Around the City

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Today I finally managed to see some of the city. Some things were surprising, but I feel like I was better prepared for the lifestyle here than many of the other students. Mom and I bought a book on culture, only about 150 pages and small. I read the whole thing on the plane, and wasn't sure if it would actually give an accurate picture of Cairo culture, or the oblivious tourist picture of the culture. Thankfully, it was the former. Here's what the city is like. Picture Disneyland. Shiny, clean, Disneyland. Now picture the opposite. That's Cairo. Don't get me wrong, I like the city, and I've been soaking in the culture, but it's dirty. There is a haze over the city that looks like it's overcast, but it's actually just the pollution. Like I said before, dust perma-coats the buildings. The sidewalks are relatively free of trash, but you have to watch where you're walking for potholes, puddles, stray cats and sudden drop offs. There are stray cats everywhere, but no stray dogs. Only people walking dogs. This will certainly come as a shock to all of you who know me, but I have befriended the pregnant dorm cat, Mango, and two stray cats at the old campus. There are car repair places everywhere, that are usually just two men in lawn chairs outside of a one-car garage. There are a few clothing stores in our neighborhood of Zamalek that look like your average American retail shop, but most stores around here are a little holes in the wall, and look like some of the grungier shops that I saw in New York. It's hot. It feels like the handful of 100+ degree days we had up at camp, so it's not too bad. If you just expect to sit around and sweat, then you can ignore the heat to some degree, even while wearing conservative clothing. All of my pants and skirts go below the knee, and I've followed the trend of many American girls in always wearing sleeves that go at least to my elbows. Egyptians always have their legs covered to their ankles, and the women have their arms covered down to their wrists. I haven't had any problem with harassment, except, oddly, in the dorm lobby by an Arab student.
I saw the city today because I woke up at 6:30 in the morning and was unable to sleep, to I walked down the street we're on and got a hot chocolate and a croissant. Although the menu was in English as well as Arabic, the young Egyptian guy behind the counter spoke very little English, but we finally figured it out. I've always liked watching cities wake up. I came back and then got on the shuttle bus to the old campus and got my student i.d. , heard a talk by the state department, and did other useful errands like that. I was feeling some culture fatigue when I got back to the dorms, so I napped, then entered into an ordeal called ordering from Pizza Hut online. An hour later, pizza ahoy! Tomorrow is the mass exodus to the hotels, where we will be staying until the new dorms are ready, probably in November.
Sorry no pictures today, my camera batteries need to be recharged.
In the words of Garrison Keiller, "Be well, do good work, and keep in touch."

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Comments

[Allister]

hehehe
You would quote NPR! lol I miss and love you soo much. I will write you on facebook.

[sage]

hey
in a lot of ways Cairo sounds like a lot of laces in china, the way you describe the dusty feel of the city, the haze and all that, but the culture sounds so different, I can't imagine getting harassed for the clothes you're wearing, or not being able to walk alone at night. It sounds so interesting. my chinese professor once told me just before I was about to go off to china that at some point, after a few weeks, or months, every person who studies abroad gets into some level of depression. the culture shock, lack of familiar things, at some point hopelessness hits. but he also says that it passes, it's just a thresh hold you have to get to and surpass. when I hit it I ate nothing but Mc Donald's for 2 weeks and spent all my time looking at old pictures from camp on facebook... I'm checking this sight regularly. can't wait to see whats next, when do your classes start?