). Everything is moving in a whirlwind at this point. I almost forgot to pack my camera before Ellen made an offhand remark about "taking lots of pictures" and I realized how spacey I've been lately. I know my grandmother would have LOVED to be on that cruise with me, tasting exotic foods and soaking up the sun wherever possible. I won't have wi-fi on the cruise (I'm assuming...) so this is my last blog until September 4th. At that point I'll have finished my entire cruise and my first day of classes.... we'll see how this goes!

Washing Machine Woes

Last night in Maadi was great! It was one of the many neighborhoods I visited while looking at apartments and I was reminded of how beautiful it was. However, it definitely had the overwhelming "American" vibe that many of my companions seemed to admire yet I found it slightly revolting. The idea of a Fuddruckers in the middle of Cairo (well, the Southeast of Cairo) was really frustrating. This is clearly the other half of the globalization coin that so many textbooks discuss: Westernized products and fads overwhelm local culture and create a bastardized version of both societies. Many Americans seem to consider Maadi their little "haven" but I found it fake. I'm sure if I get homesick it'll be nice to know there's a nearby location where burgers and fries are considered "authentic" but at the moment it makes my skin crawl. The taxi to Maadi was disturbingly long. The taxi driver didn't appear to speak any English and my companions and I were chatting away in the backseat while letting him do his taxi-thang. At one point it became clear we had passed the same building twice. No, no, no, you will not be charging to me to drive in a circle. I very loudly stated that we should call one of our Egyptian friends and have him re-explain our destination since the taxi driver could not seem to find the square we were headed to. Miraculously we ended up there within a few minutes. I have yet to decide if this is a coincidence or the taxi driver understood more than he let on and realized we weren't going to be complacent passengers while being ripped off. Though I should note that "ripped off" in Egypt means losing 5-10 EGP, approximately 2 USD. But that's not the point. I may be superfluously frugal but I hate the entire concept of being ripped off, even if the negative effects upon me are minimal.

The event in Maadi was surprisingly similar to those in the US. It was just a bunch of kids from the university hanging out, listening to music, and occasionally dancing. I was very taken aback by some of the behavior I saw from other foreigners, however. Foreign women definitely have a reputation for promiscuity and this is something that, or as I had previously thought, was a reputation many women wanted to discourage. Some women's actions at the apartment were contrary to this opinion. One woman allowed an Egyptian to place his hand down her shirt and didn't say or do anything. Women in Egypt get way more attention here than in any other country I've traveled. It would be extremely rare to walk down the street without a cat call, whistle, lewd stare, or bizarre comment in broken English (imagine: "howdy pretty girl"). Luckily, none of this escalates anything faster than words and simply ignoring it/making a determined face will suffice 99 % of the time in my experiences. Yet the moment you reciprocate the attention or, worse yet, allow them to touch you - it's all over. An Egyptian man would never act that way towards an Egyptian woman and he would especially never touch her. If a man touches you and you don't immediately recoil or react negatively you've essentially opened up the possibility of promiscuous actions. It's sort of a complex relationship but it isn't the "secret to Egypt" - it's commonly known to almost every foreigner traveling to the Egypt. So when I see a women acting in such ways that only perpetuate the negative stereotypes towards us it really makes me angry. Beyond that, it was a really enjoyable evening and it was fun meeting people who are also students at my school. Most of them were on the AUC rugby team and I plan to have some "school spirit" and go to some of the games this semester. After hanging out with some friends we went to a cafe and I was able to fulfill my longtime craving for serious chocolate decadence with a very fudgy chocolate cake and a latte. The latte was great; Egyptian coffee standards are relatively high and I enjoy how strongly they brew the espressos and coffee. The cake was disappointing by my standards but pretty good for cafe fair. I was just happy to have something that tasted of chocolate. The Egyptian guys my friends and I were hanging out with were appalled by the idea that I'd just walk home from wherever they dropped off the other girls (they lived at the AUC dorms in Zamalek and I live in an apartment about 10 minutes walking away). I tried to explain that my route was all along a major, well-lit road and that I carried pepper spray (which I showed them) and they laughed. I guess I should have expected it since my pepperspray is "breast cancer awareness"-themed so it's...pink. Not the most intimidating color but who needs intimidation when you have burning imitation capsicum in your eyes and sinuses? They told me that Egyptians use pepper spray "for breakfast" and they mimed spraying the little canister into their mouths. So much for intimidation factor. I don't feel any less safe, though. My little "breath spray" can spray up to 15 feed and fits on my keychain. I even had a thorough "now this is the switch you turn to activate the spray, point it away from you, then click this, make sure it's pointed away from you" mini-safety lesson from Graham so I'm feeling relatively confident in my ability to use it if I need to. We'll see who's laughing when your eyes are on fire.

By the time I returned to my apartment I was definitely not sleepy and I remembered the relatively large pile of laundry that's been accumulating in my room. One of my first "large" purchases was a big plastic hamper (an attractive neon green) for my laundry. For some reason, the idea of my dirty laundry sitting on the dirty floor seemed unclean. Now that it's safely enclosed in its neon home I feel secure. I have been avoiding laundry since my suitmate told my the washing machine "only worked on the hot setting." Uh... say what? I was all my clothing on cold - most of it even requires further instructions. The idea of washing it on hot was physically disturbing. She had never attempted to ask the previous flatmate why it only worked on hot or to ask the landlady so I was left to my own 4 AM devices to find a user manual. A quick search using the model number on the washing machine showed that not only was this an extremely antiquated model, it doesn't exist anywhere outside an Arabic speaking country. In fact, the only manual I could find showed only the cover page. A depressingly unspecific and poor quality pdf file. My annoying experience with women earlier tonight caused me to bristle when seeing the typical housewife (foreign looking, of course) doing the laundry on the cover. I hope Egypt isn't turning me into a feminist; I like shaving my legs. Nobody likes grasshopper legs scratching up against them. If I've even gone two or three days, the feeling of my own leg brushing up against the other is disturbing. There's no omnipresent "man" telling me to shave my legs or lose women's suffrage - it's just gross. Anyways.... I was relatively proud of my sleuthing skills and I stumbled across another user manual from the same company that was also about 30 years old. Some searching revealed that it also used the weird turn-dial that my washing machine used (all the modern washing machines on the company's website used words and symbols as opposed to the A-G classifications my sad machine uses). I read through it and I think it's going to work! I'm pretty sure I figured out which is the "cold water" button and even if that button doesn't work, I found the setting for 40 degrees C so that's at least not the 95 degrees that the supposed "only setting that works" uses. Only setting my ass. Tomorrow will show whether I was brilliant or utterly incompetent in finding a manual replacement. I may start with washing only the "less demanding" clothing at first. The worst thing that can happen is I have to buy all new clothing....oh darn. (:

Travel Blog Turning into...Food Blog?

I woke up today and had a great breakfast of seared halloumi cheese and a fried egg. I love the consistency of the halloumi when pan-fried with some butter and pepper. The squeakiness of the cheese was paired really well with the melting consistency of the egg. If you haven't tried halloumi before, you should! It's an amazing cheese from Cypus that is known for its literally "squeaky" consistency (you can hear it when you chew) and its saltiness since instead of being pasteurized, it's brined. This breakfast commenced what was an obsessive search into recipes I could make here in Egypt. So I spent the majority of today stalking other food blogs and compiling recipe backlogs. One of my biggest objects of fascination was Cafe Fernando, a blog that is based out of Istanbul and makes AMAZING food. 5 hours later I was about to implode out of hunger. He was discussing some of the shortcomings about cooking in the Middle East, namely the lack of certain ingredients. It's so odd but the things I can't find are items I never thought I'd "miss" like: sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, wheat flour, flax seed, or cream cheese. However, he prepared a cheesecake and gave directions on how to make it using Labneh, a Lebanese cheese made of yogurt forming a less fatty and more tart "cream cheese." If I strained the labneh for an hour it would increase in density and make it thick enough to substitute for cream cheese in a cheesecake recipe. I didn't have any of the ingredients so I thought about other things that require cream cheese. The mushrooms sitting in my fridge decided it all. Stuffed Mushrooms. I have a really great recipe that I love and I wanted to try it out with labneh. Unfortunately I was missing both crackers and Parmesan cheese - two of my favorite parts. A little improvisation and 20 minutes in what I hope was a 350 degreeF oven (there are literally zero identifying markers on my oven) and I had stuffed mushrooms! They had a really nice consistency but not quite the cheesy-goodness I was hoping for. 3/4 a box of almond-date cookies and some tea later and I wasn't complaining :P I saw a really great Jacque Torres chocolate chip cookie recipe that had me drooling for chocolate chunks and lots of unsalted butter (and I know that's a quick shopping trip away but...it seems impractical and I'm trying to put on my serious face).

In other news, I am still counting down until my cruise! Until then I have to study my Arabic alphabet like crazy because ALI decided that "yeah I pretty much know it" is "you don't need to review it at all so we'll put you in the class where you skip those chapters altogether." Hopefully I can avoid being re-assigned to a lower level class (which would be starting at Arabic 0 as opposed to my Arabic .5) so until the cruise I'll be reviewing! Wish me luck! I'm heading out to meet some other people from AUC in Maadi, an area of town nicknamed "little America." Funnily enough, I'm going there to meet some Egyptians so either A) they like America too or B) the rumor isn't entirely true.

I also noticed that I have a lot of blog views! I'm not sure if that's because some people are refreshing the page a bunch or there are actually people out there reading it. Either way, thanks! Feel free to subscribe to my blog and receive an email every time I have a new post. Much love!

Last Day of Orientation

To start off here's an update on Friday night. My friend and I decided to peruse the Cairo music scene and headed over to the Cairo Opera House where an amazing band named EFTEKASAT, an Egyptian Oriental jazz band, was playing. The tickets also cost only 20 LE! The concert went way longer than expected but the music was so enthralling: there was a combination of piano, synthesizers, bass, drums (my favorite!!! I think I have a thing for drummers :D), nay, guitar, and violin. Each musician was an artist in his own right and was completely entranced in his own work. It was so wonderful to be able to watch them work. At one point, the drummer and the electric violinist had a "play-off" and it was pretty amazing to watch. I was really really impressed with Ahmad Hesham (drummer) who was seamlessly transitioning from double bass to cymbals to some other wooden concoctions all while making the funniest facial expressions. I definitely want to see more live music and hopefully see these guys again!

Yesterday included some much need R&R. I haven't really been going to sleep before 4 AM and I just sat around my apartment all day and cleaned/did laundry. It was nice to do nothing. I used up leftovers and made some tasty mushroom and pea fried rice. I have really been enjoying cooking on my own and experimenting with food. I have been looking up recipes to start making my own protein/breakfast bars so I can freeze them and thaw them, one at a time, overnight to take to school. I have yet to find key "healthy" ingredients like whole wheat flour, wheat germ, flax seed, etc. However I did find an exciting recipe for LaraBar knockoffs which includes ingredients that are all readily accessible in the middle east. Yay! I can't find Starburst, though. I miss those a lot. I especially enjoy the two-starburst-packs that come in a big bag. That way I can take a pack with me as I start my day and open the pack (like a fortune cookie) to see what kind of day I'll have. Orange-Yellow = meh day, nothing too special will happen. Orange-Orange or Yellow-Yellow = at least you have a matching set! I do love symmetry. Orange/Yellow-Pink = This day has the chance to be pretty good if you just give it a chance. Orange/Yellow-Red = The day will start off bad but it will definitely make it up to you in the end!. Pink-Pink = Today is an all around good day: the sun is shining and you will eat well. Pink-Red = More than expected will go well today, you will probably end up smiling the majority of the time. Red-Red = Nothing can go wrong. This day is perfect and you are impervious to all forms of damage and you get an HP boost of +50.

Moving on....Today was my final day of orientation and essentially the only day specific to me, ALI. It was slightly more efficiently run but that may be because there were much less people. I received my class schedule and the course load is pretty heavy. I have class every day from 8:45-12 and then from 1-3. I'll have to take the bus at around 7 AM in order to get to school on time :| Furthermore, this schedule does not include the additional 3 credit class I'll have to take to fulfill my 15 credit requirement. Since Austin College operates on a 1 course/4 credit hour basis, my 3 credit hour courses will transfer in as .75 unless I take extra. So not only will I take the 9-12,1-3 classes but also one more class. Oh and I am trying to audit another class and petition for overload :D I know that seems a bit excessive but I want to get everything I can out of my time here. Thankfully classes don't start for another week so I have a bit of time to rest and dwell upon what curriculum decisions I make. Also....I'm going to Luxor and Aswan this week! The school is offering a great deal for a Nile cruise to Luxor and Aswan so I fly to Aswan on September 1st, take a cruise to Luxor while stopping along the way to see all the sights, and then I fly back to Cairo on the first day of class! WOW! It's going to be awesome (: The school is really amazing in setting up a variety of free or cheap excursions for the students. ALI just briefed us on what they're offering and it's even more! A lot of the Arabic excursions will include trips to monasteries and mosques in order to understand more about Egyptian culture from ancient to modern times. I like the idea of cultural exploration because learning a language is more than just vocabulary and grammar; it's also about understanding the people. Plus, good news! I asked a man for directions today and he must have thought I said it in pretty decent Arabic because he didn't even attempt to say it in English! I didn't bother correcting him because I was so flattered! His hand signals were relatively descriptive so I didn't need clarification regardless. I even recognized a bunch of words! I find that my confidence in the streets and around Cairo improves so much every day. I am so happy I decided to live off campus. If I hadn't I would not have had near the same amount of exposure to Egyptian people. I am forced to communicate in order to survive and I love it! A lot of the other foreigners seem almost "slow" in the way they are approaching Cairo: they're making little attempt to speak Arabic even if they know it, thus rendering every conversation with an Egyptian useless since they can't understand plus they stop and smile at everyone without regard to local customs. I'm really grateful that I researched and have traveled before because so many of these other students seem like kids who have never been on their own without parents. It makes me very appreciative that my parents weren't the coddling type!

Also, today is my 2 year anniversary with Graham (: We have a skype date planned tonight. Pretty excited to see him (: 

Long Time No Post!

To any of you regular followers out there (I'm looking at you, Stephanie Almanza), I'm sorry for the lack of updates in the past few days. I've been crazy busy so here's my attempt at a recap over the past week.

Tuesday, August 23 I had yet another day of orientation. After a grueling day of information sessions and registration nonsense we had a school-sponsored "cruise" on the Nile. We boarded these tiny little feluccas and sailed around for some time before finally reaching our destination: the Valentine Yacht. No, really. I personally found the neon hearts to be an excellent touch. The school undercounted us so many people ended up sitting on the floor of the yacht, myself included. The low vantage point undermined the view and the bright flourescent lights impeded any tranquility the yacht could have offered but it was still nice. I ended up getting back late, once again, only to be confronted with an ATM fiasco. ATMs are very seldom out here and it took me about 2 hours to find one that both a) didn't reject my card instantly or b) not take any foreign cards or c) not take mastercard. Finally I found an ATM that should have worked... but it didn't. Egyptian banks seem to despise multiple withdrawals in one day and I was forced to wait until Wednesday for the ATM. So much for 2 hours :P

Wednesday, August 24. Today is 2 months from my birthday! I love celebrating every 24th day of the month. It's like a tiny party in my head. Today was even more orientation. We had briefings from the US Embassy essentially saying "if you fuck up, we can't help you" and "don't walk alone ever." Then she told numerous horror stories of people being arrested for silly things. I will never get that hour of my life back. Then a professor had a really fascinating discussion on the new Egyptian political scene, talking about the old Egyptian constitution and the provisional one that is currently in place. He had some really insightful comments about potential problems with the September elections in Egypt and how the system many of the "intelligentsia" Egyptians are proposing could fall into the same pitfalls as before. Many Egyptians think a strong executive/government is good when/if they can pick the right people. However, like the Federalist Papers say, a wise and prudent government should have safeguards in case it isn't lead by the "best of the best." I really wish I could take political science classes here at AUC but I'm sure focusing exclusively on Arabic will have a much greater benefit in the long term. Later that night I went to get dinner in Zamalek at a little Indian restaurant. It wasn't quite as good as I was expecting but I think I still had the best dish on the table. And for 75 le I had a lamb entree, naan, rice, chai tea, and water. I feel like that's a pretty good deal :D After that I went out to the Khan al Khalili bazaar in downtown/Islamic Cairo. Wow it's a densely populated market - there was stuff everywhere! Out of every corner of your eye you see a determined shopkeeper walking towards you holding some cheaply made Egyptian trinket and calling out, "I don't know what you want but I have it" or "What can I do to get your money?". The frequent question of where do you come from resulted in my friend, Erin (my partner in haggling), and I deciding to be Canadian for the fun of it. We ended up buying these ridiculously outrageous sequin dresses (matching, of course), a very pretty scarf, and.... wait for it... belly dancing costumes. The latter part of our purchases required the most extensive searching. Many of the little stands sold them but they were of varying quality and prices. We actually gave up after over an hour of Extreme Haggling: Cairo Edition and decided to relax/de-stress with some hookah and tea at the famous El Fishawy Cafe. This cafe boasts never having closed in over 200 years. Relaxing in the alleyway with the hookah and tea into the wee hours of the morning (about 4 am) proved they meant business: they really never close. Prices were fantastic and the peach flavored hookah was smooth. Surprisingly, the shopkeeper from one of our favorite belly dancing stores walked by while we were outside. He told us that he wanted to sell and he dropped his price to what we had asked for hours earlier. We handed over the money when he returned with the same costumes we had tried on. I ended up with a light blue costume with gold coins (ΩZ!) That I'll be excited to show off back at school. Unfortunately I didn't arrive home until about 5 AM at which point I was exhausted. I had to wake up in 3 hours for day 4 of orientation. Boo!

Thursday, August 25.
Today was pretty awful. Waking up was dreadful, I felt like there was a brick sitting on top of my head. I took the late bus out to school and made it just in time for a boring lecture on Egyptian social values (the majority of which was common sense information). The activities fair was disappointing; there were much less organizations that I was expecting but I still reserve hope that some other groups are just less proactive when it comes to hosting booths. I barely made it through orientation without passing out on the ground. By the time I made it home I fell asleep fully clothed on my bed, waking up 5 hours later to multiple missed calls and texts. I had sort of shaken off the heat/dehydration/exhaustion-induced delirium I had experienced earlier so I decided to go out to a restaurant called Buddha Bar. It was about a 30 minute walk but it ended up being a beautiful location outside on the Nile. The atmosphere was wonderful and we were consistently taken care of by the maitre d'. Erin and I decided to be choosy with our options and only order drinks, labneh, and hummus. We ended up with a mountain of food (way more than we were expecting). The hummus had an odd taste that we had never experienced before. We were able to isolate it, determining that it was the taste of green olives. A lightbulb in my head went off when I realized that this was extremely fresh olive oil. Americans cook and use olive oil heavily in the US but I've never had such a pungently flavored oil in my food before. It was definitely a new experience. By the time we got our check (unfortunately, many hours later...I really never learn) it cost an astounding 300 le! Our "cheap" food added up to a grand total of 150 le and there was an odd fee of "minimum charge" on our check that was 150 le as well. We ask the maitre d' and he says it's a flat rate fee given to people who aren't guests of the hotel. We quickly clarify and tell the man that we are, of course, guests the hotel. He asks us to write down the room number and he'll waive the fee - effectively cutting our check in half. Erin quickly makes up a random number and hands it over. 150 le is immediately saved. My sleep, however, was once again sacrificed for a fun night.

Friday, August 26.
I woke up today at 9:53 AM to a phone call from a friend seeing where I was. I was supposed to be at the dorms at 9:30 to wait for the bus to pick us up since it was leaving at 10 AM. I honestly don't think I have ever gotten ready faster. Not only did I pick out an outfit quickly but I also had the foresight to fill my waterbottle before leaving (if I had forgotten my day would have probably been awful). I then borderline ran to the bus area only to find out we were 45 past the schedule. My sweaty physique and un-breakfasted tummy were annoyed to discover I didn't have to rush after all but I'm glad I didn't miss the bus. A 45 minute bus ride later and I ended up in GIZA to see the pyramids. It was such an amazing experience to see the objects I have read and fixated on for years in real life, in person. Our tour guide was very friendly and we spent a whopping 3 hours walking around, taking photos, and looking inside the pyramids and viewing the Sphinx. Photos will be to come, I plan to steal them from some of my more photography-savvy friends. A nice lunch and a bus ride later and I was back at my place. Later tonight I plan to go to the Cairo Opera House to hear a famous Egyptian band play and perhaps explore the "Cairo nightlife scene" and go to one of the numerous houseboats on the Nile where there is music, dancing, and food. I'm pretty excited (: I promise to keep you posted tomorrow. What a crazy week!

First Day of Orientation at AUC

My first day of orientation was today! I was pretty excited! The bus stop is only a 10-15 minute walk away (and the walk is right along the Nile so it is definitely a scenic route :P ). The bus is only for AUC students and it has not only air conditioning but also wi-fi! That was pretty great (: Apparently in traffic in the afternoons/evening the bus can take up to 2 hours to return but, to me, that isn't even an issue if there's internet! I could skype or even do homework all on the way home! Haha. Luckily this morning the bus only took 45 minutes to get to campus (which is in New Cairo, a suburb outside of Cairo). Unfortunately I had to board the bus at 7:30...meaning I woke up at 6:30 :| My parents would be very surprised/pleased to know I not only woke up on time but was also able to get myself to the bus stop and not be late! For those of you who don't know... I definitely have a flexible understanding of the word "punctual." Though, I have been told this is a very Egyptian thing of me to do so at least I'm assimilating :P

Orientation was a typical school orientation. The registration process was long, tedious, disorganized, and required relocating to multiple buildings repeatedly in a nonsensical pattern. I was told by the returning international students and other Egyptian students that this is very typical of AUC and Egyptian culture. I guess I'm used to a lot more structure because every 15 minutes I could feel myself clucking (a weird habit I've picked up where I use my tongue to make a "cluck" - apparently a lot of Egyptians use it in colloquial to signify "no" or some other sign of displeasure) and then proceeding to think to myself, "This could be so much more efficient" (a habit I definitely picked up from Graham). Inefficiency aside, the long lines and ceaseless walking facilitated meetings lots of people! It was really exciting meeting so many people again and realizing I didn't know a single person! It reminded me of my first day at Austin College....almost two years ago! The same exhilarating desire to meet everyone and ask for the standard: name, country of origin, length of stay, major, and where they're living. Although everyone made fast friends and I was really impressed with the diverse backgrounds and nationalities of the people I met. Plus, many of the students I met were evacuated during January due to restrictions imposed upon them by their home university or embassy. Yet these students all returned as soon as they could because learning and studying in Egypt mean that much to them! It was truly inspiring. I also met a really nice Swedish man who just finished doing research in Zimbabwe and was planning on writing his thesis while here in cairo; a Norwegian woman who was studying environmental biology; a Peruvian studying Islamic architecture, and so many more! There were definitely a lot of Americans but all of them (well, most of them.... okay, 40%) seemed like serious and really impressive students. I have already exchanged my information with a number of them who live nearby me in Zamalek who I hope to hang out with. It was pretty exciting also meeting fellow Arabic Language Institute (ALI) students because those are usually the most driven students since ALI is an intensive 40+ hour courseload. ALI-specific orientation isn't until Sunday so I have to satiate myself until then by meeting all the international students I can! I don't get to meet the Egyptian students until classes start on September 4th. I'm getting so excited!

OH and after registration ended for the day around 3PM they had a scheduled (and free!) excursion to celebrate iftar. We went to Islamic Cairo and visited some of the shops in a part of al muizz street near bab el fotouh where there were waterpipes, trinkets, blankets, and metalware everywhere! Beyond that we took a bus to the Citadel which was lit up at night. It was quite beautiful inside and it's one of the most famous mosques in Cairo.

As the sun went down we celebrated iftar with all the other international students. The food was amazing! I really loved it and the sweets were to die for :D I went back twice for extra sweets - it was that good. After the sweets there was a performance by the Whirling Dervishes, an order of Sufis based out of Turkey who "whirl" in remembrance of God, and it was amazing as well! They were able to light up their costumes and do some amazing things. I wish you could have seen it! Afterwards they brought out sheesha for everyone to smoke and had hot tea as well. I love how much hot tea is celebrated in Egyptian culture. Unfortunately it's not really high-quality tea (mostly Lipton, surprisingly) but I still love tea and it's very refreshing on after a stuffing dinner while smoking sheesha and overlooking all of Cairo while the sunsets. Tonight was such a fun and great night! I really enjoyed it (even though I had to suffer through orientation stressy-ness haha).

Looking forward to tomorrow (although not to the early morning!) :D

Spongebob Hits Egypt

When I think of Egypt, images of the Sphinx, the pyramids, the Nile, or even Mubarak come to mind. But never, not once, does Spongebob appear. Yet I discovered today that it's the latest craze in Egypt. Almost every other store front had TONS of Spongebob memorabilia to a degree of fanaticism I never even saw in the US. I'm not sure if it's trendy or the equivalent of the US obsession with Hello Kitty but it's bizarre.

But on a positive note - I had my first full conversation in Arabic where I understood EVERYTHING! It was pretty exciting (: However, it seems important to point out that my conversation wasn't an esoteric discussion of Egyptian perspectives on secularism. It was a much more banal. I went to the local market, grabbed a bottle of water, asked how much it was, heard how much it cost, then said no I want two. End of conversation. I'm still pretty happy, though. My recent acquisition of numbers has been particularly helpful. Although Arabic numerals are still widely used, the numbers posted as prices on 90% of things are these: ٠‎ - ١‎ - ٢‎ - ٣‎ - ٤‎ - ٥‎ - ٦‎ - ٧‎ - ٨‎ - ٩‎ (0-9). Once I learned those and how to say them it became kind of surprising how much more I could understand in conversations. I was also successfully able to instruct a taxi driver on how to find my apartment without him having to stop for directions. Another friendly taxi driver spent the ride teaching me the words for straight, left, right, behind, in front, etc and they helped immensely!

Cooking for One

So I'm going to warn you upfront: today's post isn't some incredibly insightful discovery about Egyptian culture or anything like that. I had a remarkably uneventful day that consisted primarily of finishing the last bit of unpacking, organizing my room, and going grocery shopping in a more thorough manner. So if you're expecting something more than that, stop reading now.

If you're still here, you get to hear even more about groceries. This time I had a plan and was able to make a more efficient round throughout the grocery store. By the time I left the store I was probably carrying 10+ bags and my arms were sagging. An observant Egyptian man called out after me in English saying, "Those bags are too heavy for you, your arms aren't strong." At which point I thought to myself, "Thanks a bunch, I hadn't noticed." Luckily, taxis are EVERYWHERE in Egypt and it took about 45 seconds and one look at my bulging arms for a taxi to pull over. A 5 LE ride later (about the equivalent of 1 USD) I was at my apartment and ready to cook. I was actually quite proud of myself for my foresight: I got a big bag of chicken breasts that were on sale and divided them up into portions. I mixed up a few different marinades - one a garlicky lemon-rosemary marinade and the other a tangy red wine vinegar-mustard-worcestershire marinade and put them in ziplock bags with 2 chicken breasts each. I then popped them in the freezer. Now, whenever I want chicken for dinner I just pull them out of the freezer and into the fridge; the chicken will marinate while it thaws :D With the remaining chicken I decided to do a Moroccan inspired dish (I know, I know, I'm in Egypt). BUT I really wanted to use my fig spread and I have so many spices that it just seemed perfect. The oven didn't have numbers or any discerning labels for temperature, just a dial with a little slash on it. I made do and roasted my chicken for about 2 hours resulting in a thick and spicy chicken dish (: I know this is turning into a food blog but I just can't help myself. Food is life.

Lost Girl at a Grocery Store

So I definitely slept in today, potentially impeding my body's ability to "adjust" to being 7 hours ahead. Regardless of jetlag I've never been good at going to sleep and with next Monday being the first day of AUC's orientation I'm not sure Egypt will be much different than the US...getting out of bed is always the worst part of the day. Luckily sleeping in was great! But my new apartment was very much sans-food and I didn't want to risk wandering around like a headless chicken (like yesterday) hoping for the odd cafe to be open before sundown. The memory of yesterday's empty belly forced me out of the apartment and into the neighborhood to look for groceries. 

I discovered this HUGE western-style megamart called Spinney's. Its size and bright fluorescent lights beckoned me in. I was quickly lost amid a bizarre agglomeration of Arabic and English, neither being particularly helpful. I found an abandoned basket and started to look around. In retrospect, I should have made a grocery list but I didn't (and still don't) know what is and isn't available here in Egypt. I probably spent 3 hours in the store making rounds of the same isles over and over again. The produce section was overwhelming but my spidey-senses reminded me to be careful of unpackaged fruits and veggies since the water used to wash them (Egyptian tap water) is high in bacteria and can upset most Western stomachs. Preferring to avoid busting out my Immodium tablets I resigned myself to purchasing only packaged garlic, onions, and tomatoes. The meat and seafood markets had a decidedly unpleasant smell and undefinable food products. I will probably brave it next visit because my body craves protein. I assumed ground meat products would be easy to find (and versatile) but I had no such luck. I ended up purchasing a frozen bag of raw hamburger patties as a consolation prize. All in all, I ended up with frozen meat patties, fig spread, tomatoes, garlic, onion, beef cubes, kidney beans, and chickpeas. I don't know what the fig spread was purchased for but it was cheap - way cheaper than in the States where you usually see it only in fancy cheese shops - so I bought it anyways.

On the way home I had yet another unpleasant encounter with a cat. I am a cat person, always have been and probably always will be. Yet the cats in Egypt are thin, starving, and feral. Above all else, they're everywhere. It's hard to go a few hours without hearing a really nasty cat fight or seeing a cat sitting somewhere. My cat-lover self has approached many an animal only to have it screech angrily. It's quite sad to see. I have yet to see a dog at all and based upon the feral cats, I'm glad. I decided my dinner today would be beef and kidney bean chili. Inspired by 2am Chili and the odd mixture of ingredients I bought home I set to work. Luckily I have my travel spice kit (seriously, I have a kit for on-the-go spices I keep with me at all times) so I wasn't in short supply. The stove gave me issues; I've never had to turn gas on or light a stove before so that was a first. I also didn't really enjoy how the stovetop didn't have variable settings - all I could figure out was lit or unlit (unfortunately for me this required me to accidentally blow out the stove multiple times). Fastforward 3 hours and I have chili! 

Arabic Chil :D

I was able to get a really rich and smoky flavor from the cumin, chili powder, paprika, and my secret ingredient - a random pepper from the market! About 15 minutes into cooking I realized I didn't have a spice so I walked down the street to an outdoor market. I found a small and lime green chili (completly unidentifiable to me) and decided to buy it. I was once again greeted with the extreme kindness of the Egyptian people when the shopkeeper just waved me away and smiled. I took my free chili pepper home and proceeded to clean and taste it. WOW it was hot. It really gave the chili depth and that, combined with tomatoes, onions, garlic, tomato paste, and dark brown sugar, tasted great! I was really surprised. So my first meal in Egypt = success (: Plus I have leftovers for two more meals. I hope my next escapade into the grocery store will yield a more organized shopping basket. I was lucky this time! 

Adventures at CityStars

Today was my first day living in my new apartment. I can already tell that I love the neighborhood and that choosing Zamalek was the right decision. For the first time since my flight here I woke up before 12 PM - quite an accomplishment for me! I'm not 100% sure if it was the melatonin I took at 10 PM or if it was the 3 hours of Fruit Ninja I played before falling asleep. Either way I woke up around 9:30 and was able to explore the area, including checking out the Fair Trade Egypt shop. I found a beautiful bracelet that says Egypt in Arabic on it with an imprint of the country.

I also had my first experience at "The Mall." In Egypt, when you say you're going to the mall it can only mean one thing: CityStars Mall in Nasr City. As soon as I arrived I could tell it was HUGE. I was completely blown away when I discovered it was 7 stories. It was so oddly arranged that I'm still not even sure which floors I even went on. Luckily I was able to make friends during Iftar, the breaking of the daily fast, at around 6:30 PM every day. The two guys were from the military academy and were gracious enough to follow me around while I shopped for new bed linens and towels. I am very pleased with my decision - a light tan with black accented sheet set with a matching black towel. Supposedly the sheets are 600 thread count Egyptian cotton but I still don't think the attendant understood my question. Tonight's sleep will be the real test (although I'm sure my skin isn't high maintenance enough to tell the difference).  I think this will be the first night where I have zero (sifir) plans in the morning; I hope to keep practicing my Arabic and maybe take more cab rides. The taxi drivers are the best at teaching me phrases!