So it's been some time since my last post. I've been so preoccupied with school that I haven't been doing much of anything else! School is still, well, hard. I decided to audit a course (I can't register for it officially since I'm part of a special Arabic-only institute) and I'm taking International Nuclear Law. Insha'allah it's a good class; thus far I really like the professor as she seems well-versed in the subject material and a quick google search showed that she has been very active in the field. That's at least moderately reassuring. I ended up moving up a level in Egyptian colloquial Arabic. My prior class was simply moving at too slow of a pace and hearing them say, "wait what?" every five minutes was enough to give me a hernia. Luckily I switched up and the new class is really fast paced and I'm more challenged. But wait...what did I do? Did I just make it even harder for myself? Woops! Hahaha. I even signed up for Student Union (the student government at AUC) and the Al Quds club. I'm really excited to see how these two clubs flesh out because I haven't been able to meet many Egyptians in my courses so perhaps I can in a more extracurricular fashion.
Language wise I feel like I'm improving really quickly. The coursework is so fast-paced that they introduce new vocabulary and grammatical concepts almost every day. We've already covered idaffa, noun-adjective pairs, suffixes, and we're beginning stuff with root stems. The language seems very intuitive so that's exciting at least. I progress much faster in Egyptian because, since it's a spoken dialect only, I don't have to fuss with writing or reading as much. It's just BAM BAM BAM Arabic. I've been able to have a few substantial conversations with passerby and my ability to ask for directions when lost has significantly improved. I actually had a funny incident at the grocery store where I do all my shopping, I'm standing in the line about to check out, I finally look into my wallet... nothing. My debit card isn't there and I have about 20 pounds of cash. I remember that the grocery store does "home delivery" and I am able to coordinate a deal where the manager "delivers" my groceries to me and I pay him upon "delivery." In reality it turned out to be me walking the manager to my house while we converse in broken Arabic. I pay him once we get to my apartment and lo and behold: I have groceries! People are so accomodating here; Egyptian hospitality is quite astounding. Just last night I went with Erin to Islamic Cairo where we spent time looking at a few of the historical markers and checking out the more authentic markets in the region. At dinner I was admiring the food at a nearby table and asked the women what it was (Ae da?) at which point she cut me a huge piece of it and gave it to me! At the local juice store I was interested in trying 3asir ilassab or sugarcane juice. After consuming the delicious beverage (and, might I add, the man literally fed sugarcane into the machine and out came my freshly made juice) the friendly shopkeeper gave me various recommendations of his favorite flavor combinations. He mentioned half and half (nus-a-nus) with orange juice and sugarcane was the best. I can't wait to try it! At the end of a long day of shopping we saw the famous Sufi dance for free! I am always so pleased when things are free.
At AUC there have been strikes going on for the past week. The first day of the protest was fascinating: Egyptians were standing up and protesting for what they perceived to be injustices. There was a 9% tuition increase this past year and various staff members also had grievances related to pay, medical, vacation time, and temporary workers. Students by the hundreds gathered around to protest during classes, screaming various chants in Arabic while hoisting their student leaders on their shoulders. Since the chants were in Arabic I asked a nearby girl what they were talking about. She told me, "oh they're just protesting. That guy [the one heading the chant] is an activist and is always finding something to protest about." HA! So much for "political liberation." Since the staff was protesting that meant the school grounds went...uncleaned. By day 3 it was filthy. Trash was overflowing out of all receptacles and many had simply put their trash on the floor. I will not even speak of what greeted me when I entered the women's bathroom. By day 5 there were insulting signs degrading the university president and just last Thursday the students tore down the American flag at the American University of Cairo (my school) campus. At this point, it has been a little excessive. So many Egyptians are pleased to have the right to protest they're willing to do it over frivolous things and at the expense of society's well-being. Tearing down the American flag served to isolate a large number of the international students, and especially, as you can imagine, the American students. Hearing the protests screaming during class to the point at which you can no longer hear the professor is when you know it's gone too far.
On another note - FOOD! I have been cooking sooo much! I am so thrilled about cooking and unfortunately I have forgotten a few of the things I made last week. I had made a list but I lost it and you're stuck with my paltry recollections. I went out to eat last weekend (so two weeks ago) to a Lebanese restaurant called Tabouleh. It was pretty fucking fantastic. I ordered grilled Halloumi cheese as an appetizer, hot black mint tea, grilled lamb cubes, and turkish coffee to finish. The food was pricey, about $30 USD but it was of such high quality it was worth it. I just about freaked out at the restaurant much to the chagrin of my companions. Feeling the "meat cravings" a few days later I went out on an epic journey to find steak. I went to the local Metro Market to find something ambiguously labeled "beef steak." My years of watching food network, specifically Alton Brown's Good Eats, made me very suspect towards what looked more like london broil than any sort of "steak." My beef desires won out, anyway, and I bought it. I had my meat-loving friend Nic over to try out the meal I prepared. I seasoned the "steak" with salt, pepper, and cumin and rubbed garlic on it to add a slight sweetness. To top it I made balsamic caramelized onions and a merlot dipping sauce. The onions were a tad too crispy and the dipping sauce could have been thicker (must...find....cornstarch) but the flavors were there! Unfortunately this meat was definitely not steak and even when cooked to medium rare perfection it was almost impossible to cut, let alone chew. After what seemed like an eternity we had finished our meal and he ordered dessert from Tabouleh, the restaurant we had loved so much before. I was assured on the phone it would take no more than 45 minutes. It was a school night and I had a ton of work to do so this was very comforting. Almost 2 hours later the dessert showed up: cold and oddly appearing. It was there so I ate it, of course. Tasty, but not the best. Clearly delivery does not do this food justice. Later in the week I made a mango chicken curry. The mango was pureed with coconut milk and added at the end to add a rich sweetness to cut through the spiciness of the curry. I loved it! It had such great flavor and I was really happy with how complex the flavors were (: I have also mastered the art of "breakfast couscous" or couscous I prepared with milk, honey, cinnamon, dried apricots, and almonds. The rich bite of the semolina pairs perfectly with the honey and it gives a relatively fast and very filling meal! Another great thing I discovered is a french toast peanut butter sandwich. You take your bread (whole grain with seeds, if possible) and make a sandwich using a mixture of peanut butter, softened butter, and honey. Take this sandwich and dunk it into your favorite french toast batter and voila! French toast peanut butter sandwich! It tasted extremely decadent and it was very easy to make! I really loved the warm peanut butter combined with the eggy coating. And finally I made granola bars. I have been talking this up for sometime. I needed a filling, fast breakfast for the mornings that was both healthy and tasty. Result? Toasted coconut, almond, date granola bars. I added toasted wheat germ for added flavor and fiber and they turned out so good! They are moist and chewy with just the right amount of sweetness. They are filling enough for me to not be hungry until 11 AM if I eat one at 6:30 when I wake up. This is pretty impressive for me. I can't wait to try out more variations! I have a bunch of dried figs, dried apricots, Kashi cluster cereal, and other healthy knick-knacks I think would add some great flavor as well! On the agenda for tonight is lemon-thyme-garlic-rosemary chicken breast I made yesterday (I have been buying chicken whenever it's on sale and separating it into two chicken pieces. I put the two in a ziplock bag and add one of my homemade marinades then freeze it. Whenever I'm ready to make it, i.e. the days when I'm tired, I put it in the fridge and it marinates while it thaws. I always eat one and save the other already cooked for dishes like the one for tonight) which I'm going to cut up into cubes and cook with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and basil and serve over pasta for a super simple meal. Since the chicken was already cooked and it had been marinating for so long this meal will come together super quickly! I love easy meals (:
On a bad note I have been suffering from a really bad sinus infection so far. Not sinus infection in the "sexy husky voice" kind of way but in the "ew what is coming out of her nose" kind of way. This has significantly detracted from my attention span and caused me to visit the AUC clinic today (SUCH a catastrophe, just by the way). About 4 prescriptions later and I'm drugged out sitting on my couch with a huge mug of golden monkey tea and blogging to you guys. On a happy note I'm getting scuba certified next week! It requires 4 hours of DVD watching, one 4 hour in-class module, and 4 hour at the pool before we get 4 dives in Hurghada next weekend. For those of you who don't know, Hurghada is a beautiful city on the Red Sea where I'll be staying for two nights/two days and performing 2 dives a day. After the end of my course I'll be officially padi open water certified for life. How awesome is that?
Language wise I feel like I'm improving really quickly. The coursework is so fast-paced that they introduce new vocabulary and grammatical concepts almost every day. We've already covered idaffa, noun-adjective pairs, suffixes, and we're beginning stuff with root stems. The language seems very intuitive so that's exciting at least. I progress much faster in Egyptian because, since it's a spoken dialect only, I don't have to fuss with writing or reading as much. It's just BAM BAM BAM Arabic. I've been able to have a few substantial conversations with passerby and my ability to ask for directions when lost has significantly improved. I actually had a funny incident at the grocery store where I do all my shopping, I'm standing in the line about to check out, I finally look into my wallet... nothing. My debit card isn't there and I have about 20 pounds of cash. I remember that the grocery store does "home delivery" and I am able to coordinate a deal where the manager "delivers" my groceries to me and I pay him upon "delivery." In reality it turned out to be me walking the manager to my house while we converse in broken Arabic. I pay him once we get to my apartment and lo and behold: I have groceries! People are so accomodating here; Egyptian hospitality is quite astounding. Just last night I went with Erin to Islamic Cairo where we spent time looking at a few of the historical markers and checking out the more authentic markets in the region. At dinner I was admiring the food at a nearby table and asked the women what it was (Ae da?) at which point she cut me a huge piece of it and gave it to me! At the local juice store I was interested in trying 3asir ilassab or sugarcane juice. After consuming the delicious beverage (and, might I add, the man literally fed sugarcane into the machine and out came my freshly made juice) the friendly shopkeeper gave me various recommendations of his favorite flavor combinations. He mentioned half and half (nus-a-nus) with orange juice and sugarcane was the best. I can't wait to try it! At the end of a long day of shopping we saw the famous Sufi dance for free! I am always so pleased when things are free.
At AUC there have been strikes going on for the past week. The first day of the protest was fascinating: Egyptians were standing up and protesting for what they perceived to be injustices. There was a 9% tuition increase this past year and various staff members also had grievances related to pay, medical, vacation time, and temporary workers. Students by the hundreds gathered around to protest during classes, screaming various chants in Arabic while hoisting their student leaders on their shoulders. Since the chants were in Arabic I asked a nearby girl what they were talking about. She told me, "oh they're just protesting. That guy [the one heading the chant] is an activist and is always finding something to protest about." HA! So much for "political liberation." Since the staff was protesting that meant the school grounds went...uncleaned. By day 3 it was filthy. Trash was overflowing out of all receptacles and many had simply put their trash on the floor. I will not even speak of what greeted me when I entered the women's bathroom. By day 5 there were insulting signs degrading the university president and just last Thursday the students tore down the American flag at the American University of Cairo (my school) campus. At this point, it has been a little excessive. So many Egyptians are pleased to have the right to protest they're willing to do it over frivolous things and at the expense of society's well-being. Tearing down the American flag served to isolate a large number of the international students, and especially, as you can imagine, the American students. Hearing the protests screaming during class to the point at which you can no longer hear the professor is when you know it's gone too far.
On another note - FOOD! I have been cooking sooo much! I am so thrilled about cooking and unfortunately I have forgotten a few of the things I made last week. I had made a list but I lost it and you're stuck with my paltry recollections. I went out to eat last weekend (so two weeks ago) to a Lebanese restaurant called Tabouleh. It was pretty fucking fantastic. I ordered grilled Halloumi cheese as an appetizer, hot black mint tea, grilled lamb cubes, and turkish coffee to finish. The food was pricey, about $30 USD but it was of such high quality it was worth it. I just about freaked out at the restaurant much to the chagrin of my companions. Feeling the "meat cravings" a few days later I went out on an epic journey to find steak. I went to the local Metro Market to find something ambiguously labeled "beef steak." My years of watching food network, specifically Alton Brown's Good Eats, made me very suspect towards what looked more like london broil than any sort of "steak." My beef desires won out, anyway, and I bought it. I had my meat-loving friend Nic over to try out the meal I prepared. I seasoned the "steak" with salt, pepper, and cumin and rubbed garlic on it to add a slight sweetness. To top it I made balsamic caramelized onions and a merlot dipping sauce. The onions were a tad too crispy and the dipping sauce could have been thicker (must...find....cornstarch) but the flavors were there! Unfortunately this meat was definitely not steak and even when cooked to medium rare perfection it was almost impossible to cut, let alone chew. After what seemed like an eternity we had finished our meal and he ordered dessert from Tabouleh, the restaurant we had loved so much before. I was assured on the phone it would take no more than 45 minutes. It was a school night and I had a ton of work to do so this was very comforting. Almost 2 hours later the dessert showed up: cold and oddly appearing. It was there so I ate it, of course. Tasty, but not the best. Clearly delivery does not do this food justice. Later in the week I made a mango chicken curry. The mango was pureed with coconut milk and added at the end to add a rich sweetness to cut through the spiciness of the curry. I loved it! It had such great flavor and I was really happy with how complex the flavors were (: I have also mastered the art of "breakfast couscous" or couscous I prepared with milk, honey, cinnamon, dried apricots, and almonds. The rich bite of the semolina pairs perfectly with the honey and it gives a relatively fast and very filling meal! Another great thing I discovered is a french toast peanut butter sandwich. You take your bread (whole grain with seeds, if possible) and make a sandwich using a mixture of peanut butter, softened butter, and honey. Take this sandwich and dunk it into your favorite french toast batter and voila! French toast peanut butter sandwich! It tasted extremely decadent and it was very easy to make! I really loved the warm peanut butter combined with the eggy coating. And finally I made granola bars. I have been talking this up for sometime. I needed a filling, fast breakfast for the mornings that was both healthy and tasty. Result? Toasted coconut, almond, date granola bars. I added toasted wheat germ for added flavor and fiber and they turned out so good! They are moist and chewy with just the right amount of sweetness. They are filling enough for me to not be hungry until 11 AM if I eat one at 6:30 when I wake up. This is pretty impressive for me. I can't wait to try out more variations! I have a bunch of dried figs, dried apricots, Kashi cluster cereal, and other healthy knick-knacks I think would add some great flavor as well! On the agenda for tonight is lemon-thyme-garlic-rosemary chicken breast I made yesterday (I have been buying chicken whenever it's on sale and separating it into two chicken pieces. I put the two in a ziplock bag and add one of my homemade marinades then freeze it. Whenever I'm ready to make it, i.e. the days when I'm tired, I put it in the fridge and it marinates while it thaws. I always eat one and save the other already cooked for dishes like the one for tonight) which I'm going to cut up into cubes and cook with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and basil and serve over pasta for a super simple meal. Since the chicken was already cooked and it had been marinating for so long this meal will come together super quickly! I love easy meals (:
On a bad note I have been suffering from a really bad sinus infection so far. Not sinus infection in the "sexy husky voice" kind of way but in the "ew what is coming out of her nose" kind of way. This has significantly detracted from my attention span and caused me to visit the AUC clinic today (SUCH a catastrophe, just by the way). About 4 prescriptions later and I'm drugged out sitting on my couch with a huge mug of golden monkey tea and blogging to you guys. On a happy note I'm getting scuba certified next week! It requires 4 hours of DVD watching, one 4 hour in-class module, and 4 hour at the pool before we get 4 dives in Hurghada next weekend. For those of you who don't know, Hurghada is a beautiful city on the Red Sea where I'll be staying for two nights/two days and performing 2 dives a day. After the end of my course I'll be officially padi open water certified for life. How awesome is that?
