Min Zamalek

Or "from Zamalek", which is where I am right now. Zamalek is an island in the middle of the Nile River, and it will be my home base for the next few weeks. After about 15 hours of non-stop travel, lost items, and other general chaos, we're here! I'm ready to get some sleep, but a few initial observations:
- On first glance, there are many surface similarities between Zamalek and Santiago, DR. The main drags, respectively, are 26 July Avenue and avenida 27 de febrero. These roads, interestingly enough, also look very similar. Also, high pollution, lots of traffic, and noise in general. However, there are some main differences, especially in that much more fauna is present here- at times, it's almost like walking through a jungle with all the verdant plantlife.
-It might be a rough haul to actually get some real Arabic practice in here, because many people at least speak English which is better than my Arabic. This is unfortunate, because the only way I'll learn is by conversing with natives. But we'll see what happens, especially after we start classes.
-It's definitely hard to move around and get things done as a big group. I'm looking forward to the point where we can start branching out and doing our own things more often. Also, the whole group travel thing in general I think somewhat impedes our having a meaningful contact with the local culture, because it's clear that we are a big group of Americans (although we did get welcomed rather nicely in a spontaneous demonstration on the street tonight).

What I need right now is a good night's sleep and a clear eye in the morning. We're heading out to ride camels to the pyramids, and I want to be able to fully take that in. Even more important, it's time to settle down in Cairo and start discovering my new home.

Three updates to this post:
-In comparison to DR, the men here are a bit more respectful. There is still some oogling and we hear comments once in a while, but nothing like the constant stream of piropos...
-I think we had enough baba ghanoush on our first night to last us a lifetime...thank goodness it was delicious. We had an interesting experience in the restaurant; it revolved around us making certain assumptions about the menu...the lesson being that we should ask as many questions as possible, I suppose. Also, the shwarma there tasted alot like fajitas...from now on, I only want to hit up authentic restaurants and not touristy places like that was.
-The exchange rate is pretty sweet; currently 5.3 pounds to the dollar, and I'm digging that.