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.