The creation of a revolution.

Currently sitting in my room in Zamalek Dorms, not terribly far away from downtown, but just far enough away that it has the facade of being completely distant and isolated - almost like a different city all together, I wouldn't even know what was going on in Tahrir Square if I didn't have Al Jazeera, Egyptian news service, streaming live in English on my computer. I'm not going to pretend I know everything, all the details, of what's going on around me because honestly, I don't. Before I go any further, family and friends back home in the States and in other countries abroad, I want to make it clear that I am completely safe and okay. I have no intention on going to Tahrir and taking that risk. Zamalek is nice and safe. Anyway, I haven't written in a while, mainly because work has been piling up. But as protests in Tahrir grow to be a bigger presence, and conflicts rise once again I have some sort of small inkling of what it was like to be here in January.

In my anthropology class just the other day, Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East and North Africa, we got off topic only slightly and began talking about the Egyptian revolution. The date that many people associate with the beginning of the protests against Mubarak and the government is January 25th. Dates are important in Egyptian culture (I mean, we have October 6th Bridge, October 6th City, 26th of July Bridge/Street, and many others) but the 25th of January was something else before it was the day of the revolution.

The 25th of January, before 2011, was known as Police Day in Egypt. This day was meant to commemorate the 50 Egyptian policemen killed and wounded when they refused to give Ismaili Police Station up to the British forces in 1952. In 2009, Mubarak (still in charge) made it an official holiday. It took more than fifty years to recognize the strength of those police officers of the past who were fighting for Egypt. And then on that same day, two years after it was declared a holiday, the people protested against the police, and against the military.

Who would've thought? It's doubtful that the 25th of January will be known as Police Day again; the first thought in people's minds is the start of the Revolution. Many don't even know of Police Day. And it will probably stay that way.

Elections are supposedly coming up soon. Some of my classes have been moved to Saturdays instead of their respective Mondays and Wednesdays. The first election day is November 28th... hopefully. While I am very glad for Egypt to have a chance at proper democracy, I was a little annoyed that I have to go to class on a Saturday. Okay, more than a little annoyed. But there's nothing I can do. I will admit I'm a little fearful of what's going to happen with the elections themselves. Nothing's very predictable at this moment in time.

Today, I came home from the bus ride (aka mobile nap time) just like yesterday and saw the staff of the dorm in front of our big screen, watching the news. The news isn't really entirely helpful when it's all in Arabic, but from the look of things, we could tell what was going on. Today, we came home to see the police ripping down banners in an empty Tahrir Square, and kicking abandoned motorcycles that got left behind when rubber bullets and tear gas were released on protesters, and setting them on fire to make it harder for the protesters to come back. I went upstairs, arguing the logical thinking of the police in my mind (I know it's their orders, but why burn them? Why make it look like the protesters set it on fire when you're on TV?) and found a link to Al Jazeera English live stream.

The live stream is saying that the demands of the mass march and protest has dwindled down to one: end military rule, and the protesters feel as though the military council has "hijacked their revolution". Also, to roughly quote, "It seems as though there are alternate universes that are running parallel right now. The protesters fighting against military rule, and the parliamentary candidates who are solely focusing on how to win an election that is coming up very soon."

I can ensure my friends and family that I am completely safe, and won't make stupid decisions, ever. It's enthralling and slightly scary at the same time to be here during the creation of a revolution. It didn't just end with the ousting of Mubarak, but the Egyptians are making the revolution and experiencing the counter-effects each day they gather in public spaces - whether in Alexandria or Cairo. An opportunity of a lifetime, while also being sheltered and kept safe.

I can't pretend that I know entirely what's going on. But I can, for those who are interested - shoot you towards some good links for more information.

Al Jazeera English Live News Stream

Battle rages for control of Tahrir Square - Al Jazeera

Egyptian military police fight protesters in square - BBC News (Middle East)

Don't worry guys. I'm safe. AUC is safe. Zamalek is safe. No, Memaw. I can't hear the protesters from my room. It's too far away for me to hear. The most I hear is fireworks when there's a wedding at Marashly Church across the street. Map of where I am in relation to Tahrir and the geographic centre of Cairo. I am the red circle furthest left. Tahrir is the circle towards the bottom, and the one off to the right is the geographic centre.

Who put the "glad" in Gladiator? [picture heavy!]

Hercules!


Greetings from Athens!

Currently, I am staying in Athens, Greece for Eid al-Adha, a Muslim holiday in Egypt (that involves sheep slaughtering). It's actually my last full day here, but I have off school, and a lot of the Study Abroad kids use that break to travel! Egypt claims to be a central area where it is relatively easy and inexpensive to travel to other countries - but I've found that to be a lie. A trip to Greece is a little pricey, but it's so worth it! I've been here two days, and don't want to leave! I don't remember all exactly what happened last week, aside from some finals and papers. But Thursday night began break, and I frantically packed things and watched my new addiction from the BBC - Downton Abbey. Friday morning, I got up, did some last minute packing and caught a cab to the airport to begin the great adventure that would soon feel like I was running away from Cairo and I wasn't supposed to leave. We boarded the plane at 2:50 and said goodbye to Cairo for five whole days. I tried a sip of wine on the airplane, which was absolutely disgusting, and with a little bit of Cabin Pressure from BBC Radio playing (fitting for an airplane ride) and a nap, we had landed.

Friday, after the flight...

We got into Athens via the metro after the plane ride. First impressions: Wow. Is. This. Place. CLEAN. Athens, apparently, is rated as having the best metro system in Europe. It's super clean, and for the most part easy to navigate? The issue is, our stop we wanted was closed the first time around, so we got off, and figured out that people are very ready and willing to help and very friendly! In Egypt, I'm terrified of accepting someone's help because I know they have some sort of ulterior motive, but in Greece, everyone just wants to help because they know you are lost, and genuinely wants to help. The initial culture shock of getting to Greece was more, I think, than I experienced upon getting to Cairo! But the funny thing was, I had become so accustomed to living as a Cairene, that the culture shock was that it was different from Cairo - not from home!

After landing in Greece and speeding through customs (quite literally), we ventured outside to experience something else new. Cold weather. For the first time in months, it was cold outside, there were leaves on the ground that were turning different colors, not because they hadn't been watered, and there was a brisk breeze blowing as we stepped off at Evangilismos Station. Not realizing that we needed only to just cross the street, or go up a block and a half on the other side of the station, we wandered around, trying to navigate the cleaner streets.

A woman about 27 stopped on her walk and asked us if we wanted help or if we were lost. My stomach clenched. In Cairo, I would've declined any offer of help and found my own way; people who want to "help" you in Cairo normally want something else (money, or other favors - primarily money) in return. Skeptically, we accepted her offer, and she at least walked with us half way to the right street. The British Embassy was nearby, so I stored that in my head as a landmark (I'm getting better at that! At least here...) and she pointed us in the right direction. We learned a lot of things from her! She was a native Athenian - born and raised, went to school, and to put it in her words "I'll die here, too."

We finally got to Kelsey and Audra's apartment and then whisked ourselves off to go meet Ashley's friend she was staying with in front of an old Olympic stadium across the street from their school. How. Cool. Is. That. We parted ways and headed back to the apartment where Audra and Kelsey informed us of some Greek cultural norms and vocabulary. I can now confidently say "okay", "yes", "thank you", "please/excuse me/you're welcome" in modern Greek! With full tummy from a cooked dinner (omnom, garlic bread) I spent the rest of the night meeting some other apartment-mates and friends and then planned out the next day before bed.

Saturday

I'm going to try and recall Saturday as best as I possibly can. We got up, and headed out between 10:30 and 11 after a nice long sleep. We walked through Syntagma Square (where the Greeks have been having their itty bitty protests that are nothing compared to Cairo's) saw Parliament and headed up to the Acropolis. Another thing I noticed - people take much better care of their monuments and historical artifacts here than they do in Egypt. Things are protected, guarded, cleaned. Cared for. Egypt does some of these, but quite honestly - not catching a smuggler who stole antiquities from Aswan until they reach the Aswan dam is a little ridiculous when he/she should've been caught before they left the site! Anyway.

(The rest of this blog is being written back at my desk in Cairo from this point on. - Feels ... odd, in a good way?, to be back!)

But anyway, the Acropolis was amazing, and we saw so many things, I'm just going to post pictures.

Greek Parliament in Syntagma Square

Herodotus Odeon, a Roman theater

Theater of Dionysus

Temple of Nike

A view of Athens from the Parthenon

Me! And the Parthenon!

Parthenon

The Temple of Olympian Zeus off in the distance.

Temple of  Hephaestus

So yeah. We visited lots of the Ancient Greek sites, hit up the major ones, and then most of the sites closed at three. We meandered around and quite honestly, I can't remember what else happened Saturday night other than I am madly in love with tzatziki (a yogurt dip with cucumber and olive oil in it, typically served with bread or french fries. Omnom) and miss it so incredibly much. I had it once in D.C., I believe, but it's nothing like the real Greek thing! We met some of Kelsey and Audra's friends from the College Year in Athens program, and then after chilling out until around 1:00-2:00 in the morning, I headed to bed.

Sunday

Is when I think I discovered the joys of the Greek bakeries and their deliciously huge, for only 2 Euro, giant giant donuts. But, in short. We began the day by visiting the archaeological site of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, finished by Emperor Hadrian because he noticed there was an unfinished Temple and Athens and was DETERMINED to see it completed. Hadrian is my favorite, he's a pretty cool guy. We also visited his library, or what remains of his library. Parts of it have brilliant frescoes on the floors and an amazing little church on the inside - and the ruins are next to this cute little Mosque, adequately named "Petite Mosque". After we visited Hadrian's Library and the Roman Agora (to which Kelsey kept "boo"ing the Romans. She's not a fan...) we decided we were going to wander. Basically, we had no idea where we were going. But there's this area at the base of the Acropolis, up on the slopes a little bit, not too far away from the Agora and the Library, or from Monastiraki (a little district of Athens that has a lot of restaurants and shops), and we encountered the beauty of Greece at it's finest.

You know those movies, like Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, and any other movie that takes place in Europe that has those spindly little cobblestone alleys with brightly colored houses and knick-knacks outside, sweet little cafes, gardens and cats - and then you see the main character (typically a girl) zoom down these quiet little streets on a motorcycle or scooter with her beau and everything is beautiful and sweet and you're in complete awe? We found that.  Here... let me show you...

Alex, for some reason this one made me think of you.

Yeah. See what I mean? Gorgeous. After that, Kelsey and Audra needed to do homework, as they had class the next day, so Tommy and I decided to go to the Acropolis museum, which we didn't have time to do the previous day. The way the Acropolis Museum was built, was, quite literally, on top of an archaeological site. I don't have any pictures from the inside, as no photos are allowed of all the MAGNIFICENT things that they have managed to preserve from the Acropolis and Parthenon site, but here is their website! A lot of the things they didn't have, such as the reliefs and the sculptures on the sides (because the British Museum has most of them... sadness...) but what they did have was absolutely gorgeous. We spent a few hours there (and looking through the floors, because they built some of the floors clear so you can see straight down through every single floor to the archaeological site below) and then headed back for dinner and other shenanigans. More tzatziki (a yogurt, cucumber and olive oil dip)! Yum!

Monday

Monday morning, Tommy's plans to go to the War Museum were foiled - so while he wandered around town, Ashley and I climbed Lykabettus Hill!

On the way up

Athens from halfway up

At the very top

Church of St. George at the top

The climb was a little rough going up (not terrible though) because we decided to go off the path several times and got a little distracted. We literally had to scramble up the side of an incline at one point to get to the path. We also found a tortoise on the way up and named it Franklin! It was very fun, and very rewarding when I got to the top and could see the city for miles and miles, see the hills and the trees and everything right below. Also at the top, there is the Church of St. George. I don't know the entire story behind the church, but what I do know is that it's completely gorgeous. My Religious Studies minor part of me was very pleased.

The climb down was less eventful, and we managed to worm our way around the outskirts of the city and grabbed lunch (which of course involved pastries) before seeing if we could make it to the Byzantine Museum, which was closed on Mondays. Turns out, lots of things are closed Mondays in Athens. Pants. So, we decided to hop on the Metro at Syntagma Square and see if the National Archaeological Museum in Omonia was open.

Thank god, it was! We had something to do! And man oh man, was the NAM cool. Alex, I know you're going to read this at some point, and I'll just say that you would've loved it in there! Laura, you would've had to restrain me from trying to grabby-hands everything. Especially when we found the two skeletons...

Seeing something like this reminds you that the Acropolis and Parthenon and everything in Athens, and Ancient societies, were made by humans who internally look and function exactly like us. Some people are freaked out by seeing human bones and stuff, but in some sort of weird twisted way (the twisted way of an archaeologist) I think it's super fascinating. The professor for my grad class told us a story of how one of her maids was cleaning her daughters room one day; the daughter had to legally buy a skeleton (a real one) for her medical studies and mark it up so she could learn the different facets of the skeleton and what not, and the bones were sitting in a box in the closet. The maid hadn't a clue what they were, and my professor was downstairs when she heard the distinct sound of bones rolling across the floor.

She went upstairs, and the maid was Lysol-ing the bones. "Do you know what those are?" The maid shook her head. She had to get her husband to explain to her that those are bones. She didn't know what bones were. She didn't know that her body was held together and protected by the things she was cleaning. She just... didn't have a clue. 

Anyway. Back to the museum. These were easily my favorite part of the whole Archaeological Museum. There was an ancient Egypt exhibit too. (Oh, going back to Saturday, speaking of Egypt, we saw a Syrian protest in the morning in Syntagma. More proof that the Middle East will forever follow me everywhere). That was pretty cool.

Ashley and I went to Monastiraki for a little, I bought some worry beads and then we went out for dinner.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning is when I braved the city on my own. I got up and walked to the First Athens Cemetery in a different district of Athens, and then realized how incredibly beautiful it was, but how incredibly uncomfortable and out of place I felt from the moment I stepped foot inside. When Tommy went the previous night, there was a funeral taking place, so that was even more awkward then what I experienced, I gather. I wandered too far deep, and the melancholy feelings unsettled me, seeing some of the family tombs so neglected next to others that were lavishly given flowers and offerings of sorts (candles and plates and cups) so I tried to find the exit after half an hour.

It was a rough process. As I was trying to get out, I saw a little old Greek woman from the corner of my eye laying flowers down and cleaning off a family member's plot. I went down a few more little pathways to give her space so I wouldn't have to walk past her and then five minutes later, I hear sobbing. I turn and see she's walking towards the exit too, the same little old Greek woman, but she's sobbing. And alone.

Never have I ever been so relieved to get out of somewhere. It wasn't threatening. It wasn't... dangerous. It's listed as a place tourists can visit. But it's not a place where I was comfortable. So I got on the metro, and walked to Kerameikos, an archaeological site near the metro line, and basically an ancient cemetery of sorts. That was far more comfortable, peaceful, and quiet. Magically, I met up with Ashley, and then later Tommy, there even though we had all be out on our own.

View of a Greek Orthodox Church from Kerameikos

After Kerameikos, was lunch. And after lunch we had plans to go to the museum I was most looking forward to - the Byzantine Museum. Which was, of course, open when we got there, but was closing twenty minutes later. Not wanting to waste Euros on something I would've had to speed through and not appreciate, I headed back to the apartment, forgetting no one was there. So I sat outside, had a pastry, and read my book I bought from the Archaeological Museum the previous day. I checked again, no one was home, so then I went to a park and watched some stray dogs (one of which was really friendly and let me pet her before she scampered off to play with the other dog) and birds (very clever birds, actually). I checked again, still no one was home. It was 4:30, so I walked to Syntagma Square to waste time, and had the great idea that since it was getting legitimately chilly I was going to buy myself hot chocolate.

Best. Life. Decision. Ever.

I sat in Syntagma, drank my hot chocolate, and when I got back, someone was home to let me in. I defrosted, realized I was getting a bit of a cough/sore throat from being unadjusted to the cold weather for five days, and then took a nap before going out to one last dinner.

Arrival Back in Cairo

Wednesday morning we departed back to Cairo. I had mixed feelings. I really missed Greece already, it was so beautiful and Athens such an amazing city, but at the same time, it was oddly relieving to hear Arabic once I got off the plane. I could communicate a little better with the people around me, and knew what to expect and how to react. I felt, oddly, more at home, and more like I fit it. It seems like part of me is becoming Egyptian, but at the same time I can't wait to go home. I know I've realized a lot of things about myself on this trip so far, and from  here it's only counting down the days and having as many adventures as possible before I leave. And oh yeah, homework and finals...

Pshaw.

Coming up - Mount Sinai for Thanksgiving!

How things SHOULD be.

Warning: this blog entry is going to seem very biased. It's just something I've been thinking about for a while, and I do think that other study abroad AUC students will agree with me on some points.

After a few conversations with various people, I have discovered things I wish the study abroad programs in Egypt in particular should have. I've gotten many questions about what it's like over here, particularly the surprise that comes about when I mention that I'm in classes with primarily Egyptian students. In that case, because I am technically enrolled in a University, not a program, it's a good thing about immersion in another culture. I give props to AUC on that part - I'm one of four foreigners in my anthropology class of 18, and further one of three Americans out of those four foreigners. In another class, I often am grouped with Egyptian students for group discussions and when they speak amongst each other in Arabic, I know what it feels like to be the minority. When everyone is out in the common hang-out spaces on campus and I have to walk through a throng of people, I know what it feels like to be the minority. When I can understand basic colloquial conversation, but I can't read a single word in Arabic (except for some - I know some letters, not all, and can read words like Radio Shack, Coca Cola, and Pepsi...) I know what it feels like to be illiterate.

But aside from that, here is just... so Western sometimes that it hurts. I get into the same routine over and over again of going to the same classes, going to campus, losing yet another water bottle on the bus (I really hate buses now), and feeling like I'm working way past the expectation level (this is a good thing, and at the same time, makes me really wonder) in some classes. The difficulty is not at all what I expected it would be, in terms of academics. And it makes me wish that AUC could coordinate with something like an SIT or CIEE program.

Because quite frankly, being amongst Egypt's "elite" day after day doesn't make me feel like I'm getting the true Egypt. I don't know how it feels like to be one of the common every day Egyptians in southern Egypt, in areas like Luxor, Edfu, Aswan, or somewhere in Nubia. I don't live in a village, I don't know how the Bedouins live out in the desert. I wish I had a home stay for a little while, as uncomfortable as I know that'd make me, I feel like I need that push. I feel like, quite frankly, I am attending just another normal college, with normal classes, and with Egyptians as the majority, and then being a tourist the rest of my time here.

I feel like it'd be a much, much better program if we could maybe have half of the semester at AUC, living the University life, taking AUC classes and what not and then once the half way point hits (typically the point of time where I personally get sick and tired of all the Westernization of everything...) maybe take those students enrolled as Study Abroad and put them in home stays somewhere else - like in a village like an SIT program, or maybe even have a change of scenery and spend the rest of the semester in Alexandria!

Quite personally, I don't feel like I'm in another country most days. I just feel like I'm on the other side of a very very big country, where Pennsylvania is still on the same continent, just six hours away and on another side for some odd reason. I have to remind myself, looking out the window on those long bus rides through New Cairo from Campus at the end of the day or by going exploring, that I am in another country, and I am with another culture.

Also, Egypt claims to be an easy location for travelling, but to be quite honest - compared to those students doing programs in Europe, going around to different cities seems like...pennies compared to twenty dollar bills. Okay, don't get me wrong, I do love the traveling within the country - to amazing places like Alexandria, Luxor, Aswan, Edfu, Ain Sokhna, etc. and it's totally feasible to travel within the country (for the most part) - but travelling outside? A little more difficult and pricey. People have spent weeks doing relatively cheap trips with their programs to all sorts of places all over Europe. Perhaps the trip to Greece for a few days for Eid will make up for that longing to just travel and explore and not be herded like sheep every time we go out of Cairo.

But yeah. Those are just my two cents. I do like it here, I do love Egypt. But there's issues with every program, I feel, and those are just what I've been thinking of. I just feel like the program can be so so so much more improved! More amazing than it is in the majority of respects! And maybe it's just me, but that's how I feel. :) That being said, I should write my paper now and wait for a movie to load!

Adventures of both Western and Ancient varities

Last time I wrote, I wrote a rather short blog of things that I had missed because it had been two months since my adventure in Cairo had begun! That weekend, I did have other adventures other than lusting over home and the States (who would have thought that I would miss the States after all this longing to live abroad?). Friday, Amelia, Ashley and I ventured out of Zamalek to the big world of - this - right here off to the ride side of the screen. That, my friends, is City Stars Mall near the Cairo airport. Built with over 800 million USD, it's over six floors high, and I'm pretty sure has over 600 stores and stalls. Everything from H&M and the Gap to Virgin Megastore (apparently popular in Europe) to DQ, Auntie Anne's, Ruby Tuesday's and a movie theater. Amelia wanted to get Disney movies in Arabic (harder than you think they are to find!) and I primarily wanted new sunglasses, as mine broke. R.I.P. sunglasses - I think you lasted me over a year, which is rather surprising. We spent a lot of time getting lost on the floor that we entered in the first place, and then once we found Virgin Megastore to look for Disney DVD's, it was closed, so we decided to be brave and go up a couple of floors. We found the movie theater (which was playing Lion King in 3D! YES!) and we vowed to come back, eat at Ruby Tuesdays for a little bite of home, and go see Lion King.

We found about seventy bazillion coffee places, from Costa's to Starbucks and everything in between. Smoothie places, cakes, deserts, ice cream, full out restaurants and cafes. You name it, it was there. I settled for some cinnamon sugar pretzel sticks at Auntie Anne's as a little taste of the good ol' York Galleria, and swiftly noticed shopping differences between here, and the States. In the States, you always have those people to greet you at the door, and follow you until they have a chance to ask you if you need any help when all you really want to do is be left alone.

Here, there is none of that. In H&M there was a guy standing at the door primarily for security, but no one bothered you. You were free to roam, but the moment you needed help - you could find someone and they would help you! It was very nice. Also something I noticed... despite the fact that people here take their time doing things (it took the guy at Auntie Anne's five minutes to find a lid for my cup...) some certainly do not have a concept of personal space, or spatial reasoning. The same guy, in three different spots, ran into me three different times. And it wasn't just a brush on the shoulder with an apology. Full on shoulder bumping and then just walk away.

Hmm.

Regardless - I wish we could've spent more time wandering around - I never get tired of wandering (for the most part, inside a building anyway) and there was so much to see. Things were more American priced... Except for the books :)

To the left of this paragraph is a picture of Harry Potter books. In Arabic. Yes. I did buy some of them despite the fact I already bought the fifth one in hardcover Arabic.

So what!?

I came back Friday and spent the rest of the attempting to do work. Then Saturday, I got up early to go on an Egyptology department field trip to see tombs and pyramids in Dashur and Saqqara, and then Giza once more! Time for some picture spam and then I will explain.

               

These first three pictures are of Dashur and Saqqara. Dashur is where King Sneferu chose to try and build his part of the necropolis in the fourth Dynasty. He was actually the first King in the dynasty and decided he didn't want a simple Mastaba anymore, so he tried to build a pyramid. But he kind of failed. He started building his base too big, so he capped it off early to prevent it from crumbling in on itself - thus, we have the bent pyramid (top row left side). Then, he tried again, not too far away from his Bent Pyramid. We have the Red Pyramid, which is the first true Pyramid in ancient Egypt. I will show pictures of the inside of the Red Pyramid a little later. The second picture on the top row is a picture of King Djoser of the Third Dynasty's Step Pyramid, the first "pyramid proto-type" in Ancient Egypt. Designed by Imhotep, which you may know thanks to Brendan Fraiser and The Mummy. 

Imhotep really was a genius architect, though. Saqqara, where the Step Pyramid is located, is a huge complex. The lower picture is the entrance of the complex, and I'll try not to bore you with my geeky architecture knowledge too much, but basically the premise was that the outside was fitted to look like the facade of a palace, to establish that Djoser thought of himself as a God, not as just a human King, and that he was resting in his home, not his tomb. The enclosure wall is fitted with 14 "dummy doors" (doors that are not really doors and do not open) for the fourteen Kas, or spirits, which establish that he is like the god Ra, who also had fourteen kas. 

There are stone swinging doors inside the facade which do not close and open (duh, they are stone) because only the spirit of the King, in the form of sunlight (yay, Ra!) could open and close them. There are SO many cool things about the architecture in this complex, I can't even explain how cool it was to see in person what I was learning about in class!

But back to the Red Pyramid. The first "true" pyramid in Ancient Egypt, home of King Sneferu. We went inside. Yeah, be jealous. I actually was allowed to take my camera in too! So now, you guys can see what the inside of a pyramid is like (thankfully for you, you don't have to smell the pyramid. It smells like bat poop, and thousands and thousands of years of people's sweat). The picture off to the right side of this paragraph is the outside of the Red Pyramid, and our group of people walking up to go inside. The scaffolding in the center of the pyramid is the entrance). Climbing up those stairs was NOTHING compared to climbing further up inside...

So in short, really, climbing pyramids is a bigger workout than anything I've ever done, including running suicides in softball practice (this is coming from someone who isn't really fond of working out or running - so softball practice is my immediate connection in terms of anything physical!). But yes. My legs... three days later, still hurt!

These are the stairs up to the burial chamber AFTER you go up inside the little hole and climb down and down and down in a primarily dark and tiny space. This chamber houses the scaffolding stairs up to the burial chamber, which smelled like bat poop and ammonia. Guano, is the proper term.

Anyway, below are some more pictures of the inside of the burial chamber and the ceiling of the chambers themselves.

Ceiling of the chambers

Burial chamber - messier than the Great Pyramid chamber

From Saqqara we headed to the Giza complex once again. Giza this time was not as exciting, though I did get to see the stone quarries behind the Pyramid of Khafra and I didn't get hassled as much, and I actually got to go closer to the Sphinx! Anyway, I will leave you with my favorite picture of the pyramids of Giza that I've ever taken. The way the sun was in the sky, positioned perfectly over the Pyramid of Khafra ... it was just amazing!

The sphinx, and finally....

Until next time!

• Ten days until my Eid vacation to Athens, Greece!
• And climbing Mount Sinai for Thanksgiving!

In honor of two months...

Things I miss and can't wait to have when I get back to the states. Coupled with a slightly more optimistic things I do like about here.

1. My personal bubble space. Ranks pretty high up there. Some people violate it on purpose, and others on accident. Either way, there's a limit that just gets pushed here that I'd like set back in stone!
2. My friends from both Gettysburg and home. I miss you guys. You understand me and the way I am and I couldn't ask for anything more at this point right now.
3. My bed. This one here gives me back problems. I do love it at the end of the day though, regardless!
4. My puppy! (Hi, Dodger!)
5. Cinnamon toast and hot chocolate (shout out to Mom, heads up on what to stock up on when I come home ;] )
6. Grilled cheese sandwiches. Real. Grilled cheeses (Memaw, I'm looking at you.). The ones here are just a piece of untoasted bread and half melted cheese. Not. Satisfying.
7. Gettysburg College. How little and tiny and quaint and home you are!
8. Cheesecake.
9. Servo cookies.
10. Muss. floor four! (Shout out to Michael, Greg, Julie, Emily, Smitty, Alex, Rose, Laura, and Madison). 
11. My own mailbox. Seriously. The mail system is poo here.
12. My books! :D
13. Driving.
14. Martin's potato chips!
15. Brownies. 
16. Ice cream.
17. Northeastern, surprisingly. I do miss some of the staff/teachers that helped me through those four years (some periods of which were really rough)! 
18. Cold that is not caused by air conditioning.
19. Coats.
20. Fireplaces.
21. RAIN.

Things I like about my two months here:

1. Not being bothered when I shop in City Stars.
2. When it gets cold out in New Cairo and I can wear a coat.
3. Classes I would've never gotten to take anywhere but in Cairo.
4. Travelling.
5. Meeting people from all over the world and the states.
6. The currency exchange rate!
7. Nola and Crumbs cupcakes. Done.
8. Monginis.
9. Zamalek island - totally isolated, but still Cairo!
10. New Cairo's semi-lack of smog.
11. A completely different sense of independence.
12. Forgetting I live here in a different country and then in random moments remembering - "Hey, this is EGYPT."
13. Stray cats. SO. MANY.
14. Something is always going on!
15. The pyramids and the Ancient Egyptian culture.
16. My four hiding spots in the AUC Library. Yes, four, as sometimes three of my spots are occupied and I have to find another. I'm sure I'll have about six spots by the end of the year, if not more.
17. Jared's bagels. At least I get cream cheese here and bagels!

Happy two months!

62 days left to go.

So much stuff inside that I don't even know what to title this.

And for lots of reasons! Don't worry. I'm still alive. Chugging along at a rather slow pace, but still alive! My brain is having issues comprehending the fact that it's almost two months since I've been here. My first half is down, now just gotta get through the second half! Okay. So back tracking. Basically, I was going to update over the weekend, but things got kinda crazy, so I'll recap starting from Thursday (as I can't really remember anything of importance before then).

Thursday night, as you all know by now, is the beginning of the Egyptian weekend! We waited until everyone got back to Zamalek from classes, and the Gettysburgians + Miriam (she's an honorary Bullet now, we decided!) went out, caught two cabs and headed towards Khan el Khalili. Khan el Khalili is a giant market and bazaar. There are two sides to this market/bazaar. The side which we got dropped off on was the "real" Khan, or the Egyptian Khan, where things are different prices because not many tourists wander over there, and it's horribly dirty and smelled like horse crap.  Tommy, Ross and I got out of our cab and as Tommy went over to get a soda, a man came up to Ross and I and started talking. Ross and Nick had been to Khan el Khalili the previous week, so we at least had two people in our group knowing where they were going (relatively speaking). The man, in sandles, windbreaker pants, and a sports t-shirt came up to us and started rattling off.

The first thing out of his mouth had me looking down at the road and waiting for our other cab full of friends to show up (our driver decided he was in Grand Theft Auto. Not the stealing cars part, but the driving around like a super-maniac part).

(In the following transcription from my memory, the italics will be my thoughts.)

"Brother! Sister! I am not creepy dude!" Oh, really? That's comforting. I don't want to talk to you. "You are from America?" "Aiwa. (Yes)" "Do not be afraid, I love America, we love tourists, I love Obama," -snort- You'd love any current president, I betchya. Also, I live here. "I want to be your B-F-F. I am not creepy dude." Because you spelled out BFF, I still don't want to talk to you! Please leave! 


Have no fear, readers (particularly Mom), as it turns out, he was a quasi-decent guy (if not really assertive and persistent) who owned two or three shops in the Egyptian side of Khan-el-Khalili. Ross and Nick, as it had turned out, got caught by someone else in their shops the previous week and had already been taken to where they were. We tried to tell him that, we really really did. Ross said, "I went to your shop last week, I know where it is. We're just going to wander first after our friends come."

Even after our friends arrived, to no avail, we had to give in. He took us back into his papyrus shop, he asked for tea, made fun of Ashley for being short, and then after a good half an hour of only one person buying one thing or so, we left. As it turned out, Cat, Ashley, Miriam and Nick when they got out of their cab had a guy who talked to them as well. He said he graduated from AUC and "not to run off and follow people like that they will try to sell you things!" Yeah, yeah. So will you! 


Anyway, I have discovered through massive wandering around Khan-el-Khalili that I am still pretty bargaining-shy. With help and some confidence, I got a lot of stuff to take back home. Two t-shirts (Revolution t-shirts YAY!), a couple of scarves, some wooden camels, and other various presents for people.  We eventually wandered, once all the shops started to close (we were there between 9:30 and 12:00) to Old Cairo where the giant Mosque is!

At last, we caught a cab ride back to Zamalek (much more at ease this time) and walked around the island to get back to the dorm. I was pooped, so I headed to back to my room while everyone else went to Goal (one day I'll join them going back!). Friday came around and Nick and I, around mid-afternoon, went to go see a Miss Rose Kane! Rose came to Cairo for a week excursion with her Amman, Jordan program. Nick and I caught a cab, hesitantly, not sure how far away her hotel was. Prepared with a print out map with Arabic street names from GoogleMaps, we caught the cab at Zamalek, went over the bridge and voila we were there 3.75 £.E. later! I stood outside and called her, went inside, and then all of the sudden, Rose comes bounding down the stairs (eight flights) and wraps both of us in a hug.

It was so great to see someone from Gettysburg again that I love and miss so much (shout out to Rose!) and isn't here in Cairo every day. We showed her around Zamalek, talked about the differences between Egypt and Jordan, and all around had a good time catching up with one another. It was great to spend time with her and show her all the amazing things in Zamalek that actually make me proud to be here (is it strange that the majority of that is Nola's Bakery and Mongini's desserts?... Nah.). We took her for koshery (a very popular, inexpensive Egyptian food [the smell personally makes my stomach go 'noooooo don't do that!' but it is really popular] - link HERE.) at Alex Top (3 £.E. for a Koshery!), Mongini's for traditional Egyptian desserts, and then back to the hotel. Nick and I got back to Zamalek at around 12:30 and then once again I hit the sack, thankful that I got to see Rose! Who would've thought this time last year that we'd be hanging out not only at Gettysburg, but in CAIRO. Ugh. So cool. Anyway.

Saturday was filled with homework, blah blah blah. Boring stuff. Mom gave me the idea to put candy corn into one of the glass Coca Cola bottles I kept from the Luxor/Aswan cruise (teehee...) with the exact number of how many days are left, and every time a day passes, I get to eat one until the bottle is empty! Clever! Skyped home... talked to friends.

Sunday was another boring day of classes. Art & Architecture of Ancient Egypt and Zionism and Modern Judaism. Monday also with Hieroglyphs and Anthropology. Hieroglyphics is not as fun anymore as I thought it'd be. The way she teaches really bothers a lot of us in the class (which is primarily study abroad students!). Anthropology, the professor bothers me for some unknown reason. I'm trying to give him a chance, but some of the things he says really throws me off from an anthropological point of view.

Tuesday. Crank-down time. I had a midterm today, so all day Tuesday I studied my little butt off. Anyone who knows me (which I assume you do if you're reading this, if not cool - hi...) knows I get super anxious whenever a test, particularly a midterm or a final, comes around. I stayed up until 12:30 studying, then went to bed and woke up super dooper anxious.  On the plus side, I fell asleep listening to rain for the first time in weeks! Rainymood.com is my saviour. It just plays constant sounds of thunderstorms and rain... ahhhh, rain....

I blame Alex McComas.

But so yeah. Today. I sat up here in the library, not too far from where I sit now, studying some more and finally left for my second class of the day to take my midterm in Zionism and Modern Judaism. And as I walked to class, as well as took the midterm, I noticed things. I've already mentioned how big AUC is in comparison to Gettysburg College. GC is 2600-2700 on a good day, and AUC... 6000+. Everyone is outside hanging out all the time. Sometimes I doubt whether or not most of the population here even has classes at all or if they just choose to sit out side in masses of hundreds and play music. Seriously. Here. It's like. Sober Springfest at Gettysburg. It looks like EVERYONE is out all the time. And that brought me to thinking about how some of the students seem so... lax... about their education. Like it's not a priority for them. I don't know that may be just me and I'm not trying to generalize, as I do like it here, and I have met some really wonderful people. But at Gettysburg? You'd never see this many people out on campus unless it was a weekend. Even so, it's a stretch. 

Also the test taking is different. This was my first test in three years that I haven't needed to write the Honor Code on. Also the professor stayed in the room. What?! What is this? And then she got up to write the time remaining on the board. I felt like I was in high school again. The whole thing about the Honor Code is trust. And obviously that might be an issue in the AUC community - there are no cheating posters up everywhere... I wonder if they've ever thought about implementing an Honor Code like Gettysburg does. It just felt... I dunno.. wrong... not to write the Honor Code on my test before handing it in. 

Maybe that's strange, but certainly not to me.

Coming up: A trip on Saturday to Dashur and Saqqara pyramids (and back to Giza if there's time!) for an Egyptology department field trip! Yay!

Debunking Myths and Calming Concerns

So I've decided that it's about time I do a "Did you know?" and "Things you should know" post about Egypt and my stay here so far. Let's see if I can compile these in a way that won't be too confusing for my mind to handle.

First off, more importantly, the "calming concerns" part of my post. Yes, there have been more protests in Egypt.  No, the revolution is not entirely over. Ever since January 25th and the end of Mubarak's reign over Egypt, the youth of Egypt in particular have been carrying on the new found freedom of speech, opinion, and protest. Actually, they're really fond of protests. But to calm your concerns, I'll give you a map of where I am in relation to where Tahrir Square is and downtown Cairo as it shows up on GoogleMaps.

Click for larger view

A is where my dorm is, on the island of Zamalek. The red circle at the bottom of the page is Tahrir Square and the circle towards the right of the page is the geographic center of downtown Cairo (so Google tells me). It takes about 30 minutes on an average traffic day at the end of the day to get from downtown to Zamalek. Because it's an island, I honestly have no idea what's going on Tahrir until someone tells me something's happening. There are peaceful protests every Friday, and the whole issue with the Coptic Christians and Muslims that have been going on the past few days is bad, yes, but rest assuredly, that people have gone out to Tahrir to speak with protesters and military guards and have come back having gained a lot of insight, and most certainly in the same condition of health as when they left! All is well on little ol' Zamalek! Don't worry! (That goes directly to you Mom & Memaw)

Next bit is the debunking myths and "Did you know?" I've gotten a lot of questions that I can take some time, sit back, and answer.

1. Cairo is a very, very dirty city. It's not on Forbes' new top 25 dirtiest cities list, but I at least think it's number 30-something. There's no form of organized, governmental trash removal like in the states. It's rather unofficial so trash just sits on the street for a while. 
2. Also, the Nile is GROSS in Cairo. You'd only want to swim in it in Upper Egypt, really. Where it's nice and clean.
3. Regarding that Upper Egypt is actually Southern Egypt because of the way the river flows! Lower Egypt = northern Egypt.
4. The Nile is the only river in the world to flow from South to North instead of North to South.
5. Yes, there is sand and desert. But Cairo is actually really westernized. City of the satellite dishes, anyone?
6. New Cairo is literally the middle of the desert. New Cairo is a 45 minute bus ride in the morning, and an 1 1/2 hour bus ride in the evening away from downtown/Zamalek. 
7. Traffic is awful. 
8. Yes, there are trees here.
9. There are tons of stray cats here also. And flies.
10. No one drives within the lines. Wait... lines? What lines?
11. No, I don't have to wear a veil or head covering.
12. It's really awkward when you're walking past someone praying (this happens in the girl's stairwell in Zamalek quite frequently ... bad timing), so try to be as quiet as possible!
13. Ramadan is the worst time ever to be in Egypt and the best time ever to be in Egypt; to find something to eat in the middle of the day is nearly impossible, but the parties at the end of the day are awesome.
14. The Egyptian pound currency exchange rate to the U.S. dollar is approximately 6 to 1. 
15. Hieroglyphs are a legit language and ridiculously difficult to memorize.
16. The revolution is still happening.
17. Nothing is free in Egypt.
18. Do not make eye contact or try to hold conversations with vendors if you don't know Arabic in the touristy places (specifically Giza). Just a "lat shukran" can get you out of sticky situations, but most of the time they will hunt you down and force you to buy things.
19. Alexandria is a lot cleaner than Cairo.
20. La shukran are the magic words (No, thank you). 
21. Imshi is a close second (go away).
22. No, I don't ride a camel to school. You realize how inconvenient that'd be?
23. I'm sure I'll come up with more of these at some point!