A couple of days before coming back to the states, Renata (one of the students) organized a day trip to the Red Sea that would have to be financed by students, if enough people showed interest. At first, I was pretty sure I didn’t want to go: it was winter and the water would be too cold; what else is there to do at the sea if you can’t swim? In the end, however, I ended up going. And it was a great decision.

First, I loved passing through the outer (and much more sparsely populated) parts of Egypt. Cairo is beautiful and I love it, but it’s definitely not a good representation of what most of the country is like (the same way that NYC is not at all similar to Upstate NY or any part of Kansas). Next, going to the beach turned out to be awesome!

We stopped along a part of the beach called Ein el Sokhna, and it was beautiful. The beach was deserted for the most part (except for 4 creepy guys sitting there and watching us for 3 hours, and two guys that obnoxiously came over on their jet skis and splashed water in our faces and then left) and the water was so blue.

beautiful!

i'm going to let the photos do the talking

cuties in the water 🙂

So while a few of us had not brought clothes to swim in/change into (because we’d assumed the water would be too cold to swim), we jumped in anyway, some with makeshift outfits of scarfs and tanktops…and me with my jeans and Jose’s huge shirt (<3 so grateful), which I had to sit in for 2 hours afterwards. I’m so surprised I didn’t catch pneumonia. Or a severe cold.

It was such a great day, though. Spending two hours backfloating and holding onto people when I couldn’t touch the ground anymore, freaking out about not being able to breathe in 4 feet deep water, etc: it couldn’t get any better :).

We also went to the Suez Canal later (it felt so cool and weird being at such an important landmark…we’ve read so much about the Canal and how important it is in foreign trade relations) and watched boats pass through :).

All in all, it was a fantastic and relaxing day. Loved it.

Just a heads up: my entries are going to be in random order because I’m writing as I remember each visit.

One of the parts of Cairo that we visited and I really liked was Islamic Cairo and the Khan el-Khalili.

We started our Islamic Cairo visit at Bab Zuwayla (which translates to Gate Zuwayla) and was the Southern gate built around the city by the Fatimids a couple of centuries after Cairo was founded.

The two minarets flanking the gate when we arrived were a great preview to all that we would find inside.

The gates were certainly in deteriorating condition but still a sight to see. They rose into the sky (just how high, we would find out personally), two pillars guarding the city contained inside. (photo to the right).

When we climbed up the minaret (all the way up, including up the rickety, completely unstable and shaky, looking like it was built 2000 years ago staircase at the top), the view was breathtaking (and breaths I took. A lot of them. I found out just how out of shape I am on this trip. FML).

But the view the top provided was ridiculous. All of the old city was splayed out in front of us, with minarets rising and dotting the landscape as far as my eyes could see (which admittedly wasn’t very far because I’m legally blind without my glasses, but you get the point).  Another thing we found out on top was that most people always leave the top floor of their homes under construction so they can avoid paying property taxes. The laws in Egypt only tax completed houses, so if you say you’re still building a floor, you won’t be taxed. Genius (on the taxpayers’ parts). Kind of dumb on the government’s part.

a view from the top

The actual markets inside the city was bustling, even though we went on New Year’s weekend (did I mention that getting used to a Friday-Saturday weekend and Sunday-Thursday work week was harder than expected? And it wasn’t very hard but I did notice a difference. So Thursday nights were Friday nights. Mind-blowing? I know.) and most things were supposed to be closed. The streets are not really friendly to walking (which I found out the hard way in my shibshib (flip-flops)), with holes, uneven bricks, dust and CAT FECES EVERYWHERE. I put that in capitals because I just realized that I forgot to talk about how many stray cats there are in Cairo. A LOT. Stray dogs? I saw a few near the pyramids, besides that, nothing. The cats, on the other hand….the cats. I’ve seen cats climb up to places never before discovered by man (okay, so I’m exaggerating a little bit but let a girl tell a story. sheesh). There were ninja cats that nimbly ran on the spiral tops of gates; there were crazy cats that ravaged through garbage bags and were as big as some dogs. They also had the crazy eyes one only hears of in ancient legends. I don’t think you understand…I was terrified of these cats. And Ioana (in her mother’s spirit) was sure they had rabies and walked far away, while crossing herself, every time. (<3)

….Anyway, back to the markets.

i can actually sense the atmosphere on the street that day

The Khan el-Khalili was also a marketplace of sorts, but it was a bit farther down from Bab Zuwayla. The Khan (originally created as a resting spot for merchants and travelers, where they would continue trading while they rested before going on to their destinations). It’s a massive area, lined with stores and storeowners vying for your attention with calls of “sister, come in here” to “I kill my wife for you!” You can probably find everything you see in one store for 10 pounds cheaper at the next store, but part of the experience is letting the sellers charm their way into your wallet.

We made good friends with the sellers in one of the first stores we went to, two guys named Abdo and Hany, who actually gave us good prices. (If I asked for the price for something, Abdo would ask if I was going to try to bargain or not. If I said bargain, he’d say an outrageously high number and if I said no bargain, he’d say a fifth of the original number haha). That’s part of the fun of shopping in the Khan. Being creeped on, making friends, bargaining for the price, etc. Set prices, shmet shprices.

Today. was. amazing.

I’m really glad (and I don’t want to jinx this) that the first day here did not let me down at all. After getting to Cairo last night at around 10pm, we met Abduh, Professor Sullivan’s habibi and our amazing tour guide, who drove us back to the hotel in Zamalek (it was about an hour away). We were ridiculously tired since the time zone change had taken a night’s sleep from us and when I get movie options on a plane, sleep is no longer a priority. (I watched Step Up 3, Slumdog Millionaire and The Hangover this time. Successful plane ride? I think so).

After settling into our rooms (which are decent, but the bathrooms. Oh man, the bathrooms. Think big, think porcelain and speckless. Best part? We have a butt-washer. Let’s not be embarrassed to talk about this now. It’s one of those amazing contraptions (in case you don’t know what I’m talking about) that is kind of like a lower toilet seat and you kneel over and it squirts a jet of water, cleaning errythang, errywhere. Let’s leave it at that).

So, this morning, we woke up (bright and early at 7:30 a.m. after sleeping at 2:00a.m. last night and being super tired from the plane) to head off to the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx. It. was. surreal. There really is no other word for it. I remember spending 3 years in elementary school, studying Egypt and the Pyramids, learning about the Nile, how to write our names in Hieroglyphics, etc. The first thing you think of when you think of Egypt is either the Nile or the Pyramids. Being on a camel (named Whiskey, who was uber-cute, if rather unsightly) walking towards the Pyramids in the Sahara Desert was unbelievable. It was a culmination of all those years of study, and it did NOT let us down at all. The desert felt serene and quiet at the same time (besides the 30 American tourists on camels, posing and saying “Aloha” (don’t ask) for photographs every minute of the entire trip. I was obviously one of them :3), with a slight wind blowing at the same time (did I mention I LOVE the weather here? I LOVE the weather here). It was a very ethereal feeling to be honest, passing by dead horse carcasses as our camels made their way through the vast Sahara.

One thing I will say here (and I’m the first one to be guilty of this) is that I think we spent too much time taking photographs and not enough time appreciating the fact that we were in front of the Pyramids. I would be snapping away and realize that a photograph will never recreate the exact feeling and I should just try to take in as much of that as possible. So I did. For awhile. Because the other side of the argument is that we will (most likely) never be there again and it’s justifiable to want to take as much of the place back with you as you can.

This camel is ridiculously cute.

Next, we visited the Sphinx, which I’ve got to say was awesome but definitely less than I expected because of all those photo-shopped photos where the Sphinx is standing alone in the middle of the desert. In reality…not quite.

To round up the day, we visited the Papyrus Museum near the Sphinx (it’s literally leads up right to the edge of the city, it’s eerie and awesome) and learned how to make papyrus from the papyrus plant from a man who spoke 390493 languages (that is a rough estimate) and looked around the store and bought some things.

THEN, WE HAD LUNCH. At that point, I was starving and would have eaten someone’s arm without seasoning, but the restaurant we went to was (I’m not very creative with these adjectives, I know) amazing. We had authentic hummus (DELICIOUS. and this is coming from someone who wasn’t of big fan of hummus previously), Egyptian pita bread, Sticky rice wrapped in cabbage leaves, falafel, and the main course of chicken, lamb and beef grilled meat. I was stuffed to the top and would wait for a burp to make more room and continue stuffing (this sounds really unattractive. which is true. don’t judge me).

After lunch, we were on our own to make plans for new year’s eve, which was slightly disappointing at first, but in retrospect, it’s the best thing that’s happened in a while. (More on this later). Professor Sullivan did recommend an Oud concert by Naseer Shamma, renowned Oud player, that was happening that night in the neighborhood tonight. We decided to buy tickets and go to the concert and then see if we could perhaps make it out to the feluccas for a ride on the Nile on New Year’s Day.

The concert was phenomenal. I had average expectations, mostly because I have a short attention span and I was expecting to get bored at some point. I was engaged during the whole concert. The Oud is really a beautiful instrument; it kind of resembles a guitar but it has a hollowed out back (google it) that gives it a slight echo with each note. Every time I listen to Arabic music, and especially tonight, I felt like I was leaving something behind. That is always the feeling I get from it, a sad or sometimes happy feeling about moving away from something and remembering it through the song. And, oddly, it reminds me of the desert as well.

The second good thing about the Oud concert was that I sat next to someone who was being taught by Naseer Shamma, and translated/explained many things to us during the concert. It was really lucky of us, actually, because he spoke very good English and was very helpful. Egyptians are really friendly. And even if they don’t speak english, they will try to work something out for you. 🙂

For the rest of the details on what we did for New Year’s Eve, please just ask me because this entry is very long and I’m about to fall asleep. Wake up tomorrow at 8, we’re going to Islamic Cairo! And then during the afternoon, Ioana, Albina and I are hanging out with a new friend we made. 🙂

Good night/Good Morning Guys! It’s 4.am here. Some habits die hard. You already know.

So I *finally* began acting like I was getting on a plane in 3 days and went shopping for Egypt-appropriate clothing (long skirts :3, shawls, pants thinner than jeans, more flipflops, light cardigan, etc) and I’m really getting into the swing of things now.

Cairo, I’m coming. 😉

*This is a photo of Zamalek, Cairo where our hotel is!*