It has been a whirlwind so far. But I now have a stable internet connection as well as a power adapter for my laptop, so I can update you on what is happening here as I drink my masafi juice and my kaab el ghazal date-goodness. I'm just soooo cultural...
First of all, I was very fortunately to sit next to a girl named Rachel on the flight over here who just so happened to be studying at AUC as well. Not only that, but she also is quite the seasoned traveler, so she knew what she was doing; she'd even been to Cairo before. So the two of us were able to navigate the airport together--what a relief!
Boeing 777 headed for Egypt. Yes, please.
The first night here a group of us went to a place called El Rehab City (like Rehab from the Bible, but pronounced with an Arabic twist) where I got my first taste of Egyptian life in a market. Fortunately one of the guys I was with is pretty good at Arabic and was able to communicate with the store owners. Some of the guys bought boxes of water (I just stuck my head under the faucet), but we all ended up splitting pizzas from some place where the owner picked "fresh basil" from a shady-looking planter off the street and added it for seasoning. Most of us picked off the basil. And no, this wasn't some commercial place like Papa Johns.
El Rehab City market
That night we went into downtown Cairo for a felucca (traditional Egyptian sailboat) trip. Probably the most interesting part of the experience was actually getting to the Nile. It's really no big deal if you drive INTO traffic. All you need to do is rapidly flash your lights on and off. Wanna tell car in front of you to drive faster? The combination is something like flash, flash, flash, honk, flash. That should do it. Overall, the drivers are quite skilled, but it is an interesting experience. Oh, and if you ever want to do something fun, try walking around on a flatbed truck going at probably 70 mph.
On Saturday we went to Old Cairo to visit 2 churches, a synagogue, and a mosque. It was the first time I have ever been in a mosque. It was very peaceful inside. Most of the people were either sitting on the floor talking to one another, reading the Qur'an, praying, or sleeping. They probably weren't too thrilled to see us since we came waltzing on in with our huge water bottles, taking pictures of everything. Especially since Muslims are fasting (that means no water either!) for Ramadan during daylight hours.
Inside the mosque
Overall, things are going well. They've kept us busy so far, but I suspect this week will slow down a little bit. My room mate is yet to arrive on campus, which makes me suspect that he is not a new student and is from Egypt--which would be awesome. I'll try to get some pictures of campus, but apparently we're not supposed to, as we were told by some security guards. I shall keep you posted!
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