so this school week was only two days long. that's amazing-- quite honestly, the thing that i'm most excited about might be simply not having to take the bus at least an hour each way to campus for the next few days. we have holiday for eid-- which i believe is the celebration at the end of ramadan. kind of the opposite of marti gras.
this last weekend was great. friday i just did some homework and chilled. thursday night i stayed up with kevin and jason and watched four or so episodes of the office, and we just finished season three tonight. i can't get enough of that show-- it seems to get better each time. it sort of contradicts (elementary) economics, with the whole idea of decreasing marginal utility-- i swear that every episode i watch brings me more joy than the one before that, and each time the amount i enjoy the show more increases. hopefully that made sense. it did to me.
anyways, on saturday my friend ozzi took me, jason, kevin, and sigmund out to the zachara pyramids. i don't know how to spell that. i forgot to read up on them at all before hand, so i don't know anything about them, but i'll tell what i saw. ozzi said that one of them, which now resembles a sandy pile of uncarved stones, was used as something of a practice try. the other two or three (i believe i counted three or four) were much more eroded than the ones at giza, but that's ok. we just walked around the grounds for a while, and this guy led us into a couple of the chambers of one of the buildings. apparently this was sort of under-the-table, since you have to pay more for this, but he just wanted some bakshiish, so that was cool. the hyroglyphics were still somewhat colored (i don't think this was the result of restoration-- if it was then whoever did it did a crappy job). after that we made our way over to the largest pyramid there. we got to climb up a path above one of the structures and the view was incredible-- right beside this massive structure, we could see cairo and the lush nile valley on one side, another set of pyramids on the other (i think south), and the giza pyramids in another direction (north?). on the other side was an expanse of sand, punctuated by absolutely charming (not really) radio towers. we were planning on checking out the ones to the south as well, but apparently they would have been closed by the time we got there-- stuff tends to shut down for a few hours after 3 pm, and open later. so we made our way back to the city.
when we got back our taxi driver tried giving us a hard time about the fare. we had agreed in the beginning to take all five of us to the pyramids, and be at our service for four hours for 150 pounds, which was probably an amazing deal for him. because we didn't make the last pyramids, we used him for only three hours-- all the same, when we handed him the 150 he got defensive. we argued for a couple minutes, to ozzi's disappointment (he said we should just give him the money and walk away, which was absolutely right), and finally just repeated le, or no, a couple of times, and left.
i would be thinking right now that this might have been a misunderstanding-- he didn't understand the original terms because of the language barrier or something. doubtful. he knew english very competently, and we took pains at the onset to verify the deal in arabic. he was just trying to squeeze the juice out of some tourists-- good for him i suppose, but we didn't feel like doing that.
tonight i hung out with kevin and jason for a virtually the whole night-- dinner, the office, then hanging out at a shisha place. it was very enjoyable. one of those stress- and worry-free moments at the start of a break.
tomorrow i'm leaving with nine or so other people to aswan and the luxor. we're taking a train south to aswan over night, and then taking a boat between the two. we'll take a train back this coming sunday. we'll be staying on the boat at night-- the 'nile cruise' thing. i wish i had taken initiative and organized something a little less generic, but it's very appealing-- the travel agency basically took care (hopefully it'll work out this way) of all the details, and we paid more than we would otherwise.
i'm pumped. it'll be nice to get away from the city for a while. i love love love this city so far, but it's congested, polluted, and it will be cool to clear my mind for a while elsewhere. yes.
that's about all i've got right now.
love
chris
Monday, September 29, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Weekend (these seem to happen just about every week)
this was a pretty uneventful week. basically, i had class, and then i didn't, each day. sort of like a lot of other people that i know. this wednesday i got kind of sick. basically, this on wed mornings i have a class at 8 in the morning, which i wouldn't mind, except that factoring in the bus ride out to the new campus means waking up at six o'clock. my next class after math is at 1:00. a bit of a gap. it's only two days a week though. that won't stop me from complaining about it though.
anyways, tuesday night i was going to try to get to bed early, around midnight. so i sent one of my best friends, debra, an email, and it turned out she was on gmail at the same time. so then we called each other over skype (which is awesome-- free international calls over the computer. anyone who reads this, probably two or three people, should download it off google for free, and look me up and call me. or i'll call you). man, whenever i write anything i'm amazed by how easily distracted i am. anyways, we spoke for a while, and i ended up not getting a lot of sleep. i think i was kind of dehydrated the next day as well, so wednesday night i totally crashed, and went to bed around 7:30, plus an hour nap before dinner, and got up at about 10am the next day. i was pretty much in bed the whole time besides for quite frequent bathroom breaks. awesome.
but, hey. that's part of the experience, you know?
this weekend has been pretty enjoyable so far. yesterday i read seven pages of homework throughout the day, and then went over to a corina's friend's apartment. we had dinner there, and just hung out for a few hours. that was a lot of fun. i got to meet a few new people. plus a couple of them were musicians, and were pumped to hear that i play the saxophone-- hopefully we're gonna jam pretty soon. i would absolutely love that. after that i just came back to the room and read for a while and listened to music. i just started listening to some louis armstrong-- i can't believe i've barely ever listened to him before, i love his stuff.
tonight kevin, jason and i are going to finally extend some hospitality to mohammed, for a change. we invited him up here for dinner, so he's going to get here around 5:30, and we'll head over to some restaurant, and probably just hang for a while. he's up two-zero on us, given that he's had us over for dinner twice already. so we owe him.
oh. and i remember writing a while ago that i asked i taxi driver to go to midan (square) salah al-din, and saying i would try to learn what those words meant. well, it turns out they're not words, per se. salah al-din was a person, a powerful agent in the spread of islam to egypt. i mentioned this to a kid i met last night, and he added that al-din fought of the armies of one of the crusades. let's see what wikipedia has to say:
Salah al-Dīn Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Arabic: صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب; Kurdish: سهلاحهدین ئهیوبی Selah'edînê Eyubî ) (born, Tikrit, Iraq c. 1138, died March 4, 1193), better known as Saladin in medieval Europe, was a Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He was a Kurdish Muslim and led the Islamic opposition to the Third Crusade.
At the height of his power, the Ayyubid dynasty he founded, ruled over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hejaz, and Yemen. He led Muslim resistance to the European Crusaders and eventually recaptured Palestine from the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. As such, he is a notable figure in Arab, Kurdish, and Muslim culture.
Saladin was a strict practitioner of Sunni Islam. He did not maim, kill or retaliate against those whom he defeated,[1][2] with the notable exception of certain events following the Battle of Hattin. His generally chivalrous behaviour was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the siege of Krak in Moab.
there you have it. now we're all a little bit smarter, or at least a little less dumb.
maa salaamah
anyways, tuesday night i was going to try to get to bed early, around midnight. so i sent one of my best friends, debra, an email, and it turned out she was on gmail at the same time. so then we called each other over skype (which is awesome-- free international calls over the computer. anyone who reads this, probably two or three people, should download it off google for free, and look me up and call me. or i'll call you). man, whenever i write anything i'm amazed by how easily distracted i am. anyways, we spoke for a while, and i ended up not getting a lot of sleep. i think i was kind of dehydrated the next day as well, so wednesday night i totally crashed, and went to bed around 7:30, plus an hour nap before dinner, and got up at about 10am the next day. i was pretty much in bed the whole time besides for quite frequent bathroom breaks. awesome.
but, hey. that's part of the experience, you know?
this weekend has been pretty enjoyable so far. yesterday i read seven pages of homework throughout the day, and then went over to a corina's friend's apartment. we had dinner there, and just hung out for a few hours. that was a lot of fun. i got to meet a few new people. plus a couple of them were musicians, and were pumped to hear that i play the saxophone-- hopefully we're gonna jam pretty soon. i would absolutely love that. after that i just came back to the room and read for a while and listened to music. i just started listening to some louis armstrong-- i can't believe i've barely ever listened to him before, i love his stuff.
tonight kevin, jason and i are going to finally extend some hospitality to mohammed, for a change. we invited him up here for dinner, so he's going to get here around 5:30, and we'll head over to some restaurant, and probably just hang for a while. he's up two-zero on us, given that he's had us over for dinner twice already. so we owe him.
oh. and i remember writing a while ago that i asked i taxi driver to go to midan (square) salah al-din, and saying i would try to learn what those words meant. well, it turns out they're not words, per se. salah al-din was a person, a powerful agent in the spread of islam to egypt. i mentioned this to a kid i met last night, and he added that al-din fought of the armies of one of the crusades. let's see what wikipedia has to say:
Salah al-Dīn Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Arabic: صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب; Kurdish: سهلاحهدین ئهیوبی Selah'edînê Eyubî ) (born, Tikrit, Iraq c. 1138, died March 4, 1193), better known as Saladin in medieval Europe, was a Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He was a Kurdish Muslim and led the Islamic opposition to the Third Crusade.
At the height of his power, the Ayyubid dynasty he founded, ruled over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hejaz, and Yemen. He led Muslim resistance to the European Crusaders and eventually recaptured Palestine from the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. As such, he is a notable figure in Arab, Kurdish, and Muslim culture.
Saladin was a strict practitioner of Sunni Islam. He did not maim, kill or retaliate against those whom he defeated,[1][2] with the notable exception of certain events following the Battle of Hattin. His generally chivalrous behaviour was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the siege of Krak in Moab.
there you have it. now we're all a little bit smarter, or at least a little less dumb.
maa salaamah
Friday, September 12, 2008
When I Met Shem
Mosque's Inner Courtyard
Courtyard from Minaret
My Man Shem
Walking Along
Le Citadel (a bit blurry, my bad)Weekend (it's friday and saturday here)
today has been a pretty exceptional day.
i got up around 12, and i knew i wanted to get out and explore the city a bit. i went down to biko's room, and hung out for a while, but he had school work. kevin and jason were busy too. so i decided to go by myself.
i wanted to go to the islamic cairo part of town, which is a couple miles east of the neighborhood where i live. i caught a cab, and told the driver the name of the square i wanted to land at -- midan ('square') salah al-din. i don't know what that means. salah might mean prayer-- at least it is simlar to a word for prayer.
when i got there, a man called out to me and asked what i was up to. i told him i was just wandering, and that i'd like to visit a couple mosques. but then he reminded me that mosques aren't generally open to visitors on fridays. so, while i was within walking distance of a couple of gorgeous mosques, particularly the citadel, of which i'll put up a picture.
we introduced-- his name was shem-- and he offered to show me through the neighborhood a bit. i basically had no plan, and was down for anything, so i wandered around with him. we got off the busy road we were walking up a hill on, and started down the hill through some narrow side streets and alleys. i only saw egyptians around-- no tourists here, which i was pumped about. after weaving our way through the streets bit by bit, we ended up at a mosque. this was my favorite one yet. it lacked the marble and the luxurious splendor of some others that i've seen, but it had gorgeous wooden carvings, and it was just simpler than the other ones. sort of a hidden treasure. it's central courtyard also boasted some trees and plants, which i have not seen in a mosque before. for 50 LE, or $10, which probably wasn't a very good deal, but whatever, i got to climb to the top of the towering minaret. the view from the peak was incredible, and i probably took ten or fifteen pictures at the top alone. first of all, i noted the cairo tower, which is nearish to my dorm, which helped me to orient myself. what i really loved was seeing the other minarets of mosque after mosque after mosque.
i made my way down slowly (to savor the moment, but also to avoid breaking my neck), and walked around the roof of the main floor, immediately above the courtyard. shem had had to leave before i ascended the minaret, so when i got down i followed the direction that he had recommended, and wandered off into the streets and markets.
i spent the next hour making my way through these alleyways, finally reaching the famous (and famously touristy) khan al-khalili area of islamic cairo, where i had been before, and where i had seen the whirling dervish show.
after a few more minutes being shown around by some random guy, i caught a cab. he insisted on 25 pounds, which i refused. so, i got out and grabbed a different cab, this time for 20. i may have been scammed, but at least not outrageously.
this way a great way to spend the afternoon though. shem was awesome, and at least three other guys introduced themselves to me and showed me around for brief periods of time. love it.
salaam
i got up around 12, and i knew i wanted to get out and explore the city a bit. i went down to biko's room, and hung out for a while, but he had school work. kevin and jason were busy too. so i decided to go by myself.
i wanted to go to the islamic cairo part of town, which is a couple miles east of the neighborhood where i live. i caught a cab, and told the driver the name of the square i wanted to land at -- midan ('square') salah al-din. i don't know what that means. salah might mean prayer-- at least it is simlar to a word for prayer.
when i got there, a man called out to me and asked what i was up to. i told him i was just wandering, and that i'd like to visit a couple mosques. but then he reminded me that mosques aren't generally open to visitors on fridays. so, while i was within walking distance of a couple of gorgeous mosques, particularly the citadel, of which i'll put up a picture.
we introduced-- his name was shem-- and he offered to show me through the neighborhood a bit. i basically had no plan, and was down for anything, so i wandered around with him. we got off the busy road we were walking up a hill on, and started down the hill through some narrow side streets and alleys. i only saw egyptians around-- no tourists here, which i was pumped about. after weaving our way through the streets bit by bit, we ended up at a mosque. this was my favorite one yet. it lacked the marble and the luxurious splendor of some others that i've seen, but it had gorgeous wooden carvings, and it was just simpler than the other ones. sort of a hidden treasure. it's central courtyard also boasted some trees and plants, which i have not seen in a mosque before. for 50 LE, or $10, which probably wasn't a very good deal, but whatever, i got to climb to the top of the towering minaret. the view from the peak was incredible, and i probably took ten or fifteen pictures at the top alone. first of all, i noted the cairo tower, which is nearish to my dorm, which helped me to orient myself. what i really loved was seeing the other minarets of mosque after mosque after mosque.
i made my way down slowly (to savor the moment, but also to avoid breaking my neck), and walked around the roof of the main floor, immediately above the courtyard. shem had had to leave before i ascended the minaret, so when i got down i followed the direction that he had recommended, and wandered off into the streets and markets.
i spent the next hour making my way through these alleyways, finally reaching the famous (and famously touristy) khan al-khalili area of islamic cairo, where i had been before, and where i had seen the whirling dervish show.
after a few more minutes being shown around by some random guy, i caught a cab. he insisted on 25 pounds, which i refused. so, i got out and grabbed a different cab, this time for 20. i may have been scammed, but at least not outrageously.
this way a great way to spend the afternoon though. shem was awesome, and at least three other guys introduced themselves to me and showed me around for brief periods of time. love it.
salaam
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
today was a pretty decent day as well. actually, really similar to last night.
i had a couple courses today, and got back to the campus around 5:30. my friend corina had notified me about this refugee school program she heard about, so we caught a taxi to talk with the people about it. when we finally found the st andrews church where it was located, we sat down with one of the woman in charge for a while. apparently, in the mornings, from about 9-12 they have school from children, and adults in the later afternoon. corina is probably going to be leading a course for preparing for the toefl (some acronym like that) english exam. i'm not sure... i spoke with the woman in charge of the children's program, and if all goes well, i might be doing some smaller ration (1:2, 1:3, etc) tutoring with some teens in the program, working on their english skills.
that would be incredible. while i'm having a great time, it has occurred to me often that this is all for me, and i would love to be doing something that wasn't just about me. also, i'm going to miss the kids at the afterschool program that i go to in chicago. i'm really, really excited about the chance to do this. i have to remember to call the woman back in a couple of days.
after that, we went out to dinner, after which i did some homework (i still am in those blissful days at the start of a term when homework is at a minimum).
a couple days ago, this kid i met, ahmed, invited me to a recital he was giving-- arabic poetry, in honor of some great arab poet, accompanied by lute and some other instruments. that sounded awesome! funnily, it was at the same place i was at last night, so finding it was not the issue.
the show was scheduled for 9:30, at we got there at 10, but it didn't start until half past. the performance consisted of a piano-singer duet playing every other piece, and different readers reciting poetry in between. however, ahmed never appeared. i still really loved it (though i only caught a few words).
as corina and i were walking out, joking about how ahmed wasn't even there, he came walking up. apparently, we and a bunch of other people who came to see him had gone to the wrong performance room. it sounded like the one we went to was being televised, and the people running the venue wanted the audience as packed as possible, for good pr. that is really a shame. i felt bad for him-- he wasn't too down about it in front of us, but i know i would have been really disappointed.
next time, definitely.
after that, i bumped into kevin, and we sat around for a while, then wandered around to get some icecream. that's my third night in a row at that icecream place. they had better appreciate that.
and now i'm here, typing, listening to john coltrane and eating peanut butter.
and now i'm leaving.
love
i had a couple courses today, and got back to the campus around 5:30. my friend corina had notified me about this refugee school program she heard about, so we caught a taxi to talk with the people about it. when we finally found the st andrews church where it was located, we sat down with one of the woman in charge for a while. apparently, in the mornings, from about 9-12 they have school from children, and adults in the later afternoon. corina is probably going to be leading a course for preparing for the toefl (some acronym like that) english exam. i'm not sure... i spoke with the woman in charge of the children's program, and if all goes well, i might be doing some smaller ration (1:2, 1:3, etc) tutoring with some teens in the program, working on their english skills.
that would be incredible. while i'm having a great time, it has occurred to me often that this is all for me, and i would love to be doing something that wasn't just about me. also, i'm going to miss the kids at the afterschool program that i go to in chicago. i'm really, really excited about the chance to do this. i have to remember to call the woman back in a couple of days.
after that, we went out to dinner, after which i did some homework (i still am in those blissful days at the start of a term when homework is at a minimum).
a couple days ago, this kid i met, ahmed, invited me to a recital he was giving-- arabic poetry, in honor of some great arab poet, accompanied by lute and some other instruments. that sounded awesome! funnily, it was at the same place i was at last night, so finding it was not the issue.
the show was scheduled for 9:30, at we got there at 10, but it didn't start until half past. the performance consisted of a piano-singer duet playing every other piece, and different readers reciting poetry in between. however, ahmed never appeared. i still really loved it (though i only caught a few words).
as corina and i were walking out, joking about how ahmed wasn't even there, he came walking up. apparently, we and a bunch of other people who came to see him had gone to the wrong performance room. it sounded like the one we went to was being televised, and the people running the venue wanted the audience as packed as possible, for good pr. that is really a shame. i felt bad for him-- he wasn't too down about it in front of us, but i know i would have been really disappointed.
next time, definitely.
after that, i bumped into kevin, and we sat around for a while, then wandered around to get some icecream. that's my third night in a row at that icecream place. they had better appreciate that.
and now i'm here, typing, listening to john coltrane and eating peanut butter.
and now i'm leaving.
love
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Iskandria People
Are those fairies?
Biko-- I love this guy
Getting ready to leave
Taking out frustration?
That's right, i put in a picture of me only, because i'm that beautiful
Iskandria II
Sally Sells Seashells
View From Hotel
Cinderella's Castle
Are you telling me that's not crazy?
Random street, done up for RamadanI really need to find a more efficient way to do this-- five at a time is not optimal. bear with me.
Iskandria
Three little birds (or one at least)
A finely sculpted behind
I made that
Sweet houses
Roman ampitheatre
oh boy
i've been lazy about this for a while. basically, everything's going pretty well. classes started this last sunday (the weekend here is friday and saturday, for some just friday...that'll take some mental adjustment). they're ok. the university is really disorganized, partially because they're in the process of moving between campuses (campi?). also, i'm under the impression that at it's best this school is not the most well-oiled of machines. for instance, today i went to the registrar to submit my passport and some money and stuff for my visa. they told me that they did not have proof of payment of tuition, so i need to scrounge that up somehow (it's in my email somewhere). that's happening to a lot of people. also, sunday night, my teacher didn't show for class. which was kind of nice, but still...
tonight was nice. a friend randomly called to see if i'd be down to go to a jazz club, which of course i was. it was less than a mile away, called the "sawwy cultural wheel". unfortunately, i do not know what sawwy means, but i'll work on it. we saw this eqyptian group play-- they had drums, singer, percussion, soprano sax, cello, bass, and guitar. wild instrumentation-- pretty awesome. the music was alright. it wasn't jazz-- a mix of rock, funk, jazz, and pop, but i was just really glad to taste some new music.
after that we hung out at this place next to the dorm where i got some mango juice and had some shisha. that stuff is bad-- supposedly not very healthy, but quite wonderful anyhow. we just talked and hung out for more than an hour there- good bonding time, which i love. most people probably do.
not a lost else to report. i'll put some pictures up from alexandria- i don't feel like writing about that. too much work.
salaam
i've been lazy about this for a while. basically, everything's going pretty well. classes started this last sunday (the weekend here is friday and saturday, for some just friday...that'll take some mental adjustment). they're ok. the university is really disorganized, partially because they're in the process of moving between campuses (campi?). also, i'm under the impression that at it's best this school is not the most well-oiled of machines. for instance, today i went to the registrar to submit my passport and some money and stuff for my visa. they told me that they did not have proof of payment of tuition, so i need to scrounge that up somehow (it's in my email somewhere). that's happening to a lot of people. also, sunday night, my teacher didn't show for class. which was kind of nice, but still...
tonight was nice. a friend randomly called to see if i'd be down to go to a jazz club, which of course i was. it was less than a mile away, called the "sawwy cultural wheel". unfortunately, i do not know what sawwy means, but i'll work on it. we saw this eqyptian group play-- they had drums, singer, percussion, soprano sax, cello, bass, and guitar. wild instrumentation-- pretty awesome. the music was alright. it wasn't jazz-- a mix of rock, funk, jazz, and pop, but i was just really glad to taste some new music.
after that we hung out at this place next to the dorm where i got some mango juice and had some shisha. that stuff is bad-- supposedly not very healthy, but quite wonderful anyhow. we just talked and hung out for more than an hour there- good bonding time, which i love. most people probably do.
not a lost else to report. i'll put some pictures up from alexandria- i don't feel like writing about that. too much work.
salaam
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! i woke up at 3:00 again. i set my alarm for 11 am, and then slept through it, so i did the smart thing and reset it for 1pm, and totally blew by that one. i'm pretty sure i've officially failed adjusting to the new time zone. if you subtract seven hours from 3:00, you'll find a nice little 8 am, which would be quite respectable in illinois. whatever.
today was nothing special. went out to dinner with a couple people to a floating restaurant on the nile-- it was sit down, but pretty low key and cheap. i got kofta, with bread and rice and mango juice. i've said it before, and i'll say it again-- the juice here is unreal. really thick. kofta is sort of like sausage. at least to me.
after that i've just been chilling back at the dorm. i got an hour of arabic studying in though, so the day wasn't a complete waste.
and i finally bought a cell phone. that will be helpful.
catch you later
today was nothing special. went out to dinner with a couple people to a floating restaurant on the nile-- it was sit down, but pretty low key and cheap. i got kofta, with bread and rice and mango juice. i've said it before, and i'll say it again-- the juice here is unreal. really thick. kofta is sort of like sausage. at least to me.
after that i've just been chilling back at the dorm. i got an hour of arabic studying in though, so the day wasn't a complete waste.
and i finally bought a cell phone. that will be helpful.
catch you later
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
A bit of a good time, in HD
The richly-colored canopy we ate under
Kevin and Jason outside Mohammed's grandparent's place
The door we were admiring
Brick cupola-- I think this picture is pretty wack, because if you didn't know what it was of, it might resemble, say, a coffee table
Mosque, complete with structure in center
A bit of a good time
Tonight was probably the best time that i've had yet.
basically, and i'm ashamed to say it, i awoke (for the third time since being here, and the third time in my life) after 3:00 pm. after sitting in the room for a while, listening to music, reading the news, and generally feel sorry for myself, i decided that it was time to get out of the dorm. i wandered upstairs to where my friend kevin, from the preliminary arabic course, and his roommate jason live. we decided to catch a taxi over to coptic cairo-- it's a section of town that is pretty filled with mosques ("gamiaat") and churches ("kaniisa"). we left the building and i led them toward the nearest metro station. i was surprised they didn't know about it, since its sign is so prominent out front. when we got there, they promptly informed me that it is actually just the metro mall, and i knocked my ego back on its behind. oh well. we walked a ways to 26th july street, a major street through the neighborhood, and caught a taxi to coptic cairo. now keep in mind that as i write this the second day of ramadan in the islamic calendar is coming to a close. during this month, business hours are altered, and many major 'attractions' close around 3pm, and not 6pm. so when we got out of the taxi, and walked toward an historic looking walled area, we were told that the place was closed.
so we walked in the other direction. i really didn't mind-- i just wanted to wander around, see new parts of the city, and get some more of my bearings in general-- but i wasn't sure if kevin and jason felt the same way. for all i know they did, i have no idea, but i would have felt bad bringing them out this way for nothing.
we walked along a street with stores and apartments on one side (our right), and a long wall (not the aforementioned one (yeah, i said "aforementioned")) enclosing a cemetery on the other side. when the wall gave way, marking a corner of the cemetery, we decided to turn left and follow it down, through a narrow little street market. there were a maybe fifty or so stalls in about two blocks, selling fruit, vegetables, shoe maintenance, and all sorts of stuff. we decided to randomly turn right, and a couple of people were calling out to us. i know only a small amount of arabic, and could not understand them, so we tried to look friendly, said shokran (thankyou), and kept walking. then this guy jogged after us and, in very clear english, asked if we would like to join them for iftar, the breaking of the daytime fast during ramadan.
i think we were all pretty surprised (i definitely was) and after a confused moment or two we consented. a whole group of people, maybe thirty or so, were seated under a brightly colored cloth tent on the corner. they quickly cleared a table for us, and brought over some chairs. our table was just outside of the tent (i'll try to get some pics in of it)-- i wasn't sure what to make of this at first, but since one of the older guys there was sitted there, i figured it was ok. we weren't being put apart. we invited the young guy who had chased us down, whose name we learned was mohammed, to join us, which we did gladly. after about 15 minutes of preparation, which we were not allowed to participate in, though we asked, the meal was set and we started eating. it was pretty great-- aish (bread), a spinach/pesto-ish dip, a red, meaty dip, and some dates. there was also date juice, which was delicious and sweet, and another drink, of which i only braved two sips.
i've never had dates before. they're different. they had a thick texture, and a faint taste of caramel. or so i think. oh, they also had some buffalo meat. i'm a little concerned about that-- we'll see how my stomach holds up over the next couple of days. hmmm.
after dinner mohammed invited us over to his grandparents house, which was less than a block away. he lived right down an alley from there. they served us some amazing tea, and we chatted for a while-- about college, cairo, america, studying, and a whole lot of stuff.
eventually his father came by, and we talked with him too. we were probably sitting out there chatting for at least an hour, though i'd guess more. after this jason, kevin, mohammed and i left to wander around. we retraced our steps and made our way back to the first wall structure, which we were pointed away from. he led us down the street, past some street vendors and kids playing football (not that football). we found an entrance to the compound and went inside. we wandered a bit through the narrow stone and brick walkways, and eventually, while admiring an ornately carved set of wooden doors, a man came and led us to a church, tucked slightly away. it wasn't anything incredible, but it was still beautiful. apparently the hall next to it, which had brick cupolas, was build around the 12th century. that's pretty old. the main church hall (i can't remember what the name is for that, but it has a name), held some relics-- apparently the arms of a couple of saints. these were wrapped in beautiful sleeves, and presumably some other stuff, but still, i haven't encountered a lot of relics like that. they're not so common in america.
after this we wandered over to the nearby mosque, and waited a few minutes for the prayer session to end. we then ventured inside, and just looked around. like the other two mosques i went to, this was gorgeous-- marble and stone architecture, which columns every ten or 15 feet and a center area in the shape of a square, with a place to wash off. i got some pictures of this too.
finally, largely because i was feeling tired and the other guys pointed it out, we caught the metro (not the shop this time), back to tahrir square, and a cab from there.
it was a blast. doing something off-the-books like that, something that (i think) immersed us much more deeply into egyptian culture than say, visiting a famous building, was exactly what i was hoping for when we left originally. we met a totally awesome guy (mohammed), and got to partake in the iftar with his family and friends. it was wonderful.
after we got back kevin and i went to the restaurant right by our dorm and got some juice (the juice, or "ausiir", here is incredibly) and some shisha.
this was definitely an amazing night.
peace
basically, and i'm ashamed to say it, i awoke (for the third time since being here, and the third time in my life) after 3:00 pm. after sitting in the room for a while, listening to music, reading the news, and generally feel sorry for myself, i decided that it was time to get out of the dorm. i wandered upstairs to where my friend kevin, from the preliminary arabic course, and his roommate jason live. we decided to catch a taxi over to coptic cairo-- it's a section of town that is pretty filled with mosques ("gamiaat") and churches ("kaniisa"). we left the building and i led them toward the nearest metro station. i was surprised they didn't know about it, since its sign is so prominent out front. when we got there, they promptly informed me that it is actually just the metro mall, and i knocked my ego back on its behind. oh well. we walked a ways to 26th july street, a major street through the neighborhood, and caught a taxi to coptic cairo. now keep in mind that as i write this the second day of ramadan in the islamic calendar is coming to a close. during this month, business hours are altered, and many major 'attractions' close around 3pm, and not 6pm. so when we got out of the taxi, and walked toward an historic looking walled area, we were told that the place was closed.
so we walked in the other direction. i really didn't mind-- i just wanted to wander around, see new parts of the city, and get some more of my bearings in general-- but i wasn't sure if kevin and jason felt the same way. for all i know they did, i have no idea, but i would have felt bad bringing them out this way for nothing.
we walked along a street with stores and apartments on one side (our right), and a long wall (not the aforementioned one (yeah, i said "aforementioned")) enclosing a cemetery on the other side. when the wall gave way, marking a corner of the cemetery, we decided to turn left and follow it down, through a narrow little street market. there were a maybe fifty or so stalls in about two blocks, selling fruit, vegetables, shoe maintenance, and all sorts of stuff. we decided to randomly turn right, and a couple of people were calling out to us. i know only a small amount of arabic, and could not understand them, so we tried to look friendly, said shokran (thankyou), and kept walking. then this guy jogged after us and, in very clear english, asked if we would like to join them for iftar, the breaking of the daytime fast during ramadan.
i think we were all pretty surprised (i definitely was) and after a confused moment or two we consented. a whole group of people, maybe thirty or so, were seated under a brightly colored cloth tent on the corner. they quickly cleared a table for us, and brought over some chairs. our table was just outside of the tent (i'll try to get some pics in of it)-- i wasn't sure what to make of this at first, but since one of the older guys there was sitted there, i figured it was ok. we weren't being put apart. we invited the young guy who had chased us down, whose name we learned was mohammed, to join us, which we did gladly. after about 15 minutes of preparation, which we were not allowed to participate in, though we asked, the meal was set and we started eating. it was pretty great-- aish (bread), a spinach/pesto-ish dip, a red, meaty dip, and some dates. there was also date juice, which was delicious and sweet, and another drink, of which i only braved two sips.
i've never had dates before. they're different. they had a thick texture, and a faint taste of caramel. or so i think. oh, they also had some buffalo meat. i'm a little concerned about that-- we'll see how my stomach holds up over the next couple of days. hmmm.
after dinner mohammed invited us over to his grandparents house, which was less than a block away. he lived right down an alley from there. they served us some amazing tea, and we chatted for a while-- about college, cairo, america, studying, and a whole lot of stuff.
eventually his father came by, and we talked with him too. we were probably sitting out there chatting for at least an hour, though i'd guess more. after this jason, kevin, mohammed and i left to wander around. we retraced our steps and made our way back to the first wall structure, which we were pointed away from. he led us down the street, past some street vendors and kids playing football (not that football). we found an entrance to the compound and went inside. we wandered a bit through the narrow stone and brick walkways, and eventually, while admiring an ornately carved set of wooden doors, a man came and led us to a church, tucked slightly away. it wasn't anything incredible, but it was still beautiful. apparently the hall next to it, which had brick cupolas, was build around the 12th century. that's pretty old. the main church hall (i can't remember what the name is for that, but it has a name), held some relics-- apparently the arms of a couple of saints. these were wrapped in beautiful sleeves, and presumably some other stuff, but still, i haven't encountered a lot of relics like that. they're not so common in america.
after this we wandered over to the nearby mosque, and waited a few minutes for the prayer session to end. we then ventured inside, and just looked around. like the other two mosques i went to, this was gorgeous-- marble and stone architecture, which columns every ten or 15 feet and a center area in the shape of a square, with a place to wash off. i got some pictures of this too.
finally, largely because i was feeling tired and the other guys pointed it out, we caught the metro (not the shop this time), back to tahrir square, and a cab from there.
it was a blast. doing something off-the-books like that, something that (i think) immersed us much more deeply into egyptian culture than say, visiting a famous building, was exactly what i was hoping for when we left originally. we met a totally awesome guy (mohammed), and got to partake in the iftar with his family and friends. it was wonderful.
after we got back kevin and i went to the restaurant right by our dorm and got some juice (the juice, or "ausiir", here is incredibly) and some shisha.
this was definitely an amazing night.
peace
Monday, September 1, 2008
Actually, this is from Sat Aug 30
Basically, i'm behind on all this stuff.
this was the last day of the survival arabic course, and our teacher took us to this cultural center, and we got to speak with her friend, the director of the program. it was fun trying to converse in arabic-- whether or not you get it right, just trying to use another language is such a blast.
after speaking, we four out of six students had to leave, so that left myself and one other student, sarah. we ended up wandering around the nearby, super touristy market for a while, and visited a mosque. we also visited one before we got to the cultural center. so, as ashamed as i am to say it, those may very well be the first two mosques i have ever been in in my life. oh well. they were gorgeous. it was crazy.
this was the last day of the survival arabic course, and our teacher took us to this cultural center, and we got to speak with her friend, the director of the program. it was fun trying to converse in arabic-- whether or not you get it right, just trying to use another language is such a blast.
after speaking, we four out of six students had to leave, so that left myself and one other student, sarah. we ended up wandering around the nearby, super touristy market for a while, and visited a mosque. we also visited one before we got to the cultural center. so, as ashamed as i am to say it, those may very well be the first two mosques i have ever been in in my life. oh well. they were gorgeous. it was crazy.
these are some shots from the first mosque, and the sufi dance despues.
Pics from trip to New Cairo
So, here are some pictures from that night. feast your eyes. If you look close, you can see something like snowflakes in the air-- i was discussing that with someone, and we think it's the flash bouncing of some of the dust swirling about in the air. bet you didn't know that.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Yesterday
last night was pretty fun.
my roommate and i went out to dinner at this italian place-- i felt kind of guilty, like i was caving to my own familiar tastes in food. but, quite honestly, there are not a lot of quality egyptian style restaurants in this neighborhood. on the other hand, there is a bunch of italian, american (mcdonald's, kfc), and even asian restaurants. after that, when we were hanging out outside the dorm for a couple minutes, one of his friends from his arabic class, along with this girl she had met a couple of hours before, showed up, and invited us along in their search for some sort of bar. so, we ended up going to a place about half a mile away. after staying about half an hour, we searched for the 'sandbar' (what a clever name), but without success. instead, we stumbled upon a wealthy, upscale type place, where drinks were really expensive. after this, we caught a taxi to a place across the nile, and about two miles away, that ryan's friend had heard about. this and a place about three blocks away proved too expensive.
after this, we spent about 40 minutes searching for the restaurant/bar in the hotel odean, which, according to a guidebook, was cheaper. finally, we happened upon our original taxi driver, who gave us directions to the place, without even taking a tip (though i tried offering him one). i don't know what the chances are of encountering the same cab driver, in two different parts of cairo, on the same night, but i have a feeling that they are on the low side. after 10 minutes we got to this place, thought for a moment that the elevator was jammed, and made our way to a pretty sweet open air restaurant. there wasn't a great view, but the few buildings we could see, along with the breeze, and especially the hard time finding the place, made it worth it.
so, that's the story. we took a cab back to zamalek, where the dorm is, after about forty minutes, getting back at probably around 3:30am.
it was a pretty uneventful day besides for this, but this part was great-- meeting new people, wandering through the city by foot. it's unreal how awake the city is, even at 1:30am or later (earlier?). all sorts of vendors are out doing business, people are walking around, some with their children in hand. then again it was the weekend.
and traffic. traffic here is crazy. i think to get a ticket you would have to drive into the river or something. it's the complete opposite of the rigid, structured traffic that is aimed for in the states. this is something very organic. people often disregard lane markings, carving their own, and vehicles merge there way into the flow on major streets like they would if they were walking-- they just push their way along, and the other cars have to make way. i haven't really seen any accidents or anything. i guess when everyone follows the same rules, and accepts that other people will weave infront of or behind them seamlessly and without warning, the system holds itself up. it's just so foreign to me. crazy.
that's my theory for now at least.
love
my roommate and i went out to dinner at this italian place-- i felt kind of guilty, like i was caving to my own familiar tastes in food. but, quite honestly, there are not a lot of quality egyptian style restaurants in this neighborhood. on the other hand, there is a bunch of italian, american (mcdonald's, kfc), and even asian restaurants. after that, when we were hanging out outside the dorm for a couple minutes, one of his friends from his arabic class, along with this girl she had met a couple of hours before, showed up, and invited us along in their search for some sort of bar. so, we ended up going to a place about half a mile away. after staying about half an hour, we searched for the 'sandbar' (what a clever name), but without success. instead, we stumbled upon a wealthy, upscale type place, where drinks were really expensive. after this, we caught a taxi to a place across the nile, and about two miles away, that ryan's friend had heard about. this and a place about three blocks away proved too expensive.
after this, we spent about 40 minutes searching for the restaurant/bar in the hotel odean, which, according to a guidebook, was cheaper. finally, we happened upon our original taxi driver, who gave us directions to the place, without even taking a tip (though i tried offering him one). i don't know what the chances are of encountering the same cab driver, in two different parts of cairo, on the same night, but i have a feeling that they are on the low side. after 10 minutes we got to this place, thought for a moment that the elevator was jammed, and made our way to a pretty sweet open air restaurant. there wasn't a great view, but the few buildings we could see, along with the breeze, and especially the hard time finding the place, made it worth it.
so, that's the story. we took a cab back to zamalek, where the dorm is, after about forty minutes, getting back at probably around 3:30am.
it was a pretty uneventful day besides for this, but this part was great-- meeting new people, wandering through the city by foot. it's unreal how awake the city is, even at 1:30am or later (earlier?). all sorts of vendors are out doing business, people are walking around, some with their children in hand. then again it was the weekend.
and traffic. traffic here is crazy. i think to get a ticket you would have to drive into the river or something. it's the complete opposite of the rigid, structured traffic that is aimed for in the states. this is something very organic. people often disregard lane markings, carving their own, and vehicles merge there way into the flow on major streets like they would if they were walking-- they just push their way along, and the other cars have to make way. i haven't really seen any accidents or anything. i guess when everyone follows the same rules, and accepts that other people will weave infront of or behind them seamlessly and without warning, the system holds itself up. it's just so foreign to me. crazy.
that's my theory for now at least.
love
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Trip to New Campus
Today was an alright day. In the morning i hopped on the 1030 shuttle to the Cairo campus and attended a couple of orientation lectures-- one on egypt's relevance to us today, and the other on basic, boring, albeit important u.s. embassy info. the afternoon arabic lesson was ok-- nothing special. covering alot of practical things, of which, despite my year of studying the language, i am virtually clueless of. huh.
that got out at 4:30, and almost immediately after all the int'l students caught a ride on buses to the new campus, which is in a new suburb, "New Cairo", on the outskirts of the suburb limits, i think. driving out was crazy. mile after mile was filled with construction projects of new apartment blocks, often constructed very simply-- looking like massive towers of brick and concrete, with little to distinguish them. what struck me was the sand everywhere-- i guess i should have known, given that the city is surrounded by a desert. still, it's crazy to me. when we got to the campus, there was nothing manmade visible-- only sand.
the new student party was kind of lame. for the hundreds of students there, the university only organized three food carts. the lines were unbearable. i was able to sit with some of the people i've met with so far, which was fun. our movement around the campus, which supposedly is very large, was restricted-- i think largely for liability purposes, considering it is still somewhat under construction. basically, we were confined to the entrance plaza and a little ampitheater they built connection to it. it was pretty, but kind of boring. basically, the thing went on for too long. while there was some dancing, it was fairly half-hearted, with most people staying out of it. i have to admit that i never got in on it, so i have no right to complain. but i won't let that stop me.
i just went for a walk, exploring a new street i haven't seen yet. even though it was about 1:30am, the streets are still pretty lively-- vendors, grocery stores, restaurants all open for business. i stopped and grabbed a snickers, which for some reason i have become reliant on these last couple days. i guess its because there delicious, and you can find them on virtually any block.
one woman tried speaking to me while i was wandering around, and this very short-lived 'conversation' proved to me just how little i know. i believe she thought i was lost, and after thinking about it for a second, i realized that i had no way to convey to her that i was only walking. that's a pretty simple thing to say. oh well.
i'll try to upload some pictures from the night.
love
that got out at 4:30, and almost immediately after all the int'l students caught a ride on buses to the new campus, which is in a new suburb, "New Cairo", on the outskirts of the suburb limits, i think. driving out was crazy. mile after mile was filled with construction projects of new apartment blocks, often constructed very simply-- looking like massive towers of brick and concrete, with little to distinguish them. what struck me was the sand everywhere-- i guess i should have known, given that the city is surrounded by a desert. still, it's crazy to me. when we got to the campus, there was nothing manmade visible-- only sand.
the new student party was kind of lame. for the hundreds of students there, the university only organized three food carts. the lines were unbearable. i was able to sit with some of the people i've met with so far, which was fun. our movement around the campus, which supposedly is very large, was restricted-- i think largely for liability purposes, considering it is still somewhat under construction. basically, we were confined to the entrance plaza and a little ampitheater they built connection to it. it was pretty, but kind of boring. basically, the thing went on for too long. while there was some dancing, it was fairly half-hearted, with most people staying out of it. i have to admit that i never got in on it, so i have no right to complain. but i won't let that stop me.
i just went for a walk, exploring a new street i haven't seen yet. even though it was about 1:30am, the streets are still pretty lively-- vendors, grocery stores, restaurants all open for business. i stopped and grabbed a snickers, which for some reason i have become reliant on these last couple days. i guess its because there delicious, and you can find them on virtually any block.
one woman tried speaking to me while i was wandering around, and this very short-lived 'conversation' proved to me just how little i know. i believe she thought i was lost, and after thinking about it for a second, i realized that i had no way to convey to her that i was only walking. that's a pretty simple thing to say. oh well.
i'll try to upload some pictures from the night.
love
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Second Day (What an Original Title)
Today was ok. At 8:00 took a shuttle bus with the other international students to the downtown campus, which is where classes have been held until this year-- now many classes will be in the "New Cairo" campus, a new suburb located, I believe, on the fringes on the desert. There was a very long wait in a sweltering line for some breakfast, than the typical welcome speech and a bunch of booths with information on various practical needs-- transportation, health, visas, cash, etc.
I took a brief hour-long bus tour around the city-- it was actually pretty lame. I knew I should have just walked around...i'll remember that next time. Tonight was fun though- I wandered around with my roommate Ryan searching for a place to eat some actual Egyptian food, and after probably half an hour and a lot of retracing our steps we found a grubby little joint on one of the main roads leading into the neighborhood. It was similar to pita bread, in that it opened up, and I chose some sausage-type meat, salad, and a tomato-cheese-ish sauce to put in mine. I got two, which were pretty good, for only 3 pounds-- about 60 cents. Not bad. Then we wandered around to see if we could grab a beer somewhere, but there were no visible places that were not clearly really expensive-- not the local kind of establishment we were looking for.
I've been bumming around in the room since then-- a few minutes ago I realized that less than a day after starting this blog thing, I'd already managed to lock myself out. Solid. So i got a new password.
With love
I took a brief hour-long bus tour around the city-- it was actually pretty lame. I knew I should have just walked around...i'll remember that next time. Tonight was fun though- I wandered around with my roommate Ryan searching for a place to eat some actual Egyptian food, and after probably half an hour and a lot of retracing our steps we found a grubby little joint on one of the main roads leading into the neighborhood. It was similar to pita bread, in that it opened up, and I chose some sausage-type meat, salad, and a tomato-cheese-ish sauce to put in mine. I got two, which were pretty good, for only 3 pounds-- about 60 cents. Not bad. Then we wandered around to see if we could grab a beer somewhere, but there were no visible places that were not clearly really expensive-- not the local kind of establishment we were looking for.
I've been bumming around in the room since then-- a few minutes ago I realized that less than a day after starting this blog thing, I'd already managed to lock myself out. Solid. So i got a new password.
With love
Saturday, August 23, 2008
First Day
I got into Cairo last night at about 12:30 am. I and a bunch of other students recognized one another and made our way to the man who was picking us up. The bus made it to our dorm at about 1:30 at the earliest. With checking in and setting up, and such, I got to bed around 4:45am. Good stuff.
Today was fun. I woke up at 3:00 pm-- probably the latest I've slept in my life-- and went to a preliminary orientation at 4:00. A couple hours later the international students all went on a university-organized boat ride, on a medium sized sailboat called, if I recall, a "falookah". That could be wrong. Later, I found a couple of random people to get dinner with, and came close to getting lost looking for a currency exchange shop. And now I'm here.
I won't lie-- I am still a little on the scared side. Entering a situtation where you know virtually know one, in an unfamiliar place, is always (at least for me) intimidating and frightening, but that will pass.
Peace.
ps. I love you for taking the time to read this if you have! Feel free to respond. I'm gonna try to put some pictures up.
Today was fun. I woke up at 3:00 pm-- probably the latest I've slept in my life-- and went to a preliminary orientation at 4:00. A couple hours later the international students all went on a university-organized boat ride, on a medium sized sailboat called, if I recall, a "falookah". That could be wrong. Later, I found a couple of random people to get dinner with, and came close to getting lost looking for a currency exchange shop. And now I'm here.
I won't lie-- I am still a little on the scared side. Entering a situtation where you know virtually know one, in an unfamiliar place, is always (at least for me) intimidating and frightening, but that will pass.
Peace.
ps. I love you for taking the time to read this if you have! Feel free to respond. I'm gonna try to put some pictures up.
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