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