Don't get used to this. I've decided to write periodic English updates because I've realized how bad the google translate Arabic translations are. An Arabic version to follow...
Just as I had completed my adjustment to the new time zone, my internal clock underwent a shock last night. Granted, I was out late anyway with my new friends, but I did not expect to be woken up at 4AM by the airport delivery service. I have to rewind a couple days to my turbulent travel experience: while I scrambled frantically from one side of an airport to another (in both Newark and Frankfurt), the airport luggage crew was a bit slower and failed to transfer my backpack to the connecting flight in time. I can hardly blame them because I barely made it myself, and I was in fact surprised that even one piece of luggage made it all the way to Cairo. Anyway, before leaving the airport, I filled out a missing luggage card and was told that my luggage would be brought to my doorstep when it was recovered. I didn't imagine that it would be delivered at nearly 5AM two days later! I was angry to be woken up in the first place, but then the delivery guy demanded a tip from me. I was standing outside in my pajamas on a rarely empty street in downtown Cairo arguing with a man who kept repeating "lazim tip, lazim tip" (tip is required). I was groggy, my aamia (Egyptian dialect) is severely lacking, and my pockets were empty, so it was quite a standoff between me and this airport delivery guy. The bowwab (the doorkeeper for the apartment building) finally came out and gave the guy a few pounds, and I paid him back today. Despite the hassle, I'm glad to have all of my stuff now.
It's easiest to go in chronological order, so I'll start with my arrival. After filling out the lost luggage slip, I walked outside to catch a cab. My friend Moose was gonna pick me up, but it ended up not working out. However, he told me to pay no more than 50LE for a taxi to my apartment in downtown Cairo. The taxis' going rate was 100LE so I had an extended haggling session with a group of them and settled at 70LE, which actually ended up being a good price (Moose forgot that the drivers have to pay a parking fee to the airport which raises the price).
After nearly a day of traveling, I was pretty exhausted, but I was thrilled to be back in Cairo. As my dad drove me to the airport in Cleveland, I looked out the window and noted how American everything was. It's hard to grasp how pervasive a culture is until you travel to a place as different as Cairo. I embarked on the same exercise on the taxi ride from the airport to my apartment, noting differences between Cairo and the US. Three minutes into the exercise, my head was spinning, overwhelmed by the vast gulf between home and here.
I arrived at the apartment without much trouble. It is on the 8th floor in downtown Cairo, about two blocks from Tahrir Square. It's an exciting place to live, and I feel comfortable here. Matt showed me to my room, which is perfect in its adequacy. Matt and I chatted for a while, and I like him a lot. After graduating from Boston University, he decided that it was important to learn a foreign language, so he moved to Cairo. He studied a year at the American University of Cairo and now studies Arabic on his own and teaches English to pay the bills. We walked around the area, which was basically a tour of the Egyptian revolution. Matt would point out all of the major landmarks of the revolution: the barricades, the graffiti, where clashes and marches happened, and of course, Tahrir Square. Matt has been here through it all, and although it is exciting to hear his stories, he also has reassured me that it is safe to be here. However, it will be interesting to see what happens when the results of the first round of presidential elections are announced in a few days (voting ends today). I think that people imagine that Cairo is chaos because of the revolution. Well, Cairo is chaos to begin with, and it doesn't seem to me that the revolution has had a tremendous effect on it besides a few barricades. I maintain that the most significant danger by far is being hit by a car. Crossing streets is real-life frogger.
Exhausted from traveling I went to bed pretty early. While I slept, Raf and Chris arrived at the apartment. Raf lived here for a year but has been at Columbia completing his masters since last summer. He's back until August to visit and brush up on his Arabic. Chris is his friend from college, who has been living in Uganda managing a water-purification NGO. They are both British, so they have cool accents. I've enjoyed spending time with them and Matt, as they are smart, funny, and interesting.
On Wednesday (yesterday), I spent a lot of time studying Arabic. I did not realize how different the Egyptian dialect is from formal Arabic. I cannot understand hardly anything anyone says, and when I speak formal Arabic, I get blank stares. It's been quite frustrating, especially because I thought my Arabic was pretty good. Priority number one is to get better at the Egyptian dialect. I have my first lesson tomorrow morning with Manal. We are meeting for two hours, but once we establish a regular daily schedule, we should be able to meet 3 or 4 hours every day. For now, I want to focus exclusively on aamia when working with her because I can practice my formal Arabic by reading newspapers and writing my blog on my own.
After spending most of the day studying Arabic and walking around the area, Matt, Raf, Chris, Ayesh, and I went out to dinner in Imbaba. I forgot to introduce Ayesh -- he's Matt's and Raf's Egyptian friend from AUC. Now he's an accountant, but he had the day off for elections, so after he voted, he hung out at the apartment for the day. There was a period in the middle of the day when it was just Ayesh and me. He helped me out a lot with my studying, and I look forward to seeing him again. Anyway, we went out to Imbaba which is a pretty poor area of Cairo, but there is a notoriously delicious restaurant there. It lived up to its expectation, except for the molokhia, a green substance which can only be described as having the texture of saliva. Afterwards, we picked up some beers and hired a sailboat for 60LE (only about $10) to take us out on the Nile. It was an oasis of silence in the middle of the chaos of Cairo. We walked over to the famous Al-Horia bar, which was a very interesting scene. According to Milad, the guy who runs the bar, the only other thing on the menu besides beer is his dick. He also had a propensity for grabbing everyone's nipples. Other than Milad, however, there was no entertainment and the decoration was sparse. The focus of Al-Horia is conversation, and I liked that a lot. Probably my favorite aspect of Arab culture is the time people spend to connect with one another genuinely. Al-Horia epitomized that attitude. Sitting with my new friends, we talked about a wide range of issues, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. We didn't return to the apartment until about 2:30 in the morning, at which point I went to sleep (only to be awakened by the airport delivery guy a couple hours later).
I didn't wake up until 1:30 this afternoon. I got my hair cut and a clean shave at the barber down the street. I requested an Egyptian hair cut, and I got one, with the gel and everything. Now that my backpack arrived and my phone with it, I bought a SIM card and contacted my Arabic tutor, Helaly, and Moose. I also walked over to the AUC downtown campus around the corner with Matt. The campus is beautiful with lots of garden and very quiet. I can get in with my passport, and I enjoyed the university feel -- I think it will inspire me to study hard -- so I will probably return there. We are about to head out for dinner and I might meet up with Helaly or Moose tonight, so that's all for now. Don't expect an English update for a while!
