The Things Wrong with this Place
1. Guards that don’t do anything, except look like they’re doing something important- Let’s start with the story of my friend waiting in front of the AUC library because she had left her student ID card at home and the three incompetent guards wouldn’t let her in. She is obviously a student, but no they did not want to let her in. She had to already have signed in just to get onto campus and been “scanned”, so they know she doesn’t have any bombs. Yet, they still wouldn’t let her in.
Every time I enter the library, a few students always beep and the red light goes off (meaning their cards didn’t scan or they didn’t actually use their ID cards to get in). They tend to do this when it’s rush hour so the three incompetent guards can’t figure out who just entered the library that had beeped. But, my friend didn’t want to do this. It is not that difficult to try and prove that she is a student at AUC, but no, the guards just wanted to be lazy and not let her in, not thinking that she needs to use the library for more important matters than just standing around and guarding nothing. If people want to steal books out of the library, it already happens right under their noses.
The guards that scan us before we enter campus aka: Most useless and ineffective quality of service
For about hundreds of students using this entry point every hour, there is a small checkpoint station where you have to put your bags in to be scanned while you show your ID card. So many students bring in what they’re not supposed to on campus (aka: alcohol). Except, guards don’t detect it, because they’re scanning for “weapons”. One case, they didn’t let my friend bring in his drum, which he wanted to use for an evening event. What type of harm will he try to make with his drum? If people want to bring in weapons, they can do that easily without being detected.
The guards at the dorms—They “check” our bags by looking at the top of our bags, and sometimes actually searching inside. Soo many students sneak in things they’re not “supposed” to. Shisha is not allowed in the dorms, yet smoking in dorms rooms is. You get points for sneaking in “shisha”. Lame! Once again, guards want to seem what they’re doing is important and effective.
2. The internet and dryers and washers in the dorms- The main reason why I’m trying to move out of the dorms next semester. I feel like I’m in dial-up mode again of the early 1990’s. I wait and wait for a page to upload, and then when it doesn’t fully upload, I have to refresh. This entirely sucks when you’re dealing with time sensitive information (like paying your bills or booking flights).
The RA’s have said that they’ve been working on this matter this semester for the longest and this issue only occurred this semester. Honestly, it shouldn’t be that hard to get some decent internet in the dorms, while every other place in Egypt has great internet. Constantly, we have been told that they’re working on it, and while it has gotten a little better (understatement), the internet is super slow. Their definition of fixing doesn’t make sense. They have so few routers in which so much traffic is going through. They need stronger routers with wider range capacity, not to mention, more routers if they can’t do the former. Yet again, they can’t figure that out.
Stated by an RA: “This is the only place in the world with free washer and dryer service for students’ dorms…It wasn’t even supposed to be a service provided by AUC, it was extra.” Completely incorrect. Dickinson, like other colleges have free washer and dryer services, with even both on each floor of dorm buildings. AUC dorms in Zamalek do not want to fix or get new ones because they believe it’s pointless because they’ll just break anyway and students aren’t putting lighter loads in the machines. Maybe, if they got some better machines, it wouldn’t be a problem. How do other colleges and universities have these services for free? But, they want us to use the launder services in the basement because they assume all American students at AUC are rich. My friend asked the receptionist when they would be getting new laundry machines, and when the receptionist said they wouldn’t, she asked why. The receptionist was surprised and responded in a scoffing manner, “Why, don’t you pay for doing your laundry back in the States?” No, not all of us take our laundry to get it done by someone else. We still do our own laundry.
The Things Right with this Place (and that I’ll Miss)
1. Housekeeping Services- For Sure!
The best thing about this place: calling the Receptionist and asking to get the room cleaned. Three to four women come with buckets filled with cloroxed water, a sweeper, and clean sheets. They conquer the room instantaneously. Five minutes later, you’re left with a clean bed and a spotless floor.
2. The Receptionist-
Transfers you to any place—all for food delivery of course. That speaks for itself.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Got sick and lost my credit card
So I caught a cold because the weather keeps changing. During the day it gets to around 80, but then at night, it drops to about 60. I hate it. I went to the health clinic on campus and the doctor prescribed me three different meds to take at all random times. Though, she said the clinic didn't have them and I would have to go to a pharmacy. So as soon as I got back to the dorms, I went to a pharmacy and to my surprise, the guy understood her chicken-scratch English handwriting. He went to look for my meds in the various cabinets he had on his wall and opened some of the meds to see if any of the pills were missing. I thought it was odd, but I needed these so I didn't object. I paid for the pills and went back to my dorm. My roommate thought it was weird that I had to take all these meds, but what can I do? They don't have Robitussin or other U.S. brands. The Egyptian meds are supposedly "herbal". I guess that's true since I don't feel loopy with them.
The other morning (just like most mornings), I called my favorite local deli to deliver my breakfast. Once I say my name, the lady knows my order and asks if I want the usual. I love that. But this time when I called, the lady told me it was already on the way. I was so confused thinking they already have it on their schedule to deliver me the usual, even without me calling them? This is great, I thought. So as I was getting ready to go downstairs to pick it up, my roommate walks in with my food and tells me she picked it up for me from the lobby. I thought that was sweet of her, but then told me she called them and ordered it for me. I knew it was too good to be true. Then, my roommate said she went to a bunch of different pharmacies to look for Robitussin, but all the store clerks didn't know what she was talking about. They asked her if it was something Spanish or Italian. Instead, she got suckered into buying some migraine pills for my cold.
~~
I wanted to return the Aladdin pants I got from Zara because they just looked weird on me, so I gave it to a friend to take to the mall tonight. I gave her my HSBC credit card since I bought it on the card. I got a phone-call from her some hours later telling me to not get mad. And then she told me she left my bag and credit card and ID in the cab. I couldn't believe it. That's how I take my money out from ATM's here. The first thing to do is try to call the bank and cancel the card. Except, I couldn't call an international number through my phone so I had to use Skype. Problem: the internet sucks in the dorms. I really think the school is cheap to pay for some good internet. I don't understand why since they take a lot of money from us (and the U.S. gov't--yes, U.S. tax-dollars are going to fund this school out in the desert).
After a dozen dropped calls on Skype (with waiting for "the next available representative"), I finally got through. Though, once I told the HSBC person that my card was left in a cab, the call would drop. So, this happened a good couple of times. I would advise them before-hand that I was calling through Skype from Egypt and my internet was really bad. I even told one HSBC woman to take down my cell number to call me back. She said she would have to put me on hold and ask her Supervisor. Great, you need to ask about following-up with customers, especially when there's a lost card involved? Shouldn't they be worried about fraudulent charges? Anyway, the HSBC lady said it was ok. Then that moment, the call dropped. I didn't even think about waiting for my mobile to ring. Though she got permission from her supervisor, I knew she wasn't going to call. So I started Skyping again.
A couple of dropped calls later, I even got to answer security questions. The most annoying guy however really frustrated me with his security questions. "What type of account do you have?" When I told him, he repeated the same question a good five times before I told him that I didn't have any other account and I wouldn't be hiding some information like that, it's only this type of account and NOTHING ELSE! He then asked me what month I opened my account in. What month? How can you remember something specific like that? So I estimated and gave him two back-to-back months. He said he couldn't accept that answer because I was giving him "two answers". What?? Then he asked me when my last transaction took place, and so I told him on my campus. Yet, he wanted a specific address. I told him the name of my campus, yet he still wanted an address. I repeated the name of my campus yet again and became this close to telling him that it was in the middle of the desert. Then once I got passed these "security questions", he asked me where I wanted to get my replacement card delivered to. I told him my dorm address. He then asked me what country Cairo would be in. What?? He didn't know where Cairo was?? He could at least not asked me that and googled it or something. How is he working for this bank? (This is one of many results of outsourcing!) By the time I was getting to my zip code, the call got dropped. Just my luck.
Then I thought about calling the local HSBC branch (since its worldwide) from the landline since the internet was being useless like it always is here. I got through. He asked me for my passport number. Then asked me for my second name. Second name? What's this second name that I don't know about. I told him I didn't have one. Then he told me that my passport number was invalid. Invalid?? I repeated it again. Still, nothing. What's going on. Is this some Bourne Supremacy plot going on? I exist. Then he said he couldn't help me. I was so close. Then I started crying on the phone. He felt bad so he then told me to call the NYC office. I said I couldn't, I wasn't able to. So he took down my mobile number and said he would call me back, which he did! He had me transferred to some guy in NYC where I was able to give him the information and have my card replaced with the call not dropping. Moral of the story: the number on the back of your HSBC card sucks--don't call the number if its stolen because they'll put you on hold, and it won't go anywhere. Call the local HSBC branch and have them help you.
Inshallah, the card will get here.
Just remembered another question that other HSBC lady asked me: Will there be someone over the age of 18 to sign for the card. Umm, yes..me?! How do these people work for a bank like HSBC?
The other morning (just like most mornings), I called my favorite local deli to deliver my breakfast. Once I say my name, the lady knows my order and asks if I want the usual. I love that. But this time when I called, the lady told me it was already on the way. I was so confused thinking they already have it on their schedule to deliver me the usual, even without me calling them? This is great, I thought. So as I was getting ready to go downstairs to pick it up, my roommate walks in with my food and tells me she picked it up for me from the lobby. I thought that was sweet of her, but then told me she called them and ordered it for me. I knew it was too good to be true. Then, my roommate said she went to a bunch of different pharmacies to look for Robitussin, but all the store clerks didn't know what she was talking about. They asked her if it was something Spanish or Italian. Instead, she got suckered into buying some migraine pills for my cold.
~~
I wanted to return the Aladdin pants I got from Zara because they just looked weird on me, so I gave it to a friend to take to the mall tonight. I gave her my HSBC credit card since I bought it on the card. I got a phone-call from her some hours later telling me to not get mad. And then she told me she left my bag and credit card and ID in the cab. I couldn't believe it. That's how I take my money out from ATM's here. The first thing to do is try to call the bank and cancel the card. Except, I couldn't call an international number through my phone so I had to use Skype. Problem: the internet sucks in the dorms. I really think the school is cheap to pay for some good internet. I don't understand why since they take a lot of money from us (and the U.S. gov't--yes, U.S. tax-dollars are going to fund this school out in the desert).
After a dozen dropped calls on Skype (with waiting for "the next available representative"), I finally got through. Though, once I told the HSBC person that my card was left in a cab, the call would drop. So, this happened a good couple of times. I would advise them before-hand that I was calling through Skype from Egypt and my internet was really bad. I even told one HSBC woman to take down my cell number to call me back. She said she would have to put me on hold and ask her Supervisor. Great, you need to ask about following-up with customers, especially when there's a lost card involved? Shouldn't they be worried about fraudulent charges? Anyway, the HSBC lady said it was ok. Then that moment, the call dropped. I didn't even think about waiting for my mobile to ring. Though she got permission from her supervisor, I knew she wasn't going to call. So I started Skyping again.
A couple of dropped calls later, I even got to answer security questions. The most annoying guy however really frustrated me with his security questions. "What type of account do you have?" When I told him, he repeated the same question a good five times before I told him that I didn't have any other account and I wouldn't be hiding some information like that, it's only this type of account and NOTHING ELSE! He then asked me what month I opened my account in. What month? How can you remember something specific like that? So I estimated and gave him two back-to-back months. He said he couldn't accept that answer because I was giving him "two answers". What?? Then he asked me when my last transaction took place, and so I told him on my campus. Yet, he wanted a specific address. I told him the name of my campus, yet he still wanted an address. I repeated the name of my campus yet again and became this close to telling him that it was in the middle of the desert. Then once I got passed these "security questions", he asked me where I wanted to get my replacement card delivered to. I told him my dorm address. He then asked me what country Cairo would be in. What?? He didn't know where Cairo was?? He could at least not asked me that and googled it or something. How is he working for this bank? (This is one of many results of outsourcing!) By the time I was getting to my zip code, the call got dropped. Just my luck.
Then I thought about calling the local HSBC branch (since its worldwide) from the landline since the internet was being useless like it always is here. I got through. He asked me for my passport number. Then asked me for my second name. Second name? What's this second name that I don't know about. I told him I didn't have one. Then he told me that my passport number was invalid. Invalid?? I repeated it again. Still, nothing. What's going on. Is this some Bourne Supremacy plot going on? I exist. Then he said he couldn't help me. I was so close. Then I started crying on the phone. He felt bad so he then told me to call the NYC office. I said I couldn't, I wasn't able to. So he took down my mobile number and said he would call me back, which he did! He had me transferred to some guy in NYC where I was able to give him the information and have my card replaced with the call not dropping. Moral of the story: the number on the back of your HSBC card sucks--don't call the number if its stolen because they'll put you on hold, and it won't go anywhere. Call the local HSBC branch and have them help you.
Inshallah, the card will get here.
Just remembered another question that other HSBC lady asked me: Will there be someone over the age of 18 to sign for the card. Umm, yes..me?! How do these people work for a bank like HSBC?
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Life after Swine flu break
I know it has been awhile since I wrote last, so here are some updates from life in Cairo. Swine flu break is obviously over and now professors were given the chance to make up their missed classes on Tuesdays (which we once had off). Some professors decided to make up their classes on other days, which is fine with me since I’m already used to having class 5 days a week. Things are finally picking up speed with midterms, papers, presentations and other exams already scheduled for this week and the next. Midterms when we only had a few weeks of classes! It’s alright. I’ll get over it.
I accidentally called my parents 6 am for them (while it was 12pm for me) a few days ago. It was funny because they returned my phone call later in the evening with my mom asking me if everything was alright. She sounded concerned and all I kept thinking was, even if it was an emergency, they decided to return my phone call 7 hours later? The conversation continued with my dad asking how I liked my campus, classes, the food, etc as if I’ve just arrived to Cairo. It was very weird.
Last weekend my friends and I went to the FIFA Final U-20 World Cup at the Cairo International Stadium with Ghana vs. Brazil. It was my first football match. My friends made me wear the colors to support Brazil, so I assumed most of Egypt supported Brazil as well. We were wrong. There was a good mix of supporters for both countries. Midway through the game, I realized that I actually liked Ghana better. All Brazil was doing was keep passing the ball when many of the players had clean shots to goal. Getting a cab back was nearly impossible!
There’s a “Gucci corner” or rather entire area of students on campus that replicate scenes from high school in the States, even more adverse. There are many rich Egyptians that very well look like they’re dressed for some sort of fashion show with all their designer clothes, bags, sunglasses, etc. It’s more serious than the States. But what’s worse is the awkward and random English phrases blobbed on the shirts. For example, “I don’t have a big Ego, I just love you too much.” Why would you even wear something like that?
Some American students decided to make a Facebook event, “Americans Liberate Gucci Corner” where we shall dress like “trashy Europeans” and “end” segregation. It’s happening tomorrow. I’m really not sure how that will turn out.
On another note, my friends and I definitely want to try and live in an apartment next semester just because these AUC dorms are seriously lacking in major areas.
1) The internet is slow and constantly drops. We didn’t have internet in our dorms for about a week!
Incident: I needed some information from a bank of mine, yet I couldn’t have called them toll-free without using Skype. I was afraid that once I called them using Skype, it would get dropped. I tried anyway. It was about 16 minutes straight that I was put on hold and the call didn’t get dropped. I was getting pretty nervous. A lady then came on the phone asking me what I needed assistance with. I quickly told her that I was calling from Egypt and using Skype and to call me back on my cell phone. She was a bit confused, but took down my number anyway. So I waited for her phone call. About 10 minutes passed by when I realized she was never calling me back. I called the bank again. I got through much quicker this time and as soon I asked for the information, she was halfway done giving me the numbers I needed when I didn’t her voice anymore. I put my head down on the table thinking to myself how close I was to getting what I needed. As my head was down, I heard a voice ask, “Did you get that?” I optimistically yelled back, “No! Can you repeat that?” Once I got the information, she tried to sway me into opening a savings account with them. Since I was so happy I got the information I needed, I told her, “Sure.” As soon as she was done reading me some of the information the call dropped.
2) There are about 2-3 working washers and dryers for about 100 girls. And clothes plus other types of clothes (hint-hint: why would you ever steal these?) are getting stolen.
Incident: Some of the girls had their clothes stolen and one of our RA’s recommended us to “sit” by the machines while our clothes were getting washed. That shouldn’t be a “recommendation!” They just need more dryers and washers so strangers aren’t coming in to use machines on other floors.
3) The elevator doors’ sensors are broken meaning that it closes and opens about 4 times before it finally closes and takes us down to the first floor where we have to WALK down more stairs before reaching to the lobby.
Incident: Running to catch a bus that only comes every couple hours when the elevator doors don’t want to close, sucks. And you can’t run down 6 flights of stairs in a minute. Maybe it’s possible, but you don’t want to early in the morning. My roommate had to climb those 6 flights one time because the elevator doors weren’t closing.
4) I have to take about 75 steps before reaching to the communal bathroom (because we’re at the end of the hallway). This causes my roommate and I to pre-plan our bathroom trips.
Incident: Just today, my roommate washed her hands with some bottled water in a bowl in our room.
5) The receptionist likes to choose or rather “screen” our calls.
Incident: The receptionist wasn’t picking up the phone for a good half hour so we had to get dressed to go downstairs to order food! I know. It sounds a bit spoiled, that’s the way things get done here.
I accidentally called my parents 6 am for them (while it was 12pm for me) a few days ago. It was funny because they returned my phone call later in the evening with my mom asking me if everything was alright. She sounded concerned and all I kept thinking was, even if it was an emergency, they decided to return my phone call 7 hours later? The conversation continued with my dad asking how I liked my campus, classes, the food, etc as if I’ve just arrived to Cairo. It was very weird.
Last weekend my friends and I went to the FIFA Final U-20 World Cup at the Cairo International Stadium with Ghana vs. Brazil. It was my first football match. My friends made me wear the colors to support Brazil, so I assumed most of Egypt supported Brazil as well. We were wrong. There was a good mix of supporters for both countries. Midway through the game, I realized that I actually liked Ghana better. All Brazil was doing was keep passing the ball when many of the players had clean shots to goal. Getting a cab back was nearly impossible!
There’s a “Gucci corner” or rather entire area of students on campus that replicate scenes from high school in the States, even more adverse. There are many rich Egyptians that very well look like they’re dressed for some sort of fashion show with all their designer clothes, bags, sunglasses, etc. It’s more serious than the States. But what’s worse is the awkward and random English phrases blobbed on the shirts. For example, “I don’t have a big Ego, I just love you too much.” Why would you even wear something like that?
Some American students decided to make a Facebook event, “Americans Liberate Gucci Corner” where we shall dress like “trashy Europeans” and “end” segregation. It’s happening tomorrow. I’m really not sure how that will turn out.
On another note, my friends and I definitely want to try and live in an apartment next semester just because these AUC dorms are seriously lacking in major areas.
1) The internet is slow and constantly drops. We didn’t have internet in our dorms for about a week!
Incident: I needed some information from a bank of mine, yet I couldn’t have called them toll-free without using Skype. I was afraid that once I called them using Skype, it would get dropped. I tried anyway. It was about 16 minutes straight that I was put on hold and the call didn’t get dropped. I was getting pretty nervous. A lady then came on the phone asking me what I needed assistance with. I quickly told her that I was calling from Egypt and using Skype and to call me back on my cell phone. She was a bit confused, but took down my number anyway. So I waited for her phone call. About 10 minutes passed by when I realized she was never calling me back. I called the bank again. I got through much quicker this time and as soon I asked for the information, she was halfway done giving me the numbers I needed when I didn’t her voice anymore. I put my head down on the table thinking to myself how close I was to getting what I needed. As my head was down, I heard a voice ask, “Did you get that?” I optimistically yelled back, “No! Can you repeat that?” Once I got the information, she tried to sway me into opening a savings account with them. Since I was so happy I got the information I needed, I told her, “Sure.” As soon as she was done reading me some of the information the call dropped.
2) There are about 2-3 working washers and dryers for about 100 girls. And clothes plus other types of clothes (hint-hint: why would you ever steal these?) are getting stolen.
Incident: Some of the girls had their clothes stolen and one of our RA’s recommended us to “sit” by the machines while our clothes were getting washed. That shouldn’t be a “recommendation!” They just need more dryers and washers so strangers aren’t coming in to use machines on other floors.
3) The elevator doors’ sensors are broken meaning that it closes and opens about 4 times before it finally closes and takes us down to the first floor where we have to WALK down more stairs before reaching to the lobby.
Incident: Running to catch a bus that only comes every couple hours when the elevator doors don’t want to close, sucks. And you can’t run down 6 flights of stairs in a minute. Maybe it’s possible, but you don’t want to early in the morning. My roommate had to climb those 6 flights one time because the elevator doors weren’t closing.
4) I have to take about 75 steps before reaching to the communal bathroom (because we’re at the end of the hallway). This causes my roommate and I to pre-plan our bathroom trips.
Incident: Just today, my roommate washed her hands with some bottled water in a bowl in our room.
5) The receptionist likes to choose or rather “screen” our calls.
Incident: The receptionist wasn’t picking up the phone for a good half hour so we had to get dressed to go downstairs to order food! I know. It sounds a bit spoiled, that’s the way things get done here.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Trip to Dahab/Climbed up Mount Sinai
Dahab, Sinai, Egypt Trip
We left at midnight on a private bus to Dahab in Sinai, Egypt. It was an 8-9 hour drive and the bus driver apparently was driving pretty dangerously. I knocked out on the bus so I didn’t see any of his driving. We stopped once for a break. My friend and I ended up in some sketchy bathroom stalls (obviously with no toilet paper). The little girls in the bathroom kept looking at us and smiling because they knew we weren’t used to this. We went back to find some tissue in the bus and used that.
We got to our hostel around 9am. We dropped off our bags and went to a restaurant called Same Same, But Different for some breakfast, which was right on the beach. We ended up having that for breakfast for the next couple of days. We’re still not sure what the name of the restaurant means, but it’s certainly unique. The workers at the restaurant let us play whatever type of music we wanted. We went from Whitney Houston (who they thought was called Gloria and made me seem crazy) and Coldplay to Eminem.
After breakfast, we changed and hit the Red Sea. The guy at the hostel allowed us to board the back of his jeep where he had handmade some vertical benches for us to sit. We ended up jeeping to the beach and back the next day as well. The Red Sea was gorgeous with clear and bright blue water. On the other side we could see fish close to us. Some young Beduin girls came up to us and sold us some hand-made bracelets. Their parents then offered me some Beduin tea and food right on the beach.
After getting some sun, we went to the strip and lounge-hopped. We were the center of attention in all these places, which was awkward sometimes. But, I don’t think any of us cared. We went back to our rooms only to wake up early again for breakfast.
We had breakfast at Same Same, But Different again. We figured we’d go to the Red Sea again since the beach was relaxing. We jeeped there once again. After some hours there, we called a guy to do some ATVing. Right around sunset we took our ATV’s out through some mountains in the middle of a desert right near the Red Sea. We saw some beautiful scenery. On the way back my ATV wouldn’t start up again. The guy who was leading us came around to try to start up my ATV. After awhile it started, and then kept apologizing. He told me that I would have to ride behind him and said I can’t go that fast. So he made me ride behind him until I figured it was riding fine. That’s when I told him I think it was okay for me to ride again. We got back with sand all over ourselves, but no time to shower. We grabbed dinner at an awesome local restaurant. Then, we had an hour before we were supposed to meet the guy taking us to Mount Sinai by bus. We were going to climb Mount Sinai the very same night.
I tried to take a nap for that hour until I got some phone calls from the states. One was from my mom who was wondering why I hadn’t called her in some days. I kind of forgot to mention to her that I was going to the Sinai Peninsula, so decided to leave the whole climbing Mount Sinai out of the conversation. Then I wondered if I was getting these phone calls right before this journey for some crazy reason or just a coincidence. What was going to happen to me on this mountain? Yes, I tend to get superstitious at times. I couldn’t nap anymore. My friends started singing outside our doors. So I thought I would just get ready for this nightlong climb to the mountains. The manager at the hostel told us that there was something all his guests said to him when they got back from Mount Sinai, but couldn't tell us until we got back.
I packed my backpack and we left for the bus at 11pm. It was a two and half hour drive to the site. The drive there was crazier than the drive to Dahab. This bus driver kept making random stops and picking up random people. We thought this mountain climb trip was organized specifically by the hostel we were staying at. Guess not. Once we arrived to the site, we saw a couple of hundred of people waiting to get their bags checked for the climb. I felt less nervous we were doing it in such a large group.
Our tour guide’s name was Muhammad (not unusual). And our team name was Ramses (not unique either). It took us about 3 hours to climb 7,500 feet with just about 5 rest stops (for about 5-7 minutes each) along the way. Right before we got to the top, we had to climb about 700 steps. And these steps weren’t all the same size. Some were unusually huge rock pieces that the monks supposedly built for their daily climbs. That was the most tiring of all. The stars that you could see from where we were were gorgeous. We could see Little Dipper and the North Star pretty clearly. Down below we could see narrow lines of just torchlights following us. Almost everyone had some type of flashlight with them. I wanted to take a picture, but was too tired to take my camera out besides for my water. As we got closer to the top, it was getting cooler. I was going from getting really cold to really hot (from all that climbing).
We got to the top just in time for the sunrise. It was beautiful. The sun was slowly peeking out. We conquered Mount Sinai, now how were we going to get down. We were hungry and exhausted, but we had to get down before it got too hot. It’s interesting the temperature contrasts out on the mountains within a couple off hours. It took less time to get down (about 2 hours). One of our group members got injured. His knee gave out and had to limp all the way down, which sucked. It was a hard climb alright. We got back on the bus around 10am and reached back to our hostel some hours later. We grabbed breakfast at the Same Same, But Different restaurant yet again. After breakfast, we crashed. The manager at the hostel told us that all his guests tell him that the whole Mount Sinai experience was very interesting, but they'd never do it again. I can relate!
We took a 4 hour nap at our hostels before I woke up really hungry. It was 5:30pm before I woke my roommates up and wanted to go to the restaurant we went the night before. We all went back to that restaurant and had delish food. After dinner, we went back to Same Same, But Different for some drinks. We continued our rest back at our rooms for some karaoke. We had the guys sing some Backstreet Boys while the guys made us sing some Eminem. We all sucked! But it was fun. We then got a phone call from a friend from another group also in Dahab inviting us to a beach party at the Hilton. We jeeped there as well. The beach party wasn’t too great. The DJ refused to play anything else but house music. We even pointed out to him that no one was really dancing and all he did was waved his hands in the air and said with an awkward European accent, “Ha ha, I know,” and kept dancing. We called the jeep guy and told him to pick us up.
We finally crashed into bed and ended our trip in Dahab with one final breakfast at Same Same, But Different. Oh, how we’ll miss that place.
We left at midnight on a private bus to Dahab in Sinai, Egypt. It was an 8-9 hour drive and the bus driver apparently was driving pretty dangerously. I knocked out on the bus so I didn’t see any of his driving. We stopped once for a break. My friend and I ended up in some sketchy bathroom stalls (obviously with no toilet paper). The little girls in the bathroom kept looking at us and smiling because they knew we weren’t used to this. We went back to find some tissue in the bus and used that.
We got to our hostel around 9am. We dropped off our bags and went to a restaurant called Same Same, But Different for some breakfast, which was right on the beach. We ended up having that for breakfast for the next couple of days. We’re still not sure what the name of the restaurant means, but it’s certainly unique. The workers at the restaurant let us play whatever type of music we wanted. We went from Whitney Houston (who they thought was called Gloria and made me seem crazy) and Coldplay to Eminem.
After breakfast, we changed and hit the Red Sea. The guy at the hostel allowed us to board the back of his jeep where he had handmade some vertical benches for us to sit. We ended up jeeping to the beach and back the next day as well. The Red Sea was gorgeous with clear and bright blue water. On the other side we could see fish close to us. Some young Beduin girls came up to us and sold us some hand-made bracelets. Their parents then offered me some Beduin tea and food right on the beach.
After getting some sun, we went to the strip and lounge-hopped. We were the center of attention in all these places, which was awkward sometimes. But, I don’t think any of us cared. We went back to our rooms only to wake up early again for breakfast.
We had breakfast at Same Same, But Different again. We figured we’d go to the Red Sea again since the beach was relaxing. We jeeped there once again. After some hours there, we called a guy to do some ATVing. Right around sunset we took our ATV’s out through some mountains in the middle of a desert right near the Red Sea. We saw some beautiful scenery. On the way back my ATV wouldn’t start up again. The guy who was leading us came around to try to start up my ATV. After awhile it started, and then kept apologizing. He told me that I would have to ride behind him and said I can’t go that fast. So he made me ride behind him until I figured it was riding fine. That’s when I told him I think it was okay for me to ride again. We got back with sand all over ourselves, but no time to shower. We grabbed dinner at an awesome local restaurant. Then, we had an hour before we were supposed to meet the guy taking us to Mount Sinai by bus. We were going to climb Mount Sinai the very same night.
I tried to take a nap for that hour until I got some phone calls from the states. One was from my mom who was wondering why I hadn’t called her in some days. I kind of forgot to mention to her that I was going to the Sinai Peninsula, so decided to leave the whole climbing Mount Sinai out of the conversation. Then I wondered if I was getting these phone calls right before this journey for some crazy reason or just a coincidence. What was going to happen to me on this mountain? Yes, I tend to get superstitious at times. I couldn’t nap anymore. My friends started singing outside our doors. So I thought I would just get ready for this nightlong climb to the mountains. The manager at the hostel told us that there was something all his guests said to him when they got back from Mount Sinai, but couldn't tell us until we got back.
I packed my backpack and we left for the bus at 11pm. It was a two and half hour drive to the site. The drive there was crazier than the drive to Dahab. This bus driver kept making random stops and picking up random people. We thought this mountain climb trip was organized specifically by the hostel we were staying at. Guess not. Once we arrived to the site, we saw a couple of hundred of people waiting to get their bags checked for the climb. I felt less nervous we were doing it in such a large group.
Our tour guide’s name was Muhammad (not unusual). And our team name was Ramses (not unique either). It took us about 3 hours to climb 7,500 feet with just about 5 rest stops (for about 5-7 minutes each) along the way. Right before we got to the top, we had to climb about 700 steps. And these steps weren’t all the same size. Some were unusually huge rock pieces that the monks supposedly built for their daily climbs. That was the most tiring of all. The stars that you could see from where we were were gorgeous. We could see Little Dipper and the North Star pretty clearly. Down below we could see narrow lines of just torchlights following us. Almost everyone had some type of flashlight with them. I wanted to take a picture, but was too tired to take my camera out besides for my water. As we got closer to the top, it was getting cooler. I was going from getting really cold to really hot (from all that climbing).
We got to the top just in time for the sunrise. It was beautiful. The sun was slowly peeking out. We conquered Mount Sinai, now how were we going to get down. We were hungry and exhausted, but we had to get down before it got too hot. It’s interesting the temperature contrasts out on the mountains within a couple off hours. It took less time to get down (about 2 hours). One of our group members got injured. His knee gave out and had to limp all the way down, which sucked. It was a hard climb alright. We got back on the bus around 10am and reached back to our hostel some hours later. We grabbed breakfast at the Same Same, But Different restaurant yet again. After breakfast, we crashed. The manager at the hostel told us that all his guests tell him that the whole Mount Sinai experience was very interesting, but they'd never do it again. I can relate!
We took a 4 hour nap at our hostels before I woke up really hungry. It was 5:30pm before I woke my roommates up and wanted to go to the restaurant we went the night before. We all went back to that restaurant and had delish food. After dinner, we went back to Same Same, But Different for some drinks. We continued our rest back at our rooms for some karaoke. We had the guys sing some Backstreet Boys while the guys made us sing some Eminem. We all sucked! But it was fun. We then got a phone call from a friend from another group also in Dahab inviting us to a beach party at the Hilton. We jeeped there as well. The beach party wasn’t too great. The DJ refused to play anything else but house music. We even pointed out to him that no one was really dancing and all he did was waved his hands in the air and said with an awkward European accent, “Ha ha, I know,” and kept dancing. We called the jeep guy and told him to pick us up.
We finally crashed into bed and ended our trip in Dahab with one final breakfast at Same Same, But Different. Oh, how we’ll miss that place.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Ohh Alexandria..a way to remember it the 2nd time around
So I had 3 hours of sleep before I had to wake up at 6am to get ready. We met at 7am to take a cab to the train station. We bought first class sleeper cell tickets to Alexandria for 41 pounds (less than $10). It was a very comfortable ride. It took us about 3 hours to get to our destination.
When we arrived, we tried to figure out where the beach was so I took out my Egyptian phrase book and asked the cabbie where it was. He had no idea what I was talking about and then pulled over next to me the second time to ask me where I got this book from. So that didn't work. I saw a woman on the street and I asked her. She replied in perfect English, "I don't speak English." It was the funniest thing ever because she had the most serious look on her face when she said it. We asked another 3 people before we headed in the right direction and the Mediterranean was in sight. As we were walking along the water, we passed by a crowd of people taking boat rides and just hanging out on the beach. As obvious tourists, we attracted attention. These girls wanted us to take pictures with them. Then, this guy insisted I take a picture with him. I wasn't sure what to say so I said okay. His friend took our picture, then he said shook my hand and shukraned (thanked) me. It was a bit weird, but the beginning of many pictures to be taken with locals. Oh how we didn't know!
After lunch at the Fish Market is when our journey of craziness began. We walked to the Citadel. We found out from some locals that Egyptians only had to pay 2 pounds to get in and foreigners had to pay 25 pounds. We didn't want to pay the foreigner price so we thought we would ask some local guys to buy us some tickets to get in. They got us the tickets, but as soon as the lady saw our tickets, she knew we weren't Egyptian. Our backpacks screamed "TOURISTS!" We had to get other tickets, but at least we paid student prices of like 15 pounds. We went to the top of the Citadel to take pictures and all of a sudden a group of guys started watching us and taking our pictures. I wasn't sure at first until I saw the cameras pointed directly at us. The roles were reversed. We were the objects of study. These guys then wanted to take pictures with us, so we agreed. One by one and two by two, these young guys were standing up and taking pictures with us. They would then shake our hands and thank us which we thought was interesting. We felt like some sort of Hollywood stars, until the unimaginable happened.
We finally (well my friend) mustered up the courage to tell the guys that we were done taking pictures with them. We literally spent 10 minutes going around and having our pictures taken with these locals. We got down and started to exit. We didn't realize until the group of 20 boys or so that we took pictures with were following us. They were following us all around and it got to the point where it was so crowded that was got physically violated. I've never had that experience in my life. We had two guys with us, except one just disappeared off somewhere so we had one male guarding us. We had to run from these mob of guys. When we finally exited, some boys saw us and asked me, "Remember me? One more picture?" I didn't know how to say no so my friend told them a straight "NO." I've never been more creeped out. We apparently were attracting a lot of attention. A lot of locals were coming up to us and taking pictures with us and trying to have conversations with us. From young newlyweds talking about going to Texas soon to little kids trying to sell us single cigarettes. We finally got out of there and went elsewhere.
We cabbed to the Catacombs area, except the cabbie didn't drop us to the exact location. We had to walk in a local neighborhood to get to the place, which once again attracted much attention. We saw 10-year olds on motorcycles and young girls who wanted to shake our hands. We finally got there around 5pm right when it closed. So we walked back through this local neighborhood and realized we couldn't stay in one place for some time because we grew mobs of people that liked to surround us and sometimes bother us.
We cabbed out to the beach. We entered a hotel entrance and told them we wanted to take pictures just so we didn't have to go to the public beach where more people would have bothered us. The hotel receptionists were nice and let us in. When we exited, we found out that the room rates were $200 for locals and $400 for foreigners per night!
After the beach we had dinner. At about 7:30pm, we decided to cab back to the train station and got there at 8:10. We had some challenges figuring out where to buy our tickets from and where our platform was. We thought the next train would leave at 8:45pm so we casually started to walk to our platform. We asked a guy if this was our train and he said yes and it would leave in a few minutes. We ran to the train and just as we thought we made it, we realized the first class sleeper cell was all the way in the front end of the train while we were all the way on the other end. We ran so fast, again. As soon as we entered our cabin, we were out of breath and all the passengers could see how we were gasping for air. Two minutes later, our train left the platform. We completely confused the 8:45pm time with the 8:15pm time.
We got back to Cairo at about 11pm. We got a cab, however the minute we told him we were American, he wanted to charge us $15 instead of 15 Egyptian pounds (equaling to about $3). We said no and that we would just take another cab then. He agreed, except it was like sitting in deathcab. The most awkward thing about the ride was how he slipped on his seat belt. I have never seen this with all the cabs I have been in Cairo. He did it with such ease. The seat belt was already buckled, he just swung it over his head and that is when I wondered why he put it in on and how we weren't able to. Yet, we made it all safely back home, Alhumdulilah. We survived this strangely adventurous day in Alexandria.
When we arrived, we tried to figure out where the beach was so I took out my Egyptian phrase book and asked the cabbie where it was. He had no idea what I was talking about and then pulled over next to me the second time to ask me where I got this book from. So that didn't work. I saw a woman on the street and I asked her. She replied in perfect English, "I don't speak English." It was the funniest thing ever because she had the most serious look on her face when she said it. We asked another 3 people before we headed in the right direction and the Mediterranean was in sight. As we were walking along the water, we passed by a crowd of people taking boat rides and just hanging out on the beach. As obvious tourists, we attracted attention. These girls wanted us to take pictures with them. Then, this guy insisted I take a picture with him. I wasn't sure what to say so I said okay. His friend took our picture, then he said shook my hand and shukraned (thanked) me. It was a bit weird, but the beginning of many pictures to be taken with locals. Oh how we didn't know!
After lunch at the Fish Market is when our journey of craziness began. We walked to the Citadel. We found out from some locals that Egyptians only had to pay 2 pounds to get in and foreigners had to pay 25 pounds. We didn't want to pay the foreigner price so we thought we would ask some local guys to buy us some tickets to get in. They got us the tickets, but as soon as the lady saw our tickets, she knew we weren't Egyptian. Our backpacks screamed "TOURISTS!" We had to get other tickets, but at least we paid student prices of like 15 pounds. We went to the top of the Citadel to take pictures and all of a sudden a group of guys started watching us and taking our pictures. I wasn't sure at first until I saw the cameras pointed directly at us. The roles were reversed. We were the objects of study. These guys then wanted to take pictures with us, so we agreed. One by one and two by two, these young guys were standing up and taking pictures with us. They would then shake our hands and thank us which we thought was interesting. We felt like some sort of Hollywood stars, until the unimaginable happened.
We finally (well my friend) mustered up the courage to tell the guys that we were done taking pictures with them. We literally spent 10 minutes going around and having our pictures taken with these locals. We got down and started to exit. We didn't realize until the group of 20 boys or so that we took pictures with were following us. They were following us all around and it got to the point where it was so crowded that was got physically violated. I've never had that experience in my life. We had two guys with us, except one just disappeared off somewhere so we had one male guarding us. We had to run from these mob of guys. When we finally exited, some boys saw us and asked me, "Remember me? One more picture?" I didn't know how to say no so my friend told them a straight "NO." I've never been more creeped out. We apparently were attracting a lot of attention. A lot of locals were coming up to us and taking pictures with us and trying to have conversations with us. From young newlyweds talking about going to Texas soon to little kids trying to sell us single cigarettes. We finally got out of there and went elsewhere.
We cabbed to the Catacombs area, except the cabbie didn't drop us to the exact location. We had to walk in a local neighborhood to get to the place, which once again attracted much attention. We saw 10-year olds on motorcycles and young girls who wanted to shake our hands. We finally got there around 5pm right when it closed. So we walked back through this local neighborhood and realized we couldn't stay in one place for some time because we grew mobs of people that liked to surround us and sometimes bother us.
We cabbed out to the beach. We entered a hotel entrance and told them we wanted to take pictures just so we didn't have to go to the public beach where more people would have bothered us. The hotel receptionists were nice and let us in. When we exited, we found out that the room rates were $200 for locals and $400 for foreigners per night!
After the beach we had dinner. At about 7:30pm, we decided to cab back to the train station and got there at 8:10. We had some challenges figuring out where to buy our tickets from and where our platform was. We thought the next train would leave at 8:45pm so we casually started to walk to our platform. We asked a guy if this was our train and he said yes and it would leave in a few minutes. We ran to the train and just as we thought we made it, we realized the first class sleeper cell was all the way in the front end of the train while we were all the way on the other end. We ran so fast, again. As soon as we entered our cabin, we were out of breath and all the passengers could see how we were gasping for air. Two minutes later, our train left the platform. We completely confused the 8:45pm time with the 8:15pm time.
We got back to Cairo at about 11pm. We got a cab, however the minute we told him we were American, he wanted to charge us $15 instead of 15 Egyptian pounds (equaling to about $3). We said no and that we would just take another cab then. He agreed, except it was like sitting in deathcab. The most awkward thing about the ride was how he slipped on his seat belt. I have never seen this with all the cabs I have been in Cairo. He did it with such ease. The seat belt was already buckled, he just swung it over his head and that is when I wondered why he put it in on and how we weren't able to. Yet, we made it all safely back home, Alhumdulilah. We survived this strangely adventurous day in Alexandria.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Eid time in al-Qahira
I was talking to a friend about when Eid might be and that's when I realized I could call the receptionist and find out the same information. He responded, "Yes, Eid is tomorrow." I was so happy and called my friend to go out and buy some mehndi (henna). It was officially chand raat. We went to a few pharmacies to find it, but they were all for hair. The guy at the pharmacy insisted it could be used for the hand and kept telling us to use it with a "sa-ring". In the back of my mind I thought he was telling us to use it with a syringe, but hoped it wasn't. Then I had a confused look on my face and he just popped out a syringe to show me. My mouth just went open and the word, "Uhhhh" came out. He then reassured me that I don't need to use the "needle" part. Obviously! That would be intensely inappropriate. It was interesting to see with how much ease he took out a syringe. I replied, "La shukran." (No thanks). I took the henna in the form of powder (that's used for hair) and paid for it. He didn't have the exact change to return to me and popped out a mini packet of shampoo and handed that as currency. I was once again confused, but simply took the shampoo packet and walked out the door. I've never been given some shampoo packet as currency (bartering, really?) If only I can go to a restaurant with some friends and we could all look into our bags, put some value on our belongings and pay the check with it. (10 pounds of Vodaphone credit minutes? Maybe.)
So now my friends and I had henna in a huge pouch in the form of powder. We read the directions and had to mix it with water and let it sit for an hour. It was an interesting process. We created the liquid form of henna in a small cup and spoon, but now how were we going to put it on our hands without an actual tube. Should we have bought the "sa-ring" from him? I thought of using some toothpicks, but didn't have any. We were able to find matchsticks. Yes, matchsticks. We put on henna with matchsticks and listening to some old-school pop and Bollywood music. Around 2am we ordered some Papa John's, which was hard to eat with one hand. We managed.
We were supposed to be ready by 5:30am to leave for Eid prayer. We made plans to go to Al-Azhar mosque for prayer. Though, we were still putting henna on until 3am and finally decided to maybe sleep for an hour before we had to get ready for prayer. I caught some shut-eye for an hour before my alarm went off. I didn't bring any special Eid outfits from the US, so I just put an outfit together with whatever I had that looked fun. We were waiting in the lobby at 5:15 to catch some cabs. We walked out to the main road. It takes less than a minute to find a cab anywhere around our area and most areas in Cairo. But today was Eid and we couldn't find any cabs. We found one cabbie who told us he was going home to change and then he would go to Al-Azhar mosque. 5:30 was quickly approaching and we thought we wouldn't make it to Al-Azhar since there weren't any cabs coming our way. We decided that we would just go to the local mosque near the Nile River and just do our Eid prayer there. Just as we approached the local mosque, we found a cab. All five of us crammed in this cab because we weren't going to find another one. We got to Al-Azhar just in time. It was incredibly crowded in there. The prayer was literally five-seven minutes, yet there were hundreds of people in this small, yet famous mosque. It took awhile to get in and out. The crowd reminded me of the Khan-el-Khalili market at night. Catching a cab on the way was much more difficult. We waiting in one area for about 20 minutes then decided to go to the other side of traffic and wait for a cab. We finally found one.
We went back to our dorms and ate breakfast at the local cafe. It was now about 8am and decided to sleep and wake up again around dinner time. Yes, my sleeping schedule is a bit disorganized, but I shall get it back to normal soon, Inshallah. We had dinner at the Pottery Cafe and watched a movie afterward. It was a nice Eid with some good friends.
So now my friends and I had henna in a huge pouch in the form of powder. We read the directions and had to mix it with water and let it sit for an hour. It was an interesting process. We created the liquid form of henna in a small cup and spoon, but now how were we going to put it on our hands without an actual tube. Should we have bought the "sa-ring" from him? I thought of using some toothpicks, but didn't have any. We were able to find matchsticks. Yes, matchsticks. We put on henna with matchsticks and listening to some old-school pop and Bollywood music. Around 2am we ordered some Papa John's, which was hard to eat with one hand. We managed.
We were supposed to be ready by 5:30am to leave for Eid prayer. We made plans to go to Al-Azhar mosque for prayer. Though, we were still putting henna on until 3am and finally decided to maybe sleep for an hour before we had to get ready for prayer. I caught some shut-eye for an hour before my alarm went off. I didn't bring any special Eid outfits from the US, so I just put an outfit together with whatever I had that looked fun. We were waiting in the lobby at 5:15 to catch some cabs. We walked out to the main road. It takes less than a minute to find a cab anywhere around our area and most areas in Cairo. But today was Eid and we couldn't find any cabs. We found one cabbie who told us he was going home to change and then he would go to Al-Azhar mosque. 5:30 was quickly approaching and we thought we wouldn't make it to Al-Azhar since there weren't any cabs coming our way. We decided that we would just go to the local mosque near the Nile River and just do our Eid prayer there. Just as we approached the local mosque, we found a cab. All five of us crammed in this cab because we weren't going to find another one. We got to Al-Azhar just in time. It was incredibly crowded in there. The prayer was literally five-seven minutes, yet there were hundreds of people in this small, yet famous mosque. It took awhile to get in and out. The crowd reminded me of the Khan-el-Khalili market at night. Catching a cab on the way was much more difficult. We waiting in one area for about 20 minutes then decided to go to the other side of traffic and wait for a cab. We finally found one.
We went back to our dorms and ate breakfast at the local cafe. It was now about 8am and decided to sleep and wake up again around dinner time. Yes, my sleeping schedule is a bit disorganized, but I shall get it back to normal soon, Inshallah. We had dinner at the Pottery Cafe and watched a movie afterward. It was a nice Eid with some good friends.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Strange Happenings
So, last night on the way back from campus to the dorms, I was riding the bus. It’s about an hour commute each way because the campus is literally out in the middle of the desert and our dorms is in the city. Think of me living in the Upper West Side or more like the Bronx and my campus out in Long Island. So, naturally, I take naps. But this time, it was different. I knocked out and the next thing I knew I felt some guy’s shoulder against my face. I was sleeping on some guys shoulder! The whole time I was thinking if he had noticed. Of course he did. I could feel his shoulder on my face. I’m not sure how long I was sleeping on him, but I straightened my head and ten minutes later, I fell asleep again and yet again, I fell asleep on his shoulder. I don’t know how or why. We were 5 minutes away from the dorms when I woke up and the guy asks me, “So, did you sleep?” I was thinking if he had noticed at all that I fell asleep on him. I wasn’t sure if he was being sarcastic or whatnot. He told me how he can’t fall asleep on buses, and here I go and say, “I can fall asleep anywhere.” He probably thought, yeah, I believe you because you just fell asleep on a stranger’s shoulder. But he was nice about it. He didn’t mention anything. But it was indeed awkward.
This evening, I got a phone-call from a guy who said he was the fridge guy and told me if I had the money. I asked him how much it was to rent the fridge. He said 350 pounds. I said, yes, I have it. He said he was downstairs and waiting. I went downstairs only to realize I don’t even know this fridge guy’s name so how would I know who it is when there are about a dozen or so men that hang out at the lobby. So I awkwardly approach this man near the entrance and ask, “Fridge?” He says yes. So I hand over the money and ask for a receipt. He has no idea what I’m talking about. Then, he starts laughing. I didn’t understand. He asked me, “You have the fridge, right?” I’m confused, and say, “Yes.” He says, “Okay, so then I’ll pick up the fridge at the end of the semester.” And that was that. All I thought was, I hope my roommate believes me when I tell her how much I paid to rent the fridge. Its all verbal contracts here for fridges apparently.
Later I went out to buy a power strip for the fridge. I enter this small electronics store a block or so away. I go in and ask him for a power strip. He replies, “20 pounds.” I ask him how much for a smaller one, and he replies, “22 pounds.” I was confused. I thought why not take the bigger one for the cheaper price. He said, “No. This made in China and this made in Toor-ki…this better.” So the Chinese products that are shipped here are worse in quality than the Chinese products delivered to America. It reminded me of the same thing my cousin told me about the Chinese products that are shipped to Pakistan. Oh China!
This evening, I got a phone-call from a guy who said he was the fridge guy and told me if I had the money. I asked him how much it was to rent the fridge. He said 350 pounds. I said, yes, I have it. He said he was downstairs and waiting. I went downstairs only to realize I don’t even know this fridge guy’s name so how would I know who it is when there are about a dozen or so men that hang out at the lobby. So I awkwardly approach this man near the entrance and ask, “Fridge?” He says yes. So I hand over the money and ask for a receipt. He has no idea what I’m talking about. Then, he starts laughing. I didn’t understand. He asked me, “You have the fridge, right?” I’m confused, and say, “Yes.” He says, “Okay, so then I’ll pick up the fridge at the end of the semester.” And that was that. All I thought was, I hope my roommate believes me when I tell her how much I paid to rent the fridge. Its all verbal contracts here for fridges apparently.
Later I went out to buy a power strip for the fridge. I enter this small electronics store a block or so away. I go in and ask him for a power strip. He replies, “20 pounds.” I ask him how much for a smaller one, and he replies, “22 pounds.” I was confused. I thought why not take the bigger one for the cheaper price. He said, “No. This made in China and this made in Toor-ki…this better.” So the Chinese products that are shipped here are worse in quality than the Chinese products delivered to America. It reminded me of the same thing my cousin told me about the Chinese products that are shipped to Pakistan. Oh China!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Weekend Trip to Alexandria
Friday, September 11th
The night before, I was up pretty late with some local friends. We went to a nearby place, and there was a soccer match on…Zamalek vs. El-Ahly. Each time Zamalek scored, the room cheered. I really want to go to a live soccer match and experience all the excitement. Soon, Inshallah!
I got up at 5:45am. I called my sister and my friend who both have their birthdays on 9/11 because Cairo is 6 hours ahead of NYC time. Then I got ready because our bus was leaving at 7am. Cairo is 188 km or 117 miles from Alexandria. It was about a 2.5-hour drive (with some crazy highway driving). The bus driver was excellent in not getting into any accidents. I was quite surprised and thanked him when we returned safely.
We passed through miles of desert before we started seeing some green, then finally right in front of us, the beach-line of Alexandria. It looked like Florida for a bit with all the palm trees. But soon enough, it ousted Florida in comparison. Alexandria has Roman and Greek influences and you can see that throughout the construction of buildings. Alexandria, named after its founder, Alexander the Great had no difficulties creating the city.
Our first stop was the infamous library of Alexandria, built by Alexander’s successor Ptolemy. It was one of the greatest and largest libraries in the world. It was built in 3rd Century BC, until a fire destructed it some centuries later.
Our next stop was the Qaitbay Citadel. The fortress was constructed in the 15th century by Sultan Qaitbay. It had views of the Mediterranean. There was also a small mosque inside.
After taking various pictures inside the Citadel, we went to the Fish Market for lunch. They served us an actual fish (which we all didn’t really expect). It was delish. After lunch, we checked into the Regency Hotel overlooking the Mediterranean. We had a few hours of leisure time until we got back on the bus at 7:30pm to go to the Green Plaza Mall. My friends and I spent that time relaxing and talking on the beach. We dipped our feet inside the water and the temperature was perfect. It was nice and cool. The water was a nice light blue and green color. The sun was starting to go down; it was definitely beautiful.
7:30pm arrived and we boarded the bus. I didn’t really shop (just bought some shawls). A friend and I discovered a mini-amusement park in the back of the mall. The RA’s didn’t mention this to us at all, as if this was normal in the US. There was a go-cart ride in a huge tank of water that my friend and I had to go on. It was 7 pounds for the ride. It was awkward at first because all the locals were looking at how excited we got when we saw it. Though we had a blast on it.
We boarded the bus at 11:30pm and arrived back to our hotel by around midnight. When we got back, my friend had could not find her wallet. She and some other friends went back to the beach to where she believed she left it. One of the workers at the beach said they had it, but the man who returned it had already taken out the money before it was turned it. At least she got her wallet back, which had sentimental value. My friend and I talked until about 2:30am even though we were exhausted.
Saturday, September 12
I woke up at 8am to the sound of wind hitting against our windows. The breeze from the beach was pretty strong in the morning. I took a shower and got dressed for breakfast. It wasn’t all that great (the best part was the shay- aka tea). We left for Catacombs, which was a burial site for the rich. It was accidentally found when a donkey fell into the shaft in 1900. It didn’t survive. There was capacity for 27,000 bodies inside this underground site. We went a few stories down and saw these massive boxes created in the walls where 4 bodies could fit into a box. There was even a meeting area for friends of the dead. The Catacombs is one of the seven medieval wonders of the world.
Our next stop was the Roman Amphitheatre, which was a huge outdoors theatre, seating thousands. This was the site for Egyptian opera and the steps were made of marble. One area was reconstructed with cement in a similar set-up for the site of concerts today. It was certainly historic.
We left for lunch afterwards at the Balbaa’ Restaurant (one of the most famous local Alexandrian restaurants). I’m not sure I really enjoyed the food (just liked the pasta and dessert). I think I’ve had better local food.
After lunch, I bought some more shawls on the street. My friends and I decided to go across the street to the Mediterranean side for some pictures. Crossing the city streets here are a journey. Sometimes, you think you won’t make it. It literally takes us a few minutes to find the opportunity to sprint across (because cars don’t like stopping for people to cross). We finally got to the other side, took pictures and were trying to run across again to board the bus. This time, some guys saw us in distress, but thought it would be funny to scare us even more. They started making sounds to scare us, which we didn’t really find funny until after we crossed the street. We’re so sad! I’m afraid I’ll come back to the states finding myself crossing streets all in the worst ways possible.
Friday, September 4, 2009
the things I learn here
1) Don't wear brand new shoes to the mosque. They will get stolen. (thanks Yasser)
2) I'm going to defenestrate you means I want to throw you out the window.
3) Don't get a henna tattoo done from a random vendor at Khan-el-Khalili..you might be allergic to whatever ingredients they put in there. My roomie got it done..and needed injections afterwards bc it burned.
4) Don't buy things from the vendors around the pyramids (they'll rip you off for sure).
5) Sketchy neighborhoods probably have the best restaurants.
6) Sunscreen is a must here.
7) Cab rides in Cairo make you feel like you'll get into a dozen car accidents before your destination or you'll just see them happen around you. It's a thrill ride.
8) No matter how much you want to learn Arabic from a local..they'll only speak to you in English.
9) Women at restaurants stand outside bathroom doors and so when you use the bathroom they'll give you some toilet paper squares. Then in plain English, they say "Money!" Always bring your own! (My local male friend just told me he was going to warn me about that, but thought it would be awkward..lol)
10) Service at restaurants are usually slow. Sometimes you just have to get up yourself and pick up the check.
11) Marriage proposals are common here. They are straight-forward when they ask you to marry them.
12) Cars don't like to drive in their proper lanes. They are just there for show, like maybe they should follow them, but its not necessary. So in a two-lane road, you'll see 4 cars riding along side-by-side. How cabbies get through them, I don't know!
2) I'm going to defenestrate you means I want to throw you out the window.
3) Don't get a henna tattoo done from a random vendor at Khan-el-Khalili..you might be allergic to whatever ingredients they put in there. My roomie got it done..and needed injections afterwards bc it burned.
4) Don't buy things from the vendors around the pyramids (they'll rip you off for sure).
5) Sketchy neighborhoods probably have the best restaurants.
6) Sunscreen is a must here.
7) Cab rides in Cairo make you feel like you'll get into a dozen car accidents before your destination or you'll just see them happen around you. It's a thrill ride.
8) No matter how much you want to learn Arabic from a local..they'll only speak to you in English.
9) Women at restaurants stand outside bathroom doors and so when you use the bathroom they'll give you some toilet paper squares. Then in plain English, they say "Money!" Always bring your own! (My local male friend just told me he was going to warn me about that, but thought it would be awkward..lol)
10) Service at restaurants are usually slow. Sometimes you just have to get up yourself and pick up the check.
11) Marriage proposals are common here. They are straight-forward when they ask you to marry them.
12) Cars don't like to drive in their proper lanes. They are just there for show, like maybe they should follow them, but its not necessary. So in a two-lane road, you'll see 4 cars riding along side-by-side. How cabbies get through them, I don't know!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
"Shakira Shakira"
So, we went on a cruise on the Nile for iftar last night. It was beautiful. Then, while we were seated for dinner, a Sufi dancer came out (Tabha would have been happy!) He did his twirls with his many layers. It was awesome.
Later that night, we took a cab out to the Khan-el-Khalili market again. I just love that place. It reminds me so much of haggling in Karachi (Tariq Road!). I was trying to bargain, but was profoundly failing at it. As soon as we open our mouths, they knew we were American. Any facial expressions gave it away. Some guy called out to me, "Shakira, Shakira". I was confused because I didn't hear any Shakira songs playing and looked around. My friend told me, he just called you Shakira because of your hair. I have never gotten that before; it was the funniest thing ever. There was another guy that I didn't want to buy any items from because he was ripping me off, but all he said when I said, "La, la" was "I like your hair". These random things that locals tell us are indeed funny.
Getting annoyed with how many vendors were ripping us off, I called an Egyptian friend of mine (whom I met through Language Mixer at Dickinson). He thought I got mugged, but all I said was, I'm getting ripped off and need your help. He came in 30 minutes with a friend of his. They both did all the bargaining and haggling for us. All we did was tell them what we liked. It was very cool. They were super sweet. I'm very thankful I got to meet him. I got the chance to buy some arm bands, hip scarves, and prayer rugs. I spent $30 in total. I love shopping there!
We met some of the other international students there. They were having dinner. It was already 1:30am when we took a cab back to our dorms in Zamalek. My friend and I stayed up until 4:30am talking. I stayed up a little longer for Sahour, so got the chance to pray Fajr. I then woke up at 2pm, which made fasting today super easy! Going out in the desert just makes it so much more difficult. I don't know how construction workers can work out in the desert and keep their fasts! I admire that.
Today, for iftar we took a cab out to 26 July Road. It's just 5 minutes away. We were looking for a restaurant and couldn't really find one on the main road. I asked a guard in whatever Arabic I could muster up. I asked him what's any good restaurant around here. He told us to walk over 3 blocks and make a right. We went there, and couldn't find any restaurants. Then we asked another person in the area where he sent us. He pointed in the same direction the previous guard told us about. We were standing in front of these huge wooden doors, which looked like some church or building. We were just waiting around in front of these doors and looking for some windows that would let us see inside people sitting at tables and eating. We couldn't find anything like that. My friend who studied abroad here told us about a place with huge wooden doors. So we decided to just push open these doors. I opened it very slowly, just in case it was some creepy place where it seemed like things would start falling from the ceiling. All of a sudden, we entered another world. It seemed like a scene from the 1920's, with decorations and lighting done very dim and classic. It was smoky and dark. I was waiting for some flappers to come out or something. They seated us and we had such great Egyptian food that we haven't had since we've been here. Our secret discovery!
Later that night, we took a cab out to the Khan-el-Khalili market again. I just love that place. It reminds me so much of haggling in Karachi (Tariq Road!). I was trying to bargain, but was profoundly failing at it. As soon as we open our mouths, they knew we were American. Any facial expressions gave it away. Some guy called out to me, "Shakira, Shakira". I was confused because I didn't hear any Shakira songs playing and looked around. My friend told me, he just called you Shakira because of your hair. I have never gotten that before; it was the funniest thing ever. There was another guy that I didn't want to buy any items from because he was ripping me off, but all he said when I said, "La, la" was "I like your hair". These random things that locals tell us are indeed funny.
Getting annoyed with how many vendors were ripping us off, I called an Egyptian friend of mine (whom I met through Language Mixer at Dickinson). He thought I got mugged, but all I said was, I'm getting ripped off and need your help. He came in 30 minutes with a friend of his. They both did all the bargaining and haggling for us. All we did was tell them what we liked. It was very cool. They were super sweet. I'm very thankful I got to meet him. I got the chance to buy some arm bands, hip scarves, and prayer rugs. I spent $30 in total. I love shopping there!
We met some of the other international students there. They were having dinner. It was already 1:30am when we took a cab back to our dorms in Zamalek. My friend and I stayed up until 4:30am talking. I stayed up a little longer for Sahour, so got the chance to pray Fajr. I then woke up at 2pm, which made fasting today super easy! Going out in the desert just makes it so much more difficult. I don't know how construction workers can work out in the desert and keep their fasts! I admire that.
Today, for iftar we took a cab out to 26 July Road. It's just 5 minutes away. We were looking for a restaurant and couldn't really find one on the main road. I asked a guard in whatever Arabic I could muster up. I asked him what's any good restaurant around here. He told us to walk over 3 blocks and make a right. We went there, and couldn't find any restaurants. Then we asked another person in the area where he sent us. He pointed in the same direction the previous guard told us about. We were standing in front of these huge wooden doors, which looked like some church or building. We were just waiting around in front of these doors and looking for some windows that would let us see inside people sitting at tables and eating. We couldn't find anything like that. My friend who studied abroad here told us about a place with huge wooden doors. So we decided to just push open these doors. I opened it very slowly, just in case it was some creepy place where it seemed like things would start falling from the ceiling. All of a sudden, we entered another world. It seemed like a scene from the 1920's, with decorations and lighting done very dim and classic. It was smoky and dark. I was waiting for some flappers to come out or something. They seated us and we had such great Egyptian food that we haven't had since we've been here. Our secret discovery!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
AUC..Zamalek..Khan-el-Khalili
So, I began my day with some phone-calls...friends waking me up for Sahour..I didn't want to wake up, so I didn't fast. I feel really bad, but its soo hard with this sun during noon time. Inshallah, I will be able to. I then woke up at 7:30am to catch the 8am bus! I was hoping there would be a later one, but with this Ramadan schedule, there are less buses available and classes haven't started yet.
I got nothing accomplished at AUC. My school was supposed to have paid for my bus pass, but I couldn't find an invoice for it, so I'm trying to figure that out. I'm going to sleep in and just go back to campus Thursday.
Tonight, we went to dinner at some restaurant in the area. As soon as I walked in with a group, I see a familiar face already sitting at a table. He turned around and it was Alex Brock. Out of all the people and all the restaurants in Zamalek, I bumped into him. It was so great. Another Dickinsonian! He's doing his Fulbright in Islamic Philosophy, which is so awesome. Best of luck Alex!
The group then went to Khan-el-Khalili (a famous marketplace to haggle). I loved it! It's just like Karachi, where you bargain for whatever you want. They have so many great things there. I'll have to just pack a suitcase of things from there. I got a prayer mat, keychain with the Pyramids on it, Pharaoh pen and Cleopatra deck of cards. Then we went for some shisha at Fishrawy. It was so crowded, but very fun! Can't wait to go again!
I got nothing accomplished at AUC. My school was supposed to have paid for my bus pass, but I couldn't find an invoice for it, so I'm trying to figure that out. I'm going to sleep in and just go back to campus Thursday.
Tonight, we went to dinner at some restaurant in the area. As soon as I walked in with a group, I see a familiar face already sitting at a table. He turned around and it was Alex Brock. Out of all the people and all the restaurants in Zamalek, I bumped into him. It was so great. Another Dickinsonian! He's doing his Fulbright in Islamic Philosophy, which is so awesome. Best of luck Alex!
The group then went to Khan-el-Khalili (a famous marketplace to haggle). I loved it! It's just like Karachi, where you bargain for whatever you want. They have so many great things there. I'll have to just pack a suitcase of things from there. I got a prayer mat, keychain with the Pyramids on it, Pharaoh pen and Cleopatra deck of cards. Then we went for some shisha at Fishrawy. It was so crowded, but very fun! Can't wait to go again!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Another day in Cairo
So today was the second time I went to the new campus. This time hoping I could complete getting my ID and bus pass done, along with my student visa. Guess what? I only got my student id done. And that was with much trouble and frustration. I did meet another Paki on the bus this morning..hoping I could catch up on sleep, she asked to sit next to me. She asked me where I was from..and soon realized I wasn't Egyptian. Many people think that, but its cool. Hopefully, this way people won't try to rip me off! Anyway, we spent the day together just trying to get things done, but we didn't. We just got our ID cards done. It was interesting to see that the machine they were using to make the cards was from USAID. It didn't seem like a very good machine; it was a very slow process. We waited for one and half hours, trying to do other things in between the number they gave us, but got nothing else done. Offices have been closing at 2:30pm because od Ramadan. So, I shall return tomorrow to try and get all my things in order.
This evening, we went to a place called Goal by the Nile River. We had some cheap food, and skipped out on the shisha. We aren't sure if we should try it yet, since the RA's have told us that they are dangerous in the sense of Swine Flu outbreaks. :( I don't know. We walked by the Nile and discovered that the rails aren't very sturdy. Our friend almost fell over! The traffic and shops remind me of Karachi, so thats nice. Nonetheless, this place seems awesome. We are still trying to figure out things (communication mostly). It's difficult asking for things at the store when they don't understand us..or rather, we don't understand them! I need to brush up on my Arabic!
My mom finally got a chance to phone me tonight. I spoke to my parents for a bit. I told them it would have been cool if I studied here for all four years. They were like.."yeah right!" Then, I scheduled to skype with them. The internet keeps dropping the connection, which is really annoying.
Well, I'll be waking up in some hours for Sahour..so tell you all more later.
Ma'Salama,
Anum
This evening, we went to a place called Goal by the Nile River. We had some cheap food, and skipped out on the shisha. We aren't sure if we should try it yet, since the RA's have told us that they are dangerous in the sense of Swine Flu outbreaks. :( I don't know. We walked by the Nile and discovered that the rails aren't very sturdy. Our friend almost fell over! The traffic and shops remind me of Karachi, so thats nice. Nonetheless, this place seems awesome. We are still trying to figure out things (communication mostly). It's difficult asking for things at the store when they don't understand us..or rather, we don't understand them! I need to brush up on my Arabic!
My mom finally got a chance to phone me tonight. I spoke to my parents for a bit. I told them it would have been cool if I studied here for all four years. They were like.."yeah right!" Then, I scheduled to skype with them. The internet keeps dropping the connection, which is really annoying.
Well, I'll be waking up in some hours for Sahour..so tell you all more later.
Ma'Salama,
Anum
Sunday, August 30, 2009
I'm finally here..and totally having a blast
So I arrived at the Cairo International Airport Friday at 12:30pm (6:30am-NY time). I barely got any sleep on the plane because some baby in the back was crying the whole way through. Secondly, this really cute kid was sitting next to me and wouldn't let me sleep. He wanted to play with me, so I did. But then when he fell asleep, he kept kicking the whole night! I couldn't say anything because I do it too. :)
Anyway, some guy with an AUC sign got us together after we passed through Customs and got onto a bus to Zamalek. It wasn't as hot as I expected it to be. Later that day I met my roommate and she's so awesome. She almost got run over by a car some days ago until some Egyptian guy pulled her back from the cars. They went horseback riding to the Pyramids (he didn't speak a word of English--though she had the time of her life). Friday night, the international students went to the Nile on a Felucca ride which was so relaxing. The "Neel" is so beautiful.
By the way, our dorms are pretty neat. The rooms are spacious. They separate the genders, with guards for each entrance. We live in an expatty area--so guards are everywhere.
Our commute to the university is about 45 minutes each way. We were told to get onto the bus (which we take near the Nile) 7 am this morning. Though some faculty members got on that bus, even though it was for us and we were left stranded waiting for 2 hours for another bus to take us to the Uni. We finally got there..and yeah, it is in the middle of a desert. There is not much around..except the buildings they constructed for the Uni. It is massive and very nice! Though, I can't imagine dorming there..there is nothing to do in the middle of the desert. We struggled to try and get our ID cards and bus passes done. No one told us anything about the processes..so we had to try and figure it out on our own. I got nothing accomplished today except getting my Uni. e-mail created which took 3 trips back and forth from the library to the office. I met some cool Egyptian students that helped us. Hilarious people! Deciding that I would get nothing else done today, we played basketball in their huge sports complex. That was fun!
By the way--there were only clear blue skies with the sun shining directly on us at the campus. Very hot! I think I may need to buy some more sunblock!
Nonetheless, this place has been a blast to explore. Fellow students are very nice and the RA's are very cool and helpful. I really think I will enjoy my year here. I can't wait to get started on this city! The second "city that never sleeps!"
Off to explore City Stars Mall!
Anyway, some guy with an AUC sign got us together after we passed through Customs and got onto a bus to Zamalek. It wasn't as hot as I expected it to be. Later that day I met my roommate and she's so awesome. She almost got run over by a car some days ago until some Egyptian guy pulled her back from the cars. They went horseback riding to the Pyramids (he didn't speak a word of English--though she had the time of her life). Friday night, the international students went to the Nile on a Felucca ride which was so relaxing. The "Neel" is so beautiful.
By the way, our dorms are pretty neat. The rooms are spacious. They separate the genders, with guards for each entrance. We live in an expatty area--so guards are everywhere.
Our commute to the university is about 45 minutes each way. We were told to get onto the bus (which we take near the Nile) 7 am this morning. Though some faculty members got on that bus, even though it was for us and we were left stranded waiting for 2 hours for another bus to take us to the Uni. We finally got there..and yeah, it is in the middle of a desert. There is not much around..except the buildings they constructed for the Uni. It is massive and very nice! Though, I can't imagine dorming there..there is nothing to do in the middle of the desert. We struggled to try and get our ID cards and bus passes done. No one told us anything about the processes..so we had to try and figure it out on our own. I got nothing accomplished today except getting my Uni. e-mail created which took 3 trips back and forth from the library to the office. I met some cool Egyptian students that helped us. Hilarious people! Deciding that I would get nothing else done today, we played basketball in their huge sports complex. That was fun!
By the way--there were only clear blue skies with the sun shining directly on us at the campus. Very hot! I think I may need to buy some more sunblock!
Nonetheless, this place has been a blast to explore. Fellow students are very nice and the RA's are very cool and helpful. I really think I will enjoy my year here. I can't wait to get started on this city! The second "city that never sleeps!"
Off to explore City Stars Mall!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
3 weeks away from seeing the Pyramids!
I can't believe I'm just a few weeks away from landing in Cairo. I'm getting more anxious as friends ask me if I'm excited and if I've packed yet. It hasn't hit me yet, especially when I first applied to the program. I thought of it as something I just had to do, but never really considered it as a unique opportunity. Now, I really see the value in this opp.
AUC finally got back to me with the classes I'll be taking there. My earliest class will be at 11:30am and my latest class ending at 4:45pm with up to an hour and half commute each way. For example, use this analogy. I'll be living in the Upper West Side (maybe into the Bronx) and my campus is like in Eastern L.I. Not too excited about the commute. :( But...I am excited about this Into to Photography class I got into..much more interesting to take a class like that in another country! The other classes I'll be taking are: Muslim Political Thought, Islamic Philosophy and Arabic.
I am psyched for my other friends who are studying abroad as well..hopefully we'll get a chance to meet up during break or something. Esp. if you're in North Africa!
AUC finally got back to me with the classes I'll be taking there. My earliest class will be at 11:30am and my latest class ending at 4:45pm with up to an hour and half commute each way. For example, use this analogy. I'll be living in the Upper West Side (maybe into the Bronx) and my campus is like in Eastern L.I. Not too excited about the commute. :( But...I am excited about this Into to Photography class I got into..much more interesting to take a class like that in another country! The other classes I'll be taking are: Muslim Political Thought, Islamic Philosophy and Arabic.
I am psyched for my other friends who are studying abroad as well..hopefully we'll get a chance to meet up during break or something. Esp. if you're in North Africa!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
القاهرة, Here I Come..well in 55 days
A-salam-alaikum,
I started this after reading Cari Peri and Jim Franklin's blogs about their experiences in the Middle East, along with Alex Leese's who will be traveling around the same time as I am, so I thought I'd try out my own blog now too. Unfortunately, I was not able to take Webb's Mass Media and Communication in MENA class and realize the relevance now. Technology is being used in multiple platforms (from gathering support globally to simply releasing minute-by-minute updates from the elections in Iran on Twitter). We are heading in a brave, new direction. It will take much more than government Internet censorships in Iran and China to hold back these young populations from communicating the world to us.
I am 20 years old attending Dickinson College and studying at American University in Cairo (where Obama gave his historic speech last month) starting this August for a year. I am both nervous and anxious to embark on this experience. I have gone back and forth in deciding where I wanted to study abroad. As soon as I learned about AMidEast's programs (possibly to become partner programs with Dickinson College), I wanted to go to Kuwait and Jordan. But along with other factors, I decided to study in Cairo. So Alex, you will have to tell me how Jordan is! :)
So, 55 days until I'm in القاهرة. I invite you to share part of this experience with me. I will try to blog as much as possible, post pictures and keep you updated.
M'salama!
I started this after reading Cari Peri and Jim Franklin's blogs about their experiences in the Middle East, along with Alex Leese's who will be traveling around the same time as I am, so I thought I'd try out my own blog now too. Unfortunately, I was not able to take Webb's Mass Media and Communication in MENA class and realize the relevance now. Technology is being used in multiple platforms (from gathering support globally to simply releasing minute-by-minute updates from the elections in Iran on Twitter). We are heading in a brave, new direction. It will take much more than government Internet censorships in Iran and China to hold back these young populations from communicating the world to us.
I am 20 years old attending Dickinson College and studying at American University in Cairo (where Obama gave his historic speech last month) starting this August for a year. I am both nervous and anxious to embark on this experience. I have gone back and forth in deciding where I wanted to study abroad. As soon as I learned about AMidEast's programs (possibly to become partner programs with Dickinson College), I wanted to go to Kuwait and Jordan. But along with other factors, I decided to study in Cairo. So Alex, you will have to tell me how Jordan is! :)
So, 55 days until I'm in القاهرة. I invite you to share part of this experience with me. I will try to blog as much as possible, post pictures and keep you updated.
M'salama!
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