Four to go...

A little bit of backlogging

2009-06-22T18:50:00.001-07:00

So this entry is essentially a word dump of my last few weeks in Egypt. Sporadic internet made it difficult to keep up to date...enjoy!

June 7- Well I Rode Through the Desert on Horse with No Name

Last night, I did just that. As a celebration of the end of Arabic classes and an excuse to hang out with our pre-screened Egyptian friends, several of us rode horses in the Sahara at midnight.

We left on horseback around midnight. The air was cool and there was a slight breeze as we trotted across the desert underneath a full moon. I haven’t been on a horse since I was a little girl, and was slightly nervous, but I did well. Especially when the poor mistreated thing tried to buck me and I kept my seat.

After about a half hour, we reached a small camp where our guides offered us tea. Having brought other libations, however, we indulged in those instead. We partied in the desert for a few hours, mounted up, and headed back at about 3.

On the trip back, my horse broke into a gallop. It was surreal.

I’m not sure how culturally relevant the experience was, but I know it is one I will tell my grandchildren about.

June 11- Salt and Fresh Water

This past week has been an experience in swimming in new fun places. Last week, we drove through the desert to Marsa Matrouth, a resort beach on the Mediterranean Sea. It was a standard day of relaxation- sand, surf, sun, and back dives off the floating pool. Loud American drinking games rounded out the end of a great day at the beach.

After packing up our damp suits, we headed to the Siwa Oasis. Near the border of Libya, the oasis was every bit the verdant refuge you would imagine. Our second day was by far the best. After dragging us to a few ancient ruins, we took a dip in “Cleopatra’s Bath”. This deep natural pool was filled with clear, beautiful mineral water. The ledge was about 6 feet from the surface of the water, which made it perfect for diving. I could have spent all day jumping in the beautiful water.

In the afternoon, we went on our “desert trek.” Siwa has several hot and cold springs peppering the surrounding desert, so we mounted up the 4X4s and drove out into the desert. Going up and down sand dunes in a truck was pretty crazy. The sand slides almost like ice underneath the tires, so I was very glad someone else was driving. The first spring they brought us to was the classic pool of water surrounded by a few reeds, then desert as far as the eye could see. It was a very tranquil scene- until 30 boisterous twenty-somethings splashed right in.
The second spring was much less fun. The murky, hot water bubbled up from the center of a small cement pool. It felt slimy against your skin, and had a very distinct smell to it. Not at all the kind of hot tub you would want to sit in all day.
After two water sites, we checked out an ancient fossil bed from where this area used to be a sea millions of years ago.
By far, the best part of the desert trek was sandboarding at sunset. It was really difficult to get used to the texture of the sand (especially if you are used to ice), but once I got the hang of it, gliding down the dunes was a blast. Coming back up, however, was much less so. Finally, we watched the sun set over the Sahara as gallibaya men “serenaded”. By this, I mean sang lively, rhythmic songs in crude Arabic. It was very cool.

Despite all of the fun experiences we were having, the overwhelming poverty of the area was difficult to ignore. Siwa has a very tourist-based economy, yet is one of the most conservative places I’ve ever been to. Our guide told us that people never leave Siwa because it truly is perfect. The only time a murder occurs is between outsiders. People leave to get an education, but always come back to Siwa. That kind of community, despite the fact that that donkey-carts were the only cab system, was fascinating to observe.

After Siwa, we headed back to Marsa Matrouth for a second relaxation day. This time around, I tried my hand at jet skiing- and ended up splaying my passenger and myself into the Mediterranean. Freaked out Eastern European women in life vests using me as a flotation device aside, it was a good experience.

Tomorrow we head to Alexandria for the Arab Women’s Organization “Arab Western Youth Conference”. Can’t wait!

June 16- Culture Shock, Part II

If I thought what I experienced my first few weeks in Egypt was culture shock, it was nothing compared to the Arab Woman’s Organization “Arab Western Youth Dialogue Conference”.

We stayed in this gorgeous hotel on the grounds of a palace in Alexandria. The hotel was right on the water, the views were spectacular, and complimentary fruit baskets showed up within an hour of check in. The five-star resort is probably the nicest hotel I will ever stay in.

The conference aspect left much to be desired. There was virtually no emphasis placed on facts, merely “impressions” and “opinions”. I spent most of the time discussing violence against women (specifically the subject of rape, domestic violence, and harassment) in a legal context with a guy from Libiya who studied for the past two years in Oklahoma. I spent six hours discussing this topic with someone who was so
insulated from the realities of his country that he didn’t know Libya had a major problem with human trafficking until I told him.

Most of the students participating in the conference on the Arab side were not genuinely interested in politics. The first ladies of their respective countries selected these people; so most of them had some kind of political connection to the ruling family. Many of them did not want to be there. Most were from the uppermost class of society, so had very little idea of the realities on the ground in their respective countries and a very Western viewpoint. And all of them had to report back to their home countries about what they said there.

In sum, the conference aspect was mostly bullshit.

A few speakers were enlightening; the moderator cut off a heated debate on the topic of abortion. Affirmative action/quotas yielded discrepancies from both the Arab and American students. It was always interesting to see Arab misconceptions about Americans, and vice versa. But on the whole, the conference did not teach me much of anything I didn’t already expect to hear.

The interactions we had with people outside the group setting were the most enlightening.
There was one student in particular who provided new levels of culture shock for most of the group. When I first encountered this individual, he was wearing his country’s traditional dress and introducing himself. Going down the line of American students, he introduced himself by name and shook each of their hands. When he got to me, he paused for a moment. I introduced myself and extended my hand to greet him. He pulled back, shook his head almost condescendingly, and walked up to the next person. It was only then I realized I was the only woman in a group of men.

The next time this individual was mentioned, it was a good friend of mine discussing her committee. Apparently, he expressed his viewpoint on rape. If a woman happened to be raped- which was very very rare in his country- it was her fault. She deserved it if her head was uncovered. This is because a man is not responsible for his physical actions, but a woman is responsible for her moral ones. Great to know I deserve to get raped.

This individual later sat down next to me on the bus and began to lecture me about how Islam is different from the local cultures. I shouldn’t blame Islam for the bad things that happen in local cultures. I agree with him to an extent on this point, but when Islamic clerics twist the religion to support local inequalities, then it’s a little difficult not to blame the religion. I think the twenty minutes I spent politely listening to a person whose beliefs fundamentally make my skin crawl and not yelling at him was my single greatest growth experience on this trip.

Other moments of culture shock:

A girl telling me how happy she was we were going to a mall instead of the local market because “it was more secure”.

Being told that no Jewish people were killed during 9/11, because it occurred on a Jewish holiday and no Jews were in the building. Therefore, the Jews are responsible for 9/11. This was quickly refuted by a New York Times obituary search, which yielded enough Jewish last names to change this individual’s opinion.

Being propositioned in broken English because I was too polite to shake off an Arab boy who kept coming up and holding my hand.

Overall, the conference was a good experience. The depth of my knowledge in this area increased, as well as my tolerance and acceptance. Politics, however, will always be politics, and you have to sift through layers of rhetoric in order to find nuggets of truth.

It wasn’t necessarily an enjoyable experience, but certainly a meaningful one.

Obama wa Narmin

2009-06-05T04:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I watch Obama's speech in Cairo. I'll spare you my liberal, starry-eyed, crunchy granola analysis (which I'm sure you can get if you open up the New York Times) but I will share with you the context in which I watched it:
Yesterday morning I had my Arabic final exam. My tiny little Arabic professor is a middle-aged Arab Christian woman, practicing Protestantism. A minority among minorities, she's often spent Arabic classes sharing anecdotes about her life in Cairo. One of her more recent stories is that her son is great at soccer, but cannot join any national clubs due to his religion. Although she is Egyptian, as are her children, they are not allowed to participate. She faces this daily kind of discrimination with a sunny attitude and a resigned smile.
She is not without a spine, however. My Arabic teacher, in her younger days, was a member of Kefaya ("enough" in Arabic). According to Wikipedia, Kefaya is "a grassroots coalition which draws it support from across Egypt’s political spectrum to oppose President Hosni Mubarak’s presidency and the possibility he may seek to transfer power directly to his son Gamal." Although the movement has only just taken off, it has roots back to the mid-90's. Being a part of any political movment, however, requires a certain degree of bravery. People who speak too loudly here against the government are rountinely rounded up and imprisioned. Advocating for greater government transparency and democracy may not seem like a big deal to those of us in the States, but its a bit like taking your life in your hands in Egypt.
If you're a nerd like I am, you can read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kifaya

After the exam, my class watched Obama's speech. His speech was ballsy even my my liberal crunchy granola standards. He called out intolerance everywhere: From Israel to Europe to al-Qaeda, no one was immune to Obama's intensely eloquent verbal wrist-slapping.
What struck me the most, though, was my Arabic teacher's engagement in the speech. Each time he would say something she agreed with (mostly the passages on government transparency and tolerance), she would lean forward and whisper "Bissopt, bissopt" (meaning "exactly" in Arabic). When he got to the part on women's rights, she said "Oh tell me about those, Obama".
It was almost like observing a believer in a church, so rapt was her attention.

I know the effect this man's words has in America, but to see firsthand how much faith non-Americans (espeically those in the Middle East) put in him is astounding. Everyone I've spoken to here loves him. Even the men peddling cheap junk in the streets speak of "Obama dollars". Maybe its the idea of hope and transparency, or maybe its simply because he's an American Muslim that fills people with inspiriation. As Thomas Friedman said in his most recent op-ed:
"An Egyptian friend remarked to me: Do not underestimate what seeds can get planted when American leaders don’t just propagate their values, but visibly live them. Mr. Obama will be speaking at Cairo University. When young Arabs and Muslims see an American president who looks like them, has a name like theirs, has Muslims in his family and comes into their world and speaks the truth, it will be empowering and disturbing at the same time. People will be asking: “Why is this guy who looks like everyone on the street here the head of the free world and we can’t even touch freedom?” You never know where that goes."

I think Friedman sums up my Arabic professor's "bissopt"s beautifully.

cahwa wa higazzzz

2009-06-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

Brain fried.
Too much Arabic.
Sitting in an internet cafe while someone pays 6 pounds an hour to play World of Warcraft
Massive cup of coffee and real food makes me feel like a new person.

al-wazin

2009-06-02T02:51:00.000-07:00

We started wazin today in Arabic.
The structure of Arabic is really different from Latin-based languages. In those languages, you have one word to express an idea or concept, and you vary the suffix/prefix based on context. In Arabic, each idea has a three letter root. You can vary the structure of noun (for example, spoon) to express a similar concept in a verb (hanging). Its very cool, but its such a hard concept to wrap my brain around as an English speaker.
I've never really appreciated how difficult it is to learn English until I studied Arabic. We have so many different words to describe subtle nuances in things, feelings, actions, and so on. And most of those words are so irregular that patterns are indiscernible. In Arabic, the meaning of the word depends on the context. "Spoon" and "hanging" have the same three root letters. The word for "staying" and "sitting" are the same.

Its crazy, but the more I know about Arabic, the greater appreciation I have for English.

The Parting of the Red Sea

2009-06-01T02:46:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we put down the Arabic other homework, packed up Abdu's vans, and headed Ein Soukna for the day. Ein Soukna is a resort town on the Red Sea about two hours away from Cairo. It was the most beautiful beach/resort I've ever been to (in my limited resort/beach experience, having grown up in the frozen tundra of upstate New York). The water was clear and blue and beautiful, against the a desert backdrop. This year, I've dunked my feet in the Atlatinc, Pacific, the Red Sea, and the Medditerranean comes next weekend.
I'm not sure how it helped my education, but it was fun experience.

On Saturday, we toured old mosques in Isalmic Cairo. I was really suprised to see the amount classical and gothic influence. Church architecture is something I know quite a bit about, after seeing every damn church in Paris, but I didn't realize how similar the architecture here would be. Obviously, minarets and pointed domes are Islamic, but the vaulted arch interiors, columns, and cross floor plan were are identical to churches. The ornemetation, however, was vastly different from churches. In Islam, it is forbidden to have images of people- espeically the prophet. Instead of ornate oil paintings and statues, Islamic religious buildings have beautiful, ornate caligriaphy and mosaics. Aside from a snobby tour guide (who is actually giving Barack Obama his tour next week), the day was highly informative.

After climbing minarets and learning about madrasas, Abdu took us to the Kana Khaleli market. Its exactly how you would picture a marketplace in Egypt. Huge crowds, overflowing stalls, people trying to get your attention at every turn and drag you into their shop- the whole nine yards. My hot, sweaty, tired self did not have a lot of enthusiasm for the sport- until I discoverd bargaining.
The system my friend and I figured out is this- we would both got to a stand and start looking at an item we wanted, like a scarf. If I was interested in the scarf, I would make sure I knew how much I was willing to pay beforehand. I would ask the merchant "Bikam eh" ("how much" in Arabic). This would throw them a bit, because it was obvious we were American, but they would still quote a super inflated price. Then I would counter with a price that was too low, and the haggling would begin. Once it looked like the merchant was not going to budge, my friend would tap me on the shoulder, shake her head, and we would start to walk away- very slowly. Most of the time, the merchant would yell after us lower prices. As soon as he hit my price, I would turn around and walk back.

Most of the time, this worked beautifully. I wish we could do this at the mall.

After scraping off the market dirt, sweat, and smog accumulated on my body during the day, a small group of us went to a jazz club with our pre-screened Egyptian friends. It was "arabic rock night" at the club, which, for the most part, meant the same chord progressions as American rock music with Arabic lyrics. The club was very small and Western-style, but we were one of two American groups. Most of the people were Egyptians.
Egypitans also know how to dance! I've never been dipped by a guy and felt like he wouldn't drop me until now. I always have fun when I'm with these kids.

Now its back to researching for my paper and studying Arabic!

Zar

2009-05-31T10:35:00.000-07:00

So we've been pretty busy with school, studying, adventures and stuff- hence the lack of updates.

Last Wednesday night, the group went to see Zar music. Zar is like Egyptian voodoo, and the music is performed to banish spirits and induce a trance state. The music is very drum heavy and rhythmic, and often features women as opposed to men. Its controversial in this society because its about banishing spirits- something Islam frowns upon. Only 25 people in Egypt are trained to perform this, a solid ten of which we saw in Cairo at this cultural center trying to preserve the custom.
The emotion the music evokes is difficult to describe. At one moment, you feel relaxed and etheareal, and the next you want to get up and dance. After hearing it performed, I can understand why they use it in trance rituals. The rythms and the scale is purely African- the source of a lot of our music today. It was kind of surreal hearing those same rhythms in their original form.
Controversial? Induces a trance? Features women?
Of course I loved it.

Check it out:

Sexuality in Islam- The ever popular paradox

2009-05-25T03:48:00.000-07:00

The latest lecture we attended was one on gender and health in Islamic societies. Fairly standard stuff- domestic violence, health care inequities, differences in marital expectations- the usual. What I was not expecting, however, was a frank discussion on the link between FGM and confused male sexuality.
FGM (or female circumcision, depending on who you are speaking to and how politically correct you want to be) is a practice across the Arab world (although it originated in Egypt). Based on a hadith, tradition dictates a woman undergo this procedure before marriage. It amounts to removing all or part of the external female sex organs. Makes me cross my legs just thinking about it.

Anyway, I asked the woman what the statistics in Egypt where like and what was being done to curb the practice. Her answers shocked me. In the mid-90's, the rates were around 90%.

The rates have dropped, especially since the practice was outlawed a few years ago. Now its between 78%-82%.

Still- 80% of women in this country are physically unable to experience an orgasm.

After discussing these startling statistics, the speaker launched into a discussion about how this is a byproduct of confused male sexuality. There are many support systems for women and discussions on female sexuality, but men are not openly talked about. Discussing a man in this aspect is seen as weakness. In general, sex eduaction is lacking in this country, but it was interesting she blamed the practice on a lack of education for men. Its a conclusion I drew myself, but I'm shocked she stated it so bluntly. It was a great discussion.

Another piece of the sexuality puzzle plunked into place in casual conversation. A bunch of us did a felucca ride with a group of Egyptians last night. One of the Egyptians and I were chatting for most of the ride. I don't even know how the subject came up, but all of a sudden we were discussing the importance of virginity across our cultures. He asked me if it was as meaningless in America as he had heard it was. I answered that it was important, but not the same way it is in Egypt. You can loose your virginity to someone you don't plan on spending the rest of your life with.

When asked if he wanted to marry a virigin, he said that it wasn't important to him, but it was to his family. This was kind of bizzare to me. The fact that the "purity" of the groom is never really called into consideration and that the "purity" of the bride is discussed by the groom's family are both difficult concepts for me to wrap my head around. I know this kind of double standard was commonplace 20-30 years ago in America, but the fact that the fmaily is so deeply involved in such an intimate aspect of this descion is totally alien to me. And I still think its interesting that, even with the liberalmindedness this individual displayed, he still plans on abiding by the wishes of his family.

The more I learn about the differences in our culutres, the more I find things that are the same.

A piece of advice...

2009-05-23T01:47:00.000-07:00

When discussing the role of women in Arab politics, be sure you know how to pronounce all the words in your sentence.

I never realized how hooked up my university was until the past year. We have major political figures on staff. We have internships in the EU and the UN. And we were able to take two hours of the Assistant to the Secretary General's time in order to ask questions. Some were inane, but some where actually meaningful. Always the answers were candid and frank. After going to the American Embassy, having this man honestly answer the question "What were some cases you felt the Arab League could have done more?" or "How did the relationship between Iraq and the League change after the American invasion" was eye-opening.
The two major theme of his discussion, though, was improving Arab relations with the Western world post 9/11 and the economic integration of the Arab League. The first is fairly self-explanatory, although he did discusses multiple dialogue exchanges he organized. He also talked about the effects of Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" in the Arab League. The Arab world felt that it was the target of this perceived class (which is something I thought as I read it), and the League has been doing everything they can to counter this generalization. He also said that many from both societies ask "Why do they hate us?" before they visit each other. Afterward, that feeling disappears. 9/11 was an extremist act, but the feeling is an exception, not a rule.

The economic integration aspect was the more interesting part for me. The Arab League was the first regional organization created after Bretton Woods (the conference that created the UN). Their goal, in the beginning, were to foster pan-Arab unity and basically create a single Arab state. In the mid-1990's, however, the feeling shifted from a top-down to a bottom-up approach. Instead of the lofty goal of a pan-Arab state, the Arab League is focusing on creating more economic freedom between states. Making it easier to move across borders and trade without protectionist taxes is how the European Union started, and now its the second largest economy in the world. This model is the Arab League's current policy focus, and it was fascinating to hear from straight from the horse's mouth.

Current Arab politics to ancient Coptic history may not be the smoothest segue, but if the Dialouge can manage it, so can I!
Yesterday was another sweaty adventure in Cairo. We visited Coptic Cairo, and several old churches there. The major difference between Copts and Eastern/Catholic/Protestantism is that Copts believe Jesus was divine, not a combination of divinity and humanity. The churches we saw were a really cool combination of Eastern Christian artwork and Islamic archictecture. I think the hardest thing to wrap my brain around was seeing Arabic in churches.
We saw the oldest church in Cairo, a synagaouge, the cave where the Holy Family was said to have hidden for three weeks in Egypt, and where Moses is said to have been pulled out of the Nile by Pharoh's daughter. The high concentration of holy sites is kind of interesting as well.
I think the thing that interested me the most, though, was the discussion of the potentially homosexual relationship between Jesus and Peter. In the Last Supper, Peter has a very effeminate look to him. Coptic art takes this even further. Every single picture depicted Peter whispering in Christ's ears or some other intimate gesture. The guide told me that the Gnostic sect takes this concept even further.

I had a legtimate conversation about the belief Jesus was gay in a church in Cairo. Life is cool.

After ancient Coptic Cairo, we went to the Zebelin cave churhc. Zebelin, also known as Trash City, is the neighborhood in Cairo wheer the trash collectors live. Trash gets taken there, sorted, and recylced by the neighborhoods residents. There is a social heierarchy to this, and the trade is run by the mafia, but there are quite a few people who make money off of it. The concept was bizzarre, but seeing it was even more so. These people legitimately live in filth. Trash is piled in every nook and cranny of the area. People sit on piles of garbage and eat food. It was one of the most awakening experiences I've had thus far on the trip. You see images like this on TV, but its a very different thing to see that kind of squalor on the other side of the glass. I'm not sure what is more eye-opening: the fact that people live like this or the fact that they don't' think anything of it.

The cave church was fairly spectacular, though. The Zebelin neighborhood is 90% Coptic, so the churhc is huge. The altar is at the bottom of an open air amphitheater that started as a cave. I need to post pictures in order to get a sense of the scale of this place. There were scecnes from the Bible carved into the side of the rock with captions in Arabic, but a very simple altar. It was kind of the Coptic equivalent of a megachurch. Afterward, we met a few Zebalin children who started jabbering with us in Arabic. Between our broken Arabic and their youthful enthusiam, we got a great sense of how welcoming these people are- even though they literally live in garbage.

After a quick nap, we ended off the day with a felucca ride on the Nile. It was the perfect, pensive ending to a busy week.

broken english

2009-05-20T10:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, I take the previous post back. Tutoring today made up for all the listlesness and general blech feeling in the previous post.
As part of the group experience, we're supposed to tutor Sudanese refugees at a church downtown. Its mostly just conversation practice, but they are at all different levels. Even though these people have such interesting personal stories, its often hard to converse simply due to the language barrier. The guy I had today was different.
He was from Sudan, and came to Cairo from Darfur about four years ago. He was 26, extremely softspoken and timid, but utterly adorable. He said he works in a hotel, but is trying to learn English so he can go back and teach it in Sudan. This is a person who left a war-torn country due to violence, and is planning to go back so he can help other refugees. There aren't many people out there who would do that.
I feel like I contributed in my own way.

3rabi

2009-05-20T03:15:00.000-07:00

Taking a page from Heather's book, I'm going to start using numbers as letters when transliterating Arabic to English.

This week has had very few adventures- mostly just remedial Arabic. My Arabic professor is very sweet, and really wants us to get the language. Either I'm not studying right, or I'm just language retarded, but I'm not getting it. Whenever I study, the words coat my brain like honey. I want them to stick like peanut butter. I'm also behind because I haven't taken Arabic in a year, and everyone else in the class just finished a semester. Its highly discouraging, then my brain locks up, then I forget every Arabic word I've ever known when the professor calls on me.
Woooosssaaaaahhhhhh.

I've not really felt like myself since getting to Egypt. Between the fast pace, my gastro-intestinal explosion last week, and my lack of Arabic skillage, I'm feeling like awkward 12 year old Katie as opposed to 22 year old Katie. Usually I'm much more eloquent than this rambling, undirected blog. I'm hoping now that I've settled into some semblence of a schedule my mood will normalize.

Arabic, however, has gotten easier than it was last week. I even exchanged pleasantries with a security gaurd at the the school entirely in Arabic this morning. Pre-coffee. Things are looking up.

I'm also realizing how difficult it is to be alone here. I know I'm whining about a lack of social interaction and lack of alone time in the same entry, but hear me out: We aren't supposed go anywhere by ourselves. All the rooms are doubles. Even though I'm not close with many people on this trip, I'm seeing them all the time. I had to go to the mobile store to recharge my phone yesterday by myself, and it was the most freeing experience I've had thus far. That is so bizzare to me! The hilight of my past two Arabic-filled days was walking around with no one else beside the thoughts in my head.

I need to estabilsh some kind of routine here. Its a weird mix between adventures and study time that is difficult to get used to.

More later

Train wine, diplomats, and cultural exchanges

2009-05-18T02:51:00.000-07:00

Between bad Amtrak experiences and rumors of bedbugs, I was less than enthusiastic about spending ten hours on the train to Cairo from Luxor. This all changed with the discovery of train wine. The club car ran out of bottles of wine due to the mini-discotechque we set up in one of the tiny train compartments. I've been out of commission for most of the week, so I've missed out on a lot of the team bonding. You get to know people pretty quickly when they are pelvic thrusting in your face because there is litlerally no other way to dance.

We packed in two sight visits yesterday after getting back. The first was to the American Embassy in Cairo. The head of the Cultural Affairs department and the Political and Economic department talked to us a bit about their careers and what they do in the State Department. Embassy visits are always kind of hit or miss. Sometimes the diplomats will answer your questions candidly, and sometimes they spout pure bullshit. Its all in how you phrase the question.
This was something I wish the journalism students were briefed on. The inane questions they asked embarrassed me quite a bit. Literally, one raised their hand and asked about swine flu.
SWINE FLU!
Here you are with this great opportunity to ask sensitive questions about US-Egyptian relations, human rights, how to get into the state department, and the best these kids could come up with was "What happens if I'm detained on suspicion of swine flu?" Not that there is a website or anything that would tell you that information, along with other travel advisories. If they showed up to an interview like that, they would be thrown out. You CAN get diplomats to answer sensitive questions, you just have to phrase it properly. Isn't that what they are supposed to be learning?

After the embassy debacle, we headed over to have a discussion about the differences in culture between America and the Islamic world with Egyptian Fulbright scholars. This was probably the most meaningful experience of the trip so far. The more we talked about the differences, the more we realized that some things are always the same.
The conversation got the most heated when we were discussing the differences in work values between the Islamic and Western world. Its common in both societies for women to quit working to raise children. However, in America, men are starting to stay home for childcare more and more. One of the Egyptian men kept repeating its a woman's job. No justification or explaination, just that its a woman's job. This was the most blantent example the deep societal misogyny, but there were other more insidious clues as well. Whenever we would ask a question about being a woman, the men would answer. One of the American girls spoke up and said "Can we please let the women talk about what its like to be a woman?", and all of the Egyptian men looked shocked. It was also hard getting the women in the room to speak up. The Egyptian men outnumbered them by a good deal, and whenever they seemed like they were finished speaking, the men would talk over the women. It was a bit frusterating, but enlightening.
After the discussion, we had a great Egyptain meal, and spoke more with the students. It was interesting hearing about their lives and their perspectives one-on-one. Hurray for pre-screened Egyptian friends!

Today is studying stuyding studying...I forgot how tricky Arabic is!

Sensory Overload

2009-05-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Pretty much the only way to describe Luxor.

Its very hot, but very lush especially along the Nile. This is not what I was expecting. The hotel we stayed at was four star resort with a floating pool in the Nile river. In other words, the most beautiful hotel I will every stay at in my life.

We arrived at sunset on Thursday, and pretty much just ran to the pool.
Early on Friday, we went to the Karnak Temple. It was much bigger and more lush than movies like "The Mummy Returns" leads you to believe. It is, however, every bit as impressive. Pictures can't do it justice. Most of the ancient temples have a sense of grandeur that defies description. You can take photos and tell stories, but its not the same as beign there.
Most of the day was spent lounging by the pool and doing homework.
That evening we went to Luxor temple at sunset. It was really cool because it was right in the middle of the city. This temple was used by early Egyptian Christians as a hideout from the Romans. There are some plaster paintings over parts of the walls, and there was a Christian church built right inside the temple. Later, they built a mosque on top of the church.
Luxor is much smaller than Karnak, but no less impressive. As the sun was setting, it cast orange shadows that made the ancient heiroglyphics pop. After sunset, the temple was lit up. Again, pictures don't do it justice.

Sensory overload came after our tour of Luxor Temple. A smaller group of us decided to go to a bazaar. I've run the tourist gauntlet in Paris, but it was nothing compared to this. People screaming, jumping in your way, waving things in your face, grabbing you, all in an attempt to get your attention. Its particularly frusterating because I'm a girl. I feel like I can't stick up for myself, because I will draw even more attention. The avalanche of catcalls was irritating as well. Men don't see me as person here- they see me as a potential conquest or someone to flatter into buying stuff. Most of the guys on this trip love going to places like that and talking to people. I'm not sure if they understand the merchants are trying to rip them off and get them to buy things or if they just enjoy talking. Whenever they stop to talk, the women get swarmed like flies. I feel like I'm missing out on so much of the experience because I'm a woman and do not get treated the same way. I am also get irritated when I can't go out and do things for myself. I'm trapped by the culture in ways I didn't expect. Its hugely frusterating.

Saturday morning was full of site visits. The first stop was Valley of the Kings. Climing into tombs through the heat was actually kind of fun. When a king began his reign, a tomb was started for him. They stopped digging whenever he died. Therefore, certain tombs are much deeper than others. Some are unfinished, but most were at least painted. The fact that these colors have maintainted their vibrance after all these years is remarkable.

King Tutankamon's tomb was fairly anticlimactic, especially after seeing all of his treasures in the Egyptian Museum. His mummy was pretty cool, though. Its the first I've seen up close. Its incredible how detailed and intact everything is. The facial features are almost exactly what they must have been in life. Again, you read so much about this stuff, but its quite a different thing to see it up close.

The next stop was the temple of Hashepsut. This was three floors of temple carved straight into rock. The guide said that the man who designed the temple was a genius architect in ancient times. They were wildly in love, but she didn't want to marry him because that would make him Pharoh. Smart lady.
The thing that struck me the most about this temple was not its size or splendor. There was a valuted arch chapel (I'm not sure if thats right, but thats what it looked like) inlaid into the temple. This was centuries before was really invented, and milenia before the vaulted arch was widely used. Yet here is this valuted arch chapel, chilling in the temple. It was mindblowing.

By the time we got to the last temple, we were all kind of burnt out. There was little more I could do than take pictures and walk around a bit.
After more pool time and a bit of exploring, we headed to the Luxor Museum. This was a smaller collection than the one in Cairo, but much better organized. The artifacts were much more intacts as well. The fun part of this museum was the mummy display.

Sitting in the cafe in Cairo, I'm getting kind of tired. Arabic calls. Tomorrow, inshallah, I'll finish the adventure of the overnight train and the American embassy.
Time to study for Arabic

Gastro-Intestinal Death

2009-05-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

Or as I like to call it, The Curse of the Mummy.
The last few days have been uneventful due to severe gastric distress. The seasoned veterans tell me that this is bound to happen sooner or later, and it will run its course. In the meantime, I feel like a squeezed out toothpaste tube.
Other than that, its been nice settling into life here in Cairo. I've not explored much due to the aforementioned affliction, but the area we are staying in (Zamalek) is very pretty. My Arabic professor is an adorable little Egyptian woman that just smiles and says "La" when you make a mistake. Which, in my case, is often. I like her very much though. She teaches us words and phrases instead of ridiculous jargon that is of no use in everyday life. I'm slowly getting more comfortable speaking it with the natives too. Instead of freaking out everytime I made a mistake in Paris, people just smile and try to understand you.
Egypt is a ridiculously friendly country. Aside from the constant staring, people are very nice once you start speaking to them. As a native of the Northeast, this is very bizzare to me. I keep waiting for someone to tell me to "go fawhk yahself" or something. Its so not like that here.
The hardest thing I've had to adjust to is the weird social mores surrounding my gender. For example, I can't ride in the back of a taxi with man- they have to sit in front. Or I can't walk around in public with wet hair, because its seen as "very intimate." Oh God, I've been naked in the past hour and you know it because of my wet hair. OH NO! The biggest frusteration is the looks I got when I go out by myself. Its frusterating having to travel in a group, preferably with one male, for someone who is as obnoxiously independant as I am. Hopefully I'll adjust.
Luxor is this weekend, which I'm really excited for. Stomach, inshallah, will recover in time.
Time for another Activia and packing...

My camel riding muscles are still sore...

2009-05-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

After a lovely, slow paced, internet filled morning yesterday, we headed to the Egyptian Museum. Or, for the laypeople, "the one with all the mummies and stuff". A little Arab man took us all over this two-story museum filled to the rafters with bits of old temples, statues, jewelry, and tombs. Most of King Tutankamen's tomb accessories are on display here- all but the man himself. The guide's exact words were "I take you upstairs to see the most famous king who did nothing". Its really true. Tut reigned for about a decade and did little more than marry his half sister and get himself murdered. To see his tomb accoutrements, however, you would think he was the richest dude in history. About a quarter of the museum was dedicated soley to Tut. The big deal about him is not his importance, but the fact that 90% of his tomb was intact. The oppulence of this minor king's tomb makes you wonder how many treasures have been lost to grave robbers or the sands of time from other, more imporant kings.

After the museum, the group had a home cooked Egyptian meal at Abduh's house. Abduh is our Egyptian travel guru. He arranges vans, fixes problems, and basically is our good luck charm in Cairo. I think my favorite moment from this evening is this big, jolly, Santa-like Egyptian man playing the hand-slap game with one of the boys on the trip. The man does not have hands, he has paws.

This morning was our first Arabic class. I was terrified. I've taken two semesters worth of Arabic, but my last class was over a year ago. My professor was extremely difficult, and I ususally left class feeling stupider than when I went in. I managed a decent grade, but I'm not sure how it happened. Listening to other people who have just finished up classes bragging about how much they knew had my knees a-knocking.

Turns out my anxiety was ill-founded. The woman who teaches my class is the most adorable little Egyptian lady I've ever met. She is very patient and kind, and varries the lessons quite a bit. Four hours seemed like one. She also taught us the vocabulary, and then made us use it right away. This is going to be way more effective than the "dump every word on the board and have it memorized tomorrow" method, which was the source of much anxiety last time I took a language. The third thing that made me less nervouse was the fact that it was entirely Egyptian colloquial- not Modern Standard Arabic. For all his flaws, my last professor used the colloquial far more than anything else. I have a slight leg up in the class because of that. He may have kicked my ass, but its paying off now. Arabic is going to be a challenge, but I'll be just fine.

I've also got a major opportunity to practice my Arabic built right into the trip. The school arranged for us to tutor at a refugee center for dispalced Africans. Most of the refugees are from Sudan and the Horn of Africa, and they need conversation partners to improve their English. Everyone was extremly friendly in the short time that I was there, and I can't wait to go back.

Now I'm sitting in a little cafe around the corner from the hotel, surrounded by friends and hookah smoke. Its the perfect end to my first day "living" in Cairo.

Okay, so Egypt is not Agrabah...

2009-05-10T01:46:00.000-07:00

But its still an unreal place. On the plane over, I kept listening to the Aladdin soundtrack (thanks Sophie), and it was difficult to wrap my brain around the fact Egypt is a real place. I've seen so many images of the pyramids, but I still didn't know quite what to expect. We live in a country with 500 years of history. Egypt is a country with 7,000 years of history- oftentimes jammed right up next to modernity. It was almost impossible to envision before we arrived.
Yesterday was jam packed with Egyptian adventures.First thing was camel riding to the Pyramids. I’ve never been on a camel before, and it was extremely nerve racking at first.On a horse, you’re about six feet from the ground, but camels are even higher. Once I go the hang of it, however, it was pretty similar to horseback. Most of the camels were caravanned, but my buddy Ahmed (one of our guides) let me drive my own. I rode a camel, through the Sahara, up to the Giza pyramids on my first day in Egypt.
After climbing on the Pyramids, we went down to the Sphynx. It was exactly how you would picture it- except crawling with tourists. This was the most exhausting part of the trip in my opinion. First off, the crowds of people were a bit more than my jet-lagged self could handle. Coupled with that were the agressive salesmen. If you stood still to take a picture, five Egyptians would practically grab the camera out of your hands- and promptly demand money for the service. Not to mention the bits of junk people were hawking. If I had one more guy shove an ugly necklace in my face, I may have gone angry, sleep deprived Italian lady on them...

Pyramids were followed by a papyrus museum. As boring as that sounds, it was really interesting to see them make the paper. The importance of a single plant to a culture is rarely something we think about, but its fascinating to learn about. The English paper comes from the ancient Egyptian for papyrus (along with the French, Spanish, and German equivalent) The museum also had a lot of papyrus scrolls for sale there. Great souvenirs- especially after the sweet discount our leader hooked us up with.
A beautiful lunch and another set of pyramids later, we were back at the hotel. I was so jet-lagged that allowed a sketchy Arab man to drag me aside and take my picture at the second pyramid. I have to be more careful about that in the future. The evening was fairly uneventful, except for a quick group meeting and a great Egyptian dinner.

After my first full day in Cairo, its still hard to reconcile the ancient and the modern. There are certain parts of the city, much like Paris, where there is a modern apartment building next to an ancient mosque or old house. There is massive wealth and opulence adjacent to squalor. On our way to the second pyramid, we ate lunch very nice at a place that was across the street from a canal filled with trash. I think the best way to sum up the first day is the image of a huge jet plane flying over the Great Pyramid at Giza. The juxtaposition of the old and new is striking in this place.

From the home base

2009-05-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow I leave for Egpyt, and I'm stoked.
I've been saying it for so long, that its hard to believe its finally real. Egpyt isn't a real place; its a mythical land of pyramids and mummys. Even though I've studided its importance in countless classes, wrapping my brain around the fact it is a real place is difficult.
True to form, I am in the library last minute writing a paper. Due the second we get there.
Someday I'll plan ahead...
Thats all for now!