Cairo Time, Taboula and the Strike

Tuesday was good, Hannah and I went to the Cairo Museum in the morning to make up for missing a fieldtrip and to find artifacts to write descriptions of for class. We went back to Zamalek, I worked on my Halloween costume and rested (I’m coming down with a cold :/ ) and then later that night I went to go meet up with my dad’s former co-worker and my childhood favorite person Nanci Martin. We were to have dinner at Taboula, the Lebanese restaurant I’ve mentioned many a time already in this blog. I got a cab by myself and between my broken Arabic and his broken English we almost got to the right place. At one point he told me that the way I say “ayawa” (meaning “yes”) is the “most sweet”. This is one I haven’t heard before, so that was interesting. Finally we got to a barricaded road- it turns out the restaurant is on the same street as the US Embassy. I had to get out of the cab and walk the rest of the way- a way I didn’t really know, alone in Garden City. I was just about to ask a traffic police officer where to go but then I saw a teeny sign that said Taboula. I was pretty proud of my success J. I had a great time with Nanci and her intern who joined us, named Melanie. On the drive home (Nanci has a driver, and Melanie and I live at the same place which was relatively close to the restaurant), Nanci told me a couple of stories about my dad that made me miss him a lot.

Nanci and I

Wednesday we went to class and all that. After class while walking out of the maze building, we encountered a huge crowd of people huddled around something and occasionally yelling. I was curious but a little nervous- my friend Tim investigated- it was a worker’s strike. Apparently the workers are typically paid somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 L.E. a month- roughly the equivalent of  $107. (this salary is already remarkably lower than what they should be paid (I’m not sure if it is minimum wage or what but this is what my friend told me) something like 1200 L.E. a month (about $200). However, the main point of contention now is a recent allocation of 100 L.E. of their monthly salaries going to a retirement fund. Now they only have a little less than $90 to live on for a month, not to mention supporting their families. After watching this for a little while, we went and got dinner then went to see the movie Cairo Time which my neighbor, Jim Connelly had told me about shortly before I left the states. It didn’t come out until the day I left, so I hadn’t gotten a chance to see it. However it was being shown on campus so we all thought we would go see it. This movie got mixed reviews from amongst my friends. There were a lot of lingering moments and shots that could eiter be taken as romantic or awkward, however, it was fun to see Cairo on the big screen since being here. Also, her hotel is either on our island (Zamalek) or looks at it from across the Nile, which was cool. One thing that bothered me is how Patricia Clarkson, the main actress was wearing clothes that would be considered mildly offensive/indecent in the culture here and her male companion, an Egyptian, did not advise her to dress in a more modest fashion the whole movie.  Other than that it was pretty enjoyable. Also, before the movie started there was a travel ad for Egypt that was so enticing, that even though I was already in Egypt I wanted to go to Egypt. Well done Bureau of tourism!

This morning at school it was interesting to notice all the ways that campus has been effected by the strike- the bathrooms are dirty and sloppy looking, trash is all over the ground throughout campus, and the fountains on the main Plaza were going crazy and flooding the walkway a little bit. Their absence might not be quite as noticeable if the students cleaned up after themselves and didn’t litter all the time but so it goes. I sure hope that the workers can get their wages raised, they sure deserve it!

I went to the clinic this morning because my cold is worsening and they sent me home so I am on the bus back to downtown where I will catch a cab to the dorm. Hookie isn’t as fun without Sue Lyke though…

Surprises

Sorry it’s been so long. Monday was the night before my birthday as well as the midweekend. We decided to go to Taboula, a Lebanese restaurant I have heard people raving about. We walked downstairs and SURPRISE! Pretty much everyone I know in Cairo was waiting with a potted flower, cake, cupcakes, Arabic sweets, and a giant birthday card! Ahmed came from 6 of October City, Max and Meg were there, and or friends Ishmael and Ibrahim. We had dinner in the cafeteria then went to a felucca on the Nile which was so much fun. Then we went to a club downtown called After Eight and danced until 3, it was one of my best nights in Cairo.

Hannah, Kayleigh, Kirsten, Ben, David, Ryne, Ahmed, Meg, and Mary

Carly, Clare, Max, and Meg

Birthday Sweets (paper goods courtesy of the lovely Susan Lyke)

Tuesday I mostly did homework- I typed notes for my Egyptology class including pictures from the power points, it was very high-tech, if I do say so myself. I was preparing for an exam Monday.

Wednesday was uneventful and Thursday Clare, Max, Meg, Johan and I tried to go to Alexandria. We were unable however, due to extraordinary amounts of traffic. Rather, normal traffic that we keep forgetting to factor into our planning. We missed the train and ended up going to Max’s apartment in Maadi that he shares with his father and made a yummy dinner. (It was so much fun to chop up the vegetables, I can’t wait to work at the Dining Hall again when I return!)

Goofing off on the way to Max's Apartment

 We didn’t finish cooking until 10 and then finished dinner around 11 so we were very tired and didn’t feel like going back to Zamalek so we crashed at Max’s. The next morning we had a very European breakfast and had interesting conversation about social norms in different countries and higher education practices. After, we took the Metro back home and decided to go do homework at old campus, downtown. It was amazing how quiet it was on the downtown campus despite just being off of Tahrir Square, one of the busiest areas in all of Egypt.

Max looking like a quintessential German

The next day I had to go on a field trip to Giza, which could have been awesome but I couldn’t hear the professors for most of it because there were so many of us. It was very cool to see an ancient, reconstructed funerary boat though. That was my favorite part. We had to wear these goofy looking booties that would have fit over Ronald McDonald's shoes, should he have chosen to come on our fieldtrip. Also, we went into the great pyramid of Khufu, which was cool.

The Sphinx and Khafre's pyramid?

Funerary Boat

Booties!

Sunday we were supposed to have an Arabic exam which I had been studying for all day but it turns out we didn’t have it because the professor hadn’t had time to go over homework with me before, so that was nice. Then I studied hard for Egyptology.

Monday, today, was the day of my big Egyptology Exam that I had been dreading. I know I definitely got some answers wrong, but I have a good feeling about it, I’m thinking B range J Later we went out for gelato to celebrate Meg’s birthday.

Ahmed's return, Saqqara and Dashur, and Shami Night

Friday night we got to go to our friend Ahmed’s house to have a home cooked Egyptian meal. Ahmed lives in 6 of October City, about half an hour from Zamalek. We went right away to the “Nadi” or Club that his little stepbrother Sam was participating in a kung fu competition at. Unfortunately, we got there too late and Sam had already competed. We walked around the club, which was huge. It seemed to me a bit like a country club with tennis courts, a swimming pool, lawns, restaurants, etc. It was very nice. After that, we went to Ahmed’s apartment that he has with his sister and we had a delicious meal. He made sure to include Clare’s favorite dip, Tomayya (glorified Ranch, I guess it’s mayonnaise and garlic mostly? I’m not a fan) and my favorite kind of Arabic sweet, Kunaffa (this is not the same as my favorite kind in Palestine, but it was still yummy) which was very thoughtful of him. We also tried Hibiscus juice, which is like grape juice but has a bit of a zing to it. After dessert Ahmed wanted to go to an Ahawa (coffeehouse) and smoke some shisha. We had a great time just talking about random things such as traveling, music, and scholarships. When it was time for us to go home, Ahmed got us a cab and negotiated with the cab driver to make sure we didn’t get ripped off. He was so sweet and fun, we had such a great time!

Ahmed, Ryne, Me, Carly, and Clare

Saturday was a fieldtrip. My friend Hannah and I left the dorm to meet up with everyone at the old campus at 7:30 and by 9 we were on our way to Dashur, the location of both the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid (also the Black Pyramid is nearby, but it looks like a rundown fortress now because it was built on uneven or swampy ground or something. Apparently there is a lake there and there is some famous papyrus that I should probably know the name of on which there is written a story recounting events with one of the pharaohs (I should probably know his name) who had a magician who on occasion would entertain him. One time, it is said, this magician turned his staff into a snake (before Moses!), and another time he parted the waters of the lake in Dashur (also before Moses!) which is very very interesting).

Bent Pyramid

Black Pyramid

Anyway, both the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid were very cool and we were able to go into the burial chamber of the Red Pyramid, which is apparently the first pyramid to have the burial chamber in the superstructure of the pyramid (instead of the substructure) (fun fact).  However, partially through the descent into the red pyramid (the shaft down was only the size of a big pyramid cube- probably half my size so about 2.7 feet tall (is that right?? You might want to look this up yourselves), the lights went out. There was absolutely no light at all and the tiny amount of light shining in through the entrance was mostly blocked by the bodies of a bunch of my classmates. I was so happy I am not Closter phobic. Fortunately, the light came back on just about the time I got to the bottom. It was very surreal to be inside a pyramid!

Red Pyramid

At one point our professor, Dr. Ikram, wanted to take us to go see the Eastern Temple of these Pyramids, which was frowned upon by the antiquities police. However, she took us anyway and at one point the whole class was running away from the police though the desert. It was quite a sight. It was also ironic that the antiquities police were trying to keep Dr. Ikram, one of the best Egyptologists in the world, away from these sites for fear of damage.

Running Away from the Antiquities Police

After we left Dashur, my class headed to Saqqara, another site very close by that holds the Step Pyramid complex. This pyramid and complex was designed for King Djoser, a very early king. His architect was Imhotep (yes, the bad guy from the Mummy movies) who was extremely famous and later there was even a cult devoted to him. There is a statue of him in a museum somewhere (I should probably know which one) and he looks kind of goofy but he was apparently the Frank Lloyd Wright of his time. This complex was very exciting to see after we had a whole class devoted to it last week.

Hannah and I at the Step Pyramid

One interesting thing there is the Hepsed Race arena. Kings used to run the Hepsed race which is a certain length and is supposed to symbolize the king running from one side of the country to the other, symbolizing his virility and overall competency and ability to run the country.  Afterwards, the king would shower, get perfumed and all that then there would be another coronation ceremony for him and he would get “re-crowned” King.

Graffiti from the Early Kingdom?

Here's to you, Edward Said

In Saqqara we also visited a tomb that was built for two guys who were hair dressers (probably to the king), and best friends. I thought it was cute that they got a tomb together! It was very well decorated and fairly intact.

Hieroglyphics

We got in trouble with more authorities (Dr. Ikram is on the right)

We also got the opportunity to go into the pyramid of King Tete. His pyramid was smaller than the Red Pyramid of Dashur and the burial chamber was in the sub-structure but the decorations inside his were much cooler. The walls were covered with hieroglyphics that were holy text- very clear and beautiful. I loved his tomb. Unfortuately at a lot of these setes were were not able to use cameras, though I really wish I was able to capture some of these carved words on film. Anyway, that was about the end of the field trip and we got back to downtown Cairo about 5 that evening.

Plastic Bags: Tumbleweeds of the Egyptian Desert

Sunday went well, I even raised my hand in my Anthropology class. However, after school is where the fun lies. Sunday night was Shami Night (The Sham is the Arabic equivalent of what we call “The Levant” in the States, it is composed of the countries Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and my favorite, Palestine) wherein students of AUC from these various countries told us a little bit about their respective countries and then played music on the Oud (the lute, very popular traditional instrument here), showed a short movie they put together with facts about their country, or did a dance (the Dabke and the Belly dance). 

Lebanese Students doing the Dabke

This was really fun to see as it is very similar to an event we put on at Notre Dame called Arabic Culture Night where we do a little skit in Arabic, maybe have someone sing in Arabic, and do the Dabke. After the program we got to have food! This was the best food I have had my whole time here- I just love food from that part of the world. There were stuffed grape leaves, tabouli, baba ganoug, makloubeh, and kunafe (among other lovely things that I don’t know the names of). Clare, David, and I had expected to just get some food at 7 then head back to our dorm on the 8:15 bus however, we didn’t make that or even the 9:15 bus, we had to take the 10:15. Needless to say, we were pretty tired that night too.

Dancing Horses, among other things

Hello!
Unfortunately, we did not end up going to a wedding on Friday because there were going to be rifles shot in the air at the end and that's illegal in Cairo nowadays and Jessie's professor didn't want us to get in trouble, which was nice of her. However, that morning I decided to stroll on over to Metro Mart to get money and go grocery shopping. However, my ATM card ended up getting eaten by the machine. Whoops! At least I had 150 pounds out already though, which is approx. $30. I went back to my room, did homework, then later that night I had Alex Top with Ryne and Jessie then Jessie and I hung out and watched Conspiracy Theory and chatted.
Saturday, all of our friends came back from Luxor and Aswan. It was great to see them again! Later that day I went to church with my friend Tim, we went to Maadi Community Church and met up with some friends who live on campus. We went to get dinner with some other friends that live in Maadi but while waiting, Tim decided he wanted to try a "street drink" which is purchased by men with big metal pitchers on their backs which they then pour from into little glass cups that have been washed with who knows what kind of water. Since I didn't want Tim to die alone, I tried a sip. In my opinion, this drink tasted an awful lot like water from the Nile with some street dirt mixed in. It was probably about as sanitary. After dinner, I went back to Zamalek with two guys who live with tim then did some homework.
Sunday was uneventful as was Monday except that Monday brought a brand new debit card to me in the mail. Al-humdallah!
Tuesday, I went with Ryne and Ben to Tahrir square in downtown Cairo. I was on a quest for shoes because the ones I brought with me cut into my feet. We wandered for a while and popped into many stores until i found some i liked. I got some converses for only $15. Then we got some arabic music and Harry Potter in Arabic and had lunch at a famous restaurant downtown, called Fill-Filla. We took a cab home and did homework for a while. Later that afternoon I went over to my friend Tim's apartment and we made dinner. We got tomatoes, onions, garlic, eggplant, yellow pepper, mushrooms and simmered them all in a pot with some spices for an hour while we prepared pasta and chicken. It was delicious!

Cooking with Tim!

Wednesday after class, Clare and I got off the bus at the early stop on 26th of July and got some of our favorite juice. We wandered back to the dorm, looking in little shops and just taking everything in.

Thursday after school, Jessie, Ryne, Brent, Ben and I went to a bedouin engagement party. This was through Jessie's professor also. We took the metro as far as it would go in the direction of Helwan and from there got in a 12 person bus with 13 other students from AUC and drove out to a village. 

We followed a string of colorful light bulbs to a horse corral area where there were a bunch of men smoking shisha and drinking beer, tea, and coffee. 

Ryne, Ben, Me, Jessie, and Brent

We all sat down and watched as different men on various horses would take turns making the horses dance around in the corral. Throughout all this, a band of musicians played shrill, traditional music and the singer of the group would occasionally call out "Allah! Allah hu Akbar!" (God! God is the Greatest!) over a bad microphone. It was pretty crazy. This went on for about 3 hours.

At one point, several girls and I had to use the restroom so we followed this one girl we had been chatting with into a house nearby. This is where all of the women were! One woman had also recently had a baby, which we got to see. The Bride to Be was also there, and were were able to ask her a couple questions. 

Finally, around midnight, dinner was served. We had delicious rice cooked with saffron and almonds, spicy pickles, chips, and a big hunk of goat meat. For me, who only became "un-vegetarian" less than a year ago, this was a little much to handle. I nibbled at it a bit but I had my friend Ben help me polish it off. Then we took the bus all the way back to our dorms and went to bed.

Early October

Hello!

This past weekend was a lot of fun. On Thursday David and I stayed late after school to watch Chasing Mummies with the Egyptology Club which was a good time. I really like Sabine, Dr. Ikram’s assistant, who is the head of the club. She’s German, dresses in all black (typically) and has some cool Egyptian tattoos and a great sense of humor. Her husband Matt also works at the university in the Technology Assistance department so we had no problems getting the show set up. It was a potluck and I had the first home cooked food since leaving the states.

Friday we went to a pool party in 6^th of October City, a suburb of Cairo. Our host’s name is Ragah, he’s a guy we have hung out with a couple times with our friend Tim and he goes to our school as well. He lives in a beautiful terra cotta colored mansion and has a perfect little swimming pool in the back, just big enough for lots of fun J. After the pool party we went to the Indian Restaurant I described in an earlier post. We went with or friends Tamer, Omar, Ahmed, and met some new friends named Gary and Dina. Omar had never been to an Indian Restaurant before and he thought the food was delicious. Clearly, the boy has good taste!

Saturday morning we got up and went to campus to do homework and go swimming in the beautiful campus swimming pool. We were supposed to be doing laps but I just swam and bobbed around enjoying the cool water. Saturday was very very hot. Apparently we are having a heat wave, which I personally could do without.

Sunday and Monday pretty uneventfully except for the fact that most of my friends here left on Monday night to go on a trip to Luxor and Aswan.

Tuesday Clare and I went and got some bagels at Munch & Bagel and went to the clothes store because some of my clothes got ruined in the laundry and Clare wanted a light jacket to go over some sleeveless shirts she brought. I got 2 shirts for 8 dollars a piece. I was pretty happy. We went to our favorite Café Noir to do homework for a bit then I had to return to the room to get ready for a field trip to the Cairo Museum!

Obviously this field trip was for my Egyptian Art and Architecture course. Unfortunately, there were huge crowds at the museum and it was hard to hear our professor and sometimes see, as she is a little on the short side. Afterwards I wandered around the museum a bit then walked back to my dorm. This was kind of an adventure, cause I had only done that walk one other time, which was the first day I was in the country. Three things happened that gave me a little boost of confidance: I successfully crossed two 6-lane highways in Cairo during heavy traffic (successful here means I didn’t die), got a little lost but asked for directions in Arabic (I understood it too, since I came out at the right place!), and I met up with Clare at a main thoroughfare on the island, 26^th of July Street.

Clare and I got some fresh juice- this was probably highly unsanitary because the man who served us poured already squeezed juice from old water bottles into glass cups that may or may not have been washed with clean water. Oh well! The juice was delicious- I had guava juice and Clare had melon. Next we got some falafels next door but they were the worst falafels ever. We kept walking and bought some salty nuts from a street vender who in hind sight we probably shouldn’t have bought anything from since immediately prior to our purchase she was sweeping the dirty street with a dirty broom. However, the nuts were excellent, if a tad on the salty side. There was a fruit seller on the next block so we went there and I got a big pear and a beautiful pomegranate for only $2.40.  Later that night we (Clare, Jessie, Brent, Ryne and I) went to Goal, a shisha bar really close to our dorm and met up with Clare’s German friend Max who lives in Maadi. We had a lot of fun just laughing and visiting.

Wednesday, Clare left early for an RA retreat and at 12 I met up with Ben and Ryne in order to go to the Giza zoo. When we got there, they wanted to charge us 20 L.E. instead of the 2 L.E. that Egyptians pay and since it is ranked one of the ten worst zoos in the world (I guess they have dogs as one of the exibits?), we decided to leave. We wandered around for a while, saw the Cairo University Campus from a far, then decided to take a cab to Khan el Khalili.

Cairo University Campus

In Khan, we got really lost as I tried to take the guys back to the place where we got Sahlab with Tamer and the gang after the pyramids. 

One of the many entrances to Khan el Khalili

However, I did manage to purchase what I was hoping was a quarter kilo of dates but turned out to be a lot. I don’t know much about weight but I think there are way more than a quarter kilo despite my best attempts to use different variations of the Arabic word for four and what I assumed was fourth to explain what I wanted.

Dates!

Eventually, after an hour or so we ended up at the Sahlab place, a little tucked away place in the inside of a building- it reminds me of the Old City of Jerusalem, one of my very favorite places.

Ryne and Ben

Thursday I had class again, only two however. Afterwards, I met up with Ryne and Ben and we had dinner at Pizza Hut. Along the way we bumped into our friend Jessie who invited us to a Bedouin wedding today, which is very exciting, we are all going. All we know is that we were told to bring cameras, so hopefully I’ll have some better pictures for my next post!