I'm sorry for not posting for such a long time. I'll try to update more often!

Classes have started- I'm taking Islamic Art and Architecture, politics of the Middle East, Egyptian colloquial Arabic (aameya) and a class about Islam. I'm really enjoying all of my classes, especially my Islamic Art and Architecture- the class examines the origins and evolution of Islamic architecture. It will be nice to be able to visit mosques and actually know what I'm looking at.

Housing: I'm living in an apartment in Zamalek, with 4 other girls who go to Mount Holyoke. We live on the 11th floor with a view of the Nile. On clear days we can see the Pyramids at Giza. Our neighbors are an Egyptian family, a young French man, and a houseful of Germans.

Miscellaneous: My flatmates and I do the majority of our grocery shopping at a souq (market) on Sharia Sheikh Rahan, in the Saida Zeineb area of Cairo. Most of the vendors know us- the chicken man will smile and wave, the vegetable women will shout salutations to us, and the egg man keeps old coins for me. After living in Cairo for almost 6 months, I've become a pretty creative cook. Tonight we made eggplant stuffed with rice, tomatoes, onions and garlic. Last week I made a sweet potato pie- the sweet potato man thought I was crazy to want so many sweet potatoes. Below is the conversation we had in Arabic.

Me: I would like five sweet potatoes, ya hagg. (Hagg is a term of respect for a man who has completed a pilgrimage to Mecca, or for an older man).
Him: Five potatoes?
Me: Yes.
Him: Five sweet potatoes, really?
Me: Yes, exactly.
Him: But you are so small and the potatoes are so big.
Me: The potatoes look delicious.
Him: You see that man? (points to a large turbaned worker) He eats two potatoes.
Me: Yes, but I'm going to make a pie.
Him: How many children do you have- five?
Me: Yes.

Politics: There have been tensions in Egypt since the start of Israel's war in Gaza. Many Egyptians feel that their government is abandoning Palestinians and not doing enough to advance the peace process. The military has been out in full force, especially on Fridays. Some Cairo mosques call for revolt against the Mubarak administration, so the military quashes all agitation.

There was recently a case in the news, of a graduate student at the American University in Cairo, who was arrested by the security forces and detained for several days, for organizing a protest about Gaza. Despite this, ordinary Egyptians are much more outspoken about criticizing the president and his government. This is a really interesting time to be living in Egypt.

More later!

Classes and Life

This is the first time that I am writing about my daily life in Cairo- I guess it's because I am still trying to process it all. Everything is so very different from my life in the U.S. I will never get used to seeing typical scenes in Cairo: old women begging, mobs of children, and the overwhelming poverty that affects most of the population. Cairo is truly a city of contradictions: most of the students at AUC are very wealthy and many of them wear designer labels, and then there are women in niqabs that only show their eyes. I'm sure that I'll go through reverse culture shock when I return home in May.

I am taking three classes this semester: Egyptian Politics, Modern Standard Arabic (FusHa), and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (Aameya). Every day I have 4 hours of Arabic classes, so by the end of the day my languages are somewhat muddled. Last week I got on the bus to return to Zamalak, and saw that there was only one seat left, next to a professor. I asked her to make some space for me, but accidentally said it in French. She replied in French, and we spoke for the rest of the trip. She is Egyptian but grew up in a household where her family only spoke French. She told me about how Egypt was during her childhood, before the 1952 Revolution.

Every Saturday I meet with two girls who I am mentoring. I teach them English and French, and they help me with my Arabic. It's really nice to practice speaking and to learn different vocabulary than I do in class.

I really like the food in Egypt. Here are some of my favorites: Koshary is a mix of noodles, lentils, chick peas, and spicy tomato sauce. It sounds awful, but it's actually delicious and costs less than a dollar for a good meal. Tamiya (known elsewhere as falafel) is also street food, and is fried bean patties, in a pita. During our first day in Cairo, Julia and I found this great bakery downtown that also had ice cream. In the evenings hundreds of people push into this small store to buy it. It's almost like gelato, but comes in Egyptian flavors like pistachio, mango and coconut. A couple of weeks ago, friends and I discovered that the Italian embassy has a cultural center with a restaurant. There's a nice courtyard, where you can't hear the Cairo traffic, and it serves excellent food.

Yesterday some friends and I went to a soccer game. It was the best Cairo club against a Nigerian club, playing for a berth in the African Cup. Our group consisted of four American girls and a boy and four Egyptian boys. There were about 30,000 male fans, and about 50 women in the stadium. After two years at Mount Holyoke, where the odds are usually the other way around, this experience was somewhat disconcerting! Our presence caused quite a stir, and we were even interviewed for Cairo TV. During the game, we held up signs that our Egyptian friends had brought and the entire section (at least 1000 men) turned around to look at us. Then they all took out cameras and began taking pictures and videos of us. After the game (Cairo won) the riot police began to move forward from the front of the stadium, forcing the fans towards the exit.

Today I went to mail my absentee ballot and I have never been so aware of how great it is to be American. The fact that we're able to have elections free of violence and coercion and little voter fraud is amazing. It was not until the 2005 Egyptian elections that they had multi-candidate ballots. The runner-up, Ayman Nour, is now in prison. Oh Egypt...

More in the next post!

Arrival in Cairo

Cairo is amazing. It is dirty and overcrowded but I love it. I got here several days before the American University in Cairo's dorms open, so Julia and I stayed in a hostel near Downtown. The first night we went for a walk and were overwhelmed by the traffic and all the people.

So far I have been to Old Cairo and al-Azhar Mosque. Founded in 975, Al-Azhar is the seat of Sunni ideology in the world. When Napoleon wanted to subdue Egypt, he led a bayonet charge into the mosque. I also visited Salah al-Din's Citadel in Cairo. This is where he defended the city from the the Crusaders in the 12th century.