Ramadone

So after much planning yesterday, spending basically the entire day inside packing and preparing to go to Luxor for the next three days, I go to the Cairo train station last night to find out that absolutely every train down to Luxor is sold out for the next week, basically until the end of Ramadan. In the end it's really my fault for not taking this into account, but it was definitely something that pissed me off. These bumps in the road are pretty common when traveling to another side of the world, yes. That's not to say that they can be quite frustrating- my reaction wavered between anger at the country as a whole and subsequently at my own naivety to not see that coming. My only hope now is that the bus system won't fail on me as I head north to Jordan and then Israel during the breaking of the fast (as well as Rosh Hashanah). Off now to Coptic Cairo and the oldest part of the city, because there's nothing I can do but keep on rolling down this hill, lest I start accumulating moss. And who the hell wants to do that?

Alexandria, and then some

no caption necessary :)


This "tree" on the right is actually used to pump out cell phone signal


Bab Zuweila, the original southern entrance to the city from 1092.





The old wall of Cairo, built somewhere around 1150


Catacombs of Qom al-Shakafa (Alexandria)


creepy, huh?


Marketplace (Cairo)


Citadel of Salah ah-din (Saladin)-Cairo





Alexandria, right by my hotel


Alexandrian Library


Alexandrian Library, pt. deux


Alexandrian Shoreline


Qaitbay Citadel, built 1477.

So yes, this has been a more pictorial post, but words will follow shortly!

my new home

Slowly but surely I have become comfortable in this new yet strange setting. The idea of aimlessly walking down the street no longer brings both fear and excitement, but a hefty dose of the latter. With rest and good food in me, I have been able to explore vast parts of the city over the past few days since the previous posting. Thursday I headed west to the pyramids, where I was led to a small tour guide in an alley that my driver knew. Before I could really grasp everything, I was on a horse with my guide heading to the "entrance" to the pyramids. The city of Giza is literally right next to الاهرام as they are called, and would engulf all the ancient monuments if the government had not stepped in and blocked off the area. The heat was immense, and I poured on as much sunscreen as I could manage. We flanked right after hiking up a small sand dune and arrived at the pyramids a short time later. "Bedouins" were everywhere, asking for money in return for a picture on a camel with a headscarf. I relented, but just once :) Just over an hour really did me in, however, and I passed out in exhaustion after returning to the apartment. Three hours later, Ian and I ventured out to a local Italian restaurant, which had shitty service and too much cheese on their pasta, but it was a nice reminder of home. Friday (yesterday), I ventured out to the Egyptian museum, which holds over 100,000 pieces of Egyptian history (with the rest still housed in the British museum, which will not return a thing). It was almost too much to take in, and I strolled through the hallways trying to soak up as much as I could. BBC and al-jazeera back at the apartment brought comfort in a place where everything seems to be new. Egyptians have access to more than 500 satellite channels, from sports of the gulf to state television of Oman and Sudan, which are particularly interesting when contasted with the political situations in each country. Knight Rider was on at one point, which was just too funny to not watch. Later that night, Ian held a party for all his fulbright friends, which was incredibly interesting. I talked to folks from everything about growing up in Kentucky with a jockey father, to the tribulations of being young in Egypt and wanting to travel outside the country. I was amazed at one point, when we were walking back to the apartment, and two security guards and another man stopped us while they were eating on the side of the road, enjoying the food they could not have during the day. They nearly were forcing us to eat, and after repeated no's, I couldn't help but smile and think that nothing like that would ever happen in the states. With awful beer in me, I awoke this afternoon at 1:45 and ran down to the local Hardie's to get something in me. Mosques were on my mind, and I then hopped in a cab to the masjid al-heussein, dedicated to the grandson of the prophet. It was quite touristy and so I decided to just walk in a random direction, which took me to a highway, splitting the neighborhood up between ritsy and poor. On the other side lay the slums of Egypt, too often ignored in a country that prides itself on all it can offer through tourism. Many of the homes had no roofs and were transformed into makeshift graves. It was a very sobering reminder of the large gap in lifestyle and income that seems to divide all countries. Yet the mood was of celebration, and as I took a cab back home, men were passing out water to all the cars passing by. "I don't want to become sick," I told my driver. "No no, no worries." All I could do is say "الحمدالله", or praise be to god, and swig it down as we barreled back to Zamalek.

الصورات

day 1

I can easily say yesterday was one of the craziest days of my life. Arriving at 9 am with little to no sleep, I was wisked away by a man with no voice into a sweaty Audi. He blared the quanic recitations from his radio, and wasn't phased when the signal would go out for minutes upon end. Ramadan is something that can be felt all around. On the billboards I passed on my way to Zamalik, my current home, western soda products asked their consumers to break the fast with their drinks, an interesting 'clash of civilizations.' Everyone here can't drive, or at least in my conception of the verb, to drive. Good ol' driving instructor Jack Stack wouldn't be too happy to see hundreds of thousands of cars honking as they tailgated each other with only a few inches to spare. People walk so closely I could scoop them up with my arm out the window. But I've yet to see an accident or any indication that someone doesn't know what they're doing. The history and culture truly is all around, although sometime it's just hiding behind the glaring lights of a new store. The island I'm staying on was supposedly inhabited by the British during their colonial days, and not even the king could enter. Many countries have their Egyptain embassies here, housed in old villas. State police guards are everywhere, protecting everything from the Chinese military attache of their embassy to a local hotel buried in an alleyway. I suppose in a country where a vast array of jobs cannot be found, police work is as good as it may get. I now head to the Pyramids (after some shawarma, however), where I feel it is my western duty to parouse during my first real day :) Damnit, no spell check. Judge my writing with this in mind.

اهلا

ساذحب الي مصر في ثلاث ايام و هذاجيد جدا!

That's way too tough. Leaving in three days- done with most if not all the little shit needed before any big trip like this. I have no idea what awaits and am therefore petrified and more excited than I've been for anything. Tune in for more updates.

-مات