Well... I had my first car accident today. It was bound to happen eventually, really. Like I've said numerous times, the driving here is like nothing you have ever seen before. Trust me. I can't overemphasize this point. The day was pretty much a bust until the very end. Things winded down nicely at Al-Azhar Park. It's really beautiful and relaxing and...just...not like Cairo.
Lindsay & I were on our way to the Citadel, and we come to the worst part of town in terms of traffic. Unbearable. I was having an animated chat with Linds when, all of the sudden, I hear a loud BAM and my body flings forward and my face hits the seat in front of me. Yes. Knew it was gonna happen. Our car gets slammed into the minibus in front of us, and we are on the busiest street in Cairo. Linds & I were both shaking from the adrenaline. We got out immediately and watched as they pried the vehicles apart. Verrrrrrry interesting. Did we still want to go to the Citadel? Of course. So we get in ANOTHER taxi. What else? Arrival at the Citadel was less than satisfactory...it was closed by the time we got there because of the accident. SO... feisty/angry Leila pops her head out and says hello. Taxi drivers outside of the Citadel kept telling us 20 Egyptian pounds to go about 5 minutes. That is absolutely insane. INSANITY, I tell you. So I yelled at them, told them they were crazy, said, "khalas" (stop, finished) many times, and went off to the main road to find a taxi. Finally the other taxi drivers say fine, 5 pounds. Then we went to a mosque nearby. It was a blue mosque, one of 3 in the world (one is in Istanbul, one in Isfahan, and one in Cairo). It wasn't incredibly gorgeous because it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1992, but the blue tiles were pretty amazing. A guy inside the mosque voluntarily showed us around, I thought out of the goodness of his heart. Apparently that concept doesn't exist here in Egypt. After he showed us around, he just stood there, obviously expecting something. So I got my wallet out and gave him a few pounds for his hospitality. And then he immediately looks at the money. Doesn't say thank you or anything, and counts it. Then he looks directly at Lindsay, waiting for her to give him something. She said, "I thought that was for both of us" and I said, "It was" and he mumbled something. I couldn't hear him, so he said it again. Still couldn't hear him...so finally he said, "this is very little... for a guide of the mosque." AHHHHHH! STOP TAKING MY MONEY. Can't even escape it in a place of worship. Disgusting. So Lindsay finds a few more pounds and I got very upset and disheartened and we left. We ended up at al-Azhar park in the evening, and it was absolutely perfect. REALLY relaxing, perfect for the day we had. We talked and talked, walked and walked, and laid in the grass. Amazing. Now I'm home safe. Whew. I am so sick of taxis. haha...I feel like half of this blog is devoted to the driving. :) crazy
Anyway, Lindsay and Lindsey are here visiting me now. It has been a great trip, but full of adventures. We went to Alexandria and Luxor last weekend. We missed our train from Alexandria back to Cairo (to catch our night train to Luxor) so we ended up on a minibus with 15 egyptians, loud prayer music, and then a loud arabic movie that had anti-american rhetoric the whole time. A little uncomfortable. But I met some cute kids on the minibus...i was playing with a little one, and then the grandfather threw her over the seat and handed her to me. I was so confused...hahaha. Tried to play with her but she just started crying. Haha. We BARELY made it to our train in Cairo...arrived at 8:20...our train was supposed to leave at 8:20. hahaha. Whew.
In Alexandria and Luxor we saw amazing ruins. Alexandria we saw a lot of greco-roman art and some mix with ancient egyptian art. in Luxor we saw the most amazing temples and tombs, bright colors still alive from 4000 years ago. the temples were HUGE...god-sized, so to say. We took a felucca ride on the nile, and went to a couple museums, and went shopping, and that was that. Lindsey went to climb Mt. Sinai by herself these past two days. I haven't discussed it with her completely yet, but it sounds like she had an amazing time!
This weekend we plan to go to Dahab, climb Mt. Sinai, and then Petra in Jordan. Really looking forward to that. Then next week is my last week here and I leave on August 8. Very very excited to go home.... ready to eat Mexican food, drink beer, and wear whatever I want. Also ready to be in a more organized place.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
yesterday, today, and plans for the future
Yesterday - Woke up at 10... and I was still tired. I went over to the Belgian student's apartment the night before because they threw a party. We didn't even stay out late, maybe midnight, but had a couple of beers and that really takes a toll on the body in this country. It's a mixture of the heat, pollution, and feeling like you are constantly trapped in a cloud of cigarette ashes because people are smoking up a storm in your face and on your clothes.... and then on top of it alcohol... you pretty much cannot function. So I had class at 11:30am, like every day. I decided to forgo the aamiya classes (Egyptian colloquial) because I could not focus on two classes at once. Little did I know that it had nothing to do with having 2 classes....it's just Egypt. This place makes it very very hard to concentrate on anything substantive, other than the crazy philosophical thoughts brewing in my mind.
Anyway, woke up at 10 (I usually wake up earlier to get to school to do my homework in the morning) and my American roommate was still home....she went to the party too, and skipped her first class. So we went into school together today, instead of me catching a taxi by myself like usual. It's a little bit easier having someone that doesn't look Arab with me because then the taxi driver assumes we don't speak Arabic and knows we are going to the school... by myself sometimes I get caught in one-way conversations that I just say the usual words to: "Meshi" (okay), "Ay-wa" (yes), "lif tah-te kobri" (u-turn under the bridge), etc etc. Haha. I get by....barely.
We arrive at school after an event-less taxi ride, alhamdulillah (praise God). :) Then class.... My teacher is great and hilarious. His name is Amir and he tells us little stories in Arabic about his adventures smoking sheesha and drinking beer (he's a Christian, so no problemo). He acts out the stories with huge gestures, and I think when I get back to the States I will be the master at charades. I'm exhausted in class and barely focus. My mind wanders constantly. "I wonder what so & so would say to this & that...", "What are those loud people saying outside the window, I wonder...", "I bet the guy who collects old things hates his job...", "I wonder if anyone else is listening to what Amir is saying right now...." hahaha. Yes it's horrible. And it's not during the WHOLE class. And yesterday was especially bad. I usually focus well in class, don't worry Mom & Dad & if anyone else out there might be reading this. Hahahaha. So true.
After class, I made plans with several people to do things this weekend: go to the pool, go to downtown, go out, eat, eat some more. Then I headed home with two of my roommates, the American and the Swiss (there is a French one, as well). We got in a taxi that looked less-than-immaculate to say the least, but perhaps only slightly worse than most taxis and cars in Cairo. I got in front (usually a no-no, but he opened the door so I got in). The cab smelled a little bit funny, and my door looked like it was about to fall off. As we started driving, I heard a strange noise coming from the engine each time we had to speed up. It seemed like the car was struggling. We got about 4 blocks, and KHALAS (finished). The taxi died in the middle of the street. I look at the driver and say, "khalas?" Haha. And he looks at me sheepishly and says, "Benzine..." (gasoline). Oh boy. So at this point we are stuck in the middle of an extremely busy road in a taxi that is khalas.... A couple of guys come over and help push the taxi over to the side of the road. We get out, and the driver keeps saying sorry sorry sorry to me, and I said, "Mafish mushkel" (no problem) and we gave him a couple pounds (he obviously needs it) and found another taxi home.
There, I made a WONDERFUL PERSIAN LUNCH! Alhamdulillah! I made Persian rice and black-eyed peas. Yummmy....much needed. After lunch, my French roommate and I went to a cafe near my apartment named "Second Cup." It is my "Second Home." Ha. I spend a lot of time here (I say here because I am here right now).... Anyway, so everyone who works here knows me. Every time I arrive they try to guess what I'm going to order. And each time they are WRONG. I try to change it up, as I am not an animal of routine...wait a second...I come to Second Cup every day....hmmmm.... Okay, well that's beside the point. Haha. After spending some time writing in my journal, letting Maude (the French roommie) use the computer and using the computer myself, it was about 7pm. All of the roommies were at our Second Home, so 3 of us decided to go shopping. Maude needed a bag for her desert trip that she is currently on this weekend, and Laura (the American) needed shoes. Cornelia (the Swiss roommie) hasn't been feeling well so she decided to stay behind. We head out under a full moon -the only thing you can see in the night sky- on Shariaa (street) Gameet al-Dowal. After our shopping extravaganza, I headed home and decided that I wanted to GO OUT! So I SMSed some friends, and we decided to go to a bar called After 8. I think I've already written about it before. It's a bar/dance place in downtown Cairo and it is SO fun. I love it. It's small and cozy, but the music gets good towards the end of the night (which is 3:30-4am). To get there you have to walk down this creepy ally that is dark and narrow and just plain unappealing. It doesn't seem like a place that little Leila should go. But then you enter the bar, and the atmosphere transforms immediately to a lively, "hip" hangout for Cairenes and foreigners. I really like this place. We arrived and the Egyptian guys we were with, Ahmed & Aly, seemed to know everyone so we got a table inside and they really took care of us. We drank a few beers, ate some baba ganoug and danced the night away. At around 3:30 we left and my friend Aly took us to this place to get juice. IT WAS PACKED at 4am. Unbelievable. Cairo never sleeps, literally. There was traffic to get there, and there were cars lined up to buy the juice. But I know why...the juice is absolutely incredible. I got assab (sugarcane) and mandarin (almost like Tang...except FRESH). Wow. Then I went home, and I listened to music for a little bit and went to sleep around 5 or 5:30am.
Today - After a nice rest, I looked at my phone's time today... and it was 1:30pm. Hahaha. WOOPS. Slept the morning away. I guess that is to be expected considering the timing... I think I'm slowly transforming into an Egyptian with my strange sleeping pattern. I wanted to go to the gym today, I wanted to go to the pool today, I wanted to study today, I wanted to get coffee with my friend, and then I wanted to go to dinner. Maybe the last few are possible. Inshallah. :) Now I'm sitting at my Second Home, drinking Earl Grey and laughing to myself because there are possibly 18 workers behind the counter standing around and doing nothing. Sometimes there are more workers here than there are customers. What a waste of manpower. Honestly! My friend Elline from Sweden is coming to join me in a few minutes, and then later tonight I am going to get dinner with my Egyptian friends Reem and Marwa at a place called Sequoia on the Nile in a part of town called Zamalek (it's an island in the middle of the Nile).
Two of my roommates are away this weekend. Laura is in Alexandria and Maude is in the desert (the same White desert and Black desert that I went to). Cornelia was supposed to go to Alexandria with Laura, but she still is feeling very sick. Poor girl. I was thinking about going to Alexandria, as well, BUT... Lindsey is getting here on Sunday!!! I am SO excited! I figure I will save these activities for when Linds and Linds get here...I need to try to save money anyway. Plus I want to go to Alexandria with them on a day trip while they are here....and inshallah we will get to go to Luxor if it is not too expensive and to Dahab in the Sinai and climb Mt. Sinai. Can't wait!
Hope all is well in the USA. I know it's been hard communicating a bit so I hope everything is great. I am missing home and I can't wait to see my friends and go to The Village and go to Valhalla and hike in Colorado and eat some good Mexican food (Tex Mex, actually) in Houston again. :) Hope to hear from everyone soon. Post comments if you want, or just email me when you can. Love, Leila
Anyway, woke up at 10 (I usually wake up earlier to get to school to do my homework in the morning) and my American roommate was still home....she went to the party too, and skipped her first class. So we went into school together today, instead of me catching a taxi by myself like usual. It's a little bit easier having someone that doesn't look Arab with me because then the taxi driver assumes we don't speak Arabic and knows we are going to the school... by myself sometimes I get caught in one-way conversations that I just say the usual words to: "Meshi" (okay), "Ay-wa" (yes), "lif tah-te kobri" (u-turn under the bridge), etc etc. Haha. I get by....barely.
We arrive at school after an event-less taxi ride, alhamdulillah (praise God). :) Then class.... My teacher is great and hilarious. His name is Amir and he tells us little stories in Arabic about his adventures smoking sheesha and drinking beer (he's a Christian, so no problemo). He acts out the stories with huge gestures, and I think when I get back to the States I will be the master at charades. I'm exhausted in class and barely focus. My mind wanders constantly. "I wonder what so & so would say to this & that...", "What are those loud people saying outside the window, I wonder...", "I bet the guy who collects old things hates his job...", "I wonder if anyone else is listening to what Amir is saying right now...." hahaha. Yes it's horrible. And it's not during the WHOLE class. And yesterday was especially bad. I usually focus well in class, don't worry Mom & Dad & if anyone else out there might be reading this. Hahahaha. So true.
After class, I made plans with several people to do things this weekend: go to the pool, go to downtown, go out, eat, eat some more. Then I headed home with two of my roommates, the American and the Swiss (there is a French one, as well). We got in a taxi that looked less-than-immaculate to say the least, but perhaps only slightly worse than most taxis and cars in Cairo. I got in front (usually a no-no, but he opened the door so I got in). The cab smelled a little bit funny, and my door looked like it was about to fall off. As we started driving, I heard a strange noise coming from the engine each time we had to speed up. It seemed like the car was struggling. We got about 4 blocks, and KHALAS (finished). The taxi died in the middle of the street. I look at the driver and say, "khalas?" Haha. And he looks at me sheepishly and says, "Benzine..." (gasoline). Oh boy. So at this point we are stuck in the middle of an extremely busy road in a taxi that is khalas.... A couple of guys come over and help push the taxi over to the side of the road. We get out, and the driver keeps saying sorry sorry sorry to me, and I said, "Mafish mushkel" (no problem) and we gave him a couple pounds (he obviously needs it) and found another taxi home.
There, I made a WONDERFUL PERSIAN LUNCH! Alhamdulillah! I made Persian rice and black-eyed peas. Yummmy....much needed. After lunch, my French roommate and I went to a cafe near my apartment named "Second Cup." It is my "Second Home." Ha. I spend a lot of time here (I say here because I am here right now).... Anyway, so everyone who works here knows me. Every time I arrive they try to guess what I'm going to order. And each time they are WRONG. I try to change it up, as I am not an animal of routine...wait a second...I come to Second Cup every day....hmmmm.... Okay, well that's beside the point. Haha. After spending some time writing in my journal, letting Maude (the French roommie) use the computer and using the computer myself, it was about 7pm. All of the roommies were at our Second Home, so 3 of us decided to go shopping. Maude needed a bag for her desert trip that she is currently on this weekend, and Laura (the American) needed shoes. Cornelia (the Swiss roommie) hasn't been feeling well so she decided to stay behind. We head out under a full moon -the only thing you can see in the night sky- on Shariaa (street) Gameet al-Dowal. After our shopping extravaganza, I headed home and decided that I wanted to GO OUT! So I SMSed some friends, and we decided to go to a bar called After 8. I think I've already written about it before. It's a bar/dance place in downtown Cairo and it is SO fun. I love it. It's small and cozy, but the music gets good towards the end of the night (which is 3:30-4am). To get there you have to walk down this creepy ally that is dark and narrow and just plain unappealing. It doesn't seem like a place that little Leila should go. But then you enter the bar, and the atmosphere transforms immediately to a lively, "hip" hangout for Cairenes and foreigners. I really like this place. We arrived and the Egyptian guys we were with, Ahmed & Aly, seemed to know everyone so we got a table inside and they really took care of us. We drank a few beers, ate some baba ganoug and danced the night away. At around 3:30 we left and my friend Aly took us to this place to get juice. IT WAS PACKED at 4am. Unbelievable. Cairo never sleeps, literally. There was traffic to get there, and there were cars lined up to buy the juice. But I know why...the juice is absolutely incredible. I got assab (sugarcane) and mandarin (almost like Tang...except FRESH). Wow. Then I went home, and I listened to music for a little bit and went to sleep around 5 or 5:30am.
Today - After a nice rest, I looked at my phone's time today... and it was 1:30pm. Hahaha. WOOPS. Slept the morning away. I guess that is to be expected considering the timing... I think I'm slowly transforming into an Egyptian with my strange sleeping pattern. I wanted to go to the gym today, I wanted to go to the pool today, I wanted to study today, I wanted to get coffee with my friend, and then I wanted to go to dinner. Maybe the last few are possible. Inshallah. :) Now I'm sitting at my Second Home, drinking Earl Grey and laughing to myself because there are possibly 18 workers behind the counter standing around and doing nothing. Sometimes there are more workers here than there are customers. What a waste of manpower. Honestly! My friend Elline from Sweden is coming to join me in a few minutes, and then later tonight I am going to get dinner with my Egyptian friends Reem and Marwa at a place called Sequoia on the Nile in a part of town called Zamalek (it's an island in the middle of the Nile).
Two of my roommates are away this weekend. Laura is in Alexandria and Maude is in the desert (the same White desert and Black desert that I went to). Cornelia was supposed to go to Alexandria with Laura, but she still is feeling very sick. Poor girl. I was thinking about going to Alexandria, as well, BUT... Lindsey is getting here on Sunday!!! I am SO excited! I figure I will save these activities for when Linds and Linds get here...I need to try to save money anyway. Plus I want to go to Alexandria with them on a day trip while they are here....and inshallah we will get to go to Luxor if it is not too expensive and to Dahab in the Sinai and climb Mt. Sinai. Can't wait!
Hope all is well in the USA. I know it's been hard communicating a bit so I hope everything is great. I am missing home and I can't wait to see my friends and go to The Village and go to Valhalla and hike in Colorado and eat some good Mexican food (Tex Mex, actually) in Houston again. :) Hope to hear from everyone soon. Post comments if you want, or just email me when you can. Love, Leila
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
back in cairo
Just got back from a long weekend in Sharm el Sheikh, a resort town in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It was LOVELY. Really beautiful, very relaxing, just a great time...and I got a tan! I'll post a few pictures. I went with a Rotaract Club of the region (18-30 year olds), so I was with about 300-350 Arabs speaking Arabic the whole time. Haha it was pretty amazing, and a little bit annoying sometimes because I didn't really know what was going on. I kind of made up in my head what I thought they were saying instead of actually knowing the conversation. And I have a feeling most of the time I was wrong. But by the end I made a lot of really great friends and some good contacts for my future research in political science. My vacation turned into an opportunity. So it all worked out. Good deal. Before I comment on my annoyances of Egypt thus far, I want to first post the pics! :)
This first picture is the beach at the Ritz Carlton in Sharm el Sheikh. It is really beautiful. The water is SO perfect...much cooler than the pool water, perfectly clear and you can see bright fish swimming all around. Best part - no sharks.
This is me, my friend Reem who invited me to the Rotaract conference, and our friend Mohammed that we met there. We went to the water park in Sharm el Sheikh. I don't know if I would recommend the water park if I were paying for it....but since it came with my package, it was fun. By the way, the pizza is not as tasty as it looks. Neither was any of the food. :)
Marwa, Carol and me sitting at the cabana at the Ritz having screwdrivers. Haha. THIS DOES NOT FEEL LIKE EGYPT. It's a very very strange Egypt, for sure.
Beach party for the rotaractors at the Grand Rotana hotel beach.
The pool at the Ritz Carlton. Very nice atmosphere, much more relaxing than the Rotana, especially because the Libyan government officials and maybe some other African country officials stayed out our hotel for the African Union summit... what a mess. That is why we had to move to the Ritz. And it was SO GREAT. I liked it much more than the Rotana, although the view from my room was much nicer at Rotana...
I finished my first session of Arabic classes last Wednesday and left for Sharm on Wednseday night. It was a HORRIBLE ride there (on a bus) and I was exhausted almost the whole time. But it was so beautiful. The clubs and sheesha places and restaurants in Sharm are great, but super expensive. But it is worth it for a little freedom for the chaos in Cairo for a weekend. Although I have heard the Dahab is more laid back, more relaxing, and cheaper. I would like to check that out next time I go to the Sinai to climb Mt. Sinai when my friends Lindsay and Lindsey come! Looking forward to that!
Ok, so now some words about this country. There are quite a few things that I do not like about this city (Cairo) & country:
#1 - The smoking & the pollution. I constantly feel like I am breathing something disgusting into my lungs. Even though I like a weekly or bi-monthly sheesha, I cannot stand smelling cigarette smoke CONSTANTLY....it never ends. Not only that, when I finally get away from the cigarettes all I can smell is pollution. I never smell fresh air here...Sharm el Sheikh and the desert were nice escapes from this.... I'm afraid that when I get back to the good old USA I will have the lungs of someone who has smoked for 20 years. Let's hope not.
#2 - The cooking. OH man....IT IS SO GREASY AND FATTY AND ...blah. I can't get away from junk food. There is a fast food restaurant on every corner. And I refuse to go...well, actually...I have a secret. I ate my FIRST EVER McDonald's hamburger here in Cairo. Can you believe it? Disgusting. Hahaha. Well, even the Egyptian food is really greasy and unhealthy. The rice is thick and heavy and oily, not like Persian rice that is fluffy and delicious. They eat mostly greasy meats, always with french fries or something. I had one dish called Koshary and it is a mix of noodles, rice, lentils, red sauce, and fried onions. It tastes fairly good, but IT IS SO HEAVY. I can't stand it anymore. I feel like I have gained 50 lbs in 1 month. Let's hope not. I am going to try to cook for myself more for the next few weeks until Linds & Linds get here. At least the fruits and veggies are so fresh that they taste better than anything I have had in the USA. That makes up for it. That is why cooking will be SO NICE here....really great ingredients.
#3 - The disorganization. NOTHING is organized in this damn country. I am tired of it. I really cannot stand constantly being on edge, constantly worrying what I am doing next. I am making many many Arab friends now (since after the conference), and still I never feel completely satisfied, like I know what isgoing on. There is a complete lack of communication. Crazy. The conference was extremely disorganized. Even the Ritz Carlton, a supposedly "7 star" hotel couldn't get their act together. The DOUBLE BOOKED rooms, so a group of rotaracters walked in on other people. Then I ordered breakfast, and it took them about 1 hour to get it right. I had to keep telling them to send stuff back. Oh, by the way, would you consider "fresh fruit selection" as a glass of mango/strawberry juice? Didn't think so. That is what they gave me as fresh fruit selection. Then I wanted flavored yogurt and they gave me plain yogurt...so I asked for flavored yogurt and they brought me plain yogurt with chunks of apple in it. Absolutely ridiculous. The service in this country is really unfortunate. Even at very very nice places. Everything is just too disorganized and too chaotic. The traffic, the people.
#4 - The rudeness/sneakiness/anger of many of the people. In Cairo in one month, I have seen more fist fights in the middle of the street break out than I have in my entire life. I have seen more men yelling at each other. I have seen a man and woman fighting while they were driving, the man almost pushing the woman out of the car. I have seen Egyptians of all sorts purposefully scam unsuspecting and innocent foreigners. One day a taxi driver felt we didn't pay him enough, so he drove away with us still in the taxi cab. We were scared. Why would someone do this? We had little boys of about 13-15 throw glass at our heads as we were walking by. WHO teaches these kids these things?? I have had men look at me and say rude things to me pretty much every few feet as I walk down the road. I have learned to ignore it... People throw trash on the ground without a second thought. Most people disregard other humans, pretty much just live in their little bubble of a life ...and that's that. It is discouraging.
Okay, so I needed a venting session. But luckily I have made some amazing Arab friends who have gone beyond these things and are really really great. They are such amazing people. I am so happy about this, and it does give me hope. I can see a HUGE barrier in terms of wealth... the wealthy Arabs are much more open minded, much more willing to have a dialogue, much more well traveled and understanding of different cultures, much more aware of their surroundings, and much much much more respectful. Amazingly and to my surprise, I rode in a BMW last night... I have met some very wealthy Egyptians here, and I am thankful for that because I think I would lose my mind otherwise. That is sad to say, but it is really really true. I went to an amazing bar here in Cairo called After 8. It is in downtown, and you have to go through this grimy walkway to get to it, but once you are inside it is an oasis.
My absolute FAVORITE things about this country are the oases. Whether it is an oasis of water surrounded by desert, an oasis of modernity surrounded by a poor Middle Eastern country, or an oasis of openness surrounded by a closed off world.... I love these things here. When I enter the oases, I absolutely LOVE Egypt. It is one of my favorite places ever. But the other Egypt, the "real" Egypt, the prevailing and dominant Egypt... it is very different. Very difficult to deal with.... But I am learning to deal, learning to learn. I think the Rotaractors are going to save me from insanity while I am here, for sure.
This first picture is the beach at the Ritz Carlton in Sharm el Sheikh. It is really beautiful. The water is SO perfect...much cooler than the pool water, perfectly clear and you can see bright fish swimming all around. Best part - no sharks.
This is me, my friend Reem who invited me to the Rotaract conference, and our friend Mohammed that we met there. We went to the water park in Sharm el Sheikh. I don't know if I would recommend the water park if I were paying for it....but since it came with my package, it was fun. By the way, the pizza is not as tasty as it looks. Neither was any of the food. :)
Marwa, Carol and me sitting at the cabana at the Ritz having screwdrivers. Haha. THIS DOES NOT FEEL LIKE EGYPT. It's a very very strange Egypt, for sure.
Beach party for the rotaractors at the Grand Rotana hotel beach.
The pool at the Ritz Carlton. Very nice atmosphere, much more relaxing than the Rotana, especially because the Libyan government officials and maybe some other African country officials stayed out our hotel for the African Union summit... what a mess. That is why we had to move to the Ritz. And it was SO GREAT. I liked it much more than the Rotana, although the view from my room was much nicer at Rotana...
I finished my first session of Arabic classes last Wednesday and left for Sharm on Wednseday night. It was a HORRIBLE ride there (on a bus) and I was exhausted almost the whole time. But it was so beautiful. The clubs and sheesha places and restaurants in Sharm are great, but super expensive. But it is worth it for a little freedom for the chaos in Cairo for a weekend. Although I have heard the Dahab is more laid back, more relaxing, and cheaper. I would like to check that out next time I go to the Sinai to climb Mt. Sinai when my friends Lindsay and Lindsey come! Looking forward to that!
Ok, so now some words about this country. There are quite a few things that I do not like about this city (Cairo) & country:
#1 - The smoking & the pollution. I constantly feel like I am breathing something disgusting into my lungs. Even though I like a weekly or bi-monthly sheesha, I cannot stand smelling cigarette smoke CONSTANTLY....it never ends. Not only that, when I finally get away from the cigarettes all I can smell is pollution. I never smell fresh air here...Sharm el Sheikh and the desert were nice escapes from this.... I'm afraid that when I get back to the good old USA I will have the lungs of someone who has smoked for 20 years. Let's hope not.
#2 - The cooking. OH man....IT IS SO GREASY AND FATTY AND ...blah. I can't get away from junk food. There is a fast food restaurant on every corner. And I refuse to go...well, actually...I have a secret. I ate my FIRST EVER McDonald's hamburger here in Cairo. Can you believe it? Disgusting. Hahaha. Well, even the Egyptian food is really greasy and unhealthy. The rice is thick and heavy and oily, not like Persian rice that is fluffy and delicious. They eat mostly greasy meats, always with french fries or something. I had one dish called Koshary and it is a mix of noodles, rice, lentils, red sauce, and fried onions. It tastes fairly good, but IT IS SO HEAVY. I can't stand it anymore. I feel like I have gained 50 lbs in 1 month. Let's hope not. I am going to try to cook for myself more for the next few weeks until Linds & Linds get here. At least the fruits and veggies are so fresh that they taste better than anything I have had in the USA. That makes up for it. That is why cooking will be SO NICE here....really great ingredients.
#3 - The disorganization. NOTHING is organized in this damn country. I am tired of it. I really cannot stand constantly being on edge, constantly worrying what I am doing next. I am making many many Arab friends now (since after the conference), and still I never feel completely satisfied, like I know what isgoing on. There is a complete lack of communication. Crazy. The conference was extremely disorganized. Even the Ritz Carlton, a supposedly "7 star" hotel couldn't get their act together. The DOUBLE BOOKED rooms, so a group of rotaracters walked in on other people. Then I ordered breakfast, and it took them about 1 hour to get it right. I had to keep telling them to send stuff back. Oh, by the way, would you consider "fresh fruit selection" as a glass of mango/strawberry juice? Didn't think so. That is what they gave me as fresh fruit selection. Then I wanted flavored yogurt and they gave me plain yogurt...so I asked for flavored yogurt and they brought me plain yogurt with chunks of apple in it. Absolutely ridiculous. The service in this country is really unfortunate. Even at very very nice places. Everything is just too disorganized and too chaotic. The traffic, the people.
#4 - The rudeness/sneakiness/anger of many of the people. In Cairo in one month, I have seen more fist fights in the middle of the street break out than I have in my entire life. I have seen more men yelling at each other. I have seen a man and woman fighting while they were driving, the man almost pushing the woman out of the car. I have seen Egyptians of all sorts purposefully scam unsuspecting and innocent foreigners. One day a taxi driver felt we didn't pay him enough, so he drove away with us still in the taxi cab. We were scared. Why would someone do this? We had little boys of about 13-15 throw glass at our heads as we were walking by. WHO teaches these kids these things?? I have had men look at me and say rude things to me pretty much every few feet as I walk down the road. I have learned to ignore it... People throw trash on the ground without a second thought. Most people disregard other humans, pretty much just live in their little bubble of a life ...and that's that. It is discouraging.
Okay, so I needed a venting session. But luckily I have made some amazing Arab friends who have gone beyond these things and are really really great. They are such amazing people. I am so happy about this, and it does give me hope. I can see a HUGE barrier in terms of wealth... the wealthy Arabs are much more open minded, much more willing to have a dialogue, much more well traveled and understanding of different cultures, much more aware of their surroundings, and much much much more respectful. Amazingly and to my surprise, I rode in a BMW last night... I have met some very wealthy Egyptians here, and I am thankful for that because I think I would lose my mind otherwise. That is sad to say, but it is really really true. I went to an amazing bar here in Cairo called After 8. It is in downtown, and you have to go through this grimy walkway to get to it, but once you are inside it is an oasis.
My absolute FAVORITE things about this country are the oases. Whether it is an oasis of water surrounded by desert, an oasis of modernity surrounded by a poor Middle Eastern country, or an oasis of openness surrounded by a closed off world.... I love these things here. When I enter the oases, I absolutely LOVE Egypt. It is one of my favorite places ever. But the other Egypt, the "real" Egypt, the prevailing and dominant Egypt... it is very different. Very difficult to deal with.... But I am learning to deal, learning to learn. I think the Rotaractors are going to save me from insanity while I am here, for sure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)