Week 2 Highlights

Well, I did this thing for a while where I tried to live on about 20 Egyptian pounds a day for 3 days. That's 4 dollars, and I did it, although there was free food one night which was pretty awesome and helped a lot, but more about that in a sec. It's very possible to do, but difficult to do indefinitely. For example, there's this one place we call "Magic Window" next to campus where you can get pita bread with veggies and Ta'miyya/falafel for, just wait, 50 PIASTERS which are like Egyptian cents. I can eat 2 or 3, but the sum of it is that I can get a decent lunch for about 30 US cents, altought bottled water is usually like a pound if I want to hydrate. It's possible but not easy

And I can eat better for about 10 pounds in the pretty tayyib (tasty) cafeterias on campus and in the dorm.

And it gets better. Somewhere in the Middle East has developed this delicious concoction known as Fateer, which is essentially a croissant in the shape of flatbread, and for 75 piasters (you do the math), I get it with sukkar (obvious) or asil (honey). DELICOUS AND ADDICTING, great for breakfast or dessert or lifting your spirits. I asked for sugar and honey once and they made fun of me, although some people apparently get away with it.

So living on the cheap is possible, but if I did it all the time, I would miss out on a lot of adventures, and to some extent, it's hard if not impoissible to break away from my normal standard of living altogether given that I eat most often with other Americans and after a while, if the comforts of home are at all affordable, we're going to gravitate towards them.

That free meal I mentioned earlier? Courtesy of the Zamalek dorms, we had this great party with delicious food, entertainment by a Sufi Dancer and a "horse." I got to try my hand at being a whirling dervish, and then there was a dance party. Best. Dorm. Dance. Ever. Most of you probably know how I feel about dances and clubs (skipped my prom, avoided getting dates for BP dances, just not a huge fan). But this one was awesome. No prior notice, no alcohol, no fancy dresses and no cliched power ballads from the 80s or obnoxious rap. Just trying my hips at Arabic dancing, mingling with Americans and Egyptian girls, desperately trying to keep a rhythm and having a great time. loved it. Loved it. And then we went upstairs and did homework.

I had my first major incident of sexual harassment, other than the whispers, catcalls and all of that we've mostly gotten used to and learned to laugh off. A boy, who couldn't have been more than 13 or 14 thought it would be a good idea to touch my, let's say, bum. I didn't realize what happened until it was too late to do anything, so I flung a "Haram alayk", or "shame on you" after him, but he was gone and the damage was done. I was irritated and annoyed, but you just have to have a thick skin and keep your sense of humor perpetually on hand.

The rest of the week was a blur of meetings (I'm doing 2 extracurriculars involving teaching and tutoring English to refugees and under-resourced Egyptian public university students, more when we actually get started). I stopped into see Professor Mason from Notre Dame and we had a nice chat, catching up on life in Cairo, etc.

now Friday. . . I finally got to see the pyramids an sphinx up close, touch them, take a couple hundred pictures of them, pose in front of them. We also went to a sweet step pyramid a few miles away at a place called Saqqara, where you can see how the practice of pyramid-tombs developed. And as much as I know that the rest of Cairo is that much cooler, they are pretty spectacularly amazing to finally see in person. It was a gorgeous day, and we had a lot of fun. When you finally come to Egypt, and you SHOULD come to Egypt, it's important to step back, stop taking pictures, try to stop being a tourist even though you really can't. You have to sit and take in what the pyramids are, their effort, their age and dignity, really appreciate them as wonders of the world. Also, you must people watch. Listen to the languages, mock the inappropriately dressed European and American tourists, watch the big tour buses, in all their modernity crossing between these ancient monumental tombs. Watch how people behave, and the mixing of them all. Watch guys in native dress and some on camels pose for pictures with unwitting tourists and then demand money, baksheesh. Watch the souvenir sellers, how they work, how their livelihood is dependent on selling miniature pyramids, dancing camels and the like, never mind that Islam, built up long after the pyramids, is the center of everything in Egypt and yet peripheral on one level. We found out the hard way that these guys know just enough of enough languages to sell their wares, so "No Hablo Ingles" failed dramatically as a deterrent to the sales people, when they respond to you in Spanish. It really is crazy. And of course, there's a Pizza Hut and a KFC across from the Sphinx. Welcome in Egypt.

Friday was not without mishap. We went with AUC on a the trip, and trying to wait for people, we were running late, and as a result didn't eat "lunch" till about 4 PM. It was exhausting and irritating but still worth it. And then, after showering and relaxing, I went with some people for a little bit of Sheesha and conversation.

There are some pretty cool pictures, some are here but the rest you can find on my picasa album. (once again, http://picasaweb.google.com/CrazyDaisyLady/CAIRO) I've been a little muta'akhira (late) about captions, but I'll get there eventually. Questions about the pics or anything else? Leave comments!