accomplishments & alexandria

So I can't decide which of the milestones I reached this week was more important: the fact that I saw the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, or the fact that I have successfully quit Diet Coke (hopefully once and for all)? Hmm... probably the Mediterranean. But I'll explain the significance of the latter later in this post.

This weekend (Friday and Saturday), I and ten of my friends from AUC went to the beautiful and historic city of Alexandria (al-Iskendriyya in Arabic). This was my first trip outside of Cairo since arriving a month ago (can you believe it's already been a month? I definitely can't!), and most of theirs as well. It was absolutely amazing. By the time I got home on Saturday evening, I was exhausted, but in the best way possible. I'm planning to go back for another weekend soon, because I spent the entire time sightseeing, and not nearly enough time just soaking up the culture of the city! The train from Cairo to Alexandria takes about 3 hours and was extremely comfortable, considering we paid about 5 USD each for the trip there and 7 USD each for the trip back. Lots of leg room (something we don't have on the tour buses that take us to and from the AUC campus each day)! Upon arriving, the first thing I did was take a taxi straight to the shore. I couldn't wait to see the beautiful blue-green sea, and it did not disappoint.

First glimpse of the Mediterranean... I never want to leave!

Gorgeous view from my room at the New Capri Hotel!

First, we visited the Citadel of Qaitbay, a huge defensive fortress built by a sultan in the fifteenth century CE at the mouth of the Eastern Harbour on which Alexandria is situated. The fortress was built on the ruins of the spectacular Pharos Lighthouse, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and probably the world's tallest building when it existed. It was destroyed by several successive earthquakes from 1000-1400 CE, until the final remnants of the granite structure were used in the construction of the Citadel we visited. The views of the Mediterranean from the towers and walls of the fort were beautiful!

The 15th-century Citadel of Qaitbay that now stands in the Lighthouse's place.

These chunks of red granite are all that is left of the lighthouse.

With (left to right) Ben and Erin from Notre Dame and Matt from American University, on top of the wall of the fortress!

We had lunch and checked into our hotels (a passport mishap led to this being more complicated than necessary, but more about that soon), then visited the ruins of the Roman amphitheater in Alexandria. They were more than a little miscellaneous, but Ben is a Latin nerd like I am, and we had a great time exploring and reminiscing about our high school Latin studies.

Ruins of the Roman amphitheater, in relief against the modern buildings of central Alexandria.

We ended our sightseeing at the deservedly famous new Bibliotheca Alexandrina, possibly the nicest building in all of Egypt. Designed to commemorate the ancient Library of Alexandria, the most famous library of the ancient world, which was destroyed sometime between 48 BCE and around 700 CE, the Bibliotheca was completed in 2002. It's gorgeous inside and out, and a great departure from the historical sites we'd been visiting thus far.

The breathtaking reflecting pool outside the library.

The main facade of the library; it's designed to allow sunlight to hit every desk on the multiple levels inside.

Beautiful modern architecture inside the library!

Following the suggestion of our Lonely Planet guidebook, we ate dinner at Hood Gondol, a strangely-named but spectacular seafood restaurant. It wasn't much to look at, hidden away in an alley, but the huge amount and variety of seafood, rice, potatoes, tahini (a dip made from sesame seeds), and salad, plus drinks, that we got for about 6 USD were just ridiculous. There's no overrating the quality of the fresh seafood in Alexandria. It almost made me feel like I was at home, on the beaches of South Carolina! We ended the night by smoking shisha (water pipes) and playing backgammon, two old, old, Egyptian pasttimes, at a coffeehouse right on the Corniche (the road that follows the whole Eastern Harbour), and going to a bar called Spitfire that was filled with expats. Lots of other AUC students, including my roommate Lea (traveling with a group of her friends from Princeton), were in Alexandria this weekend, which made for lots of fun run-ins at the different tourist sites.

MASSIVE plate of seafood-- check out the eyes and legs still on the shrimp!

On Saturday, we visited the Catacombs of Kom el-Shaqafa, one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages, a vast underground necropolis, the architecture of which melds elements of Egyptian, Greek and Roman style. This is typical of Alexandria, capital of Egypt under the Greek Ptolemaic pharaohs (i.e. Cleopatra), who ruled over Egypt as a Greek culture and kingdom from about 300 to 30 BCE. We also saw Pompey's Pillar, a 99-foot-high red granite column built in 293 CE for the Roman emperor Diocletian atop the Alexandrian acropolis. It was very impressive, and my favorite part of the exhibit that accompanied the Pillar was finding out that a group of 33 people apparently once had a lunch party on its capital (the decorations near the top)! I'm not sure how that's possible, but it's still awesome.

Matt and I in front of (and far away from) the pillar. It's huge, we're tiny :)

This was such an incredible weekend. In addition to seeing so much, I got to know the friends I travelled with even better. One major piece of advice I'll give to anyone considering study abroad in the future (as I know those of you who have done so or are abroad currently must already know this): as much as possible, avoid traveling in large groups. This is tougher to do than one might think, because all of the people here are so great and most of the time, I really do want to just take about 50 of them with me somewhere, because I know we'd have an amazing time. (One instance in which you can do this is on a felucca ride; about 70 AUC students rented one on Thursday night, and we danced on the Nile all night long!) But when traveling and especially when sightseeing, less is more. Only five people can fit (and not comfortably) in Egyptian taxis, so more than that is cumbersome for getting around; and even when walking, a group of more than four or five is very hard to keep track of and direct through the crowded streets of Middle Eastern cities. The worst scenario is when the group is lost on the way to a destination; with no designated leader or tour guide, and ten or eleven different opinions on what to do, it's hard to just enjoy exploring an area.

Not sightseeing for once: Rosie, Toby and I on the AUC felucca on the Nile!

So, taking our own advice (except when we all met up for dinner), we split into two groups for manageability's sake. I traveled with my friends Ben and Erin from Notre Dame, Matt from American, and Patrick from GW. It was a pretty perfect group! I really feel like I'm getting to know everyone so much better in recent days; these friendships are becoming real and deep. Dealing with the inevitable curves traveling abroad throws at us on a daily basis has helped us to bond. On Friday, we realized that only about four or five of the eleven in our group had brought their passports (or copies of their passports) with them to Alexandria, and thus couldn't stay in the same hotel we had originally planned upon. So, travelers: bring your passport whenever you travel in a foreign country. Especially for those of us still waiting for our student visas to be processed, passports are an absolute necessity because they are your only legitimate form of ID as far as hotels, police, and international bodies are concerned. I almost forgot mine, but brought it at the last minute.

On to the real news of this post: those of you who know my habits in the States know that I've been known to drink three to five cans of Diet Coke a day. I usually try to quit about once or twice a year, but fail because I'm addicted to the caffeine (with my pathetic sleep schedule, it's not optional) and I crave the taste. But living in Egypt has done the impossible: not only have I quit Diet Coke without even really trying, I don't think I've even gone through the usual withdrawal period. It's a combination of two things: obviously, this is the desert, and mostly all I ever actively want to drink is a giant bottle of cold mineral water (this doesn't usually cost more than 50 US cents, either!). When you're dehydrated all the time, soda's usually the last thing you want to order with a meal or pick up at the grocery store. But part of the problem is also, counter-intuitively, my devotion to Diet Coke and Diet Coke in particular: it's not available here. We've got all the regular Coke, Coke Zero, and Coke Light you could want, but Coke Light is not the same. Who knows if this will stick once I come home? But right now, I'm pretty proud of myself.

This weekend, I'm planning to travel to the Black and White Deserts and the Bahariya Oasis, about 300 km west of Cairo, with a large group (broken down, of course, into smaller groups!). I can't wait, since my first experience with traveling around Egypt was so successful! My weekdays are getting less eventful with the advent of weekend trips, since we all want to rest and get work done while we can. However, on Monday nights (since we have Tuesdays off), Tuesdays, and Thursday nights, I still make sure to hit the town, enjoy Cairo, and spend time with all of my different groups of friends!

I've opened up comments to allow anyone to be able to comment, so please, please let me know your thoughts! I wanted to share a few things with y'all, too. First, the February issue (the 15th anniversary issue, actually!) of the University of South Carolina Garnet & Black magazine is out online and in print (definitely pick up a print copy if you are in Columbia). I'm the features editor of the magazine and we worked very hard on this issue-- editing with a 7-hour time-zone difference is not easy. Take a look! And for those of you who are cat people (Dad, I'm looking at you), my friend Jonathan from Notre Dame has put together a lovely photo album entitled "The Stray Cats of Cairo." Since he braved potentially contracting rabies from getting so close to these feral cats, you should check out what he has to show for it! Thanks for reading!

excuse me, are you a movie star? julia roberts? shakira?

Contrary to my expectations, the comments Egyptian men make are quickly becoming one of the funniest parts of this experience. More often than not, they are completely ridiculous, rather than being creepy or offensive. They range from simple and sweet ("beautiful," or gameela in colloquial Egyptian Arabic) to outrageous (you can be called any Western celebrity, regardless of what you actually look like, from Michelle Obama to Catherine Zeta-Jones; I get Shakira a lot, for some reason). My favorite example so far has been finding myself walking with a guy friend in Islamic Cairo or the bazaar area called Khan el-Khalili. At least three times now, my friends have been approached and asked loudly for how many camels they will sell me (this happens to all of the women in our study abroad program on a pretty regular basis). I merited an offer of 500 camels on Tuesday, which I thought was pretty fair; I've heard camels can cost or be worth up to $1,000 here, so that's a decent dowry, so to speak. I was a little insulted yesterday, though, when my friend Nick was offered 11 camels for all four of his "wives" (myself and my friends Toby, Laura and Rosie). The worst part was that the vendor who was making the offer from across the bazaar then held up a stuffed camel; he didn't even mean real camels? Seriously, eleven stuffed camels? Thankfully, Nick turned him down, saying we were worth a little more than that.

I'm still having an amazing time here, although now that the second week of school is over, the routine is beginning to erode the sense of wonderment that I felt for my first three weeks here. I'm planning to make a separate post about Arabic in general; since I get a lot of questions about the language and my study of it, I'm assuming some people reading this may be interested. But for now, I'll say that my Arabic journey has been a little rocky, and it's been tough to figure out which class I belonged in here. I'm excited that I have finally found an Arabic course where I feel (semi-) competent, and I really like the professor; she strikes a great balance between being kind and demanding. But more about that later. The only downside to this class is that it is accelerated, which means we meet for between two and three hours a day, four days a week, at 8:30 am. With Zamalek being about 45 minutes to an hour away from the AUC campus in New Cairo, I now find myself having to wake up at 6 am every morning-- earlier than I had to wake up even in high school. Those of you who know my sleeping habits may correctly guess that this hasn't made me any more likely to go to bed on time (it's 1:33 am here, and yes, I do have class tomorrow). I feel okay about it, honestly; Cairo is a nighttime city, where nothing really opens in the morning, and everything stays open until at least 2 am. I'm pretty at home here, at least in that sense!

While I've had to nap a lot this week to do so, I still managed to go all over the city and visit several attractions I've been wanting to see. Sunday night was the Super Bowl; after a full day of classes, my friends Chelsea, Gordon, Matt and Rosie helped me pull what was essentially an all-nighter at the Cairo Marriott to watch the game at 1:30 am our time. The viewing room was gorgeous (picture below) and the food was great, but that didn't change the fact that I was exhausted and had class at 8:30. So, Rosie and I left at halftime.

The beautiful chandelier in the TV room at the Marriott! Definitely the most upscale Super Bowl viewing party I've ever been to.

Since we have Tuesdays off here, Monday nights are like a little weekend night in the middle of the week. I actually really like that; it makes it easier to keep from getting overwhelmed. On Monday night, a huge group of AUC people all sort of ran into each other at Deals, which is the closest thing to a "real" bar I've been to here (as in, it's possible to order drinks other than the Egyptian beers Stella and Sakara). Apparently, you can also order a banana split, as my friend John from the University of Florida did immediately upon sitting down with us.

We had an awesome time, but it was a little tough to get up early the next day to go sightseeing in Islamic Cairo. That was probably the most authentically "Cairene" experience I've had since arriving here; a group of nine of us took the Metro (only 1 Egyptian pound/about 20 cents for a ticket!) into Islamic Cairo, where the streets are very narrow, most of the women are veiled, and carts drawn by donkeys are more prevalent than cars. We walked for about thirty minutes deep into the area. There are so many mosques and historic buildings in Islamic Cairo that our Lonely Planet guide (the definitive guide, apparently, since everyone in this program seems to have bought the same one as me!) says it will take a full six days straight to see everything it has to offer. We decided to only try to tackle one major sight: the Mosque of Ibn Tulun.

The mosque was built about twelve hundred years ago (completed in 879 CE) and is considered both the largest mosque in Cairo by square land area and the oldest surviving mosque here. It underwent a major restoration in the early 2000s by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (funny story: Rosie, Nick, Toby and I stumbled upon the actual headquarters of this council in a tiny back alley in Khan el-Khalili). It's also the first example of the use of a pointed arch in architecture anywhere.

It was breathtakingly beautiful, and so calm and quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of the outer city. The huge inner courtyard just spoke so deeply to me of the religious and contemplative purpose of the building. Hopefully you'll be able to glean some of the same sense from my pictures. The most amazing part, however, was getting to climb the minarets of the mosque and a second mosque next door; the views were unbelievable! As seen in the picture below, you can see the Great Pyramid from the minaret at Ibn Tulun, and that's all the way on the other side of this enormous city.

The central dome in the courtyard at Ibn Tulun.

The gorgeous courtyard!

Kelsey and I outside the mosque; you can see behind us the minaret we had just climbed!

On Tuesday night, I went to a restaurant called Crave with Nick and Toby. I had read in the guidebook that the burgers at this place were the best in Egypt, but I didn't know if I believed it; there's some amazing food on the island of Zamalek (I'm going to be mentioning it quite a few times in this post alone), but in all of Egypt? Really? After all, there is a Fuddruckers in the big mall in Cairo. And a Hardee's down the street from the dorm. But this burger was absolutely one of the best I have ever eaten. Nick and Toby were very jealous just because of the expressions on my face while I was shoveling it into my mouth. I don't know what exactly was on it, so don't ask me; just promise that the next time you're in the neighborhood, you will order the Zombie Burger at Crave (yes, that's really what it's called).

Wednesday was another busy day of classes; on Sundays and Wednesdays I have three hours of Arabic, followed by Comparative Middle East Politics and Self and Society, an ethics course. I went to bed early, too-- not too exciting. But on Thursday, I had what might be my best day here yet: I finally, finally got to go to Sequoia! I've been so excited about this restaurant ever since the New York Times reviewed it in early January (see earlier post all about it). And it absolutely did not disappoint. It was gorgeous, to begin with; it's situated on the point of the island, right on the Nile, and is basically a huge white tent filled with beautiful lanterns and soft couches. You can order all kinds of food, and we did have Egyptian mezze (small plates, like hummus or baba ghanoush), but then I had to have the sushi I had been so excited about! Definitely almost as good as Tsunami in Columbia, SC-- but not quite :)

DELICIOUS Mori sushi tuna roll at Sequoia. Every bit as good as it looks!

Amazing design with the lights of downtown Cairo outside the tent!

I'm actually a little disappointed at how little Egyptian food I eat while at home on Zamalek. There are definitely Egyptian places, but far more prevalent on the island are Asian restaurants (in the last four days, I've eaten Japanese at Sequoia, Chinese at Peking, Thai at Thai Elephant, and Asian fusion at a place called, strangely, "Ethnic Cafe"), Italian places, and those that serve a miscellany of Western food. We've also got Hardee's, McDonald's, Subway, KFC, Pizza Hut, and a Chili's that my guidebook, confusingly, lists under recommended dining while on Zamalek. I try to save money on food, because it's possible to eat a very filling meal of traditional Egyptian foul (beans), falafel, koushary (noodles, rice, fried onions, tomato sauce, chickpeas, and lentils), or shwarma tagen (pasta with shwarma meat) for about 1 USD. But Zamalek really does have a lot of legitimately great restaurants, like Sequoia and Crave, where you will spend about what you would to eat out at an average-priced restaurant in the U.S., but get so much more food and a great upscale experience for it. It's hard to resist! And there's still so many more I want to try, so it's a good thing I've still got three-and-a-half months here.

On Friday, I went to Khan el-Khalili, the major bazaar in Cairo, for the first time. It's a huge, sprawling, ever-changing district of alleys upon alleys of vendors selling everything from fresh produce to copies of the Qur'an to comforters and lingerie. We wandered for about three hours, and while I saw lots of stuff I wanted to buy, I was trying to be careful and not touristy. I did buy a scarf and earrings, and bargained appropriately for them; the vendors will try to charge western-looking people much more for the items than they are worth. The Khan was complete sensory overload, too; a constant crush of people, huge carts and trays of baklava and bread coming through the streets, salesmen shoving their wares in your face, and constant sales pitches and (as I discussed earlier) marriage offers being yelled your way. It reinforced the decision I've made that the pedestrian right-of-way is not just given to you in Cairo; rather, you have to take it by force, and earn it by being completely fearless as you dodge donkey carts and speeding taxis. The Khan was a great experience, though, and I'm sure I'll return soon; I want one of the beautiful hand-quilted tapestries they make on-site in the little shops to put on my wall, and some of the comforters are actually beautiful. And everything's very, very cheap if you know how to bargain (I'm learning)!

Crazy street scene in Khan el-Khalili!

After all that, I wound up my week today with a pretty relaxing afternoon. I ran errands and avoided doing homework (the usual, haha) and some of my friends and I had a Valentine's Day gift exchange (how did we all know to give each other food? It was perfect). Valentine's Day is a huge deal in Egypt; apparently they actually celebrate it twice (again in October). And Facebook takes forever to upload pictures here, so I've spent the last three days or so uploading my first album of pictures from Egypt, but it's finally done as of tonight! So, if you're my friend on Facebook, definitely check it out-- there's way more pictures than I could ever put on the blog. There's more to come, and hopefully I'll be able to post more frequently soon so that these won't be so long! I'm sad to have missed out on the snow days this week in Atlanta and Columbia, but you know what? The sunshine and 70-degree weather here isn't so bad, either :) I miss all of you at home! Thanks for reading!

my face hurts from smiling so much.

I'm not kidding-- I have been laughing and smiling pretty much non-stop since arriving here. It's a combination of how amazing, smart and hilarious my friends are and the constant humor that Cairo provides. Around every corner is something exciting, ridiculous or endearing. Maybe the novelty will wear off eventually, but I think I'm still in the "honeymoon" period of my stay here.

For example: My friend Chelsea, who is from New Jersey and goes to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and I went to dinner at an awesome restaurant called Euro Deli last night. (I actually ended up going again with a different group of people tonight-- it's close to the dorm in Zamalek and has a huge variety of food, so we love it). Euro Deli advertises its European-ness by boasting of the cities that influenced its cuisine: Montreal, Beirut, Tokyo... none of which are in Europe. Go figure. (This is just one instance of the general attitude I feel like Egyptians have; everything is in Allah's hands, so it doesn't really matter if those cities are actually in Europe, or if you show up for class on time, or if you even bothered to bring a pen or notebook to class, or if the internet crashes, or if the change you get at a store is correct... you get the point. Insha' Allah is one of the most frequently used phrases here: if Allah wills it.)

Anyway, so Chelsea and I were walking home from Euro Deli when an adorable kitten ran up to us and started following us. Chelsea loved him and named him Fred. Look how precious he was.

So cute that she didn't care that he might have rabies.

Then, all of a sudden, a man came up behind us and picked up Fred by the head-- he literally just grabbed this little kitten's head-- and walked away with him. Chelsea and I were just staring at each other, and then we burst out laughing. Where was he going with this kitten?? Who knows?? Only in Cairo, right?

Every time I have a meal with any of my friends or just have a conversation with them, we have so many new stories of the general novelty and hilarity of this city to tell each other. I really wish I could just write them all down to share with anyone reading my blog, but there are far too many. For example, my friends Toby and Nick, who go to Washington University in St. Louis, went on an AUC-sponsored trip to Alexandria this weekend. Alexandria is about two hours away and definitely a must-see while I'm in Egypt; I and some other friends are planning to go when it's a little warmer. For some reason, while in this beautiful historic city, the trip organizers decided to make the dinner event for their one night in Cairo be a trip to an American-style mall. In the mall, there was an H&M, and there was an actual DJ playing extremely loud music in the store-- so loud that there was no way anyone could actually talk in the store. You might think he would play cool Middle Eastern music; there are so many popular music stars in Egypt and their music is really fun to listen to. But no, he was playing the Akon song "Sexy Chick" (that's the censored title) OVER AND OVER again. Why?? Who knows. It's Egypt.

This was just a great weekend in general. After my first full week of classes, which was pretty stressful (I changed my schedule about 5 times, and was so tired on Wednesday after having four classes in a row and an hour-and-a-half commute that I passed out at 7:00 pm), it was great to just hang out with my friends and enjoy Cairo. On Thursday night (that's like Friday night here, since Fridays are holidays), my friend Rosie, who goes to Bowdoin in Maine, invited me on a cruise party on the Nile with her British friends who also live in Zamalek. I didn't think my time in Cairo would include a boat party surrounded by British people, but I am so glad that it did! In fact, I don't think I've ever been around so many Brits at one time. Rosie and I were definitely the most conservatively dressed people at the party-- we were wearing dresses with leggings and tights, as well as long-sleeved sweaters, which is considered appropriate attire in most of Cairo-- and most of the British girls were wearing clothes that you might see at a club in the U.S. I guess it's a testament to how well I'm acclimating to the Egyptian culture that I was shocked to see their outfits. I have the same reaction now to seeing people holding hands or, heaven forbid, kissing in public. It was definitely nice to take a night off from that, and I had such a great time and met a ton of interesting people-- Oxford graduates, that kind of thing. Two guys were stopping through Cairo on a trip from Istanbul all the way south through Africa to be in South Africa in time for the football World Cup in June. (Speaking of football-- the American kind-- I'm planning to stay up until 3 am on Sunday night to watch the Super Bowl here!)

Rosie and I with the beautiful lights of the Nile behind us!

Last night, there was a huge party in a nice part of Cairo called Maadi, hosted by some other AUC study abroad students to help everyone get to know each other better. Even though the cab ride was about 40 minutes (and with 5 people squished in a small taxi together to get there, it was not super enjoyable), it was so worth it! I already feel like I know everyone so well, and it's a great feeling to look around at a party like that and already feel that I am surrounded by friends.

As much fun as I'm having (and I really am having so much fun), it's not all play and no work-- today has been pretty filled with homework, although I had time for lunch with my friends Ben (from Notre Dame) and Patrick (from George Washington) and dinner with my roommate Lea and Rosie, Nick, Toby, and some of our other friends. I love being in such a pedestrian-oriented city; while we were at Euro Deli, my friend Frank, another AUC student, who goes to American University in D.C., wandered by and decided to join us! That would never happen in Columbia or Atlanta, since no one walks anywhere.

But I don't want to give anyone the impression that Cairo is perfect. It's definitely dirty, although Zamalek is pretty clean, and poverty is present here in a way I've never experienced before or in the U.S. And although I am very understanding and respectful of the conservative culture, it is inconvenient, to say the least. First, I am a very independent person and I'm accustomed to being able to go where I want when I want to go there. This is not possible in Cairo, because I'm a young woman (especially because I'm an obviously American woman). The only places it's really safe for me to go alone are those that are within walking distance in Zamalek, and when I'm alone I feel very uncomfortable because of the looks and catcalls I get. I even feel weird walking to and from class alone at AUC, because I am so obviously out of place. It's really unpleasant. I definitely can't take a taxi anywhere by myself, so anywhere off the island of Zamalek is out of the question unless I have a male escort or a big group of girls. Thankfully, the guys in my study abroad program are very sweet and understanding, and will offer to walk girls places or accompany us anywhere if we need to go. But I can't help being jealous of them.

Second, I'm still trying to figure out all the subtleties of the protocol for women's clothing here. Dark, opaque tights under a skirt can apparently "give people the wrong impression" (this from another AUC student who is from Tunisia) even though there is no skin showing. Short sleeves are taboo as well for women; my roommate was actually scoffed at in the supermarket for wearing a t-shirt. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do when it gets hot here (highs have been around 60 degrees since I arrived). But I'm trying to learn, and trying to be respectful; that's what living in a new culture is all about!

I'll end this post with a few more pictures-- uploading to Facebook takes forever here, so I'm sorry I haven't been able to put up a Facebook album yet. I also want to encourage people to comment; I was so excited to hear from so many people that they had read my blog! Please let me know what you think, and it's just great to hear from my friends and family at all. I miss you all so much and your support through this experience is really meaningful to me!

Toby, Rosie and I at a Thai restaurant (it was delicious, actually!)... with a giant sparkly light-up snowman?? Who knows. It's Egypt.

A beautiful street in Zamalek! This is right near my dorm. It's so leafy and green.

A house and garden in Zamalek. (I take pictures all the time on the street here and I don't care about looking like a tourist-- it's gorgeous here!)

Me and my friend Kelsey from UVA at Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. This is a huge center of activity. You can see the Egyptian Museum across the square behind us!

ana mish khoaga (i am not a foreigner)

(Edited on 2/6/2010 to add more photos!)

So it's been nine days since I arrived in Cairo, and one minute I feel like I've been here a lifetime; the next I feel like I just stepped off the plane. Every day the city becomes more detailed and deeper to me, and I'm learning so many new things with every passing hour that it would be a monumental task to report them all here. In fact, the idea of summarizing my experience in Egypt so far has been so daunting that I have dreaded making this blog post. Suffice to say that living here is indescribable.

I feel constantly pulled in several directions. There's school (my purpose for coming here); the American University in Cairo is the most prestigious university in Egypt and the study abroad kids agree that it makes us feel like first-week freshmen at an extremely snobby and wealthy high school. With over 6,000 students, it's sizable, but nowhere near USC's 17,000; the campus is a luxurious $400 million modern-Arabic work of art in the middle of nowhere. It's located about 45 minutes (or up to two hours, depending on traffic-- more on that later) from Zamalek, where I live, in the heart of New Cairo. New Cairo reminds me of developments like Atlantic Station in Atlanta; there are huge, opulent homes and shopping centers going up everywhere you look, and everything seems to be perpetually under construction. It's the polar opposite of the crowded, dilapidated high-rises that make up the majority of Cairo itself.

AUC's student body represents the wealthiest elite of Egypt, and it shows in the gorgeous campus (I'll put up pictures) and in the students' imported designer handbags, eyewear, boots, leggings, and Longchamps (some things don't change between Columbia and Cairo!). The campus is a long thoroughfare of quadrangles, flanked by the classroom and administration buildings and linked by archways. One of the most crowded of these is called "Gucci Alley" because of the way the students use it as a place for one and one's outfit to see and be seen. Needless to say, I don't really fit in-- everything from my hair to my croakies and Sperrys screams American. But I'm dealing with this by thinking of myself as a kind of cultural ambassador for South Carolina and Georgia. As much as I want to learn from Egypt and its people, I hope that maybe they can learn something about where I come from as well.

School is much more than just fashion; I have been to four classes at this point, but I'm still putting together my schedule (advisement and registration is here is SO much more complicated than anything I've ever dealt with at USC), so I'm going to two new ones tomorrow, in addition to Arabic and my Self and Society philosophy class. We get Tuesdays off here, but Sunday is a school day, since the whole country takes Fridays off (Friday is the Muslim holy day). Weekends are going to be spent traveling around Egypt and nearby places in the Middle East!

In addition to class and adjusting to AUC, I spend a good amount of time trying to set up times to Skype with my parents and friends; since Egypt is seven hours ahead of the U.S., this can be really difficult, and I haven't been successful yet. I'm jealous of my roommate, Lea, whose parents live in Germany and are thus only an hour behind us. Even though I'm free of extracurricular responsibilities (at least until the next Garnet & Black Magazine issue comes around!), there's still plenty of work to be done!

The hardest aspect of life here to balance with school and staying in touch is, of course, this amazing city and the equally amazing people I've met here so far. I'm not exaggerating when I say that every single day I go somewhere new, experience something I never have before, learn more about the Egyptian culture, and make new friends. Last week, among many other milestones, I visited the Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza (and went inside a pyramid!), rode a horse for the first time in at least ten years (around the Pyramids, no less!), took a cruise on the Nile (the water is filthy, but so beautiful at night with all the bright lights of downtown and Zamalek reflected in its surface), and witnessed Egypt beat Algeria and then Ghana as the Egyptian football team won the Africa Cup of Nations.

My view from the base of the Great Pyramid at Giza, built by Cheops (Egyptian name: Khufu) and completed around 2551 BCE.

Guards napping at the Great Pyramid-- don't worry, the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World is in great hands.

I look like I was photoshopped into this, but I am actually standing in front of the Sphinx!

Yesterday alone, I visited Harea for the first time (please see the picture below; it has to be seen to be believed), and went to a restaurant called Felfela where Jimmy Carter has also eaten (!!) and ate grilled pigeon (!!!). It's only 8:30 pm here, and already today I have seen the ENTIRE Egyptian Museum (which my guidebook swore could not be toured in a day alone), gotten a marriage proposal, eaten lunch and dinner combined for the Egyptian equivalent of two U.S. dollars, and ridden the Cairo Metro for the first time (it's cleaner than any city street here-- go figure).

Outside the Egyptian Museum! (No pictures allowed inside, sadly-- the mummies are amazing to see and definitely worth the extra fee!)

Harea, the most ridiculous bar I have ever seen. Check out that table chilling in the broken window.

PIGEON! And Egyptian beer-- there are three kinds here, and Sakara is the nicest. That means it costs about 19 pounds (4.00 USD) instead of 9 pounds ($2.00).

This definitely made me miss The Carter Center, but how cool is it to find connections to home so far away from Atlanta?!

Most remarkably, I have managed NOT to die in the traffic here. Please trust me when I say there are absolutely no rules to driving in Cairo. I can't imagine what it takes to receive a driver's license here, besides creativity and a death wish. There are no traffic lanes, no traffic signals, no stoplights, no stop signs, and there's definitely no such thing as yielding to pedestrians. Sitting in the passenger seat of a taxi or bus is enough to make you cry from terror. Let me leave you with this one story to back up these statements, because I'll keep writing all night otherwise: On Sunday night, my friends and I boarded the 5:00 shuttle home from classes at AUC, hoping to get into Cairo in time to watch the Africa Cup of Nations final football game at 6:30. The traffic, as you can imagine, was even more horrendous than usual, and after trying several shortcuts, our bus driver-- a contracted, professional driver, piloting a bus of at least 100 students and professors-- decided to drive in the WRONG DIRECTION, into oncoming traffic on a FOUR-LANE HIGHWAY. Ignoring all of the cars honking at him (honking is just a normal traffic action here; pay no attention), he drove about a mile into a roundabout, where he proceeded to merge into the traffic going the right direction, hitting several other cars in the process. To solve this issue, he exited the bus, as did the drivers of the other cars, and argued with them in the street until they decided the game was more important, and returned to their vehicles. Please see the picture below. I don't think I've ever had a near-death experience until now; this is just one of the wonderful things about Cairo.

The scene outside our bus. Notice how the cars are definitely not going in the same direction that we are.