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Published: August 31st 2008
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Classroom
The room where I had my 6-day survival Arabic class on the old campus...I think the new campus will be a little more up-to-date...maybe...then again, it may not even be done, and we could be having class in the desert! I'll let you know :). Greetings from Cairo!
I am going to preface this post with "patience is a virtue!" So we've moved into hotels as "temporary" housing (I have a sneaky suspicion that we'll be here all semester, not just a couple of months) and the internet is sketchy at best and non-existent normally. The hotel itself is beautiful (I'll take some pictures of it eventually!) but very, very impractical. My roomie and I have one closet and one desk to share between the two of us, there is just now barely wireless in the lobby (where I am now) and its super slow and drops connection all the time. So back to the patience thing. Please be patient with me if I don't post as often as I should, because I am trying to figure it all out myself!
Now on to happier things 😊
I feel like I've been going non-stop for the past few days, and have so much to share that I don't even know where to begin!
I went to the Cairo Museum which was amazing/overwhelming all at once. There is just antiquities piled everywhere, in some sort of order known only to the people who
put them there in the first place...I wish I could have taken pictures of the inside, but it wasn't allowed and I didn't want to risk getting my camera confiscated at the beginning of the trip. Maybe I'll go back at the end of the semester and see if I can sneak some pictures, that way if it does get taken away it won't be as tragic 😉. The museum is hot, crowded and unorganized, kind of like the rest of Cairo. Don't get me wrong, when I say this I most definitely don't mean it in a bad way; quite the opposite, actually! I love how crazy everything seems on the surface, but how it really does all work out just fine. Its a great life lesson for us goal orientated, structure-needing non-Egyptians. Being in the museum was incredible! The artifacts are quite literally ancient and everywhere you turn there are statues and other random things to see.
Hmmm, what else has happened? I've mainly been exploring the city with friends. I took a survival Arabic course which ended yesterday, and can now at least ask a taxi driver to go places and order food (as long as
Hallway
This is in the building on old campus... people don't speak rapid Arabic back, I'm actually doing quite well!). There is so much to see here in Cairo that I feel like I could spend the whole semester exploring and not see even a small part of it. Today we went out to a more residential area of Cairo, were there was a crowded street market selling everything from books to shoes to clothes. It was intense, but really nice to see a part of Cairo not geared toward tourists. We even managed to figure out the metro, which contarary to anything you hear is actually quite nice and easy to figure out. Because there are seperate cars for women (don't worry you feminists out there, girls don't have to take the seperate car, but its actually quite nice) that are less crowded, it was very comfortable to ride. Believe me, I've used the metro in about 5 different major cities now, and this one is way easier than New York!
Ramadan begins tomorrow, and there are already streets decorated and people everywhere. Apparently Cairo is the place to be during Ramadan, and after Iftar (for those of you unfamiliar with Ramadan, for the whole month Muslims
New Campus
Literally in the middle of the desert, but its really pretty. fast from sunrise to sunset and Iftar is the meal at the end of the day to break the fast) the streets just go crazy. I didn't make it to the grocery store the last couple of days, which I will probably regret tomorrow when I can't find anywhere to buy food. Oh well, I'll just have to brave the crowds at night in the grocery store!
I've met a ton of people, and discovered that I have absolutely no talent for remembering names. I've actually met/talked to more guys from GW than I think I did all last semester at GW! For those of you who haven't already heard me complain, be happy to know that even in Cairo I'm still the Pita Pit girl. Yes, thats right, the reason these GW kids recognize me is because of Pita Pit. Sigh. Oh well, maybe I'll actually get a new job when I go back...just maybe 😉. Everyone has been really nice, including the Egyptian students I've met. The other night there was a big party at the new campus to celebrate its opening. We only really saw one area of it, but its very nice. Its kind of
Holly
We were really excited to get out of the bus after the long shuttle ride from downtown... out in the middle of nowhere (think desert all around) so I'm actually happy that on-campus housing isn't ready yet so that I can be closer to downtown. New Cairo (where campus is located) is an interesting concept. Its like someone decided there needed to be a new city and just started building. People don't really live there yet, and everything is under construction still. Its cool to be here for this now, but I would love to see what its like in about 10 years!
Some friends and I are planning a trip down to Luxor/Aswan for the rest of the week because classes don't start until Sunday (I'm still not used to the start of the work week being Sunday!). Tomorrow I'm going to the pyramids, which I'm super excited about because we get to go inside. I promise to be very touristy and take lots of random pictures!
I can't think of what else to write (I'm kind of tired, like always) but if I forgot something forgive me, and I'll be sure to update whenever I next can. Just FYI I'm aiming for about 1 a week, especially when classes start, but if I
Justine
She was in my survival Arabic course, her Arabic is much better than mine. She claims its because its so similar to Turkish, but really I think I just suck at learning languages... can update more often I will! I hope all is well wherever you are reading this from, and I just bought stamps, so expect another round of letters/postcards soon! (As old fashioned as it is, it may be easier to stay in touch via snail mail given the lack of reliable internet!)
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Maco
non-member comment
thanks for the amsterdam postcard...looks like you're having way more fun in North Africa than I am in the Heartland of the US. I'm done in Oklahoma in three weeks so if you send anything else I may not get it in time here.