Pyramids, etc.

Hello!

Sorry it’s been a while.

The rest of last week was fairly non descript. Thursday after school we went to a restaurant called Lucille’s, which is supposedly home to the best burger in the world. I would probably say it’s the best burger in Egypt.

Lucilles with Dan, Ryne, Tim, Keenan, Hannah, and David

Afterwards we went to an “ahawa” or “coffee shop” where you can get Turkish coffee, Middle Eastern tea (1 part Lipton tea, 3-4 parts sugar), freshly squeezed juice (mango, lemon, guava, etc.), and of course Shisha. Also, we were able to play backgammon, which was a lot of fun, if my memory serves me right then backgammon was invented in the Middle East.

Friday, Clare, Hannah, Kirsten and I went to the Pyramids with our Egyptian friends Tamer, Omar, and Ahmed. We rented horses and took them around the pyramids and towards the Sphinx (fun fact: Sphinx means “Strangler” in Greek). Some people galloped with their horses, I didn’t because my horse had really seen better days and didn’t need any more whippings. It was kind of a pathetic sad animal.

After the Pyramids, we went back to Zamalek to get Pizza Hut. Going to Pizza Hut in Cairo is a much grander affair than going to Pizza Hut in the states, I felt kind of embarrassed to be smelling of depressed horse.

The Group

Pyramids

Clare and I at the Sphinx

The guys decided to take us to a popular ahawa in Khan el-Khalili, where they smoke shisha and introduced us to a magical drink called “Sahlab.” This wonderful concoction is made up of something like milk and rice ground together with mass quantities of sugar so it’s a thick consistency but still very fluid. It is heated up and shredded coconut, golden raisins, and peanuts are sprinkled on top.  It is extremely delicious. Our whole time at this ahawa was crazy, these street sellers would come in and walk through the place trying to get us to buy there wares (small sheepskin carpets, necklaces, small packets of Kleenex, beaded hats, chunks of animal fur with quranic verses sewn into them, and my favorite, strands of Jasmine blossoms). These sellers were of both genders and of various ages, and for some reason the younger girls kept beating on Omar, who was sitting near the door. They would smack him in the arm or try to push him of his chair, etc without being provoked at all. It was strange, funny, and not exactly a great sales tactic.

Saturday was mostly a homework day, as per day before school again. Tuesday, a couple of us girls went to Café Noir to get some coffee, tea, or Apple Cider (!) and do homework. Believe it or not we actually didn’t get that much homework done but we had a great talk about all we are learning here and applied it to some of our observations, interactions, etc. that we have had so far. Later that night, Clare, who is the new RA on our floor, had organized a floor meeting. So that afternoon we got a couple of cakes (Double chocolate fudge and Cinnamon) from a shop called Pumpkin that has the most delicious slices of cake, and a wide variety of flavors. Very creative. Though I had only bought cake there once, I had been in 3 other times to get menus and what not and the head worker there recognized me, which is kind of embarrassing. We all exchanged names so now Khaled and I are on first name basis.

The floor meeting was a lot of fun but mostly it was study abroad students who showed up, as well as Hannah’s sweet roommate Bassant. Everyone enjoyed the cake J

The rest of the week was uneventful and now I am killing time in the Library before the 7pm get together of the Egyptology Club where we are going to watch an episode of Chasing Mummies and then make fun of it after. I’m excited.