Ba'ad Ramadan

The Muslim Holy month of Ramadan is coming to a close this weekend. School is off for four days as the country celebrates Al Eid and then everything goes back to normal. I have never seen a society change so much as Cairo has during this month. The schedule of EVERYTHING changed. My classes were pushed forward and backward to allow for Iftar (the daily breaking of the fast that began at around 6pm and is now at just past 5:30), waking me up early for my 7:30 Arabic (previously at 8) and keeping me out late for my 9:30 to 11:45pm Supply Chain class (previously at 7:30). Even after 30 days of this, I still haven't figured out the operating hours of most of the shops downtown. Thankfully my cafe kept their normal hours, but every time I'm sitting there in the window and I look across the street at Radio Shack and the Ahwa next to it, my theories are always proved wrong.

I think the most interesting time to observe Ramadan is right during the 5 o'clock hour. At this time I'm usually walking to Costa to work on homework. It's always eery because the streets are virtually empty of cars and without fail every fast food place on Mohammad Mahmoud is PACKED to the seems with people. The queues are full and the seats and tables are holding Cairene's with food lovingly set out but untouched. The street along the University has the sidewalks full of tables where the poor are all gathered over bare breakfasts of bread, helweaat (a sweet licorice drink which is drunk before the proper meal) and sometimes Tamay'a or Kosheri (two Egyptian foods. Tamay'a is a falafel sandwich and Kosheri is a bowl of rice, chickpeas, pasta, and tomato and hot sauce... very good!!). The anticipation is almost palpable before the Iftar prayer rings out over everybody's heads. The devout ones take time for prayers before indulging, but most Cairenes plunge right into their meals before the prayer call is even finished.

A few weeks ago a few of us spent the afternoon in Islamic Cairo, which is the heart of Islam for the entire region, and had the chance to witness the festive nature of Iftar. Thousands of Egyptians were gathered together in the square, sitting in family groups on blankets with picnic dinners brought from home, under the watch of the grand Al Azhar mosque. The restaurants on the square had truckloads of extra tables and chairs brought in and all were packed with eager diners with their dinners tied up in plastic bags or set out on trays before them. When the call rang out, a wave of activity washed over the crowd as they all began to eat in unison. Definitely an unforgettable sight.

But now Ramadan is coming to an end. It was interesting while it lasted, and I'm a little sad to see it go, but not too sad.. I'm looking forward to being able to eat in public again.

New York, New York

I am currently at the Student Honors center of the SUNY New Paltz university in up-state New York. I met my house mate Marius M. in Times Square yesterday and we walked around the city for the evening and ended up at Grand Central Station where we hopped a train for the country. Nicole, my other Cairo house-mate, picked us up. The ride to New Paltz was steeped in talk of the good times in Cairo and general happiness for the unexpected reunion. Northwest Airlines won't have a flight until tomorrow so today Marius and I are road tripping further up with Nicole while she meets with her father. I'll be on the flight tomorrow for Mpls. Inshaallah. Amazingly nice day here. Everything is so clean!

Kids

Today Campus was raided by over a hundred little kids. They swarmed into the tennis court during my afternoon class and all gathered in the shade to watch a punch and judy show that, from what I gathered, was meant to teach them English. As I watched after class, the puppet was trying to count to ten in English but would always revert into Arabic until the kids, counting along with him would help out. They proceeded to sing songs together and generally goof off. Something I have noticed here is that children are the same everywhere in the world. They think alike and find the same things interesting and fun. I wonder, when does that begin to change as the different cultures really take root?

Friends

Over the weekend I dropped my laptop and broke the screen. Shattered it really. How typical of me. I didn’t think I could function without a computer so a few days ago I went to the computer mall, a big building a few blocks from AUC that is home to around a hundred little computer shops, to find a cheap monitor to hook up to my laptop. A few of the shops sold monitors and I found a place that sold all used/old screens “mish ghalee”. So I dropped a hundred guinea and walked out holding this dinosaur of a screen and managed to grab a cab back to my flat. I was so happy to have my screen I decided to set it up “alatool”. After ten minutes the screen was glowing and I was busy installing the software for my $10 webcam. It was then that I noticed the half-inch long “saraseer” (cockroach) sticking his head out from under the base of the monitor. Immediately, I flashed back to my friend Mark’s story about a friend of his who’s apartment building was being torn down because of an extreme cockroach infestation. She asked Mark if she could leave here television at his place until she could find a new apartment. He agreed. A few days later he thought to move the TV from the middle of his dining room over to the wall, and when he picked it up, twenty cockroaches bolted for cover. He never thought that the bugs would be living IN the television and from that day forward his house had it’s own cockroach infestation. Sad story. Well, all this dawned on me in a split second and I exploded from my room and ran downstairs to fetch the Raid. The can was practically empty but for fumes. I ran back up and grabbed the monitor without slowing and lugged it onto my balcony where I tipped it on edge and sparingly sprayed into the porous base. FIVE huge roaches wriggled out and I had just enough spray to kill them before they scampered out of sight. This was serious. I immediately brought the screen through my flat, careful that no roaches climbed out in transit, and brought it down to the street in the elevator. The bowab was there and I told him to watch it on the sidewalk while I ran to Isis Market to buy a new can of Raid. Once I got back I opened up the can on the monitor, eventually pulling off the back case to have better access to the insides. At first a whole pile of roaches tumbled out and I had to scramble to kill them all before they escaped. I sat out there for about an hour with the monitor in the middle of the sidewalk. The people walking by probably thought me a strange sight standing over it with my can of “mabeet a-saraseer”. Finally the bowab weighed in, (I think he was a bit amused at my frantic battle with the bugs) telling me they were probably all dead and I might finish upstairs on my balcony. I agreed and allowed him to carry it up and set it on the ledge outside my room. I was scheduled to have a call with Kristi that night so I hesitantly brought it in after a few more rounds of spraying until the thing was literally dripping. During our conversation about four more roaches tried to make a run for it from the monitor and each time they met their death as I talked. I knew I couldn’t leave it unwatched so I got a big garbage bag and put it in and sealed it up with a final blast of Raid. The next day I had daylight and a screwdriver. I took the front cover off and found their main hideout: a series of nooks in the plastic molding. They must have succumbed to the overnight fumes because the whole lot of them were dead. With one last series of Raid sprays I determined that, finally, I had beaten them and it was safe to bring the monitor in permanently(the monitor now no more than a bunch of circuit boards and a TV tube), although I have never really been at ease with it, even until now. Even though I was vigilant, there is no way to really know if one or two of the vermin managed to escape. I guess only time will tell. And thinking back I should have known better. The whole computer mall was infested with roaches. I saw one or two in half the shops I visited. And when the shopkeeper picked up the monitor to test it, I now remember the one little roach that ran for cover.

Chillen

Spring semester is well over and I have taken the last week to relax and work on some design projects. We finally got a cleaner to help control the mess that accumulates so quickly here. Seriously, I dust a countertop and by nightfall there is already a new fine layer of dust. Sha'bam comes twice a week and we pay him the equivalent of $7 each time for four to five hours of work. Definitely worth the money. It's nice. The place seems better, no more pizza boxes left out for a week and no more dusty floors.

Last week I spent five days at a camp between Cairo and Alex. The Christian group on campus was responsible for organizing the time and they did a great job. The place was nice with a huge pool, sports facilities and comfortable living quarters. The entire time was filled with enjoyable activities, singing, sunbathing, etc. I even rode a horse for an afternoon and have the chafe marks to prove it!

Well, Kristi and I are getting married. It still feels weird to say that. I even blanch at calling her my fiancé, but every time I get more used to it. We’re both really happy and excited for the future. The time doesn’t seem to pass fast enough! Of course wedding plan talks have already begun. There really is a lot to decide even this far out. I can see why people hire coordinators for this kind of thing, but I really don’t mind being involved in all the details. I’m stuck here in Egypt for another six months so I can’t really provide anything but moral support, a listening ear, and opinions. The hard work is left up to Kristi! We don’t have a date fixed yet, but we have it narrowed down to next summer. You all will know when I do!

The doctor came over today (our landlord) and I signed the contract for the place over the next six months. He’s installing a new air conditioner in my room, part of the bargain I struck before signing the contract. It’s going to be new and the split kind that cordons the loud portion of the unit outside and the quiet vent inside; supposedly it’s almost perfectly quiet. We’ll see. It should be installed in a few days.

Marius and Nicole are gone now, off gallivanting around Palestine, saving the world with some NGO. It was definitely sad to see them go. The four of us really got along well. At least they will be back in a few weeks for a day right before their flight takes them to New York (Marius is going along to spend the summer at his girlfriend’s place in upstate.) In the meantime their rooms have been filled by Sandra, a graduate student, and Neal a recent arrival from Boston and here for the summer to study Arabic. They are both really cool and I’m happy to have them.

The sun has just set here. This time of day is especially beautiful as the daylight fades and all the lights emerge over the Nile. Night is prime time for feluccas and the river is quickly crawling with neon illuminated boats playing loud music that I can hear clearly from my balcony. On the other side of the flat, Midan Tehrir turns bright with street lights and the shining billboards held aloft above the buildings. My favorite is the Coca Cola sign which alternated between English and Arabic: “Drink Coca Cola” and “Ashrab Koka Kola.” All the workday traffic congestion has emptied by now and the giant traffic circle is filled with cars of people headed out to for shopping in Talat Harb, or one of the many cinema’s. Arabic films are dominated by Egyptian filmmakers and Cairo has its own miniature Hollywood district where all the big film companies reside. And oh! are the movies ever bad! Terrible acting, cheap production, but the locals still love them and turn out in droves across the middle east. It’s actually beneficial to learn the Egyptian dialect over others because people across the middle east generally understand Egyptian colloquial because of the pan-influence of the media industry here.

It’s about time to start dinner. Rob and I went shopping at Alpha Mart yesterday and we picked up some butter curry sauce to go with a bunch of chicken I had in the freezer. I pulled it out earlier today and it should be thawed enough by now to get started on it. Better get going.

Dahab

So I am writing this post sitting in the Funny Mummy in the resort town of Dahab in Sinai. A mini-bus picked us up Thursday at 1am and we got into town at 9am Friday morning. Dahab is wonderful. It's a stretch of frumpy hotels and chill restaurants along the gulf of Aqaba. As one reclines on a Baudoin style couch and sips fresh squeezed juice he looks out over some of the best coral in the world. Of course one would never know without taking advantage of the many diving and snorkeling centers that are a ubiquitous part of life here. We spent the entire day yesterday relaxing, reading, talking, and sunbathing. Truly a nice change from the chaos of Cairo. Of course a bunch of us brought work to do, and we actually made some progress on all those late semester projects that are quickly coming due. And now it's time to leave. I got enough of a taste to determine that a week is needed after the term is out to really soak up the relaxation that Dahab offers. We're taking the 3pm bus which is supposed to deposit us at our homes by nine tonight. Insha Allah. Pictures soon.

Last Day

I last saw Kristi twenty one and a half hours ago. The airport had a glass walled security area surrounding the ticketing area so we were surprised to have to say goodbye so soon, and time didn’t allow us to linger. Just a quick hug and she was through, following her luggage which I had hoisted on to the x-ray conveyor. For twenty minutes I watched her through the glass as she waited in line, checked her luggage, and was handed her boarding pass. One last quick wave and there was nothing for me to do but go outside—back into waiting Egypt, and catch a cab home. My driver was probably disappointed for my haggling was insistent but without all the theatrics that make it satisfying once the deal is struck. By the time I fell into bed, Kristi’s plane was certainly in the air flying away from me at 500 miles per hour.

Somehow the pyramids had been shunted off to the last day. We were going to see them at the front end but ran out of time, and likewise, yesterday morning, we decided to push them off yet again. The things have been there for over 3000 years. Surely they will still be there the next time we find ourselves in Egypt again. We decided not to stress ourselves with a long haul out to Giza and confined our day around downtown. I made a persistent attempt to give Kristi a basic tour of campus but was thwarted by the “no visitor” policy (which was so frustrating let’s not talk about it). We re-visited Fishawy’s coffee shop and Khan Al Khalili to pick up some Egypt supplies for Kristi to bring home: Sahlab powder, saffron, Egyptian whisky (tea), scarves, shoes, scarves, shoes, and a nice Turkish coffee pot. At sunset, while Kristi was packing upstairs I walked over to Taboula, one of my favorite restaurants here—a Lebanese place, tasteful, very classy, very inexpensive—to make reservations. We were there 30 minutes later enjoying an array of middle eastern dishes and the cozy, quiet atmosphere. During dinner we both noticed ourselves struggling under a background heaviness. It’s like the day came with a shadow. Like we both knew something terrible was going to happen, and it was inevitable. OUR trip, the one we had both been looking forward to, preparing for, even dreaming about was now completely behind us. It was what it was and there was very little left to make of it. Not that we wanted to change anything, or make it better than it was. We both embarked with little or no expectations and very simply enjoyed each other and our time together. It was more that the opportunities to create memories together were dwindling and soon would be gone. The-2007-Egypt-Visit would soon be fixed in the past, and we would be apart again with only the task of reflecting and appreciating at a distance the depth that is hard to grasp within the thrill and happening of life.

Kristi finished packing. We took another swing by Café Zahara for conversation. A walk over the Nile. Picture business. Then the bags needed to get in the elevator. Call a cab. “Nathhab Illa Matar, Min Fundhlik” Wrong terminal. Wrong building. Running late. Departure Hall. Then we suddenly found ourselves stumbling into the very last part. Almost by surprise.



PS. we're getting married.

Cairo, Khalas

Kristi and I just got in from Café Zara here in Cairo. Café Zara is lovingly referred to by us at the house as “The Poor Café.” This is because we can all go there for coffee(.50cents), fresh juice(65cents), sahlab(60cents), and shisha(40cents) and walk away not much poorer than we already are. The place is staffed by waiters who genuinely enjoy their work and always have a little bit of conversation or banter as we’re always the only foreigners there. Actually, “place” is not the best term as Café Zara is mostly a collection of tables and chairs snaked through a conjunction of two alleys hidden behind Talat Harb square. This secret little gem was Kristi and my spot to unwind after a long day of travel from Israel.

The border crossing was a piece of cake. Again. We got through with no clear method to get back to Cairo, but it was immediately apparent we didn’t need one. Once we stepped past the last check point and entered Egypt free and clear and mentioned Cairo, we were greeted by a middle aged man who explained he was driving to Cairo and offered to take us along with his family for 300LE. We asked about the bus and tried to bargain him down once we found out it was leaving in about an hour for 150LE. In the end he came down to 200LE ($35) and we agreed.

While we waited for him to make arrangements we walked a bit into Taba and found a camel. It was tied up on the side of the road, apparently there to graze on some of the irrigated grass that was strewn along the road in patches. He seemed to have cleared his patch pretty well and became quite friendly once I approached with a handful of luscious greenery. Kristi snapped some shots of him. It was nice to not have a owner around to ask us for rides and money. Once I was done feeding him and staring at his hairy nose, it was Kristi’s turn. “No! I’m not feeding that camel,” she retorted in a silly voice, but she quickly agreed and I took the camera up to document and prove that, yes, Kristi has indeed fed a camel. Thankfully without camel slobber.

In a little while we were situated in the back of a white mini-bus with the man, his wife and three kids, and a Syrian man who was obviously paying like us to be taken to Cairo. This time crossing Sinai was done during the day, and the presence of our man’s wife and children in the car seemed to have a positive effect on his driving. We felt safe the entire time (but perhaps we’re merely growing more accustomed to the driving methods here). Six hours later we pulled into Cairo, happy to be done traveling and happy to be home. A nap was the first order of business.

So, we just crossed the 24 hour mark. We’re getting some sleep tonight, then trying to cram as many memories as possible into our day tomorrow before I accompany Kristi to the airport and see her onto the plane with a string of hard goodbyes.

New Jerusalem

Kristi and I are sitting in a Café in the new section of downtown Jerusalem. We just got our bags packed and are on the cusp of checking out of the Anglican Guest House in the Old City. The fact that we only have three days left is close in our minds. Today we will hop a bus to Elat and then see about transport to Cairo. The bus times from the border are unpredictable but it’s about a seven hour ride.

It’s beautiful here. The air is crisp and cool, the surroundings green with floral touches everywhere. Last night we did the walk from the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane. The hill was covered with knarled olive trees and a few landscaped gardens with histories we couldn’t ascertain. On the way down we passed a group of Arab boys playing on an old stone wall. They stopped long enough to give us some fresh picked fuzzy olives. By the time we actually arrived at Gethsemane the sun had set, the city transformed from day to night lights and the garden was closed. With a little disappointment we wandered up a walled road between two church compounds that bled into a huge Jewish cemetery. We stood there on the side of the hill, looking across the small valley to the Dome of the Rock, Al Aqsa mosque, the Golden Gate, and the Temple Mount. As I said: beautiful.

More Pics

Riding in a Sevice Taxi in Hurghada


At the Red Sea, Camel Talk


At an Ahwa Shop in Hurgada


Restaurant in the Luxor Countryside


The Main Throughfare of Karnak Temple


Rooftop of the Main Hall, Karnak


Kristi and Colin in the Main Hall of Karnak


Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Mehetpeteph


On a Felucca on the Nile


On a Felucca


Leaving our Hotel in Luxor


Alcove at Our Hotel

Travel Route

(click to enlarge)

Out of Egypt

We are in Jerusalem. Finally. The past few days have been a crazy whirlwind of travel and adjustment starting with our arrival in Hurghada to find the ferry to Sharm Al Sheikh was cancelled. We were told (and we believed) that the ferry would be down for a two days and if we waited we could catch it eventually and would be fine. The only other option was to get on a bus (which we had just gotten off of) and ride nine more hours around the Gulf of Suez to Sharm. This was not an option as the ferry only took 90 minutes. We looked around for a place to spend the next two nights and make the most of our time in this coastal town. The next two days were spent trying to relax in a place packed with the worst kind of tourists(Europeans). But we managed to find a few places that weren't so gaudy and of course sunshine is the same everywhere.

Unfortunately, on the second day, we discovered the ferry was not delayed for two days, but two weeks. Utter dismay ensued, as we realized the only way out of Hurghada was by bus. The next day we moped down to the bus station at 7am to await the bus to take us to Suez where we would switch to a bus cutting across central Sinai to bring us to the Israeli border at Taba. We immediately gathered from the Arabs that the Suez bus wouldn't arrive until 10:30. We took a minibus downtown for Sahlab (a creamy hot drink with nuts, raisins, and coconut) and returned at ten. The Arabs told us it would now be at 11:30. So we sat at the dingy station cafe for an hour. At 11:40 we learned it would be ten more minutes. The Suez bus arrived at 12:30. A mob quickly ensued and Kristi and I split up. I jammed my way on the coach to find us seats and she stayed back to get our luggage under the bus. Fortunately, I secured two seats in the back and guarded them from other passengers who quickly realized they would be forced to stand for the entire trip. Kristi arrived and we sat there sweating while the bus got its act together.

The sun was well down, seven hours later when we arrived in Suez: two hours later than normal. There was something seriously wrong with the bus and it wouldn’t top 50mph the entire way. Suez presented a new dilemma. We had to get to Taba, but the only bus was the next day at 3 in the afternoon. We had already decided that we would do whatever we had to to get to Taba that night, even if it meant hiring a car specially to take us there. We haggled the fare down to arbah miyya, khamsa wa ishriin ginea (425LE, $75), and after the crazy day we were glad to just get out of Egypt once and for all. Little did we know we had one more crazy adventure left before the border.

Mohammad worked for the Taxi station boss. And after much talking it obviously fell to him to be our driver for the five hour trip to Taba. We soon found ourselves splayed out in the back seat of an early 80’s Pugot station wagon with him at the wheel, and something was fishy. First there was the detour down a side street. Mohammad parked, told us there was no problem, got out, crossed a set of train tracks, and met with another Arab man, discreetly passing him some folded bills. He came back smiling too much. Then there was the string of phone calls where the only thing I could make out was that something was up. Thirty minutes later, we pulled into a service station and came up behind a Toyota mini bus with two figures perched beside. Mohammad proceeded to explain in Arabic that one of these men was his little brother and actually he would be the one driving us, not in the Pugot, but the Toyota. I think we both experienced an “Ah ha!” moment, because his game was finally unmasked. He was obligated to pay over half of our fare to the Taxi boss but the boss wouldn’t know about the mini-bus, and more importantly the nine to fifteen passengers they would undoubtedly fill it up with on the way back from Taba. After a good show of protest we allowed Mohammad to transfer our bags to the Toyota. Once we got inside an obvious argument ensued outside with the second man. The owner of the bus shooed us out of his bus and drove away. Mohammad took us back to the station wagon with no explanation. We got back into the car. I fumbled with the windows to get one to roll down for the trip and just as we got one down a crack, Mohammad’s brother pulled up, this time by himself, in yet another Toyota mini bus. Oh, so NOT the Pugot? Again? By now the situation was so crazy we were laughing at each other, and complaining LOUDLY to Mohammad. I think he was a bit embarrassed but insisted that now everything would go smooth. One more time, we switched cars, this time saying goodbye to Mohammad and pulling away with his brother Hussain. We soon stopped and picked up another man (“Zoom-leh-ee” Hussain explained, “my collegue”). All the better, Kristi and I concluded. Good to have someone for Hussain to keep him awake during the drive.

We soon learned that Hussain was crazy. The highway through the Sinai desert was uneven, winding, and in many places covered with sand drifts (which we named “sand snakes”). No matter, Hussain plowed ahead at, who knows, 70 miles per hour. All the time passing cars at high speeds, pulling tight corners, turning his headlights off while oncoming cars wooshed by in the other lane, and breaking suddenly on a regular basis. We prayed. I pulled out my Arabic phrase book and frantically searched for how to tell him to slow down. After I explained that he was scaring Kristi, I got him to slow down. A little bit. –An hour went by. Then two. And though our hearts were in our throats and we couldn’t wrench our eyes off of Hussain’s antics, I think our prayers were working, because we were still on the road in one piece. And though we began to trust his driving ability a little more, we never wavered from the opinion that he, as a typical Egyptian driver, was out of his mind.

A little over four hours after leaving Suez, we pulled into the quiet town of Taba on the tip of Aqaba. Hussain dropped us at the border, we rebuffed his pleas for a tip and let him drive away with only the fare. It was 2am. We made our way through customs, out of Egypt—crazy, unpredictable, shabby Egypt—and into a slumbering Israel on the eve of Passover.

Pictures

Kristi at Khan Al Khalili


At Fishawy's in the Khan al Khalili



The Train Station to Luxor


A Train Pulling Through The Station


A Quiet Nile Cruise Aboard a Felucca


Side Grotto in the Temple of Karnak


Relaxing by the Pool at the Hotel

The Eagle Has Landed

Kristi's flight came in about 2 1/2 hours late. I had been waiting for months for her visit, so I waited the extra time with practiced nonchalance. After a happy reunion our first concern was getting a cab to the city center. After a some haggling, getting out of one cab, and some more haggling, we still got ripped off by paying 100LE for us and two Norwegians to take a minibus into town. At four in the morning saving 20LE isn't as worth it. The guest house was a welcome sight. We got our things upstairs and into our rooms and went straight to sleep.

Five hours later we were up. Thankfully breakfast was still lingering on the table downstairs in the common area: toast, jam, fruits, coffee. I picked it over and saved a banana for Kristi who was getting ready to go. We hopped a cab downtown then the subway to Maadi. As on every Friday, the train was empty (i.e. we had seats) and Maadi was the same. I thought we'd be 40 minutes late, but the church service began a half hour later than when I thought, so we were right on time. The one thirty is an African service so we were well in the minority, which is what I like about it. The singing was especially lively, the kind that gladdens your heart. We strolled out of church towards Main Street Maadi where we got a bite to eat before heading back downtown on the train. The rest of the day was pretty laid back, we toured my apartment, walked across the bridge to Zemalek, took naps, and ate Hommos wa Shwerma at a river boat restaurant watching the dozens of neon lighted river jetties plying the waters of this ancient river.

The Fab Four

(Rob, Marius, Me, & Nicole)

Weekend in Sinai

Last weekend a group of us rented a mini-bus(with driver) and took off for the lovely shores of the Red Sea. We spent the entire time on the beach and playing in the cool clear water. It was a great time. Here are some photos:

The tunnel under the Suez Canal


The group all happy to be leaving Cairo


Checking into our rooms ($20 per night!)


Soaking up the sun!


Rob, relaxing


Me playing on an old surf board that we found


Rob and I's little hut by the sea


Sunset over the Gulf of Suez

Class Laundry

Last week in my marketing class, the professor was talking about market segments in Egypt. He used household laundry practices as a way to categorize the different classes of consumers in Egypt. The poor wash their clothes by hand—the same way clothes have been washed for centuries, in the sink, or in a large basin. The poor graduate from the bottom by owning a semi-automatic washing machine. This machine is little more than a big metal tub on wheels that one fills and empties by hand, the automatic part is a small agitating wheel that spins at the bottom causing the clothes to swirl around. The emerging middle class owns a front loading automatic washer. The Cairo elite own this, coupled with a dryer. How neat—all of Cairo society falls into these categories. Funny enough, this actually works here. Most of the population--the non-elites, do not own dryers. This town is nothing but one high rise after another and each building seems to bloom with the colors of laundry hung out windows and over balconies to dry. And in participation with the Cairene way, I just got done hauling a bunch of soggy clothes out of our large metal tub with wheels and hung them neatly outside to dry. Guess I know my place.

Mr. Walker's Neighborhood

To view this image in Google Maps click HERE

Riding The Subway

The main station of the Cairo subway system runs below Midan Tehrir, the huge square adjacent to where I live. Living in such proximity means many destinations in town are a quick train ride away. Maadi? 20 minutes. Dokki? Two stops under the Nile. It’s convenient, cheap (17 cents), fast (especially during traffic) and used by hundreds of thousands of Cierenes every day. During the busiest times the cars are literally packed with people and personal space becomes a luxury to be cherished upon disembarkment. Thankfully for women riders traveling alone, the first two cars of every train are reserved exclusively for them and even during the busiest times there is at least space to stand. A few weeks ago, Nicole and I took the train to the Khan. We boarded a full train at Sadat. The next platform was FULL of people and of course they all wedged themselves in. It’s actually rather comical. Before the doors open the people are clamoring to board. Problem is, while the masses are getting ON the train, another group of people are trying hard to get OFF. Naturally, a polite but firm shoving match ensues and everyone who is trying to get off manages to do so, and those who want to get on somehow do. So the doors opened at the second platform and as the mass of people pushed themselves as a group on it separated Nicole and I and pushed us deeper into the train. Unfortunately ours was the next stop. As the train came to it, the doors opened and MORE people tried to push into the train, but it was useless—there wasn’t another inch to be found. I couldn’t see Nicole as I swam towards the door, but as I was spit to the platform I saw her arm sticking out. I grabbed on and pulled, and, PLOP. She popped out of the train just as the doors closed behind her. Ahh, air!

Today I was on my way to Maadi for church and in my confidence boarded the train headed in the OPPOSITE direction. Once on board I delved into my book and didn’t realize my mistake until 20 minutes later when the station names were all wrong. I was already so late that that blunder meant missing the service. I got off muttering admonishments to myself and trying to figure out how the entire system turned itself backward since the last time I rode to Maadi. At least I had my History of the Modern Middle East book on me, so the retrace wouldn’t be a total waste. The trains come every two or three minutes so I was soon headed back downtown. A normal part of riding the subway is turning down all kinds of trinkets and do-dads that poor but enterprising people try to sell to their captive customers. Last week it was cheaply made sowing kits and light bulbs. The seller would walk through the car and simply hand one to EVERY person there. Once distributed he/she would come back to collect either the item or payment. Today it was an old woman and she was handing out pieces of torn out notebook paper with Arabic script scrawled across each one. I tried to ignore her with my nose in my book, but somehow she got me to take one, once I saw what it was I tried to give it back but she wouldn’t accept. I didn’t want to be stuck holding it while I waited for her to come back so I put it on the floor by my feet until she returned. Immediately, the man next to me picked it up, held on to it, and said something I didn’t understand. As soon as he took it, I realized my mistake. The pages didn’t contain recipes for ful or bad poetry, but verses from the Koran. I had just offended everybody there by putting the sacred words on the floor practically under my feet! Woops! The woman came back. People gave her donations along with the papers, and the man returned to her my slip that I obviously held in such distain. Heathen!

An Afternoon in Maadi

Maadi is a laid back suburb of western expats and well to do Egyptians south of Cairo along the Nile--a twenty minute subway ride from downtown Cairo. Yesterday found me there attending an African church service. I brought my camera.

By the Train Station


Vegetable Market


Neighborhood Street


Expat Girl Texting

Crossing the Street in Cairo

I recorded a short demonstration of the standard street crossing procedure in Cairo. Bear in mind, this is a mild example.

Turkish Coffee

A few days ago, I found all the paraphernalia for making and consuming Turkish Coffee hidden in our kitchen cupboards. Discovered: two specially designed pots (single serving and eight serving), miniature coffee cups, and fitted saucers. How Arabian. And delicious. Here's how we make it:

1. Grind five tablespoons of whole beans (thanks Cathy!) to a very fine powder.
2. Fill pot with four cups of water.
3. Bring to boil.
4. Remove from heat and stir in coffee grounds, 1/2 teaspoon cardimon, and five teaspoons sugar.
5. Return to heat and stir, remove from heat occasionally to prevent overflow.
6. Let stand for 4 minutes to allow grounds to settle.
7. Pour into turkish coffee cups
8. Drink over conversation or chess.

Afternoon With Back Alley Grocers

Classes have begun and I am finally starting to get into a routine. Wake up, go to my eight o clock finance class, then economic development, then I walk back home for some studying and an early lunch. Back to campus by two for marketing followed by Arabic. Ahh, it's nice to have a stationary place to come back to. It's feeling more like home every day.

So, today I didn't go home right away, but walked around to find a few small things I needed (can of paint, some hooks) and buy some food for dinner. Nicole requested chicken, so I searched for the almost secretive covered food market that I had stumbled upon earlier this week. On a street south of school there is a little alley way that one would suspect as a dead end, but fortunately I had to have a look and discovered that after a little while it opens up into a large open building with a bunch of stalls built close to each other. The group of merchants mostly sell food and kitchen products. I found about five general grocers, a fish stand selling whole fish in buckets, and a bunch of meat sellers with sections of cows hung in the open and various meats under (unrefridgerated) displays: steaks roasts, whole legs, blood sausage, and more. I picked one that didn't look/smell too bad and asked for "dejaj, nuss kilo" (one half kilo of chicken) he had some in a box and put enough into a plastic bag and I paid. Then some potatoes and conversation with a one thoothed lazy eyed talkative merchant. After the food, I bought the paint and headed home stopping to rest as it was quite heavy. The whole time back I couldn't help imagining the lift being broken again and I'd have to lug the paint up ten flights of stairs. (Actually, I'd probably have the bowab do it. That's what he's there for.) Thankfully for me (and the bowab), the lift was in working order and I made it up without problem. I immediately began taping and painting my room, and now wait for a second coat. So here I am. It's evening and the night call just ended. Dinner will be on soon. --Don't worry, we'll cook the chicken quite well.

Khan Al Khalili

So Nicole and I went to the Khan. We went partly as tourists, and partly because we needed some things around the house. Nicole was looking for a decent (but cheap) chess set and some new spoons, and I needed a mattress pad, a small rug for my room, and a lamp. Thankfully, there is a subway station a (long) block from our apartment and it dropped us about a half a kilometer from our destination. Khan Al Kalili is the largest market in Cairo. "Market" isn't really the best word for it as the Khan is an amalgamation of many different marketplaces smashed up against each other with no set boundaries. It's the kind of place that is impossible NOT to get lost in. It's streets collide at odd angles and each new corner beckons one deeper to new discoveries. The Khan has evolved over hundreds of years into a complete tangle of busy streets, raised highways, narrow alleys, and miscellaneous buildings all packed with thousands of shops selling anything you can imagine.

The afternoon was delightful. Haggling is truly an art form--something the shop owners and patrons both can enjoy if it is undergone with a mixture of humor and walking out of the shop a few times. I haggled a rug salesman down to about quarter of his asking price (He wanted $35. I got it for $10). Nicole bought a wonderful chess set (after about a half hour of working on the guy) for about half. About the only bathrooms available are in the Mosques and these with a small bagsheesh to the hamam keeper. I was glad to pay! By the end of the day, we really didn't walk away with a bunch of stuff, but as the Khan's sellers were shuttering their shops and the tour buses were lumbering away through it's impossibly narrow streets, we left with the certainty that we would be back. We had spent the afternoon in but one corner of the vast maze of wares, and there remains much to explore. The market is truly a Cairo experience. The best time I've had here so far.

Relaxing at the ar'wa shop at the end of the day


Left: Chai Bi Na'Nha Right: Ar'wa
(Tea w/mint & Turkish coffee)

At Night In Alexandria

Lighthouse Overlooking Marina


Palestine Hotel


Grocery Store

From the Bibloteca Alexandria

Hello, I am currently sitting at a terminal in the famous Bibloteca Alexandria, the modern day revival of Alexandria's ancient library that was lost in 391AD. The new version was opened in 2002 as a way to put this little town of 6 million people back on the map.

So all 227 of us american students have been caravaning around Alex for the last three days. We stayed in a great hotel and have mostly been chilling in the beautiful sea air and relaxing with coffee and dinner at various restaurants in town. This place is truly beautiful, but I am ready to get back home to Cairo. Traveling with such a large group is exausting!

Caio.

Video Tour

Baiti (my house)

Ok, so the story of how exactly I arrived at finding a home is a bit too long and complicated to tell in a blog post. Also, It's 2:45am here and I'm a bit too tired. But as of tomorrow, I have a place to live. Now, I must tell you that it isn't the apartment I showed you earlier. It was close. In fact two others and I were at the apartment to sign the contract and the owner walked in and said that he didn't want to rent to students. So that one bombed. And I sulked for a day and a half because I really liked it. But then today we got a lead on a big four bedroom place in Garden City, just a few minutes walk from campus, and we met with the simsar and took a look. At first, I was not impressed. The lift going up to the place was quite old and had its quirks, but upon entering I was completely surprised. But let me speak of the downsides first. The place really hasn't been kept up. It is about two years late for a thorough cleaning. It needs new carpet, and a complete paint job. While one of the bathrooms is remodeled, the other one needs to be re-done. The kitchen needs light, and a more counterspace, and some of the furniture is simply ghastly. Also, the building is nothing special to look at from the outside. Ok, now the upsides: The place is simply the largest apartment I have ever seen. It is at least 3000 square feet on two levels! It's the penthouse unit at the top of a ten story building. It has four generous bedrooms (2 upstairs, 2 down), three bathrooms, a large living room, a full dining room (which we will rarely use) it has a marble stair case, upstairs there are two reception rooms and one big lounge with large windows overlooking the city on two sides and built in reclining cushions/couches that wrap around three sides, and lastly there are three large balconies that offer amazing views of the Nile, Midan Tahrir Square(the center of the city) and (I think) the Egyptian Museum. All of the bedrooms have french doors that open out onto the balconies. Currently I will be living there with Nicole, an American student from New York, and Marius, a Dutch student from Amsterdam. We will need one more student for the last bedroom and perhaps one more to room with me. The entire place is 5000LE per month (which is 1250LE/$220 each with four. If I find a room mate it would drop to $140 for my part) and we'll be there at least until June.

The next four days are going to be non-stop cleaning for everyone in the house. It is going to take some serious work to get the place up to shape, and unfortunately the land lord, while welcoming the improvements, isn't willing to help much--so we're on our own. And that's fine. I'm probably going to paint a few of the rooms, and we're going to buy area rugs for the common walkways. There is a bi-monthly garage sale in Ma'adi and we're going to try to get some dirt cheap desks and etc for one of the rooms that will be the study room. We'll also need some lamps and stuff to hang on the walls. Thankfully we're in Cairo and most of what we will need to spruce up the place can be found much cheaper than in the US.

So My battery will die soon, so I'll post a few pictures that I snapped earlier. They really only cover one corner of the place so I will have to snap a thorough tour tomorrow. And it is perfect timing too since I check out of my flat at the Clergy House tomorrow morning! Thank you God!

The Foyer looking into the first living room.


The living room from the dining room (the bowab and simsar are pictured)


Part of the first living room


View from one of the balconies


Another view from the same balcony


The Apartment Hunting Team

A Day in Pictures

Currently I am caught in the middle of negotiations over apartments, and while everything is up in the air don't have much to say. Here are a bunch of pictures. And leave questions in the comments if you are curious of anything. Cheers!

Kids


Arab Moped


Possible Abode in Zemalek (currently haggling)


Nile Corniche


Clergy House Flat (my temoprary accomodations)


View From Clergy House Flat Balcony (26th of July street in the background)