It's Egypt

Some pictures of AUC's new campus. The top is the main gate, middle is some of the buildings (ya they all look the same...confusing), bottom the corridor where everyone stops because it is shady...hard to walk through...none of the buildings are actually buildings. It is hard to explain but they are just classrooms, no hallways. To get from class to class you have to walk outside.

The second big thing that happened in the recent past was my first week of class. That was interesting. AUC is in the transition phase between the old campus and new campus, which would be fine except everything is literally still in transition. Buildings are not completely constructed, desks aren’t all there, professors don’t have offices, classrooms are double booked, kids and professors were given different room numbers for classes, no one knows where anything is, etc. One of my classes was scheduled in HUSS 1016 which happened to be a men’s bathroom. Guess they had the wrong building written down originally…oops. Things like that happened all week. My drawing class was re-scheduled for a different time and classroom except no one was informed about it; I still haven’t been to that class. I think most of the kinks have been worked out now but I know a lot of kids were really frustrated at the beginning of the week. I am going to be teaching an English class on Monday nights to 20 kids who attend Egyptian public universities with an organization called Better World. I will keep you updated on this as I think it is the thing I am most excited about right now. They are also working with the harassment and environmental issues in Egypt. Seems like a pretty swell organization to be involved in. The commute to and from the new campus isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It takes about 45 min. in the morning (but that means on Mon. and Wed. I have to get up at 5:45…gross) and between 1-2 hours at night depending on traffic. I have never seen so many ipods in my life. Pretty much everyone brings headphones, a book and/or sleeps. Professors and students alike sit and watch out the window to see what interesting things will happen that day. One day I saw a man peeing in the street, another person witnessed a group fight, we see donkeys running along with traffic, and many other entertaining/interesting things. Could be worse.

Traffic. Taken from the coach bus on my ride home this afternoon

A couple of observations I have made about AUC and/or Egypt in general:
1. Students who attend AUC are exempt from many cultural standards upheld throughout the rest of Egypt. Examples include style of dress and PDA.
2. The same students exemplify other Egyptian cultural norms such as lateness, leaving garbage where ever, and a nonchalant attitude toward pretty much everything.
3. The kids who go to AUC are rich. Really rich. Like AUC holds the most rich people I have ever seen in one place. Gucci bags and sunglasses galore.
4. I would say that ¾ of the student population at AUC is attractive. Good looking rich kids are somewhat intimidating.
5. Egyptians are some of the friendliest people around, even if a lot of the time it is because they want to sell you things. People will just come up and talk to you on the street trying to put into practice the English that they have learned or even just play a little conversational churades. They ask where you are from, what your name is, what you like, show you around, take your picture and/or yell "Welcome to Cairo!" (I am pretty sure that I will get welcomed to Cairo until the day I leave...)
6. Children in Egypt do not have any sort of regular sleep schedule. They are out at 4 in the morning and fall asleep on their parents shoulders at random times throughout the day.
7. Seat belts/Car seats do not exist. Kids sit in the front seat, stick their bodies completely out of windows, sit on their parent’s laps, etc. Cairo has pretty crazy traffic. I find it befuddling that we put so much importance on something that we need probably about 1/5 of the amount that they do and it is not even a thought in their minds. I guess the traffic is slower for the most part but even so...I think I will do research on car accident statistics here and in the U.S...hmmm...
8. Garbage piled on the sidewalk smells bad.
9. Getting your haircut in Egypt is a scary but rewarding experience.

Pretty much I have learned here that you just have to roll with the punches and when something doesn’t work out, do as the locals do, shake your head and say “It’s Egypt…”

Alexandria

Alright, so quite a bit has happened/been observed since the last writing. I will try to cover most of it without droning on…if you get sick of it, stop reading. First of all, a couple of friends and I took a weekend jaunt to the Egyptian city of Alexandria which is along the northern coast. The city was founded by Alexander the Great and is home to the Library of Alexandria (rebuild because of the destruction of the original), the Mediterranean Sea, a pretty fantastic castle that was for warding off pirates, a bunch of little Egyptian style shops and the Catacombs. We got to see/experience all of these things except the last which we plan on hitting up during another trip. We took the train up which took a little over 2 hours and cost about $9. We stayed in a little hotel called the Normandy which had a balcony overlooking the sea and its own little charm. Sure it was right next to the main drag so there were car horns honking until 4 in the morn but it was pretty fantastic for a mere 20 L.E. or $4 a night.

The view from our balcony

During the day, we pretty much had to eat Pizza Hut the whole weekend as it was the only establishment open until after about 8 p.m. since Alexandrian citizens are apparently pretty darn strict about the whole Ramadan business. At night, for dinner we went to a market where, I didn’t eat because it was pretty much all meat but the rest of the group chose fish/shrimp out of a basket, brought it to a man grilling stuff and had it cooked right there. Looked fantastic…dirty but authentic.

We got some sobia and tamarind juice which we drank out of plastic bags. The locals we had met and that were showing us around were making fun of some of the group saying it looked like they were drinking breast milk…guess we need to work on juice drinking techniques. The guys got dress shirts and some pants made by a local tailor which was pretty fun. One night we went to a fantastic sea food place where the people were extremely friendly and the atmosphere was very much worth the $5 we spent for a huge meal. The place was packed when we got there with locals eating their iftar meal, they cleared a place for us and everyone got a platter filled with different kinds of fish, shrimp, salad, rice, and pitas. I can't really put into words why this place was special compared to the other fish markets around but trust me when I say it is worth visiting. During our stay, we frequented a bar called the Spitfire which had a very interesting story. It was a family owned place, passed down from generation to generation. It was an ex-pat establishment that originated for the British airmen, then became a place where mostly German military men would go and now mostly serves foreign travelers. The owner will ask were you are from and put on music from your home county. While we were there we heard an interesting selection including Johnny Cash, the musical Cats, Bob Marley and more. It was just a good place to sit and talk, relax and learn a little about the history of the place. On Saturday, when we were about to buy a return ticket at the train station a guy who looked pretty trustworthy convinced us to ride the bus instead as it was cheaper and still air conditioned. We figured why not and the 6 of us got in a 15 passenger van filled with Egyptians also making the trip back to Cairo. It was an experience as we blew a tire, waited while the driver fixed that (the guys all getting out and standing around him watching in typical male fashion), stopped at a mosque to pray, made another stop at a gas station, finally paid the man 22 L.E. and returned to Zamalek.

There are some things that bridge cultures...

Overall it was a great trip and we decided Alexandria is definitely a place to return to. The air is much cleaner than in Cairo, the sea breeze is relaxing and they have "the best juice place in Egypt." What more could you ask for.

Egyptian Juice

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Now that I have settled in a bit, I am beginning to find/be shown some of the smaller, less obvious places to visit in Cairo. Sure, I have seen the big sights as well. Last week, my friend Conner was having trouble sleeping past 5 am so one day he decided to go to the Citadel to watch the sunrise. He sent me a text inviting me to accompany him but as I am a heavy sleeper, I did not get it until he called at 7. He convinced me to hop in a taxi and join him at a local tea shop in Islamic Cairo (where the Citadel is, about a 30 min. cab ride). After a short protest due to the fact that I was still in my pajamas, I decided to go. It was one of the best days I have had here. We sat and drank tea at a place that everyone else that sat down already had their order ready for them since they frequented it so often. There was a man right next to the shop who would come over and take peoples shoes. He would give them a cardboard slab to put their feet on so he could shine them while they drank their tea. You could tell this man had been in this profession his whole life. When he walked to get their shoes, he could not stand up straight. While he shone shoes he continually smoked cigarettes. He sat in the shade of the tree and waited for men with leather shoes to sit at the tea shop. He was someone I wish I could talk to.

After we drank our tea, we walked around the outside of the Citadel and took pictures of the buildings and people of the area before actually going in. We joined a tour group that was walking around that happened to have another AUC student in it.

(Inside the main mosque of the Citadel. There is one lamp for each day of the year.)

After that we went to Khan el Kalili to meet up with one of Conner’s friends who is half Egyptian. He looks pretty American but can speak fluent Arabic. It was interesting to see the shop keeper’s reactions to his haggling in perfect colloquial Arabic. It was obviously not what they expected. Along those same lines, we had a conversation with a cabbie who basically told us that the more Arabic you speak, the less your cab fare will be. If you do not speak Arabic they assume you are an American tourist that has money and doesn’t really know how much a cab should cost. Whereas if you talk to them, they know that you have been here longer and know the right price. I visited the Museum of Modern Art here which was fantastic. I never felt such an urge to be back in an art class with Tim Cleary. Last week we had dinner on a Nile cruise ship. Then, two days ago, of course I had to take a trip out to the pyramids and the sphinx. I know that is the thing most people are most excited about and they were interesting to see. It is pretty amazing that they have withstood the elements all these years.

But as majestic as these structures are, some of my favorite things are much smaller. For example, there is a fantastic little juice shop near AUC’s old campus. One of the students who studied abroad here for a semester a couple of years ago (and is back) showed us where it is. Mohammad Ali’s juice shop offers just about any kind of juice you can think of and juice here is different. It is fresh, not bottled. They mix it up right there for you and you get a glass, drink it on the sidewalk and put it back on the counter. They rinse it out and refill it for another customer. This little juice stand has been full every time I have gone. At night they also have ice cream and milk shakes. Right now, the Muslims here are in the month of Ramadan which means they fast from sun-up to sun-down with no food or drink. This also means that most shops are closed because during the day no one is doing anything and at night when they break the fast they have a party for the iftar meal. At around 7 or 8 at night some of the shops open and Mohammad Ali’s gets pretty busy. The sidewalks fill with families getting their children treats and socializing after a long day of fasting. It is a bit sad because we probably will not have falafels or koshery this month and instead will have to eat in more westernized places but I suppose it is a small price to pay to learn about the customs of a religion. Besides, my stomach seems to finally be rejecting local food for a bit so thanks Ramadan...

Mohammad Ali's Juice Menu