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!
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!
