Marsa Matruh and Siwa

Monday morning we embarked from Ciaro to Marsa Matruh, a small town 6 hours away on the Mediterranean. Three hours of beautiful napping later, I awoke to the nauseatingly strong aroma of gasoline. Apparently, the gas filter was broken. Thankfully, this occurred pretty much as we were passing through El-Alamein, so while the bus was fixed we stopped to check out the World War II Museum there. On the way out of El-Alamein, we also had the opportunity to visit the cemetary of soldiers from the allied nations. This was a very emotional experience for a lot of the group, as it was history that we’ve all studied and were able to understand on a deeper level. The many graves spread out among the sand, with some cacti and a few purple flowering trees between them, made a strong impression on me. I thought about how different the soil in this, their final resting place, must have been from the lands from which the soldiers originally came. It was shocking to realized how young the soldiers were; many of them were only 22 or 24. I’m that age, and I know I’m not ready to go yet. Although, as one epitaph read, “Not in vain”. My thoughts then immediately went to the Americans today dying on another foreign sandy soil. Would they and their families say the same thing?

Marsa Matruh was extremely relaxing. As I said, it was a small town, and although I was curious about it, I spent pretty much all of my time there lying on the beach and relaxing for a change. It’s soon time to return to my hectic American lifestyle, so it felt good to take some time out for myself.
The next morning, we headed south for three hours toward the Siwa Oasis. Well…it would have been three hours if the bus didn’t break down in the middle of the desert. We spent two hours stuck somewhere between Marsa and Siwa, mainly looking and mirages and trying to stay cool. I’d never known before that you can see mirages without being dehydrated and hallucinating. As I learned, mirages have more to do with heat waves and their reflection than too much time spent in the desert. Just for fun, though, Mary and I decided to walk towards a mirage just to make sure that it wasn’t water. Since it kept disappearing and reappearing without ever looking much closer, we’re pretty sure it wasn’t water. This, at least, kept us occupied for some of the time, and believe it or not, it was cooler standing under the hot sun in the desert than being on the bus, mostly because inside the bus the air carried a great deal more humidity.

So we finally arrived in Siwa and promptly dove into our pool, which was in reality a natural spring. The water was wonderfully cool and not salty, a refreshing change compared to the high salinity of the Mediterranean. After a shower and dinner, we took a brief walk around the town.

Siwa is an area of Egypt which bears little resemblance to Cairo. It is much more conservative, and Siwans have more in common with the desert Bedouins than residents of the capital city. The language and food are also different in this area of Egypt. Being there, we saw very few women at all, and the few we did see were completely covered. Furthermore, we noticed that their style of covering themselves was different from that which we’d seen in Cairo, as you’ll note in the picture (speaking of the pictures, credits for the Siwa shots to Pat…his camera was broken so I lent him mine, affording me the chance to really look around with my eyes and not be stuck behind a lens the entire time). Although I really enjoyed our time in Siwa, I felt that it would have been difficult to stay there much longer, since as an American woman who doesn’t speak the local language, fitting it was not an easy matter.

The next morning, we woke up and visited the Mountain of Death (to hell with Mount Washington). We were able to see several tombs that dated back to the pharaonic times and were well-preserved. Following that, a few members of the group took a dip in Cleopatra’s (algae-covered) Well. Then we visited the ruins of two temples, which was interesting but pale in comparison to all we’d seen in Aswan and Luxor.

After an afternoon spent relaxing, we headed out on what was definitely one of the collest experiences I’ve ever had. We went on a 5-hour desert trek, beginning with some crazy jeep rides over enormous sand dunes; these pictures just don’t do justice (as usual). The experience was a bit like a rollercoaster…minus the safety features.
After stopping at a few picturesque areas, we arrived at an oasis in the middle of nowhere. We were legit miles away from the nearest town. And in the middle of nothing but sand, green stalks were rising up from a blissful blue-green pool. Although the water was calm (as it was an oasis), while swimming it was possible to feel the currents, indicating the water source of the oasis.

From there, we went briefly to a hot spring, aka nature’s hot tub, and soaked our feet while inhaling the pungent aroma of sulfur. Some more dune running brought us to our final stop of the day: a huge dune for sandboarding (Sara, you would have LOVED this!). It didn’t go so well for me, as the picture demonstrates, because I mostly went down the hill backwards on my rear. I ended up with about a pound of sand in my pants. And walking up the dune again was maybe the most exertion I’ve ever had in my life; when I reached the top I was breathing like I’d run a marathon. All in all, one of the coolest things I’ve tried in a long time!

From this location, we also watched the sunset over the desert. This was beautiful and intense because we were the only people around for miles. The isolation and sense of smallness felt was very powerful.

Thursday we trekked back to Marsa Matruh, where I again fully enjoyed the pleasures of the beach. Late at night, after dinner, a few of us took another swim in the Mediterranean, which felt even warmer at night than during the day. We swam out to a raft to sit and enjoy a brief astronomy lesson from Oscar. We saw so many more stars than we’d seen in Cairo, but I bet it would have been even better in the desert.

We swam back in to find Lily and Katharine on the beach with a new friend, who was the son of the hotel owner. We were told by him that swimming at night is actually prohibited, apparently because drug running by sea is a problem on the coast. According to him, although swimmers are just yelled at to return to shore, those who take boats out at night might be shot at by law enforcement. Good to know…

Friday, after our bus ride back to Cairo and a few hours of resting, Katharine, Lily, and I met up with our boys Karim and Mostafa. First, we went to a famous koshary place downtown called Abu Tarek. Then we went to a concert on the Nile by a group called Wist El-Balad. Literally, this name means “the center of the country”, but in common parlance it is taken to mean downtown Cairo. Anyway, the group is very popular and we were lucky to get tickets to the show. It was a great way to spend our last night in Cairo.

Welcome to the Cairo Zoo Club...

We’ve become really close to a group of Egyptian guys, so have gone out with them probably 5 of the past 8 nights. The other night, we had a surprise birthday party for Basem and Kareem. We ended up playing Spin the Bottle. HUGE cultural difference here- unlike in the States, this does NOT involve kissing. Basically, you spin, and whoever the bottle lands on, you ask that person a deep, thoughtful, or personal question- the whole idea behind the game is to get to know people better. We talked about everything, from having tried marajuana to what we don't like about Egyptian culture. Mostafa and I got into an interesting discussion on Israel and Palestine too, with the end result that we just want peace. A bunch of idealists, aren't we?

Lily, Katharine, and I were curious about why the guys liked spending so much time with us Americans, so we asked about that. And it's really cool- basically, they want the same thing as we do- to meet people and better understand them and to make connections with other cultures. Hanging out with them has been the best part of the dialogue, and this will make it incredibly hard to leave Cairo in a few days. Katharine and I were debating whether we should just fake being sick in order to skip out on the trip to Marsa Matruh and Siwa so that we could stay in Cairo and just hang out with them, although this probably isn't too realistic.

Coming home from the birthday party, we encountered some unpleasantness at the hotel which upset me a lot. Some of the Egyptian guys had come back with us so that they could burn us a CD with Arabic music, and we all headed up to the central meeting spot, AKA Katharine’s and my room. After about 2 minutes, we got a call from the front desk of the hotel saying that the Egyptians had to leave! We went downstairs and talked the guy into letting us all sit on the porch, at least, but it was still the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. First of all, it’s their country, why can’t they come in the hotel? And who is the hotel to regulate what friends we bring to our rooms? Finally, it just made me feel bad because I was a tourist staying at this hotel and essentially supporting this policy in a financial way. Definitely such bullshit- that’s one thing here that I really hate. The country’s economy depends a lot on tourism, so tourists are catered to, with the result that Egyptians are denied the same rights in their own country. There has to be a better balance between these conflicting influences.

Last night at a cafe, after Karim had left, it was Mostafa, Katharine, Lily, and I sitting in a cafe downtown, and we got into talking about religion some more. All of us American girls are either atheist or agnostic, while Mostafa is Muslim. But it was still really cool because we could ask him anything we wanted. So we asked him what thing about Islam he would change if he could, and he gave, what I thought was the best answer possible. To paraphrase, he wouldn't change the religion itself but the way people interpreted it. I think that's the problem with most religions; people interpret them too strictly or hide behind a religion to say that they are pious, but don't carry out any of the meaningful teachings behind their faith.

Along these lines, we saw a woman performing a fire-eating act, which, if memory serves me right, I've never seen before. Apparently it's sort of a sacred thing, passed from parent to child, and so after her act she was saying that she did it for food and whatnot. So everyone in the cafe was tipping her, but keeping the money clenched tightly in their hands and passing it to her without letting the money show. Mostafa told me that it's done because if you give alms to someone in a showy way, then you are not perceived to be doing it from the goodness of your heart- you are doing it because you want others to see that you are giving money. But if you do it discreetly, then it means that you are doing it because you are genuinely good and want to help the person to whom you give money.

Last night we went out to the Cairo Jazz Club, which was a really fun experience. It was jazz but then with some Egyptian rhythms and instruments thrown in, which spiced it up a lot. It was another great night in what’s been the most fun week in Cairo.
Besides hanging out with our Egpytian friends, we’ve been busy doing a lot of last-minute stuff before we leave Cairo. For instance, we took our Arabic teacher out to dinner at her favorite restaurant. I miss her already! Friday night, a big group of us ate dinner at Sequoia, a really nice place on the tip of Zamalek, and watched the sun go down over the Nile. This was more or less a good-bye dinner with the engineers, because they unfortunately won't be going with us on the rest of our travels :( Also, Katharine, Lily, and I went to Al-Azhar Park yesterday, which is where our group debriefing will be held today. It’s a ginormous park, an oasis of green in the middle of brown, dusty Cairo. We walked in and nearly collided with a wedding procession on the way out. That was fascinating to see- everyone was singing and clapping what I presume is a traditional song, since everyone knew the words. And within the wedding party, you had women dressed in a variety of ways, from mutahagibba, meaning wearing the head scarf, to women with skirts slit almost all the way up their thighs. And yet they were all brought together to celebrate the same occasion.

Our visit to the park coincided with an environmental awareness festival. This was extremely ironic, considering Cairo is one of the least green cities in the world (literally and figuratively). We were able to see some school kids putting on a play (so weird because the play was in English, as were a lot of signs around the area…I’m not sure how great of an idea that was on the organizers’ part).

Being at the park also gave me a renewed appreciation for just how enormous the city of Cairo is. Hearing a couple muezzins simultaneously reciting the call to prayer against the backdrop of this sweeping cityscape was a poignant reminder of where we are right now.

One other interesting note is that twice in the past few days we’ve seen street fights right on Zamalek. One time it was just a brief incident with one guy throwing a rock at the other. But the first time, it was a drag-‘em-down, knock-‘em-out kind of event…and it took place in front of a member of the tourist police force, too. I mean, we were seeing a guy get shoved on his face in the middle of the street, and the cop was doing nothing about it. I guess it’s his job to worry about tourists, and not Egyptians, but that seems like bullshit. It gave me half a mind to walk near the fight so he’d have to do something about it, but by that point the fight had finally dissapated.

Tonight we have dinner at Abduh and Hayaam’s, then the park debriefing. Tommorrow we leave for Marsa Matruh and Siwa, to return next Friday for another few hours in Cairo. Then Saturday morning, it’s on to Abu Dhabi and Dubai until the following Thursday, and Friday is our return to the United States. With all this travel, I don’t know how much more I’ll be able to write, but wish me luck!

Random Thoughts 2, AKA Angry Blog

Being a conscientious American born in this era is not an easy position. Many of us are more aware of our country's history than past generations have been. This coupled with the rise of peace studies and the idea of international cooperation I think make us better equipped to improve the world. However, now we have to work through the mistakes of the past two or three generations. I feel like the world in 1945 was on the cusp of something that could have made for a more promising future, only that step wasn't taken. So since then, as a country we retreated from what could have been. Now we can halt that recession and work towards a better future, but we are so far behind the possibilities that could have been reached if the American government had been working for good the past decades.

I think people are wrong when they tell me that I'm looking at it wrong, that American security is what the government has cared about, and that sometimes other countries have to suffer if our own is to be safe. I'm gonna go ahead and call shenanigans on that...those people are wrong. Has the war in Iraq really improved our safety? I doubt it in the long run; we just make people more upset with us (who's heard the quote "George W. Bush is the best recruiting sergeant for Al-Qaeda"?). Also, take a close look at Pakistan. Supporting a dictator really hasn't turned out in our best interests, and I'd put money on things blowing up there within the next 20 years.

If you don't want to believe me, think about it first in economic terms. The ebb and flow of money all over the world (in global trade) affects all of us, through the stock market, through gas prices, and in the rising prices of staple foods. I don't think money is the only thing that ties the world together. If people are discontented because they suffer under oppressive regimes, this will eventually come back and affect America someday- especially if we support these regimes.

I guess what it comes down to is that I resent the fact that the Americans of my generation are going to reap enmity from all across the globe, even though the seeds for this hatred were sown long before we were even born. Being here in the Middle East has made me want to work here after I graduate. My Arabic still needs alot of work, but I'd rather it be me working in Iraq or Pakistan and actually giving a damn about the people and the reality there than a Bush crony. If you voted for him, it essentially means that myself or people like me will have to risk our own lives and futures to make it better there- and simultaneously improve American security. This is a good day to write this blog, as Obama's going to get the Democratic nomination. I can't say he's the best that America has to offer, but he'll be a damn sight better than the idiot we've had the past eight years. What we've been doing since WWII hasn't worked out well for us, and it's time for a new approach.

Dale's Questions

In an email last week, Dale asked me some awesome questions about the lives of typical Egyptians. I realized that for all my other ramblings, I don't touch on any of the following things. So below, Dale's questions are bolded, with my answers in regular font. Enjoy!

Well what's new in Pa? Now you can compare what I am doing as to what a middle class Egyptian would be doing. First, I am mulching, fertilizing and mowing grass. Do middle class Egyptians own property and if they do, do they have yards?
In the sections that we've seen, more people seem to own their own apartments in buildings, without owning yards. But, As doing much physical labor is sort of looked down upon ("mish chic", which means not chic), I would say that those who might live in the suburbs and have a lawn would not take care of it themselves. For instance, my Arabic teacher does not iron her family's clothes; she sends it out to be done. This doesn't mean that she's better off than a middle class American, though (on the contrary, her family wants to visit America and it will be a challenge just to pay $600 alone for the visas!); it just means that manual labor here is much cheaper than in the States.

Next, we went out to eat tonight and had some sirloin steaks. Can Egyptians buy steaks in their local markets or restaurants? What is the favorite food for a dinner out at a restaurant?
Egyptians could buy it, but I think it's be expensive ( I don't eat at many places here that serve steak, if that tells you anything). Favorite foods would be T'aamiyya, which is like falafel (and delicious)- you can get a sandwich with this and veggies on it for $0.20 American. There is also something called fiteer, which I have yet to try (I hear it's something like pizza). And finally, shawerma is very popular- you can get it on pretty much any street corner.

Also, had to take the car to the garage to have oil change etc. Does a middle class Egyptian own a car and are there service stations through out Cairo?
There are two gas stations alone on the small island of Zamalek, both on our main street. Even lower class Egyptians own cars (this was somewhat surprising to me as well, I didn't expect to see nearly as many cars even out in the poverty-stricken outskirts that we've seen). That being said, I've also seen people driving donkey carts through the streets of Cairo...and somehow it all co-exists peacefully. Maybe one reason that many Egyptians can afford cars is thanks to the LOW gas prices- we're talking not quite a dollar a gallon...!!!

I thought if you can go to the capital of Egypt, I can go to the capital of USA. So yesterday I was in Washington, DC. How many Egyptians from the countryside come to Cairo as tourists to visit the historic sites?
That's a good question, and I'm not a hundred percent of the answer, but I'm pretty sure that not nearly as many Egyptians visit their capital as Americans visit D.C. However, we do run into a good deal of tourists from other Middle Eastern countries, doing the exact same tourist route as ourselves. One thing I must say, though- because tourism is a big part of the economy here (I believe the number 2 contributor after agriculture)- lots of people go to school to learn about Egyptian history, with the ultimate dream of being a tour guide, so in some respects, there are a good deal of average Egyptian citizens who are better versed in their country's history than average Americans are about theirs.

Finally, since I viewed the Constitution and Bill of Rights yesterday, does Egypt have a constitution or what type of document dictates the rule of law? What document rules Egypt?
The consitution is the ruling document here also, but (unfortunately, somewhat like our country is becoming), this document seems to be taken with a grain of salt. It seems that corruption is pretty endemic in the system- baksheesh (which roughly translates to "tip") is an important word to know. Egyptian politics, alas, are the weak part of my knowledge here, so I can't tell you too much more. One interesting fact about the constitution though- Sadat changed it to say that all Presidents must be Muslim. So I can tell you that separation of church and state isn't such a popular phenomenon here!

Weekend Update

These past few days have been both busy and tremendously enjoyable. Thursday night is the big weekend night here, and we were able to go out and have a great time with some Egyptian guys we met at the dialogue. We originally intended to go to the Cairo Jazz Club, but we weren't able to get in because the two Egyptians with us at the time were not 21 (this might be one of the other only countries in the world where 21 is the drinking age). This experience showed us the dichotomy of treatment in this country: Americans under 21 were able to get in, whereas the Egyptians were not. Screw the jazz club, we decided. So instead, we went to a little cafe near the Midan Tahrir downtown. Definitely authentic, as there were only maybe 3 other non-Egyptians there. But we must have sat there for three hours, just talking about random stuff. Some of the big things that we touched on were the American vs. Egyptian styles of dating, as well as the idea of polygamy within Islam. Best quote of the night: "I'm a socialist when it comes to women." All in all, though, the guys gave us pretty thoughtful answers on the subject, like saying that it's really a circumstantial thing, as well as advocating the idea that the women must be treated fairly.

Friday and Saturday we spent in Alexandria. Friday we did the tourist circuit, checking out the Citadel of Qait-Bey (the picture is a view from inside the Citadel looking towards Alexandria), the catacombs, and the Alexandria Library (not the ancient, famous one; that was burned down centuries ago, but this library is still one of the sweetest places I've ever been). That night, Lily and I decided to go see a movie. This was an interesting experience on so many levels that I barely know where to start. The movie that we wanted to see was called "Baby Doll Night", and we were going to see it because our friend Mostafa recommended it. So we find our way to the theatre. Exciting moment for me; I was able to make the entire transaction in Arabic. As we go to enter the theatre, one of the employees says to us, " Wait! This movie in Arabic!". We nodded and said yes, and he asked us if we spoke Arabic before we were able to progress.

Before I talk about the movie, the setting for our experience: a LOUD theatre. You know that ad in American theatres that politely asks viewers to turn off their cell phones? Ha. Ha. Hahahaha. That's not a cultural phenomenon here; people have no compunctions about letting their ringtones go on for a bit before proceeding to answer the phone and have loud, lengthy conversations. Also, screaming kids add an interesting note to this symphony.

So against this backdrop, Lily and I were struggling to understand this movie which was almost completely in Arabic, with no subtitles. I have to say, I was disappointed with how little I was able to understand. One part that I got went along the lines of this:

Guy 1- Not every American is like George Bush or Dick Cheney.

Guy 2- Not every Arab is a Muslim or a terrorist.

Speaking of George Bush, the audience booed/hissed every time his name was mentioned. And as the only Americans in a theatre so full that chairs were lined against the walls, we did get some very interesting stares throughout the course of the night. Oh, and did I mention the topic of the movie? While I wasn't able to fully get the gist of things, I do know that the following ideas were involved: 9/11, the American invasion of Iraq, and the conflict between Palestine and Israel. So, saying the movie was politically charged is a bit of an understatement. Luckily, I know how to say "George Bush is stupid" in Arabic, in case anyone ever asks my political views. Anyway, the whole movie was very interesting, albeit violent, and I'm definitely going to find a version with subtitles once we get back to the States.

Saturday we spent on Montazah Beach, which was gorgeous. I got the most real exercise, besides walking, that I've had the whole trip; Molly, Lily, and I went for a nice swim down the length of the beach and back. I forgot how much I used to love swimming...

Yesterday was a service day, aka it was pointless and I'm not writing more about it. Today after class, Nermine, our Arabic teacher, overheard a few of us talking about making a trip to the mall, and offered to escort us on our first trip on the subway (she was going to the same stop). First of all, unlike some people have claimed, the Egyptian subway was not sketchy at all. Yes, it was crowded, but I've seen the orange line just as bad at rush hour anyway. The cars might not have been the newest, but they were still in decent condition and, from what I saw, weren't any dirtier than subways in the U.S. (and possibly cleaner than those in New York). Finally, it's way cheaper, to the tune of $0.20 American/ride. Excellent. We were on the subway for 15-20 minutes, and as the cars emerged above the ground, it reminded me once again how large the city of Cairo really is.

Speaking of Nermine, I think it's time for a little section on some of the Cairenes that have done their utmost to make this city feel like home for us Americans. A thank you and shout out to these people:

Nermine- One of the most kind-hearted and invested teachers I've ever had. She'd tiny, I'm guessing 115 pounds soaking wet, but I've seen her haggle in the market and tell off policemen, she's oweeya al-araada, or strong-willed. I definitely wouldn't want to cross her. Though we have never taken her up on various offers, because we don't want to impose on her life, she's offered every kind of hospitality to us, from telling us she'll do our laundry to inviting us to stay at her house on future visits to Egypt.

Tamir- One of the two hosts at the Lebanese restaurant next to our hotel, Tamir is always ready with a smile and some Celine Dion or Britney Spears music to brighten our day. He knows Katharine and I so well that he can guess our orders when we come in to pick up food. He has made us appreciate the two above-named singers a little bit more; Katharine asked him why he liked to play their music so much, and he said "Because it is soft", which definitely gave me a new perspective. He was very sadden to hear about how crazy Britney's become. We are going to make him a new CD before we leave!

Yassir- The most friendly receptionist/concierge I've ever met, Yassir is the main desk man at our hotel. Always ready with a smile and always willing to practice Arabic with us, Yassir has made Longchamps feel more like home.

Finally, to bring this blog up to date, last night was probably one of the best moments of

the entire trip. About 20 or so of us, Americans and Egyptians, went to a club over in Mohandiseen to play soccer. After having to wait till the little kids were done playing, we were able to be on the field from about 11 PM- 1:30 AM. It was a really great time, because it didn't matter how good anyone was- everyone just had fun playing around. Tonight we might be going to a surprise birthday party for Basem, who just turned 20, so it looks like another night with little sleep. Hooray!