A day in Cairo

Today was like many other days here, but worth writing about. I have just recenty began reading a book called The Art of Thinking Clearly, which I had found in my search for literature to read on my daily commute to school. It is a great book about logic and memory, and one of the main point the author stresses, is that all people think according to the memories that they have had. The author goes on to state the it is very important, for humans more so, to record what it is that happens to them in order to accurately reflect on the memories they have, in turn keeping our thought processes factual and logical. Today, was a day I would like to reflect upon later in life.

To start the day, I had initially set my goal to get up at 730am to begin my preparation for the day and to include coffee and breakfast, coffee being the most important of the two. However, I had snoozed my phone as soon as the alarm had gone off, and over slept until about 830am. Upon getting ready, I had already disappointed myself for not sticking to my plan. However, it seems I am doomed to fail my attempts at being further self disciplined in being productive early in the morning, due to my lack of sleep at night, from the heat and noise of Cairo. So, I am coming down to a mind over matter debate in which, even though I fall asleep late, that it will not affect my schedule the next day. I must try this attempt at just getting up and not hitting snooze as a lesson to myself.

However, my intentions for my morning were to be that I would visit the Egypt Air office in Talat Harb area of Cairo, in order to finish my booking of my trip to Rome for New Years Eve. The office opens at 9 and I wanted to be the first one there. So, instead I arrived at about 920, without coffee or breakfast, only to take a number, about 5 away from the current customer, and sit and wait. As, I waited for my number to be called, I noticed one Egypt Air associate helping customers. His window was one of about 10, and as I waited to be called many other Egypt Air employees began arriving to work. Each of them, about 7 total, strolled in anywhere between 930am and 1015am, went to the time clock, clocked in, and then went to their respective windows behind the counter. Each of them, men and women alike, sat down at their window, and just sat there. At first, there was an unspoken concensus amongst the waiting customers that they were obviously waiting for something. However, as the morning creeped by, it was now 1020am, that none of them seemed remotely interested in helping the now full lobby of Egyptains and foreigners alike. Tension could be felt building as the room became more and more crowded, as each person was instructed to take a number and wait. Wait for what,  we thought? For Mubarak to die or something? The next ice age? The Egyptain man next to me became overwhelmed with impatience and went to the counter and spoke to the associates idly sitting there. I didn’t even have to understand the Arabic he spoke to them to know that he was asking why they weren’t working to help us? In response, they asked if he had a number, Yes, well sit down then and wait then. So, by this time it was 1030 and I was still two numbers away from being called. Meanwhile, to keep us entertained, one of the loitering other travel company head hunters that were waiting outside, got into a fight with a passerby, who told them he was here to visit the Egypt Air office and that he is not going with their scams to sell him tickets at another located nearby. So, finally my number was called, at 1045, and I bought my ticket to Rome, and said goodbye to my friends that I had made in the last hour or so.

My impression was, what was that all about? The employees just sat there, in front of us, for an hour, doing nothing. Why? Now, I do not write this to say I was impatient, I have come to know that nothing here is done easily, nothing. However, it gives me a great cultural impression to see that many Egyptains lost their cool long before I did. Their frustration was widespread throughout the 50 or so people waiting to be helped. Further, the lack of an explaination or even a sign of a sense of urgency or guilt from the Egypt Air staff, only exasterbated that situation. I was happy that I got there when I did, and I didn’t feel as bad for being 20 minutes late in my dream schedule. However, the culture here is one of mass frustration. You can see it in people’s eyes everywhere, when something is bad or is not working. However, that is where it stops, there in their eyes, normally, as cab driver will not get road rage at a traffic jam, or as a Egyptain who just ordered a sheesha at a café, it never shows. Not many people here are willing to do anything about it, especially the people in power who can do things. Everyone says, inshallah, which means “if god wills it” as there only way of keeping calm. Sometimes, I think to myself, that even though I know there is more to it than that to create fundamentalism and radicalism, I think partially that is why religion flourishes here. People cannot change their everyday lives, and leave it to God. Ironically however, here of all places the littlest things that can be done, like using blinkers on cars, thinking that “Hey, if I park my car in the middle of this bridge, that it just might affect some of the other 10 million people around me.” So, all frustration aside, from all parties involved, it is a learning lesson of patience and importance of doing things right, completely and the first time around.

Which brings me to my next subject, my progress in Arabic. So far, the language is not above my level, but it does take a significant amount of time, and pondering of the meanings and rules, to grasp. I have a daunting task ahead of me, but I am going to make it fruitful, worth it, and I will do it right, completely, and since this is really my first time studying it, I will take advantage of my opportunity, as I may not get another. I took my first quiz today, which I studied for, but could have done more, and I thought I did well enough on it to say that I am indeed making progress. However, on my commute home, my classmate Conner spoke with our teacher, and she reported that our class as a whole, or at least a majority of the students, are not retaining what is needed for our class fly through our lessons. So, I hope I am a minority, but I will study even harder to make sure I won't be in the future.

Ok, so on to some positive stuff. Upon arriving downtown, another aquintance that I have met here, Ben Friedman from DC and attends school in Ann Arbor at Michigan, and who I think is Jewish, not that it matters, but for the record, invited Conner and I to an Iftaar in Shourba, Cairo, with some Sudanese refugees. Hearing this, I instantly said yes, took a 180 degree turn away from walking toward my apartment or 'shaqqa', and hopped on the metro instead. We arrived in Shourba, at a very crowded metro station, about 20 mintues before sunset. Hailing a cab, we proceeded to drive away from downtown, but further into a lesser developed, crowded part of Cairo, with everyone around us trying to get home, to break fast, and calm their hungry stomachs. We arrived a large trash heap on the side of road and got out of the cab. We then walked into a very narrow alleyway, until we came upon some buildings, run down, but functional, to a large metal door that lead inside. Going into this building, we could see it was very old, as the stairwell we took was made of old stone, very dark, had small steep steps and a low ceiling. We climbed up about 4 floors to arrive in a very small two room/bedroom shaqqa, in which 8 Sudanese men where sitting closely together on the floor, with a large spread of food between them. They all offered us to sit and join them, which we did, and we ate together, even before some formal greeting where exchanged. The food was awesome! Everything was fresh, and freshly cooked. We had the basic staples of most Egyptains, rice, salad, boiled beef, potatoes with red sauce, and mayya (water). However, this feast was much better than even the food given to me by Mahmoud’s family, which is also quite good. The beef was perfectly cooked, with some mystery seasonings, that was the best I have had here in Egypt. Also, the bread was different than the wheat khubs(bread, but meaning 'life') that all the Egyptains eat, but instead was a flat pancake like bread, like that found in Somolia and Ethiopia, and even I guess, in Sudan. The potatoes were amazing, as well and the whole meal, made for a great Iftaar, even though I am not fasting.

After the meal we exchanged names for the first time and then began to talk in Arabic. Ben, who is pretty good, as he studied for 4 years at Michigan, and 1 year in Egypt, talked the most. Conner, Joel another friend of Ben’s, and I said what we could, but wasn’t much. Our topics ranged from the Arabic language, to the AUC’s move, to Sudan (although brief) to Obama and the election in the U.S. They all uninanimously said that they wanted Obama to win, as “McCain is too much like Bush.” They said that he brought a change to the American political scene, and that being from Kenyan roots, that his was moral and had the people in mind with his decisions. This was interesting to hear, and refreshing for me, it was eye opening to hear just how much the rest of the world, especially Sudanese refugees, are watching this election. I pray to God, for a change, that we (the U.S.) don’t disappoint them. I tried to inquire just what they were running from in Sudan, knowing that it could be a variety of things, but quickly saw the topic was a sore subject and was to be avoided. We moved on, and were challenged to a game of football (soccer) of Sudan vs the U.S. I had a gut feeling it was to be an ass kicking if we played, but luckily they said that we should do it another time. So, the pain will wait instead. Soon, it was getting late and we had to leave.

Conner, Joel and I left, while Ben stayed longer, and we arrived downtown again. As soon as I got up to my shaqqa, the power on the block went out, but just my building and the ones immediately next to it. So, I sit here in the dark writing this before my battery on my laptop goes out, hoping that the power will come back on so I can shower and get ready for my trip to the Desert Oases of western Egypt tomorrow. It should be fun and I will write more!

That’s all for now from Cairo!

Mike

Cultural Difference Observation 1

As far as my life, things are well. The biggest thing that I am getting used to is the hospitality. It is crazy how nice everyone is here. Especially just walking down the street, since I stand out so much :) People look at me, smile and say welcome, or ahlan wa sahlan. But, there is a downside to the hospitality as well. The people here do not know when to say no. They will give, and give, and give, and say yes, yes, yes.  They will do it to the point that it hurts them. So, being a foreigner, I have to know when they are giving a lot, maybe too much and say no. Here is an example:

While my friends were here, we wanted to go to Luxor. So it is a cheap train ride, but a long one, 8-12 hours, to Luxor. I went to the train station to buy tickets for us and they had none to sell. The trains were full for the beginning of Ramadan. A tourist police officer came over to help me, and then seeing that the train was full, he said he could get me tickets anyway. He told me to come back the next day at 8pm, about an hour before the train left, to get any unsold tickets that might be around. I agreed and went back to the train station the next night to get these tickets. When I got there, I spoke with the Tourist Police again, and they said I was too early, even though I was there on time. They told me to wait 45 minutes, about 15 minutes before the 9pm train left. I waited, and then 45minutes later, they said the tickets won't be ready until 11pm. They assured me that I could get tickets that night, no matter what so, I stuck around until 11pm. When 11pm hit, the tourism police found me and gave me 4 tickets from Luxor to Cairo, for the next night...  I told them that was great, but I needed tickets to get from Cairo to Luxor first, and that the next train left Cairo at 1230AM. They said it is no problem and that I should wait until 12pm and I would get the tickets I needed. I waited around and midnight came and went, then I waited some more until about 1225am. I found the tourism police again and they were still tying to get tickets. I told them that I could just go home and come back tomorrow to take another train, and that it was no big deal if I went or not to Luxor, and I could just go to Alexandria instead. They told me no, that they had tickets for me and that I would now take the 1am train to Luxor. So, patiently I waited again, and then right before 1am, they tourism police came up to me and gave me four little pieces of paper. On them was hand written, in Arabic, that supposedly said, tickets to Luxor. I laughed and asked if this was for real and would actually work on the train? They assured me that it was ok....

So, now I had makeshift round trip tickets for four people to go to Luxor on the 1am train, which ended up being 30 minutes late. So, we got on the train to Luxor at 130am, after waiting since 8pm. We then found out that the seats were not next to each other and also in different cars. This was not acceptable because, my friends, being Sorority girls who spoke no Arabic (no offense girls), and who were also looked at as pieces of American meat here, would have to sit next to Egyptian/Arab men for up to 11 hours. So the tourism police told us it was not a problem and that we could sit next to each other. I agreed and then when we got on the train, the tourism police started kicking people out of there seats and told them to sit elsewhere, even though they were already situated on the train first before it even got to Cairo. I did not like this as, now it seemed to me that an exception was being made for us, and that because of some special treatment, ordinary paying Egyptians were paying the price. This was not my intention, what so ever, and I wish they would have just told us it was not possible to take the train and not go through such a long, difficult process, just so we could piss off some sleepy Egyptians at 130 in the morning. So that being said, they don't know when to say no here, but it was a good thing that the girls were able to sit somewhat near me and each other on the way to Luxor, and only Stephanie was slightly fondled, which was bad enough and could have been worse, by the Egyptian man sitting next to her pretending to be asleep with wandering hands.

This lack of restraint to me and policies behind them are bias, especially to the favor of foreigners, and that is a synonym of the political atmosphere, in which the government caters to tourists and foreign objects, ideas, and goods, instead of promoting local peoples, customs, and goods to help the struggling economy here. This catering is breeding a slight bit of social unrest from the locals against the policies of the Mubarak regime and the U.S. presence here and I may note that if more severe policies are taken to I am curious to see if the same policies are enforced for other foreigners here, such as Europeans and mainly Russians. That will be for later.

Cairo, Egypt- Week One

Ahlan was Sahlan or Hello and Welcome all! It is my intention to write my general thoughts and impressions here for all to read about my experiences and then to write email updates as to more direct things. I encourage you to hit me back with any feedback or questions you might have as I would love to discuss them with you further :).

I arrived in Cairo on Monday August 25th and I have preceeded to stay with my former Fulbright Arabic Teacher Mahmoud El-Sedawy and his family in Helwan, Egypt, or about an hour south of Cairo. Mahmoud and his family have to be some of the most caring individuals that I know. The family has taken me into their home and have been cooking me more that food then I can ever eat. The food is very good as I will eat almost all of it, with exception to some of the goat products. They just dont beat cow's milk products. After a few days of getting acclimated to Cairo, I decided to spend the first week with my friends Sihomara, Ashely and Stephanie, who were starting out a two month world tour of Europe, by visiting Cairo. The girls were to visit me for about a week and it was my intention to give them a quality glimpse into the culture of Arabs as much as I could. After their first night in Cairo, with a visit to a local cafe to drink Manga Asiir (Mango Juice) and to smoke some apple sheesha (hooka), the girls truely enjoyed the seemingly calm, laid back atmosphere that could exist within a town of 18+ million people.

In my first week here I have done a lot of touristy things. I started off in traditional Egyptain fashion by visiting one of the many hundreds of Egyptain cafes that are situated on just about every corner of Cairo's city blocks. The more away from the main streets you go to sit at a cafe, the better, as it is the real Egyptain culture, and the prices decrease from 15LE (Egyptain Pounds) to about 3LE for the same items. My favorite place that the girls and I visited quite a bit during our first week, in which Mahmoud highly approved of is, Cafe Zizo, located in a walking street across from the Meramis Hostle on Sabri Abou Alam St near Talat Harb Square. Sayyid the owner, is the best cafe manager that I have seen yet, and was always more than happy to have us in his Cafe.

One of the next few nights that girls and I took a dinner cruise on the Nile. The boat was called the Memphis and was extremely nice. Once inside they boat crew has a spread of Calamari, Ravilois, Egyptain Rice and Salads, as well as Samaka (fish) and Lamb in a buffet line ready to eat. We all dug in and proceeded to eat, when we noticed that a lot of the people around us were far more dressed up than we were. I asked what the occasion was and I was told that there were two Arab wedding receptions that were being held together. Instantly, I felt honored to observe the festivities. The reception were pretty similar to most American weddings, minus the alcohol of course, and the bride and groom took lots of pictures together, danced a bit and then cut the cake. After the cutting of the cake, a Sufi band played and a talented belly dancer took to the dance floor. She was very good and conservative as well. Soon, the belly dancer was pulling men and children out of their chairs to dance with her while everyone else took pictures. She pulled each of us from our group to the floor and we all enjoyed a little belly dancing. See the pictures. After the belly dancing we had a whirling durvish dance come out to the floor. If you do not know what this is, a whirling durvish is a man or woman who spins in circles for about 20-30 minutes doing dance routines and stunts with out getting dizzy. Soon, the dancer was also pulling people out onto the dance floor to let them try to dance/spin. Everyone the went up there became dizzy/sick within a few spins and has to sit down. It was a sight to see. So all in all the Nile cruise was far worth the 130LE pounds ($22) we each spent for such a great time.


The next night we took a overnight train to Luxor to see the Valley of the Kings and Queen Hapetshut's temple (spelling?). In Luxor alone, there are one third of the entire world's historical monuments. It is said that you need to take a least 4-5 day to really see everything. Unfortunately, we were only going to be there for a day. So in turn, we went to the Valley of King's first and second, the Queen's temple. We took an air conditioned van with our own personal Egyptologist guide. Both were amazing as it was surreal to walk on monuments and the paths where the original monuments were built 4000+ years ago. We were very lucky as the crowds were very low that day, and we were able to see a lot in just a little time. After visiting the girls and I had dinner on the Nile with our Egyptoligist Amal. She told us that she had just got accepted to Oxford to get her doctorate in Egyptology. It was very cool to have such an expert give us a tour in Luxor. However after dinner we had to return to our train to get us back to Cairo and about 9 hours later we were back to the hectic and crowded streets of Cairo.

The last day before the girls left we went to the Pyramids in the morning and rode camels. It was very cool to ride a camel as I think they are much more comfortable to ride than horses, however, they do spit, gurgle, drool, and fart more than horses do, so I must take the good with the bad... Seeing the pyramids is an amazing experience. Period. Just driving to Giza from Cairo, you can see the structures looming in the distance. Their massive presence dwarfs any other man made object, or any other object in the area. Then once you stand next the base of the big Pyramids, it is hard to fathom just what amount of effort and work it took to make them. It is an remarkable experience and even though I have seen them twice now, I would always accept another invitation to see them more and admire their majestic presence. Furthermore, the more I read and learn about the Pharaohs and the ideology that they had, with regards to the afterlife. It further makes an admirer out of me to appreciate the wisdom, intelligence and spirituality that the Ancient Egyptians lived in their everyday lives.











In the last night the girls were in Cairo, we met up with Baby Mo, once more, for some great Egyptian food in a nice place in Zamalek Island, in the middle of the Nile, and smoked some more sheesha. We had a great time that night and really for the week the girls were here. I am glad they were able to see it and maybe open there minds to such a contrasting culture to our own, and appreciate that good and bad points that each culture has. I will save the academic perspective of the cultural observations for future blogs, but for starting out I think it is better to write my blog to be generally informative to all with out going into further details. Maybe instead I'll save them for my graduate thesis papers, who knows... Anyway, please check back soon for more updates!

Maa'salamma (Go in Peace)

Mike

The New Campus- First Impression

After taking an hour bus ride and passing massive future developments, earth excavations and upcoming commercial business parks, we arrive literally, to the desert/new campus, again. Huge walls separate the desert from a very large-scale construction endeavor that is the new AUC campus. Upon walking into the campus though side entryway, myself and my fellow bus passengers walk into a large open courtyard, that despite its openness and exposer to the sun, seems cools and tranquil. Not knowing our bearings, Egyptian and foreign students alike look to find someone, anyone, that can show them the way, to wherever they need to go. For me, it was the Arabic Language Institute’s office. For once, in my life, I did not know which direction was which. Which is ironic for me, as this new journey to a new school is seemingly one of the most important times in my life and I should know which way to go. The good thing for me was that I was not the only confused student in the crowd, as today was the first day for all 5,500 students at the AUC. Soon, I saw a large lone tent at the edge of the courtyard, with two Egyptians basking in the shade, watching everyone looking at the sky and the large buildings surrounding them. I noticed a small sign by the tents that read in small letters, "Information."

This being the first stop towards getting my bearings back, I approached the tent to ask where the ALI office was. The reply I received, which, until my trip to Egypt, I would normally think abnormal, was “we don’t know.” I laughed and asked for a map of the campus. I was promptly handed one, but even though it was neatly drawn and professionally printed, I the map lacked two important things, a legend and a compass. Seeing the lack of directions on the map, I asked the students at the desk, where exactly we were on the map to get a base starting point for myself, and got a similar reply. “We don’t know. Asif."(Arabic for sorry).

So, all in all, I considered finding my way around just another challenge in my ongoing gauntlet of making sense of the Egyptian way... I just started walking and soon I found the office I was looking for, I was promptly disappointed to see, that my department has not even moved into the offices here at the new campus. So, my quest to find out my schedule and which rooms my classes would be in, I would have to wait, again, until probably the last minute, just like the Egyptians, like it is here...

I continued to walk around the huge 260-acre campus to make the best of my first day and to find my way around and enjoy the beautiful architecture that some great minds, somewhere, had created in order to make this campus a beacon for education for Egypt and the Middle East.

Upon sitting down to record my thoughts, an older man sat down next to me in one of the bamboo chairs scattered about the giant courtyard, and asked me what I thought of the new campus. I was glad he asked, because I was looking to find a sentence to describe this place that I could convey my thoughts on paper (cleaned it up a little ☺). “Simply, the new campus, is everything the AUC has dreamt it would be, as the school has a second first chance to build an oasis institution of education, where the best aspects ancient and modern architecture, design and technology converge, all alone, in the desert, far from the congestion, chaos and honking of cars, in the heart of Cairo, that was the old campus." I think he liked the answer, but I don't think he understood it as I did. The AUC was about to face new challenges as it propelled itself into the mainstream. This old man may not have been ready to hear that.

Being on the new campus made me excited for the potential the school has to be modern, edgy and new. I am excited to spend my time here, and I think that things will get even better as time goes. Truly, I envy those student that will attend the AUC when all of the wrinkles have been ironed out and become distracted by the periphery disarray.