Verrrry Innnterrresting

Ok! Picture time!

Pic 1: This is the view from my flat in Mohandiseen. The cafe right there on the corner is the cafe that I am sitting at right now! :)

Pic 2: This is the pool that I go to on top of the Atlas hotel near my flat. It is a lot of fun.

Pic 3: Camel & the pyramids :) :)

Pic 4: On our way to the desert. Nothing

Pic 5: Me in the White Desert

time flies

I can't believe I've already been here for over 2 weeks. And I also can't believe that most of the friends I have made at school are leaving in about 2 weeks, including my roommate. Crazy. Time is really flying by.

Well I have done so much since my last thing...I won't bore with the nitty gritty details, but I'll try to explain a little bit since I can't post pics at the moment. Last weekend I went to the pyramids, and of course it was pretty fantastic. They are so large. But it is interesting how they are kind of in the middle of town, not off in the middle of nowhere like you would imagine. We took horse/camels with some random guy on the side of the road. He was a little weird to say the least, and kind of jipped us out of our money when we thought we had already paid. But it ended up being a good time anyway. We took the horses camels off to the outskirts of the pyramid grounds so that we could see the whole panorama. Then all of the sudden our tour guy got into a shouting match with one of the tourism policemen (they are everywhere) who had an AK. I'm pretty sure he was fighting with him because we got in through the back door and I don't think that's allowed...he's probably making lots of $$. The people around Cairo are very willing to make a quick buck by screwing foreigners & tourists any way they can. Unfortunately it will always happen, so oh well. At least we had fun.

Then another week went by, and I did a few things...I've been to the Cairo Jazz Club a couple of times and it is a hangout for younger/richer Egyptians. The people in there are so different looking than the people in the middle of Cairo. Egyptian women are wearing the same clothes that you would see in the United States and are acting just they way they would there. People are drinking lots of alochol (most tables I saw bought bottles of whiskey or vodka) and dancing and having a great time. It is very different than all of the hijabbed women in the streets of Cairo. The modern/Western Cairo is mostly hidden when you walk around during the day... most people who are modern and Western drive cars and you don't see them walking around. But if you go to certain places, like the jazz club, they will be there. There is also the extreme poor of Cairo. It is very sad and intense. Children beg a lot, and sometiems it is hard to tell if the beggars are for real or if they are faking it. I have heard on the news about the food crisis around Egypt and Cairo, but I have yet to see the long lines for bread or anyone protesting. I suppose I am not really around those areas much. I hope things start getting better soon for these poor people. I feel really bad seeing mothers on the side of the road with their small children. Sad sad.

This last weekend I camped out in the Great White Desert near the Bahariya Oasis for 2 nights. It was absolutely amazing and it is the exact opposite of Cairo. There is no one around...you are isolated from everyone, and you don't even think about the bustling wild streets of Cairo or any other city. We arrived in the late afternoon on Friday to the Bahariya Oasis and got our driver (who I named Sharky) and his helper (who I named George). At first I was a little bit iffy about them...Sharky was very quiet and a very large man and George just seemed strange. But Sharky ended up being very fatherly and he is so skilled at what he does (driving on sand/rocks, cooking fantastic meals on an open fire, etc...)....George was still strange the whole time. Haha...but a good guy.

Nothing lives in the desert except a couple of things, not even small bushes or weeds or bugs. It mostly rocks and sand. But a long time ago it was a large sea, so there are signs of past life everywhere like sea shells (I collected a few). Right when we arrived we saw amazing rock formations and fossils, including a huge fossil of a shark that we stood inside. We stopped in the white desert and camped on Friday night, eating some great chicken, rice, and potatoes that Sharky cooked along with some great sweet tea with mint. I thought no life could possibly sustain itself, but all of the sudden we saw some shadows scuttering along in the dark. They ended up being desert foxes! In the middle of the night I woke up and looked up at the sky and saw all of the galaxies and millions of stars. It was so quiet. I fell back asleep and I woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of completely silence. You don't really know what silence is until you are in the middle of the desert with no wind and no life. It is like you are in a vacuum of space. I could barely open my eyes because it was so bright everywhere....the sun reflected off the white rocks and it was shocking after a dark night. That day we stopped at a small oasis where 5 men have been living for about a month and had lunch for a few hours. We also swam in a natural spring pool...it was so refreshing and amazing. Randomly in the middle of the desert there was a large tree with blooming flowers on top of a hill surrounded by no other life except bees buzzing around. Sharky said it has been there for 3000 years. Incredible. We stopped that day and had another delicious dinner of pasta and tea. Then me & my travelling buddies played hide and out in the dark.

Our travel back from the desert was not as nice. We got back to the Bahariya desert and said goodbye to Sharky & George. Then we got in a van with a young driver guy who looked a little bit out of it. We got to a checkpoint (where, by the way, I had to claim I was not American so we would not be escorted by armed guards all the way back to Cairo....don't know why, I guess to keep Americans safe....?). Right before we got to the checkpoint, our driver HIT a small boy on a bicycle. Now, the kid was acting a little recklessly, but I'm pretty sure our driver could've easily avoided the situation. It was a bit shocking, but I moved on without thinking about it. We got passed the checkpoint. I fell asleep, and the next thing I know I hear a very loud THUMP THUMP THUMP... I was a little shaken and finally our driver pulled over and got out of the car and looked at the tire and was a little shocked. Then we got out of the car, and looked at it, and it was completely ripped to shreds. NOt only that, part of the front bumper was smashed off and there were wires hanging out. We were all a bit upset to say the least, but he fixed the tire and we were on our way. The rest of the time I couldn't sleep and I was just watching the road. He was still driving kind of funny...I think something was wrong with him. We got back and demanded to go straight to the office to get our money back for the trip. I think we are going to get it back. If not, we are going to tell everyone on internet sights not to use their company because it is unsafe. They should compensate us considering how scary it could have been. The accident could have been much worse. Thank God it wasn't.

I'm learning Arabic, too. :) It is good, I feel like my classes are intensive and I am learning a lot. I can kind of communicate to cab drivers now.

Ok, well, I will write again soon. Still not letting me post pictures, but I will do it as soon as I can. Miss and love you all.

hello again

It has been so hectic around here! Wowie...what a city. I don't have any pictures really right now that I can post, and also I am without laptop internet access. Sad sad. I am in the Arabic institute's computer room right now. It's so crazy how much my life changed without internet! I feel like I can barely get in contact with anyone! haha. Haha. I'm a nerd...well, I guess I'm not a nerd, I'm just in the 21st century, people!

Anyway, enough about my lack of internet. I got an apartment with a really nice Italian woman who is also going to the Arabic school. We're spending kind of a lot of money compared to most people, but it's worth it because some of the other apartments we saw were gross (it was really crazy finding an apartment...SOOO stressful, and the people here really know how to pressure you and pretty much try to rip you off...we looked at 6 apartments before we found one that we actually liked). It is a REALLY big apartment in an area of town called Mohandiseen. It is in a really good mantaga (area in Arabic), lots of shops and restaurants and things going on...the traffic is really light in the mornings so it doesn't take us long to get to the institute with a cab, but at night the traffic is crazy because it is such a popular area for people to go.

Oh man, I still get a little bit nervous driving in a cab...and I already know a few people who have been in accidents. My friend Zeina's (who my friend from UCF Reham introduced me to...thanks, Reham! she's great!) boyfriend and brother both were in accidents recently. Luckily nothing too bad, but still. People get within inches to other cars (they even put their side mirrors away so that they can squeeze more closely to other cars), honk incessantly, and jam into intersections. I think I have seen a couple of traffic lights, but they are not obeyed. There are men in the middle of the streets "directing" traffic, but really it is madness. One of our cab drivers was having a GREAT time, laughing the whole way. He really loves his job! Haha. Crossing the streets is still scary because you have to time it so perfectly...the drivers very very rarely stop for you, and if they do it is likely that they will get rear-ended. Hahaha. It is a lot of fun even though it's scary.

I've met some very nice people here! Zeina is one, and she has been great showing me around and taking me to cafes and things like that. There are so many nice cafes here. The first one I went to had a view of the Nile and I got the best frappe. Mmm. Zeina also introduced me to another Egyptian, Reem, who I am probably going to Sharm el-Sheikh with with a bunch of other people from a rotary club when I have my break in between courses (instead of going to Turkey...sad sad).

I have also met a bunch of people at the institute. There are a ton of Europeans here...many from Northern Europe and the UK. I met a few Scottish guys today who are very cool, and there are also quite a few people from Sweden, Switzerland, France, England, and the like. It is awesome! There are also Americans, but much fewer than I expected actually. I like that there are so many people from around the world. Most of the people at the institute are younger, still in college and about 19-21. I don't feel too old though. :) I feel like a little 5 year old kid at heart, even though my roommate said that I'm very mature for my age...oolala, that is a new one! Hahaha. The Scottish guys said that I might be able to go to this oasis out in the desert with them in a couple weekends! I am looking for a few girls to go with me so that I won't be an outcast...but it sounds awesome. It takes about 8 hours to get there and you take a jeep and then you camp out under the stars in the middle of nowhere. I want to go really bad. Hopefully I'll be able to.

I still haven't seen the pyramids or any of the touristy things in Cairo! I guess I'm still kind of just getting adjusted to living. Time flies so fast...by the time I get home from class, it is about 3:30-4pm, and then eating lunch and doing homework, it is already time to go to bed! Barely have time to eat dinner! Haha. I don't know why time flies so fast, but it really does here. It's such a different atmosphere... very very laid back but extremely hectic...how is that even possible? Haha, well it is.

The food tastes SO GOOD here. And not the cooking, really, but for example fruit smoothies (really popular here) are AMAZING! And I had one of the best burgers I've had! Haha. The food is really better than anything in the U.S. It has so much flavor. It is not bi-maze (Farsi for Daddy) like so much of the food in the U.S. Fruits and veggies and meat have so many chemicals that it just is different. I was so happy when I tried this stuff and it was like a new experience! Haha. But the food here is definitely not healthy. Lots of fried stuff, lots of meat, and even their rice is made with some sort of lard (it is thick rice that is sticky like Chinese except heavier & salty, not like Persian or Indian rice). I haven't gotten sick yet, and inshallah I don't think I will as long as I'm careful.

There are also SOOO many European-style cafes it is unbelievable...there's even a French cafe right below our apartment and I went there one night and met the manager who is from Paris. Seems like a nice guy, and he lives in our apartment too. The difference between Europe/US and here is that there are tons of sheesha cafes EVERYWHERE. It is so much fun, and people just stay up until all hours of the night smoking and drinking tea and hanging out. The city doesn't really come alive until after about 8pm or so when everyone goes outside.

Next to my apartment is a mosque, and the loudspeaker for the prayer is RIGHT next to our bedrooms. Every morning they wake us up at 5am. I don't mind the call during the day, but when it's so quiet it startles me! I wish I could record it though, it is such a unique sound. Like churchbells except...different. Hahaha.

I am surprised at how few people really speak English here. It is not like Europe at all. There are a few people who speak English SO WELL but the majority don't. I am picking up a few things, and there are some things that people say all the time, even when they are speaking English. Like "yani"...it is almost like "like" or "ya know" in the U.S. where people just say it every other word. Yani yani yani...it means "i mean" or "it means" or something. I've almost started saying it. Haha.

The music here is soooooo good. I already have favorite songs. Unfortunately our apartment isn't picking up any Arabic tv though (just English and 1 Egyptian soap operan channel because the person who lived there before us was American), but I love the music videos. Soooo good. I almost want to quit my PhD program and become an Arabic singer....man oh man that would be fun! You should look some up on youtube. My favorite song right now is by Haife Wahbe (controversial Lebanese singer who is barbie-doll beautiful and wears very skimpy clothes) and it is called Ma T’oulch Lhad. Check it out. It's an older song, but hey, I have to catch up.

Most women here wear the headscarf, but I don't feel weird not wearing it. I am wearing pretty much the exact same stuff that I was wearing in the U.S. except if I have lowcut shirts I just put on something underneath. Even though I dress like this people still think I'm from Egypt...apparently it is what wealthier/less religious Egyptians wear anyway so that's good. I don't stand out too much. The Scottish guys said I look more Latin than European though...so like I said, I look like everything. hahaha...it is pretty easy to tell where everyone else is from though. Europeans are very obvious... Americans are obvious too...just the way they interact with people is a little different. If you smile at someone and they don't smile back, usually that means they are NOT American. Just little things you pick up with the different cultures...it's pretty funny.

My classes are good, but hard. I definitely need to do some studying on my own because in my standard Arabic (fus'ha) class I am a little bit behind...and I'm only in level 1! I am picking up some Egyptian colloquial (a'amaya) pretty quickly...that's not too hard compared to fus'ha.

Ok, well, I suppose that's all!! Long post! But I tried to write as much as possible because I don't think I will be writing again for a while since my internet isn't working (bleeeeeh). I'll email people as much as possible though... Miss ya'll!

Made it!

I'm here. And I'm trying to get in the zone.......... The TIME zone. hahaha. I'm funny. About to go to bed.





But before I do that... just thought I would share a couple things before I forget. First, Cairo is amazing. Ok, so I haven't seen it that much yet (just the crazy cab ride over), but wow. It looks like nothing I have ever seen before. Pictures won't even do it justice. Most of the buildings are old and the tall (15+ stories) apartment buildings have laundry hanging from all directions. There are mosques everywhere with lights that make them glow, and the churches are just as beautiful. There are palm trees lining the streets, trees everywhere. The Nile is magical.












Even the view from my hotel room is slightly unreal to me right now (this is it).

Oh man, I think all of this just after a 45 minute cab ride. I wonder what I'll think when I actually get out there tomorrow. Hahaha.

Speaking of the cab ride, no one stays in traffic lanes here. Driving is a free for all. Including pedestrians, who randomly popped out in front of us a couple times, and a motorcycle who almost got hit off of his motorcycle because he was driving on the side and someone ahead of us opened their door to stop him. Hahaha. My driver brought his family (daughter, wife, and nephew). It was pretty awesome. None of them spoke English, but I had fun time trying to figure things out. :) They were so funny, loud, and they tried to talk to me even though I had no clue. I figured some things out. For example, apparently David Beckham was or is in town for a game and there is some sort of rivalry (not sure whether on attractiveness or soccer abilities) between this popular soccer player Egyptian guy (who I think I'm watching talk on TV right now) and that was a big deal. Oh, and then this motorcade passed us, and I said, "OH, is that David Beckham?" and they just laughed at me. I think they thought I was joking, but I was serious. And then they said, "Haha, oh, that's just President Mubarak's advisor." WHAT? Haha. Cool, I guess! They said that I look Arab, and I said I know. Hahaha. I wanted to say, "I look like everything" but I don't think they would've understood. Awesome people. So happy they drove me. Took about 45 minutes of madness to get to my hotel. The bellman was great too. The plane ride from Paris to Cairo was awesome... (can you see the Eiffel Tower???)
I slept for a bit of it, but then I started talking to the man sitting next to me who is a Cairene and he has a daughter who is about my age and he ended up giving me all his daughter's info so hopefully I will meet up with her at some point. He is a doctor and travels around West Africa medicalling for US contractors in those regions (at least that's what I gathered). We had a great convo, and hopefully I'll meet up with his daughter soon. Everyone's just so awesome so far. Love it love it love it. Highly recommended city. Well....I guess I can't recommend it yet. Just got here. I'll let you know in a few days.

Right now I'm just lounging in my room, watching a fairly attractive (surprisingly) Egyptian man sing a cool song. I'm not really sure what I'm watching actually. Maybe an egyptian version of Entertainment Tonight? Really interesting. Hm. Oh, and I just found out that guy that I saw earlier was not the Egyptian David Beckham, but some other singer dude. Women are wearing really skimpy clothes on tv.... geez. One lady just walked out in a leather halter dress with thigh-high boots. WHAT?! hahaha. ok. Wasn't expecting that.

Ok, bedtime for me! I'm exhausted. Gotta get in the zone, like I said.

Motown

I'm in Detroit and loving it...hahaha. I've been here for the past 6 hours or so, just relaxing and doing my own thing. Nothing is sinking in yet. I need to just wake up and realize what I'm about to be doing. It is kind of crazy that I am heading to a city where I really know no one. I have a few connections thanks to great friends, and I have a feeling it will all work out. But it is still strange. Everywhere I have ever moved to or gone, I have known someone first. This will be new. Sometimes I have the urge to just cut myself off, no internet, no phone, nothing. But I know Mom & Dad will worry, so I resist the urge. But maybe at some point I will do it while I'm there. Anyway, right now I'm feeling extremely tired. I stayed up all night last night, and slept only maybe a total of 30 minutes on the plane here. Hopefully I will pass out on my way to Paris. So the itinerary from here is arrive in Paris at 11:30am or so, then leave at 1:30pm for Cairo. I arrive in Cairo at 7pm, and a driver from the Arabic school I am attending will be there (hopefully) to greet me and take me to my hotel. I will be staying in my hotel for a couple of nights, and then Sunday I have my placement test, along with an orientation session and possibly meeting up with people to live with while I'm there. Allllllright. I'll let you know how it goes as soon as I have internet access again, which shouldn't be too long according to travel books that say that internet cafes are quite common in Cairo now.

The Detroit airport has been good to me. I bought a journal and wrote in it while I listened to a bunch of stuffy old men talk about business in the "world club" of NWA. But I got free wine/beer/cocktails that I took full advantage of all afternoon, along with wifi access (obviously because I am able to post right now), comfortable chairs, and a view of the runway. Not too shabby. After reading my Egypt travel book, I am slightly nervous (but the excitement overrides the nervousness). Too much mention of terrorist attacks for my comfort level, BUT...the chances that I'll get mugged or raped or murdered in Houston are much higher than anything happening to me in Egypt. Ah. So comforting.

Well I suppose that's pretty much it for now. I board my plane to Paris in about 30 minutes. I hope everything stays awesome here in the States. I miss you all already.

Enta betifham?

Uh, yeah. I'm learning Arabic already. Kind of. I figured I should try to know SOMETHING before I get there so that when I arrive I won't be in complete shock. I haven't been listening to my Arabic lessons as consistently as I should, though. But most importantly I can say, "Do you understand English?" in Arabic. GOOD DEAL. Haha. So anyway, I heard back from my Arabic school. I think I am all set. Whew. And I made a new friend in Egypt already! One of my good friends in Florida is from Cairo and she knows some great people, so things are looking more and more positive. I still have that 8 hour layover. But I was told that for about $40 I can lounge out in the "World Perks Club" at the Detroit airport. Niiiiice. hahaha...I'll be getting a few drinks. Maybe. Or maybe not, since I have some nice sleeping pills to get me to Egypt in good condition.

Well, I've been shopping like crazy trying to get clothes that will be "modest" and "comfortable" (i.e. loose and ugly). I'm slightly unhappy about having to change my style...but I think the change will be less drastic than my mom thinks will be appropriate. Most of my clothes will work with slight tweaking, like a shawl...I'm hoping. Some of the clothes I bought are actually cute. I've heard that some people get to Egypt and try to fit in by wearing torn up, loose, weird looking, hippie clothes. I don't know why they think that will make them fit in. Interesting American tourists...I'm sure I'll do some crazy stuff, too, but come on...haha. My new friend in Egypt said The GAP look is good. So I'll stick with that.

I am so so so so so so excited! It hasn't really sunk in yet that I'm leaving in a week. 7 days from tomorrow. CRAZY. I have so much to do still, but most shopping is done and I am making contacts. Can't wait.

Start the Countdown

2 weeks until I leave for Egypt. So much to do, so little time... I haven't heard back from the Arabic school I am supposedly taking classes with. That is not reassuring. My layover in Detroit is 8 hours. Not looking forward to that....it will cost me $200 to change it. Worth it? I don't know. I forgot about my appointment to get my last Hep A & B shot, so I need to do that before I go otherwise I won't be covered & I'll probably catch something nasty. And I need to take my typhoid meds, can't forget about that. I don't have a place to stay when I get there, I don't know if I am signed up for my classes, and I don't know anyone. I am completely in the dark. BUT I'M SO EXCITED! Honestly, all I need is a plane ticket (which I have, regardless of the horrible layover) and I'm good to go. Just get me there and I'll figure out the rest. Haha. I'll write again when it's closer to the ETD.