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Published: February 23rd 2007
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New York
From the plane...it isn't very bright. Plane trip bare facts:
Chicago -> NY approx. 4hrs - I said goodbye to my sister, dad, mom, Alex and Maceon. Then I was searched with a hand held metal detector
Layover was approx. 4hrs - It was fine. I met 2 women going to africa somewhere on missionary work. The airport also switched my gate, but it wasn't so bad because I only had to move down 3 or 4 gates.
NY-> Dubai was approx. 12hrs - It was ok. There were lots of crying babies and it was very uncomfortable sleeping. I met a nice chap from pakistan going home to vist family.
Layover was approx. 12 hrs - And it was terrible. At first all i saw were arabs which isn't a bad thing, but was like a culture shock because i'm used to seeing a mix of people or mostly white americans and then i was too paranoid to sleep because i was a girl traveling by myself. I took a 3 or 4 hour snooze at one point because two women were on either side of me. I met a nice Australian women going home to vist family. She is a teacher in
Dubai
Much more lit then NY England. I was feeling very sickly. $20 got me 2 bottle of water, a bottle of colgne, a sandwich, and a couple phone calls. Nice, huh? I almost missed my flight because it was on the other side of the airport and they didn't put up the departure and arrival gate until 10-5 mins left to board, but luckily i asked information.
Dubai -> ALEX approx. 3hrs - It had it's goods and bads. I met a very nice egyptian woman from Ciaro who is upper class so she spoke english well enough. She had a cute little baby named Mariam (spelled exactly like my mother's name). Unfortunately, I puked all my lunch up on the plane in one of those little puke bags.
Arrival-> They left my bags in Dubai! I had to check them in again in Dubai, but they wrote it on the old ticket instead of printing a new ticket so I had to come back and get them the next day! Arg! On the other hand everything else went pretty smooth. I have a great landlady. She introduced me to another student. Bedr and his two girl cousins. We went to the citadel,
moreof the airport
fake palm trees littlered the area between the seats and moving walkway. got ice cream, and took a buggy around town. Very nice. It was amazing! I had a great view of the sea crashing agianst the city and of the city itself. The city was very smoggy that day.
The ice cream was very different. It was white, pink, and brown, but it didn't taste like cosmopolitan. It had strawberry and cone chunks, plus something else fruity, but I cant say what.
The buggy ride was great because I had never been on a buggy before. But Alexandria isn't as beautiful as it once had been. Now trash resides everywhere! I mean everywhere!!!! Very disgusting, but I got used to it for the most part. In effect the city doesn't smell so good (except when people are cooking of course).
Their food is DELICIOUS (lazeez)!!!! American's try at mediterranean food is no match. In America like the shwarma and falafel, are too dry and not as flavorful in comparison. Lots of good beef and chickan. McD's sucks except for the fries; they are much better here.
After hanging with Bedder I went to the hospital with Jake,Uncle Mike, Wessam, and Mohammed. Uncle Mike was very sick and still is,
but he is in the US now. Apparently he has a very serious desease, amnesia or something. Then we got Couscousy which has no resemblance to Couscous at all. It is a desert that is warm and decidely undescribable. I will try anyway. It is warm and milky, with nuts and maybe dried fruit. It has little bits of chopped up rice or something similar. Very good in any case.
The next day I got my luggage and it took forever. One thing I am learning about Egyptians is that they take their time with everything! If they say 5 minutes they mean 30mins! Then on the way back, the cab broke and we had to get another one. After I had my luggage I felt more comfortable in my apartment. I was then able to set it up to my liking untilRachel came.
The sunday after I got in I went grocery shopping with Mustafa, Wessam, and Jake. Being boys they rushed the entire time, but I got some good stuff and I met two of Wessam's friends Hala and another girl.
After that Jake and I went to a wedding party with some of his egyptian
the ceiling at the airport
fake windows with fake sunsets and stars...kinda neat friends. It was great. We saw some hired dancers and I even danced with one of them. haha! When they cut the cake there were flaming swords dacning around the cake. Right before they actually cut it the man switched his ring from the right to left hand. But they feed each other cake like in America. It is a great affair except for one thing. The brides brother, whom is a friend of Jake, was being very very forward. Eeek! he gave me 2!! nice watched before the wedding as gifts. The first was a lend or so I thought and the second was a present because he wanted me to marry him! eek! He looked like was 30yrs old. He kept telling me he loved me and followed me everywhere. And then he tried to feed me cake. eek! Thank god (al humdulela) that was all taken care of! he is longer bothering me so dont worry. The watches are gone and he no longer makes any advances.
The next day Rachel came and I went shopping with my new friend Hala (her name means the light around the moon). She helped me spend alot of money
buying new clothes to try and fit in. it was a lot of fun, but i was feeling sick. We ate foul (beans) and corn together.
Basically monday to friday i was pretty sick and spent the time in my apartment studying, sleeping, and feeling drugged on NyQuil (Thank God I brought it). However, I did go out on walks and for food.
Then this past weekend I took a walk in Waterfall Gardens that used to be a personal garden of one the pharohs and I walked around town a bit, both with Rachel. She showed me where the Center (where I learn Amaya is/spoken arabic) and then we got lost because we couldn't remember the way back, only the basic direction. So we walked for abour and then figured out where we were.
On sunday i started class, but that is a totally different entry.
always,
heather
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Martha Woodruff
non-member comment
So exciting and different!
Hi Heather. I'm a friend of your mom's and work with her and she was kind enough to let me read your entry. It all looks and sounds so exciting and different! What a wonderful experience and something you will remember your lifetime! Keep journaling and taking pictures because the time will go so fast, you'll want to remember everything! I am going to read up about Alexandria so I know more about it in its glorious past. From your pictures, it still looks very beautiful. I hope you don't mind if I continue reading about your adventures - I feel like I'm tagging along with you and enjoy hearing about it from your point of view. Hope your schooling is going well; try to see as much of the sites as you can as it's a once in a lifetime journey. Enjoy.