So Egypt is trying to kill me before I leave. I've only had mild stomach issues for the whole 9 months I've been here...up until about a week ago. I basically spent all last week feeling like I wanted to vomit along with some other fun stuff I won’t bother grossing you out with. By the end of the week I was curled up in the fetal position sucking down as much water as humanly possible to put out the fire that was coursing through my abdomen. I finally decided enough was enough and went to the doctor, which was far easier than I could have hoped for, and it only cost me $18 (did you hear that America? 18$ without insurance!). The doc poked around at me a bit, and said I basically ate or drank something yucky, or somebody’s yucky hands touched my food or drink...bleh. So now the searing pain in my abdomen is gone, but the antibiotics are making me want to yack. If I wasn't homesick before, I certainly am now! Hah!
Well the time is getting neigh for me to leave...I say that with a heavy heart. It's been such a great experience. I have days where I feel ready, and others where I feel like clinging on to something for dear life. There will be so many things I'll miss, and going back to the states just feels like stepping into a big black void of who knows what. I've made so many absolutely, positively, wonderful friends, and its going to be a sad, sad day when they aren't just a short cab ride away. I'm going to miss that the sun is almost always shining, the call to prayer, Egyptian hospitality, traveling by cab, felucca rides on the Nile, the constant bustle, and the sheer vibrancy of this city. That said, there are some things I won't miss...the trash, the pollution, the constant harassment from men, having to haggle over every little purchase...plus, coming home this summer means I can look forward to wearing tank tops and shorts without causing a scene, woohoo!
Friends, family....America....I look forward to seeing you!
more...
26 May 2009
13 May 2009
Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!
"The White House announced on Friday that President Obama planned to give a major policy speech on relations with the Muslim world in Egypt on June 4."
Paul and I have been anxiously waiting for Obama to set the date to speak in Cairo...but two days after we leave...C'moooonnn!
Regardless, I think it's great that Obama decided on Cairo as the destination for such a speech. Egypt is one of the more tolerant of all the Muslim countries, populous, an American ally, and most definitely Arab. I was worried when the New York Times made a big fuss about his speech in Turkey. I thought maybe it was going to be his big Muslim "hurrah!", but it wasn't and he's keeping his promise.
The speech sounds like it will be a tricky one. Although Egyptians are incredibly positive about Obama, and even more enthusiastic to have Bush out of office (and who isn't), he's really going to have to tip toe around some pertinent subjects. First and foremost, the Israel-Gaza conflict will be on the agenda, and considering America has always backed Israel without hardly a slap on the wrist, Egypt is going to be looking for sincere change. Iran isn't making things any easier for Egypt either, condemning the country's allegiance to the peace treaty with Israel, and further condemning the country for forsaking it's Muslim brothers. Still, Egypt has dutifully maintained that adhering to the peace treaty is the best way to help the Palestinians and to preserve their own national security. But I get the feeling Egypt is tired of tip-toeing and watching as the U.S. tries to protect a country that's being a kind of a bully. So, it leaves me wondering how Obama plans to attack the situation in such a way that will appease all parties.
Obama will also probably address the issue of democracy and human rights. Mubarak is 82 years old and has been the "president" for more than 30 years. While democratic elections are held, 30 years in office leaves the population wondering about the legitimacy of said democratic elections. But the "presidency" is only the tip of the iceberg. He may be able to side step ridiculing Mubarak directly though by discussing something like making reforms that would encourage an autonomous civil society, allow free media, and gender equality.
Anyway, Paul and I won our disagreement with the school and have been allowed to work until the end of May (it was in our contract!). It wasn't quite the tooth and nail brawl I thought it might be. Apparently, yours truly has just been so amazing that Ussama sought to resolve the situation based on his respect for my being such an amazing intern/teacher. Yay! Thank Allah the teachers in the KG section were so amazing and helped me become the amazing teacher I am. Thank you Ms. Samar and Ms. Dana for being awesome, you will never know how much your help and understanding saved this experience.
Now that we know we've got at least another paycheck on the way, Paul and I have considered paying the fee to move our flights back so we can attend Obama's speech...that is, if security would allow us to go. But if tickets were to become available, it might just be worth it.
Friends, you have no idea how much I have been missing you. I can't wait to see all of you. 3 weeks!
more...19 April 2009
Meet My Little Monsters
The weather here has been so hot! It’s especially too hot for school! All my shenanigans (shenanigans being singing, dancing, and generally making a fool of myself) in the classroom causes me to work up a serious sweat. Last time I was there, I was trying to stay cool in the staffroom while I graded some workbooks, but the fluorescent lighting kept blinking on and off. Turns out, all of the administrative staff have air conditioners in their offices, and every single one of them was running it full blast, thus overpowering the generator and causing all of the lights to blink.
School is almost over. All of KG1 (that would be me) have just finished learning the last letter of the alphabet. Some of you may wonder why learning your ABC’s would take up to 9 months, but you have to understand that these kids are learning a foreign language, they’re only 4, and I only get about an hour and a half with each class everyday. Not to mention the fact that every time they learn a new letter they have to learn the upper and lower case version of it, how to write the upper and lower case version of it, the five vocabulary words that all begin with that letter, complete a zillion revision pages in the workbook, and find time to squeeze in oral drills, as well as verbs and worksheets from a separate workbook. My days are full! But since we’re finished with the alphabet, I have a little bit of time to catch up on anything I may have missed, or only skimmed over. My kindergarteners will be taking exams the first week of May, and then they disappear. I’ll still have to hang out at the school to do some grading for a few weeks, and I’ll have to debrief the KG2 English teachers so they know where my kids are at, but that's it.
Anyway, last week I had some free time with my classes, so I thought it would be a good idea to take some photos before the year is over. The kids were more than happy to ham it up for the camera...maybe even a little too happy considering that a fun photo-op turned into a lot of pushing and shoving. If it looks like I was having trouble framing the shot, it’s because I was. It was utterly impossible to get any of them to hold still.
This is KG1-C, my favorite class. My assistant wanted in on some of the action, so she volunteered to take this picture for me, unfortunately, none of the kids are looking at the camera and half of the class is cut off...hahaha! She really liked playing with the camera.
This is Sief, he's only adorable. I drew a turtle on the board for the letter "T" and he began shouting "ninja! ninja!" as in "ninja turtle". Thought some of you nerds out there might appreciate that.
This is more of KG1-C bothering me while I try and grade workbooks. Names from left to right are as follows: Mahmoud, Seif, Yousef Tarek, Yousef Hamdy, and Nour. Mahmoud is destined to be a dancer because he can't seem to do anything else during class. Yousef Tarek has made a lot of progress considering that at the beginning of the year he refused to participate in anything, he'd make that clucking noise with his tongue and shake his finger at me. We've since become friends. Nour is one of my favorites. She's a member of the A.D.D. twins. I ask her to sit down and stay quiet, and she'll try so hard that she makes little fists and starts shaking. Her sister is exactly the same way.
Yousef Hamdy (left) is one of my top students. He's incredibly smart and loves to draw. Nour (center) and Mahmoud (right).
Yousef Hamdy and Omar Rafat. Omar is a sweetie. Just want everyone to know I taught him that thumbs up.
These are the girls from KG1-C. Names from left to right: Yesmeen, Nour, Hagar, and Hlla. Yesmeen is incredibly bright and loves to translate for the rest of the class. Hagar is super sweet and very sensitive. She was terrified of me for the first couple weeks because she had no idea what I was saying. Hlla is also a star pupil and has the most beautiful blue-green eyes.
This is what my classroom looks like. It looks far better in the photograph than it does in real life. The shelf in the back is the only piece of furniture in the room other than the desks you see here. I liked this particular picture because it captures Ghassien "the Blur" perfectly.
Meet Ghassien. I love this little dude. He is so cute and clever and very, very, ornery. It is impossible to get him to sit still, but he's just so silly, I have a hard time scolding him without cracking up, thus ruining his whole "talking-to".
Karim, Ghassien, and Nour. Karim has a skin disease that makes him all blotchy, and his poor parents were so worried he wouldn't make any friends, but he's just so damn smiley you can't help but love him. Every time I walk into the class he says "Miss, bosa! Bosa!" or "kiss me!".
This is my other class KG1-E, at least the boys anyway. They have some behavior issues, which can drive me crazy, but I love 'em none the less.
These are the girls from KG1-E. All of them are incredibly bright and put the boys to shame. It is impossible to keep them from blabbering to one another though.
This is Eiad, one of my all time favorites. You can't help but smile when you're around him. He loves to tell and act out long drawn out stories in Arabic. For awhile I kept trying to explain to him that "Miss. Katie only speaks English", but now I just say "sa-h?!" or "really?!"...and then the story goes on and on and on.
more...
School is almost over. All of KG1 (that would be me) have just finished learning the last letter of the alphabet. Some of you may wonder why learning your ABC’s would take up to 9 months, but you have to understand that these kids are learning a foreign language, they’re only 4, and I only get about an hour and a half with each class everyday. Not to mention the fact that every time they learn a new letter they have to learn the upper and lower case version of it, how to write the upper and lower case version of it, the five vocabulary words that all begin with that letter, complete a zillion revision pages in the workbook, and find time to squeeze in oral drills, as well as verbs and worksheets from a separate workbook. My days are full! But since we’re finished with the alphabet, I have a little bit of time to catch up on anything I may have missed, or only skimmed over. My kindergarteners will be taking exams the first week of May, and then they disappear. I’ll still have to hang out at the school to do some grading for a few weeks, and I’ll have to debrief the KG2 English teachers so they know where my kids are at, but that's it.
Anyway, last week I had some free time with my classes, so I thought it would be a good idea to take some photos before the year is over. The kids were more than happy to ham it up for the camera...maybe even a little too happy considering that a fun photo-op turned into a lot of pushing and shoving. If it looks like I was having trouble framing the shot, it’s because I was. It was utterly impossible to get any of them to hold still.
This is KG1-C, my favorite class. My assistant wanted in on some of the action, so she volunteered to take this picture for me, unfortunately, none of the kids are looking at the camera and half of the class is cut off...hahaha! She really liked playing with the camera.
This is Sief, he's only adorable. I drew a turtle on the board for the letter "T" and he began shouting "ninja! ninja!" as in "ninja turtle". Thought some of you nerds out there might appreciate that.
This is more of KG1-C bothering me while I try and grade workbooks. Names from left to right are as follows: Mahmoud, Seif, Yousef Tarek, Yousef Hamdy, and Nour. Mahmoud is destined to be a dancer because he can't seem to do anything else during class. Yousef Tarek has made a lot of progress considering that at the beginning of the year he refused to participate in anything, he'd make that clucking noise with his tongue and shake his finger at me. We've since become friends. Nour is one of my favorites. She's a member of the A.D.D. twins. I ask her to sit down and stay quiet, and she'll try so hard that she makes little fists and starts shaking. Her sister is exactly the same way.
Yousef Hamdy (left) is one of my top students. He's incredibly smart and loves to draw. Nour (center) and Mahmoud (right).
Yousef Hamdy and Omar Rafat. Omar is a sweetie. Just want everyone to know I taught him that thumbs up.
These are the girls from KG1-C. Names from left to right: Yesmeen, Nour, Hagar, and Hlla. Yesmeen is incredibly bright and loves to translate for the rest of the class. Hagar is super sweet and very sensitive. She was terrified of me for the first couple weeks because she had no idea what I was saying. Hlla is also a star pupil and has the most beautiful blue-green eyes.
This is what my classroom looks like. It looks far better in the photograph than it does in real life. The shelf in the back is the only piece of furniture in the room other than the desks you see here. I liked this particular picture because it captures Ghassien "the Blur" perfectly.
Meet Ghassien. I love this little dude. He is so cute and clever and very, very, ornery. It is impossible to get him to sit still, but he's just so silly, I have a hard time scolding him without cracking up, thus ruining his whole "talking-to".
Karim, Ghassien, and Nour. Karim has a skin disease that makes him all blotchy, and his poor parents were so worried he wouldn't make any friends, but he's just so damn smiley you can't help but love him. Every time I walk into the class he says "Miss, bosa! Bosa!" or "kiss me!".
This is my other class KG1-E, at least the boys anyway. They have some behavior issues, which can drive me crazy, but I love 'em none the less.
These are the girls from KG1-E. All of them are incredibly bright and put the boys to shame. It is impossible to keep them from blabbering to one another though.
This is Eiad, one of my all time favorites. You can't help but smile when you're around him. He loves to tell and act out long drawn out stories in Arabic. For awhile I kept trying to explain to him that "Miss. Katie only speaks English", but now I just say "sa-h?!" or "really?!"...and then the story goes on and on and on.
Oh Ahmed! This one is just too smart for his own good and is always getting himself in trouble. Such a cutie though. How could you get mad at that face?
So those are my little monsters. I was kind of hoping to teach older kids at first, but I have really warmed up to this age. 1)I'm way bigger than they are, which means it's a lot easier for me to be the boss. 2)They're super cute. 3) The best part, society hasn't had an opportunity to taint them yet. They love hugs and kisses, they're happy to play with anyone and everyone, and they have unfathomable enthusiasm.
18 April 2009
Katie the Amazing Cairo Guide!
I’m sitting out on the porch, laptop in my lap, and a cool drink in my hand. The weather here has been hot and beautiful lately, and the nights are amazing. I’m enjoying a five day weekend and relishing the fact that I have absolutely nothing to do. It seems everyone we know has run off to do some kind of diving adventure, so we have the entire city to ourselves. I figure with some of the free time I have, I should catch up on the ole blog. Unfortunately, I have once again waited too long and have far too many pictures. Consider this a friendly warning that this may be a considerably long narrative, but hopefully the pictures will help break things up along the way.
So this month, I’ve become the ultimate Egypt guide. It all started at the end of March when my parents arrived. They didn’t disappoint either, as they walked through the gate of the Cairo International Airport mom did her typical "mom wave" and I got lots of mom and dad hugs along with lots of “oooing and aahhhing” over my new haircut which deserves a blog entry all it’s own. After all the fun meet and greets we crammed into a Cairo cab where dad and mom both insisted on sitting in the back with me. Mom surprised me by remaining calm as we zigzagged through traffic while her suitcase simply rested untied on the roof.
I must say my parents fared very well on the trip. While I was at school they adventured around the neighborhood and became regulars at a café called “My Day” just down the street. Dad experienced some authentic Egyptian hospitality when he bought a box of water for our apartment several blocks away from home, which fell apart only halfway there. He didn’t have to struggle long before a friendly guy gave him the sign for "wait", and promptly ran into his building to retrieve a new box so he could carry the water the rest of the way. A woman at the grocery store also helped my mom make her purchases by grabbing her hand throwing all her goodies in her basket and helping her pay at the register. Egypt, you can’t beat it.
While they were here we went to several swanky restaurants where mom and dad were brave enough to try sheesha. It's essential to the Egyptian experience considering that café’s with old men drinking tea and smoking the iconic water pipe populate almost every street corner in the city. Two of their favorites were Seqoia, a modern tent like structure that sits directly on the Nile, and Abu el Seid, a very traditional Egyptian restaurant complete with low lighting, Victorian style furnishings, and two enormous dungeon like doors at the entrance.
Insert series of sheesha pictures here.
Dad smoking Sheesha
Mom smoking Sheesha
Paul smoking sheesha
Sarah smoking Sheesha
Me smoking sheesha
The next day we wandered the crowded streets of the tent makers market, where mom discovered some beautiful hand quilted pillow cases. The man selling them escorted us up the crumbling stairs of a dilapidated building only to find a beautiful room covered from top to bottom with beautiful needlework.
Later we took the Metro to Coptic Cairo the Christian district of the city. There we stumbled through a breezy cemetery. To our horror (and perhaps a little morbid curiosity) we discovered several of the graves to be ill taken care of. It’s terrible for those buried, but it did allow us to peek inside some of the tombs, one of which contained a broken coffin and a glimpse at a real corpse, or what was left of it.
One of the oldest known depictions of the Virgin Mary. This is located in the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo. It's called the hanging Church because it's actually suspended upon ancient Roman ruins.
Pretty grave in the Coptic cemetery.
Corpse....ewwww!
Also during their stay we visited Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city, only a 3 hour train ride away. Some of our stops included the shipyards, where we admired the handiwork of the many artisans occupying the small shacks on the other side of the bay. It’s interesting considering this is one of the only remaining areas where boats are still made of wood and hand crafted rather than machine crafted with fiberglass. I also convinced mom and dad to walk through an area called Anfushi, the working class and incredibly overpopulated district of Alexandria. Dad had his reservations, but once in, people were incredibly friendly and were more than happy to ham it up for mom to take photos. Unfortunately, the experience was slightly tainted at the very end of our short walk. We were standing under an awning made from a sheet when we started hearing what sounded like explosions of glass bottles, which turned out to be exactly that. Some guy standing in a balcony above the street was frantically yelling and throwing what looked like drinking glasses. I have no idea who the glasses were really meant for, but it shook up mom and dad. Damn. I highly doubt they were directed at us, but we’ll never know.
Spectacular view of the bay with fishing boats and city backdrop.
The fruits of their labor. Fish, fish, and more fish. Alexandrians are known for eating more seafood than a hungry sealion.
View from within the shipyards.
Dad admiring traditional handiwork.
One of the many views of Anfushi.
Colorful produce in baskets.
Pigeon or rabbit anyone? Yup, that's right, they eat pigeon here. It's supposedly a delicacy, but the one time I had it, felt like it was mostly a bunch of skin stuffed with rice.
We also had a fun trip to the Pyramids, where we fended off numerous guys running up to the cab and trying to tell us they were closed, or it was a long walk and we needed a horse. The key is to be as persistent as they are. Mom really wanted to ride a camel, which we of course indulged in.
The Sphinx! It's smaller than you might think.
Family shot with our camel "Moses". Our guide was sure not miss out on any detail of our Pyramid experience and insisted on wrapping dad's head in a turban.
Mom and I chillin' on a Pyramid.
Just before my parents left, my sister flew in from Madrid. That’s right, Souder family reunion in Cairo! That day we took advantage of Sarah’s duty free capabilities and bought ourselves a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, which we promptly finished off that evening, and Paul and Dad took stock of the humidified section dedicated explicitly to Cuban cigars. It was a very jubilant farewell for mom and dad.
Sarah’s trip was fantastic. It was a lot of the same stuff I did with my parents. I mean, you can’t go to Egypt and not go to Khan el Khalili, the Pyramids, or do a day trip to Alex, but she got to experience more of the Cairo nightlife. On her first night here we took her out to Purple, a club on a boat that sits on the Nile. It wasn’t nearly as packed as I would have liked, but it was still fun and we proceeded to stay up to the wee hours of the morning. Wednesday night we went to one of my favorite night spots called the Cairo Jazz Club, where me, Sarah, Paul, and several of my friends showed up to party down. Drinks are always outrageously expensive at the club, so we always pack a special water bottle keep the evening cheap.
We also visited the beautiful green oasis known as Al Azhar park where she could admire the vastness of the city. We brought a picnic of Fuul and Tamaaya which of course impressed the curious Egyptians hanging out with their potential lovers and families. For those of you who don’t know, Fuul and Tamaaya are staple examples of Egyptian street food. Fuul is essentially baked beans (made with fava beans) served in pita bread, and Tamaaya is falafel and garden veggies with a little tahina served in pita bread. The sandwiches are a pound a piece, or 18 cents.
Sarah and I at Al Azhar Park.
After Al Azhar we made an unfruitful trip to the Pyramids. Traffic was terrible and we were already running a little late, so we didn’t make it until the very second they were closing. Sarah and I decided the long trip shouldn’t go to waste, so bargained for a camel ride in the desert. Paul was none too thrilled about the camel ride, but humored us anyway. Sarah and I shared a camel and giggled the whole way about how bouncy it was, and poor Paul got stuck on the back of the other camel with our guide…hahaha!
Sarah and I having way too much fun on the back of our camel.
The highlight of Sarah’s trip was our trip to Dahab. Faye was planning to get her advanced diving certification, so all of us jumped at the opportunity to tag along. We stayed at the Sphinx again, where a communal friend gave us a great deal on a room right next to the beach. We even had a small front porch, but no chairs; however, Sarah and I stealthily stole some from our neighbors allowing us to drink Stella in the comfort of our room. Outside of that the three days were dwindled away by afternoons on the beach, and of course, more Stella. We did get to do some serious snorkeling though. The Red Sea is known for its clear water and amazing dive sights where Europeans flock. There’s the Canyon and the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is essentially a large cylindrical area completely surrounded by coral reef that extends below for miles.
The road to Dahab through the Sinai. Lots of desert and winding roads.
All of us geared up for some hardcore snorkeling. I am the nerd wearing the snorkel mask.
Snorkel Paul!
Snokel Sarah and Snorkel Katie!
Scuba Faye!
Octopus!!!
Oh my Gawd! I can see Saudi Arabia!
I hope that’s more than enough for now, because I simply can’t bring myself to write anymore. The pictures I posted are just a few of many, so keep your eyes open. I will be posting a ton more to the Picasa album and relabeling them so people can get a better idea of what they're looking at.
I sent out a mass e-mail not too long ago, but in case I left anyone out, Paul and I have bought plane tickets and will be returning to the good ole U.S. of A. on June 2nd. I’m excited and sad at the same time. I can’t wait to see everyone back home, but I’ll miss all the amazing opportunities here. more...
So this month, I’ve become the ultimate Egypt guide. It all started at the end of March when my parents arrived. They didn’t disappoint either, as they walked through the gate of the Cairo International Airport mom did her typical "mom wave" and I got lots of mom and dad hugs along with lots of “oooing and aahhhing” over my new haircut which deserves a blog entry all it’s own. After all the fun meet and greets we crammed into a Cairo cab where dad and mom both insisted on sitting in the back with me. Mom surprised me by remaining calm as we zigzagged through traffic while her suitcase simply rested untied on the roof.
I must say my parents fared very well on the trip. While I was at school they adventured around the neighborhood and became regulars at a café called “My Day” just down the street. Dad experienced some authentic Egyptian hospitality when he bought a box of water for our apartment several blocks away from home, which fell apart only halfway there. He didn’t have to struggle long before a friendly guy gave him the sign for "wait", and promptly ran into his building to retrieve a new box so he could carry the water the rest of the way. A woman at the grocery store also helped my mom make her purchases by grabbing her hand throwing all her goodies in her basket and helping her pay at the register. Egypt, you can’t beat it.
While they were here we went to several swanky restaurants where mom and dad were brave enough to try sheesha. It's essential to the Egyptian experience considering that café’s with old men drinking tea and smoking the iconic water pipe populate almost every street corner in the city. Two of their favorites were Seqoia, a modern tent like structure that sits directly on the Nile, and Abu el Seid, a very traditional Egyptian restaurant complete with low lighting, Victorian style furnishings, and two enormous dungeon like doors at the entrance.
Insert series of sheesha pictures here.
Dad smoking Sheesha
Mom smoking Sheesha
Paul smoking sheesha
Sarah smoking Sheesha
Me smoking sheesha
The next day we wandered the crowded streets of the tent makers market, where mom discovered some beautiful hand quilted pillow cases. The man selling them escorted us up the crumbling stairs of a dilapidated building only to find a beautiful room covered from top to bottom with beautiful needlework.
Later we took the Metro to Coptic Cairo the Christian district of the city. There we stumbled through a breezy cemetery. To our horror (and perhaps a little morbid curiosity) we discovered several of the graves to be ill taken care of. It’s terrible for those buried, but it did allow us to peek inside some of the tombs, one of which contained a broken coffin and a glimpse at a real corpse, or what was left of it.
One of the oldest known depictions of the Virgin Mary. This is located in the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo. It's called the hanging Church because it's actually suspended upon ancient Roman ruins.
Pretty grave in the Coptic cemetery.
Corpse....ewwww!
Also during their stay we visited Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city, only a 3 hour train ride away. Some of our stops included the shipyards, where we admired the handiwork of the many artisans occupying the small shacks on the other side of the bay. It’s interesting considering this is one of the only remaining areas where boats are still made of wood and hand crafted rather than machine crafted with fiberglass. I also convinced mom and dad to walk through an area called Anfushi, the working class and incredibly overpopulated district of Alexandria. Dad had his reservations, but once in, people were incredibly friendly and were more than happy to ham it up for mom to take photos. Unfortunately, the experience was slightly tainted at the very end of our short walk. We were standing under an awning made from a sheet when we started hearing what sounded like explosions of glass bottles, which turned out to be exactly that. Some guy standing in a balcony above the street was frantically yelling and throwing what looked like drinking glasses. I have no idea who the glasses were really meant for, but it shook up mom and dad. Damn. I highly doubt they were directed at us, but we’ll never know.
Spectacular view of the bay with fishing boats and city backdrop.
The fruits of their labor. Fish, fish, and more fish. Alexandrians are known for eating more seafood than a hungry sealion.
View from within the shipyards.
Dad admiring traditional handiwork.
One of the many views of Anfushi.
Colorful produce in baskets.
Pigeon or rabbit anyone? Yup, that's right, they eat pigeon here. It's supposedly a delicacy, but the one time I had it, felt like it was mostly a bunch of skin stuffed with rice.
We also had a fun trip to the Pyramids, where we fended off numerous guys running up to the cab and trying to tell us they were closed, or it was a long walk and we needed a horse. The key is to be as persistent as they are. Mom really wanted to ride a camel, which we of course indulged in.
The Sphinx! It's smaller than you might think.
Family shot with our camel "Moses". Our guide was sure not miss out on any detail of our Pyramid experience and insisted on wrapping dad's head in a turban.
Mom and I chillin' on a Pyramid.
Just before my parents left, my sister flew in from Madrid. That’s right, Souder family reunion in Cairo! That day we took advantage of Sarah’s duty free capabilities and bought ourselves a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, which we promptly finished off that evening, and Paul and Dad took stock of the humidified section dedicated explicitly to Cuban cigars. It was a very jubilant farewell for mom and dad.
Sarah’s trip was fantastic. It was a lot of the same stuff I did with my parents. I mean, you can’t go to Egypt and not go to Khan el Khalili, the Pyramids, or do a day trip to Alex, but she got to experience more of the Cairo nightlife. On her first night here we took her out to Purple, a club on a boat that sits on the Nile. It wasn’t nearly as packed as I would have liked, but it was still fun and we proceeded to stay up to the wee hours of the morning. Wednesday night we went to one of my favorite night spots called the Cairo Jazz Club, where me, Sarah, Paul, and several of my friends showed up to party down. Drinks are always outrageously expensive at the club, so we always pack a special water bottle keep the evening cheap.
We also visited the beautiful green oasis known as Al Azhar park where she could admire the vastness of the city. We brought a picnic of Fuul and Tamaaya which of course impressed the curious Egyptians hanging out with their potential lovers and families. For those of you who don’t know, Fuul and Tamaaya are staple examples of Egyptian street food. Fuul is essentially baked beans (made with fava beans) served in pita bread, and Tamaaya is falafel and garden veggies with a little tahina served in pita bread. The sandwiches are a pound a piece, or 18 cents.
Sarah and I at Al Azhar Park.
After Al Azhar we made an unfruitful trip to the Pyramids. Traffic was terrible and we were already running a little late, so we didn’t make it until the very second they were closing. Sarah and I decided the long trip shouldn’t go to waste, so bargained for a camel ride in the desert. Paul was none too thrilled about the camel ride, but humored us anyway. Sarah and I shared a camel and giggled the whole way about how bouncy it was, and poor Paul got stuck on the back of the other camel with our guide…hahaha!
Sarah and I having way too much fun on the back of our camel.
The highlight of Sarah’s trip was our trip to Dahab. Faye was planning to get her advanced diving certification, so all of us jumped at the opportunity to tag along. We stayed at the Sphinx again, where a communal friend gave us a great deal on a room right next to the beach. We even had a small front porch, but no chairs; however, Sarah and I stealthily stole some from our neighbors allowing us to drink Stella in the comfort of our room. Outside of that the three days were dwindled away by afternoons on the beach, and of course, more Stella. We did get to do some serious snorkeling though. The Red Sea is known for its clear water and amazing dive sights where Europeans flock. There’s the Canyon and the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is essentially a large cylindrical area completely surrounded by coral reef that extends below for miles.
The road to Dahab through the Sinai. Lots of desert and winding roads.
All of us geared up for some hardcore snorkeling. I am the nerd wearing the snorkel mask.
Snorkel Paul!
Snokel Sarah and Snorkel Katie!
Scuba Faye!
Octopus!!!
Oh my Gawd! I can see Saudi Arabia!
I hope that’s more than enough for now, because I simply can’t bring myself to write anymore. The pictures I posted are just a few of many, so keep your eyes open. I will be posting a ton more to the Picasa album and relabeling them so people can get a better idea of what they're looking at.
I sent out a mass e-mail not too long ago, but in case I left anyone out, Paul and I have bought plane tickets and will be returning to the good ole U.S. of A. on June 2nd. I’m excited and sad at the same time. I can’t wait to see everyone back home, but I’ll miss all the amazing opportunities here. more...
14 March 2009
Epic Workout
Faye and I are awesome.
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I was going to leave it at that, because it so very well encapsulates everything about these photos, but I just can't help myself.
Faye and I in an attempt to stay fit while we're in Egypt have been trying out ideas to incorporate physical activities into our weekly routine. It started with going on speedy walks around our neighborhood, which quickly bombed because apparently two girls walking around in modest workout gear heeds a lot of unwanted attention. Then we tried running up and down the stairs in our building, but were chased off by a very knarly looking kitty. Then, an amazing thing happened, the door to the roof was left open. Think synchronized i-pods, a jump rope, happenstance obstacle course, sweatbands, and mad dancing. If you happen to have access to a roof, and know another fitness enthusiast, I highly recommend this physical program.
Items you will need: 2 iPods fully charged. 2 sweatbands (in preferably neon colors), one jump rope, a roof, tennis shoes, and an enthusiastic friend.
Synch iPods by choosing an album with your enthusiastic friend and then hitting play at the same time.
You and your enthusiastic friend warm up and psyche up.
To further the togetherness of this experience, rather than taking turns with the jump rope, try two at time. This exercise requires some skill and coordination, be careful not to strangle your partner.
Continue to merrily exercise by interspersing jump roping, running, and dancing while encouraging your partner with high-fives until you achieve a super hot bod.
Why Burning Man is the Best Basic Training for Living in Egypt
- Burning man takes place in Black Rock City, in the middle of the Black Rock desert in Nevada. Cairo is located in the middle of the Western desert in Egypt.
- Most of the year the weather is hot during the day and cool at night. Be prepared to be sweaty and hot walking around in the sun, but feel the need to wear a jacket and a scarf at night.
- There are dust storms in both locations with white out conditions. At burning man, most people know better and carry with them some sort of dust mask, goggles, and/or bandanna. Here people are usually caught off guard, but are more prepared if they sport a head scarf. Either way, the wind starts blowing and you can see the clouds of dust/smog/trash start kicking up in the distance and you know to roll up the windows or run like hell for cover.
- No rules for traffic here or there. No one takes turns, no one stops (not even for pedestrians), and larger vehicles are usually packed with people like sardines in the most unsafe of fashions. It's a free for all!
- No matter how hard you try to keep doors and windows closed in your apartment/tent, a thin layer of dust manages its way into everything you own.
- You have to tote your own water everywhere. At Burning Man, you’re in the middle of nowhere, so the idea of running water or main water source is out of the question which means you have to pack and ration out the water you use for the duration of the festival. In Cairo, there is a large water source (the Nile), and running water is, yes, very much the norm, but think twice before you drink it. Even those who can tolerate the stuff avoid it due to the terrible chlorine smell and taste, as well as the rumor that it carries high levels of mercury. You'll be adding boxes of bottled water to your budget for sure.
- People are out till all hours of the morning and night.
- Events and people scheduled to be at an appointment or event may or may not be there. In most cases, all works out for the best, some of the people meant to be there show up, and it’s usually still a party.
- Bright, flashy, blinky things populate the landscape at night. We’re talking sensory overload. Burning Man, anything and everything from bicycles to domes to art cars to human beings are covered in shiny things. In Cairo, cabs, buildings, storefronts, small alleyways, clubs, etc. are all covered in bright flashy things. New store or shack openings are the best. Expect large speakers, terrible singers, and flashy old fashioned x-mas lights slung from the buildings above.
- Water bottle showers. At Burning Man, unless your equip with a fancy-smancy solar shower with an anti-grey-water tarp, plan on taking a shower with a water bottle. In Cairo, apartments come with all the typical necessities, including a shower and hot water heater, but sometimes, for no apparent reason, the water is turned off for random amounts of time. We keep a stock of 2 liter water bottles with tap water on Paul’s fridge for this very reason. In need of a shower? Heat tea kettle, carefully pour water into 3 or so water bottles, stand in tub…presto! Showering capabilities!
- Lazy? Shower only a couple times a week? Depending on the level of dust in the air, expect especially moldable hair. Who needs hair gel when you can do it the natural way with sweat and dust? Beware, supreme laziness, or lack of showering capabilities may result in unwanted dreadlocks.
- An intense feeling of dryness, especially on the hands and feet, that never seems to get better no matter how much lotion you put on. Again, it’s the dust. There it lives in your tent and your sleeping bag; here it lives in your furniture and your bed. Any moisture is absorbed immediately by dust.
- Incessantly dirty finger nails. At Burning Man, eh…that’s life…that’s what you get for attempting to live in the desert for a week in a tent. Here…dude this is civilization. You can’t go clubbin’ lookin’ like you just finished weeding your garden.
- An inability to take pictures at night with a flash. When developing photos, small blurry dots obstruct your view and ultimately ruin the image you were going for. Yup, you guessed it, dust.
- The cult-like gathering of people around a symbolic figure or thing. At Burning Man it’s “the Man” which is set on fire while thousands gather to run around it and have a huge inebriated/drug-induced celebration. In the Middle East it’s Mecca, essentially a black box where thousands gather to pray around each year.
02 March 2009
Paul's Debue Performance
Sometime last weekend, I had typed up a post, but the internet got all funky and I was unable to post it, so I'm posting it now.
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I’m sitting at a café, and totally bored with the internet, and while I have nothing really titillating to talk about, I need something to do while I’m stuck here…so, I figured I’d blog.
Last night, Faye went to the Akon concert at the Cairo Opera House. I am not a fan, but it would have been fun to see a show in Cairo, especially since I have yet to go to the Opera house. May have been on the lucky side I didn’t make it though considering the comic disaster that ensued. Faye described it as encompassing “everything you love and hate about Egypt”. To start, Akon was supposed to perform at 9pm and wound up showing up 3 hours late due to Cairo traffic…hahaha…it’s always terrible on Thursday night. I have learned to fear the Thursday night cab ride, I can always count on panicking that I might pee myself or explode trying to hold it because we always wind up getting stuck for more than an hour. Anyway, after he got there, Faye said they heard a loud “plink-plink-plink-plink” and saw people running off the VIP stage. Apparently the two by fours supporting it began falling and the whole thing collapsed…but that’s not all, this happened to two other stages throughout the performance! But rather than people getting pissed off or canceling the show, people just moved and the concert kept going
Tonight we’re going to our friend Hesham’s for a house party, where Paul will be providing the musical entertainment. I keep telling him he needs to come up with a name, but he just rolls his eyes. He can’t be DJ Paul though…it’s boring and Egyptians can’t pronounce “P’s” so it always comes out “Boll”, which could easily be mistaken for the Arabic word for urine. Please post any and all comic/legit suggestions. ( I was told to enclose a disclaimer that Paul does not approve this message…so ummm, Paul does not approve this message, but send suggestions anyway for my viewing pleasure.)
Since I'm sure you're all wondering, Paul's performance went really well. However, Egypt picked that night to be the one time it rained, so we had to dance inside versus on the roof. He's kicking himself he didn't bring his DJ gear with him, but making due with what he has. Without an audio interface, he can't listen to the track before it's played to see how it synchs up so he gets to do everything blind. It was great to finally be out and listen to some decent music instead of hearing the same chart toppers stuff they play in all the clubs. Now our house is planning an epic 80's party to take place when my sister is here to visit. Paul is already compiling a playlist which is sure to be about as 80's as they come.
If anyone's interested, Paul has given me his playlist from his debue performance. It's not in the exact order it was played that evening, but it's got a lot of great tracks.
If anyone's interested, Paul has given me his playlist from his debue performance. It's not in the exact order it was played that evening, but it's got a lot of great tracks.
Start Something - Morten Sorenson
Beatific - Glass Candy
Get Yourself Together - Chaz Jankel
Itchy Hips (Original Mix) - Martin Rushent Presnts ‘Disco Unlimited’
Athene – Hercules & Love Affair
Girlsbug – Dances With White Girls
Like Some Dream (I can’t Stop Dreaming) – Daniel Wang
Toys (Richard Sen Remix) – Hedford Vachal
Happy House – The Juan MacLean
Tommy Boy – Strip Steve
Bonafied Lovin (Les Petits Pilous Remix) – Chromeo
Lights & Music (Boys Noize Happy Birthday Remix) – Cut Copy
Riddle Of Steel (Para One Remix) – Guns n’ Bombs
With You Forever – Pnau
Take Me Away – Joe And Will Ask?
Fancy Footwork (Laidback Luke Remix) – Chromeo
Music Sounds Better With You (12” Club Mix) - Stardust
Far Away (Damn Arms Remix) – Cut Copy
I Get Around (Ratcliffe Remix) – Dragonette
Pumps & Rumps (Zombie Disco Squad Remix) – Gameboy/Gamegirl
Side In (DFA Remix) – Goldfrapp
Into The Hollywood Groove (The Passengerz Mix) – Madonna
Live Fast! Die Old! (feat. Asia Argento) (The Juan MacLean Remix) – Munk
Descend – New Young Pony Club
Strangers (Strip Steve Remix) – Van She
Oh No! (PUZIQUe Remix) – Villeneuve
Theme From Space Island - !!!
My Girls – Animal Collective
23 February 2009
Bombing in Khan el Khalili
Anyway, the story is that two masked women, and possibly another man either planted or tossed a bomb into the square in front of Hussien mosque, killing four and wounding 18, mostly tourists. No one has accepted responsibility for the attack so there is a lot of confusion as to the purpose of the bombing. You can read about it here.
Basically it seems like everyone is really pissed off right now about the whole Gaza-Israel thing. It seems like we’re constantly hearing about people marching or protesting for Egypt to open its borders or aid Palestine. The Muslim Brotherhood is taking every opportunity to stir up trouble. A lot of other countries back Israel, so who knows. We’ll just have to wait and see what information the government here chooses to release.
I keep reading the Egypt Daily News and its scary the amount of stories you hear about people being taken away by plainclothes policemen and put in unmarked vans with license plates obscured just to reappear out of nowhere days later. An article recently was published about AUC students protesting to have ministry officials removed from campus because they interfere with there freedoms as students. All very strange, unnerving, and not to mention frustrating.
Paul and I actually had a very strange run in with some unmarked police. We were walking to Paul’s house pretty late one night, nothing out of the ordinary, managed to hail a cab on the mostly empty street, when two guys stopped the cabbie before he could pull away. They were wearing civilian clothes, but the one guy turned around and pointed at his gun in his holster and said “police, police”. They spoke no English, and our cabbie, who hardly spoke any English, had to try and translate. They asked for our passports, asked us where we were from (they had our passports at this point), asked if we were married, and then tried to tell us they were expired, to which we replied, “uhhhh...no”. Took a few minutes but they let us go on our merry way. Totally random experience. Our Egyptian friends said it’s typical for police not always to be in uniform, but that they were probably hoping something was up with our passports so they could blackmail us for some money. Crazy. I will not be letting go of my passport ever again.
Anywho, Obama said he plans to speak somewhere in the middle-east within his first 100 days in office, and it’s been rumored that his top spot may be Cairo. Paul and I are crossing our fingers that the rumors are true…because, c’mon…how cool would it be to be able to see Obama speak in Cairo? However, I’m mildly concerned the recent bombing could be a slight deterrent, but only time will tell.
Wishing everyone lots of peace, love, and harmony.
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Finally, a new post!
I know, I know, its been forever. I don’t know what happened really, I was writing up a storm and then I just stopped, and I’ve been trying to get myself to write a new post all week. I think I finally hit that little marker where Egypt has become less of an anomaly and more like everyday life. Other than trips and vacations, I am at a slight loss for something of significance to report.
Tom Robbins, Skinny Legs and All; the book was highly topical because it dealt with Jerusalem and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. Tom Robbins uses highly figurative and sometimes absurd language to describe characters and situations which I found particularly amusing. And this particular book has more than a few oddities for characters: Can-O-Beans, Walking Stick, Conch Shell, and Spoon. To answer your question, yes, those are inanimate objects, not goofy names for human beings.
Rajaa Alsanea,The Girls of Riyadh; this book has been called the Saudi version of Sex and the City because it originally started as weekly e-mails. However it’s far more interesting than anything from the popular American T.V. show. It’s about the high society in Saudia Arabia, specifically about the friends of the author and their experiences. The book is an easy read…I devoured it in about 2 days, but really disturbing. It doesn’t do much to change your views about Saudi culture (it’s really messed up), but it does give you the sense that these women are at least able to pick up on the hypocrisies of their society, and how their strict religious laws don't really mesh well with the modern world. Well worth a read.
Junot Diaz, The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Woa; this is a really great book. I had been looking forward to reading it for awhile now. I randomly discovered Junot Diaz while reading a copy of the New Yorker which contained the short story this book is based on. It’s a sort of generational novel about a family and their curse which is brought on by their history as Dominicans and the terrible time of Trujillo. If you don’t know anything about Trujillo, check it out, a horrible dictator, but really interesting man. Worst part is the U.S. embraced him based on the fact that he wasn’t communist.
Once the last 3 weeks of testing were over, Paul and I went on a traveling extravaganza. We went to Dahab first, so we could hang out on the Sinai. It was awesome to be able to walk down the boardwalk, take a gander at one of the many menus of the numerous seaside restaurants, and hear the prices drop the longer you looked. Cheap beer was also readily available at a majority of the restaurants, and if it wasn’t, they brought it from somewhere else; always a plus. Sitting on the beach in February, soaking up the rays, looking over the sea, with the red mountains of Saudi Arabia only a Jet Ski ride away…it was, how should I say…amazing! (We heard a young tourist rented a Jet Ski and attempted to ride over to the red mountains in the distance only to be greeted by the Saudi police.) Our main purpose for the trip to Dahab was so we could climb the infamous Mt. Sinai where that one dude, Moses, carried down those sacred rocks with that list of the ten ultimate “no-no’s”. The idea of the trip is to climb the mountain just in time for sunrise. So you climb this crazy camel path, and it’s cold outside, not so much when you’re walking, but when you stop it really gets to you. So we’re climbing and climbing, and Paul and I are relatively warm…and then we get to the last stop 20 minutes before the top…it’s only 4am, sunrise isn’t until 6:30am...We had 2 1/2 hours to burn. We froze. Even though we wore tons of layers and hid inside this little rock café, it was soooo cold. I must proudly state that I hardly complained, but I must have looked cold though because this adorable pair of Polish dads with their daughters put a blanket over me and gave me a shot of cinnamon vodka, and the Bedouin guy at the café gave me this giant fuzzy hat. I have great picture where I look like Sherpa of the Mountain, unfortunately pictures will have to be posted at a later date. The sunrise was beautiful and well worth freezing for a bit.
Then we went home for a day, partied at Purple, and then set out for Aswan. Unlucky for us, the train station was a disaster and we ended up waiting forever pushing around in a mob, which is an Egyptian version of a line, just to find out the tickets were sold out till the end of the week. So we bought a bus ticket instead. I would not recommend; 16 hours on an Egyptian bus is brutal, especially when you only stop for a “pee-in-a-hole” break every 4-6 hours. Luckily I had some Egyptian bus experience before and knew to limit my liquid consumption.
Aswan is beautiful in its own right. The Nile is beautiful, everything is green, and the culture is predominantly Nubian…but it is hassle/haggle/harass central. You can’t walk more than 2 feet without someone asking you if you want a “garish” (garbled English for Carriage), taxi, felucca, food, scarves, religious merchandise, hash, etc. And, if say for instance, you needed a cab ride into town, some asshole will try and tell you 50LE when it should be 5LE. It’s a terribly exhausting back and forth argument, where you start to walk away and the cabbie says “okay”, and then still tries to charge you 30LE. So we stayed for a day, which was more than enough time, walked about town and took a boat ride to the Temple of Isis. In the evening we spent more than a few hours throwing back Stella’s and generally being ornery.
The next morning, we took another bus (only 3 hours, thank Allah!) to Luxor. Luxor turned out to be far more amazing than I had imagined. The town was bustle-y and full of people out till all hours of the night. I also managed to find us an amazing hotel near the Luxor Temple. The room was only 40LE (about 8$) which got us a spotless room, breakfast, sunset tea, and an amazing place to hang out in the evenings with the cheapest beers and sheesha in town.
We decided to cover a bunch of ground the first day, so we could chill and see the stuff closer to town over the next few days. First stop, Valley of the Kings, this was really cool, we saw some crazy old tomb paintings that were incredibly in tact, although I do wish we had been able to go into a few more. There’s something like 62 tombs total, but you can only go into 12, but even then, you have to buy a ticket that will let you go into that many, Paul and I only had the budget for 3. But, you know, without a guide, a lot of the Egyptology stuff can get repetitive if you don’t know what you’re looking at, so in hindsight, 3 was more than enough. I am obsessed with all the scarab imagery. The most fascinating part was that people were there excavating other tombs while you walked around. There’s these guys sitting with piles of old ceramic pots/urns/bowls glueing them together like they're putting together the ultimate puzzle.
From there we went to Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb which I was all giddy about. It’s carved directly into the mountainside and it’s been on at least 2 art history exams I’ve taken. It was pretty incredible, and even more amazing that some guy decided to sport roller blades in the parking lot. The size and landscape are intimidating, but the tomb itself was smaller than I had imagined. There were a gazillion tourists milling about, but that’s what we get for going during high season.
After that we went to the Valley of the Queens, but Nefertiti’s tomb is the “must-see” out of all of them and it’s apparently been closed for no apparent reason by the government for the last 2 years. Otherwise, the tombs are very similar to the one’s we saw at the Valley of the Kings.
My favorite thing we saw in Luxor though had to be the Temple of Karnak. It’s simply monumental! It covers 2 square kilometers and has a pillar forest. These pillars are Massive, some still complete with original paint. It also has a giant scarab sculpture, 3 outrageously high obelisks, a small lake, and hundreds of hidey holes all over. Faye and I have decided it would be the perfect spot for an epic game of capture the flag, which we are attempting to put into motion. We’re thinking different colored ninja outfits or galibayas to differentiate between teams.
That’s basically it for Luxor. Other than that we drank beer on the roof of our hotel, or were chilling at this amazing coffee place called the Oasis Café. It’s adorable on the inside featuring local artists as well as old black and white photographs of Egyptians wearing Fez hats, which apparently the owner found in an abandoned suitcase in the restaurant, and several copies of the New Yorker were laid out for our reading pleasure. It also had a menu that had a wide assortment of coffee, and Nescafe wasn’t even on the menu…Yay! I never thought I’d see the day my main source of caffeine would be instant coffee.
Anyway, we’re back in town now and school is back in full swing. Paul and I have been looking for other things to do with our extra time, either another job or some kind of volunteer work to boost the ole resume. Our friend Shahira works for an economic magazine, and put Paul’s CV through to her boss. He made the interview, but once he dropped the bomb that we were leaving in 6 months (why Paul, why?), he told him up front that with the economy being what it is right now, he really didn’t need any extra temporary help. But the guy was cool enough to sit around and chat Paul up for an hour about Egypt’s economy. He was talking about how Egyptians don’t invest, that it’s only really the uppermost tier, and that many Egyptians don’t even use banks. Apparently a lot of people just hide cash in their house somewhere. It doesn’t really surprise me though considering our banking experience. I have a card which allows the school to direct deposit into an account, but it’s virtually impossible to get a balance, and it doesn't work like a credit card, so I usually empty it completely upon payday. Oh, and the number you can call on the back isn’t even a working number.
Outside of that, it’s been the same ole same ole. Faye’s mom was here for awhile which was fun. It’s always fun to have someone here visiting since it’s an excuse do the touristy stuff. I always feel highly unmotivated to do that kind of stuff when it’s just the usual crowd. I figure it makes sense though, it feels like I still have plenty of time to see everything, and people are coming to see me, so I’ll get to see everything then.
So what have I been doing? Well, lots of things. Most recently, I spent the last three weeks of January doing nothing but reading in our staff room. My kids were too young for the Ministry exams so they haven't been at school, and while I did a little tidying up, and catching up on my grading, I still wound up with a great deal of free time. I spent that time reading several books all of which I would recommend.
Tom Robbins, Skinny Legs and All; the book was highly topical because it dealt with Jerusalem and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. Tom Robbins uses highly figurative and sometimes absurd language to describe characters and situations which I found particularly amusing. And this particular book has more than a few oddities for characters: Can-O-Beans, Walking Stick, Conch Shell, and Spoon. To answer your question, yes, those are inanimate objects, not goofy names for human beings.
Rajaa Alsanea,The Girls of Riyadh; this book has been called the Saudi version of Sex and the City because it originally started as weekly e-mails. However it’s far more interesting than anything from the popular American T.V. show. It’s about the high society in Saudia Arabia, specifically about the friends of the author and their experiences. The book is an easy read…I devoured it in about 2 days, but really disturbing. It doesn’t do much to change your views about Saudi culture (it’s really messed up), but it does give you the sense that these women are at least able to pick up on the hypocrisies of their society, and how their strict religious laws don't really mesh well with the modern world. Well worth a read.
Junot Diaz, The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Woa; this is a really great book. I had been looking forward to reading it for awhile now. I randomly discovered Junot Diaz while reading a copy of the New Yorker which contained the short story this book is based on. It’s a sort of generational novel about a family and their curse which is brought on by their history as Dominicans and the terrible time of Trujillo. If you don’t know anything about Trujillo, check it out, a horrible dictator, but really interesting man. Worst part is the U.S. embraced him based on the fact that he wasn’t communist.
Once the last 3 weeks of testing were over, Paul and I went on a traveling extravaganza. We went to Dahab first, so we could hang out on the Sinai. It was awesome to be able to walk down the boardwalk, take a gander at one of the many menus of the numerous seaside restaurants, and hear the prices drop the longer you looked. Cheap beer was also readily available at a majority of the restaurants, and if it wasn’t, they brought it from somewhere else; always a plus. Sitting on the beach in February, soaking up the rays, looking over the sea, with the red mountains of Saudi Arabia only a Jet Ski ride away…it was, how should I say…amazing! (We heard a young tourist rented a Jet Ski and attempted to ride over to the red mountains in the distance only to be greeted by the Saudi police.) Our main purpose for the trip to Dahab was so we could climb the infamous Mt. Sinai where that one dude, Moses, carried down those sacred rocks with that list of the ten ultimate “no-no’s”. The idea of the trip is to climb the mountain just in time for sunrise. So you climb this crazy camel path, and it’s cold outside, not so much when you’re walking, but when you stop it really gets to you. So we’re climbing and climbing, and Paul and I are relatively warm…and then we get to the last stop 20 minutes before the top…it’s only 4am, sunrise isn’t until 6:30am...We had 2 1/2 hours to burn. We froze. Even though we wore tons of layers and hid inside this little rock café, it was soooo cold. I must proudly state that I hardly complained, but I must have looked cold though because this adorable pair of Polish dads with their daughters put a blanket over me and gave me a shot of cinnamon vodka, and the Bedouin guy at the café gave me this giant fuzzy hat. I have great picture where I look like Sherpa of the Mountain, unfortunately pictures will have to be posted at a later date. The sunrise was beautiful and well worth freezing for a bit.
Then we went home for a day, partied at Purple, and then set out for Aswan. Unlucky for us, the train station was a disaster and we ended up waiting forever pushing around in a mob, which is an Egyptian version of a line, just to find out the tickets were sold out till the end of the week. So we bought a bus ticket instead. I would not recommend; 16 hours on an Egyptian bus is brutal, especially when you only stop for a “pee-in-a-hole” break every 4-6 hours. Luckily I had some Egyptian bus experience before and knew to limit my liquid consumption.
Aswan is beautiful in its own right. The Nile is beautiful, everything is green, and the culture is predominantly Nubian…but it is hassle/haggle/harass central. You can’t walk more than 2 feet without someone asking you if you want a “garish” (garbled English for Carriage), taxi, felucca, food, scarves, religious merchandise, hash, etc. And, if say for instance, you needed a cab ride into town, some asshole will try and tell you 50LE when it should be 5LE. It’s a terribly exhausting back and forth argument, where you start to walk away and the cabbie says “okay”, and then still tries to charge you 30LE. So we stayed for a day, which was more than enough time, walked about town and took a boat ride to the Temple of Isis. In the evening we spent more than a few hours throwing back Stella’s and generally being ornery.
The next morning, we took another bus (only 3 hours, thank Allah!) to Luxor. Luxor turned out to be far more amazing than I had imagined. The town was bustle-y and full of people out till all hours of the night. I also managed to find us an amazing hotel near the Luxor Temple. The room was only 40LE (about 8$) which got us a spotless room, breakfast, sunset tea, and an amazing place to hang out in the evenings with the cheapest beers and sheesha in town.
We decided to cover a bunch of ground the first day, so we could chill and see the stuff closer to town over the next few days. First stop, Valley of the Kings, this was really cool, we saw some crazy old tomb paintings that were incredibly in tact, although I do wish we had been able to go into a few more. There’s something like 62 tombs total, but you can only go into 12, but even then, you have to buy a ticket that will let you go into that many, Paul and I only had the budget for 3. But, you know, without a guide, a lot of the Egyptology stuff can get repetitive if you don’t know what you’re looking at, so in hindsight, 3 was more than enough. I am obsessed with all the scarab imagery. The most fascinating part was that people were there excavating other tombs while you walked around. There’s these guys sitting with piles of old ceramic pots/urns/bowls glueing them together like they're putting together the ultimate puzzle.
From there we went to Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb which I was all giddy about. It’s carved directly into the mountainside and it’s been on at least 2 art history exams I’ve taken. It was pretty incredible, and even more amazing that some guy decided to sport roller blades in the parking lot. The size and landscape are intimidating, but the tomb itself was smaller than I had imagined. There were a gazillion tourists milling about, but that’s what we get for going during high season.
After that we went to the Valley of the Queens, but Nefertiti’s tomb is the “must-see” out of all of them and it’s apparently been closed for no apparent reason by the government for the last 2 years. Otherwise, the tombs are very similar to the one’s we saw at the Valley of the Kings.
My favorite thing we saw in Luxor though had to be the Temple of Karnak. It’s simply monumental! It covers 2 square kilometers and has a pillar forest. These pillars are Massive, some still complete with original paint. It also has a giant scarab sculpture, 3 outrageously high obelisks, a small lake, and hundreds of hidey holes all over. Faye and I have decided it would be the perfect spot for an epic game of capture the flag, which we are attempting to put into motion. We’re thinking different colored ninja outfits or galibayas to differentiate between teams.
That’s basically it for Luxor. Other than that we drank beer on the roof of our hotel, or were chilling at this amazing coffee place called the Oasis Café. It’s adorable on the inside featuring local artists as well as old black and white photographs of Egyptians wearing Fez hats, which apparently the owner found in an abandoned suitcase in the restaurant, and several copies of the New Yorker were laid out for our reading pleasure. It also had a menu that had a wide assortment of coffee, and Nescafe wasn’t even on the menu…Yay! I never thought I’d see the day my main source of caffeine would be instant coffee.
Anyway, we’re back in town now and school is back in full swing. Paul and I have been looking for other things to do with our extra time, either another job or some kind of volunteer work to boost the ole resume. Our friend Shahira works for an economic magazine, and put Paul’s CV through to her boss. He made the interview, but once he dropped the bomb that we were leaving in 6 months (why Paul, why?), he told him up front that with the economy being what it is right now, he really didn’t need any extra temporary help. But the guy was cool enough to sit around and chat Paul up for an hour about Egypt’s economy. He was talking about how Egyptians don’t invest, that it’s only really the uppermost tier, and that many Egyptians don’t even use banks. Apparently a lot of people just hide cash in their house somewhere. It doesn’t really surprise me though considering our banking experience. I have a card which allows the school to direct deposit into an account, but it’s virtually impossible to get a balance, and it doesn't work like a credit card, so I usually empty it completely upon payday. Oh, and the number you can call on the back isn’t even a working number.
Outside of that, it’s been the same ole same ole. Faye’s mom was here for awhile which was fun. It’s always fun to have someone here visiting since it’s an excuse do the touristy stuff. I always feel highly unmotivated to do that kind of stuff when it’s just the usual crowd. I figure it makes sense though, it feels like I still have plenty of time to see everything, and people are coming to see me, so I’ll get to see everything then.
I did celebrate my 24th birthday on the 18th which made me feel hella old. Faye made me a cake, which we all enjoyed on a falucca ride, and then we went to a new club that opened up near my house. Free stuff yay!
Well, that’s the news for now. I will try and get pictures posted soon, but unfortunately the internet at the apartment we were so excited about finally getting has decided to stop working, and like everything Egyptian, its taking longer than necessary to get fixed.
Beard and moustache party anyone?
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29 January 2009
More Wierd Info
Adoption. Paul teaches a private lesson to a girl he met through someone at work. They just practice her conversational skills, so Paul thought it might be fun to send her home with some American sitcoms. She watched The Office, and 30 Rock. The 30 Rock episode was all about Liz Lemon wanting to adopt a baby. Anyway, it spawned a conversation about adoption in Egypt. Apparently it exists, but it's not the way you or I would have imagined it. A family can adopt on a child from an orphanage, but it is Harom to bring him/her into your home. So you can donate money and visit, but that's the extent of it. Since you don't know who the child's parents are, you don't know what kind of child it is...thus they can't be brought into your home. Sad.
There is no change anywhere! Small bills are impossible to find...and you need them! I don't know why it's such an issue, but it really, really is! Walk in anywhere with a semi-large bill and buy a cup of coffee, your guaranteed the stink eye from the cashier. I've had numerous situations where people will start asking around and digging in their pockets to even make the smallest of change. It's also common for them to run to a shop next door to get change. Coins are around, but they're fairly rare. There are paper notes for 50 and 25 piesters. A lot of cash registers will have candy in the change section of their drawers to give you in case they don't have the 25 piesters they owe you.
more...
There is no change anywhere! Small bills are impossible to find...and you need them! I don't know why it's such an issue, but it really, really is! Walk in anywhere with a semi-large bill and buy a cup of coffee, your guaranteed the stink eye from the cashier. I've had numerous situations where people will start asking around and digging in their pockets to even make the smallest of change. It's also common for them to run to a shop next door to get change. Coins are around, but they're fairly rare. There are paper notes for 50 and 25 piesters. A lot of cash registers will have candy in the change section of their drawers to give you in case they don't have the 25 piesters they owe you.
more...
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