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| Me and Dr.T. Remember his name. I talk about him a lot! My professor. |
I just had a huge realization: Up to this point in my life, up to the time I started the Washington Semester Program, I was as squeaky clean as the next presidential hopeful. Whoever is being groomed as the first President of my generation (she/he will run in 2020, and most likely be voted in by 2024) probably doesn’t have a Facebook, doesn’t have a twitter, doesn’t have a blog that candidly reflects this person’s nature. Why did this come about? Well, WikiLeaks and the article and comments I just finished reading. Of course you don’t want to leave an electronic trail when you are in Politics. That’s a no brainer right? Well, what about those of us, like ME, who actually enjoy writing for their family and friends when they are away and like posting pictures of themselves in Jordan and Egypt? I’m not doing anything bad, and these opinions are mine and the knowledge that whatever I write right now will come back to haunt me is enough to make me never want to write again. However, I can’t let “THE MAN” win. Just like in School of Rock, I need to “stick it to THE MAN”. The anthropomorphized man can’t win, I can’t let fear of having my words now be mudslung (haha verb tenses) back into my face in 20 years. It shouldn’t work that way, but the sad reality of it, is that it does. The opposition party will no doubt take my words and skew them and try to use them against me. Then again, I will probably never get very far in my political aspirations in the first place, so I shouldn’t be freaking out. *****
Okay. Anyway, thanks for that. On to what you want to hear: Updates on Egypt!
Friday November 5
Wake up. Wake my roommate up. I can’t recall if I showered, but those days, I hardly ever did because I saw no point in doing so. I looked like crap at all times. In fact, I gave up trying to look good because well…there wasn’t anyone to impress. I changed into the pants from Petra (thanks Amalee!) Wore a really long pink tank top (also from Petra) and then put on my Wallpaper shirt! Click HERE for a sample of Wallpaper, they are so cool. I got this shirt this summer and I swore that I was going to wear it in Egypt and only wore it once in DC, and you saw that picture, I featured it on this blog. Anyway, I put on sunscreen because I don’t want to die of sun exposure, get a few rolls for breakfast (to add to my ever growing showcase of bodily rolls---- I just realized that I will not be able to fit in my pants from home and that’s just depressing!) and go downstairs. We get on the bus and a 15 minute drives yields a view of the first pyramid. I almost pee in my pants. We get out, wait for our tickets, and get inside. We immediately rush to the first pyramid and kind of gawk in awe. It’s massive. And let me tell you, I think our society has regressed. There is no way in heck that we could possibly build that pyramid again without technology. Sure the Egyptians may have done it with slave labor, but they still did it without modern pulleys and cranes. It’s absolutely insane. I stared at the huge blocks before climbing them. A few of us climbed a bit then we snapped a few pics and then we got yelled at. Apparently you aren’t supposed to climb a 2,000 year old artifact of greatness. Well not very high anyway. I kept thinking of the way Despicable me started, and how the pyramid was stolen. HA. Yeah right. That thing can’t move. Anyway, I’m soaking it in, and then we move on a bit, and then we start taking jumping pictures. We take ‘em with the other pyramid behind us and laugh our butts off because a few feet off, a group of Europeans starts doing the same! I finally get my camera to work better and satisfied, we move on. Then my professor asks if we would like to do the camel riding then or later. RIGHT NOW! We practically hurt him with our vehemence. We will ride camels on a tour of the pyramids and the sphinx and then be able to walk around after. Our professor talks to the main guy in charge. He gathers 15 camels, and because I am an eager beaver, I follow that guy and he ends up wrapping his white scarf on my head and lets me hold his whip/stick think. I feel so awesome! Then he leads us to some camels and we get on! Camels are HUGE. They get down on their knees and then lift themselves by their HIND LEGS. This means that you pivot forward and are nearly unseated before they use their front legs to finish standing. I am soo excited at this point that I make a video. Here you go. I sit there, hanging out for a bit, and I think that the guy who wrapped my head will be my guide person, but alas, I have no such luck. I chill out by myself for a bit, and then this guy gets on the camel too, in front of me. Awkward, but I am still feeling romantic about the whole camel-riding thing that I am okay with it. Then we get started with our little caravan! I am near the end, but that’s okay, cuz I take pics! The young guy whose waist I am holding is okay, he asks me how long we are here, and then says he hopes to see me before we leave. Right. Then he makes the camel gallop and that’s really something else, because it’s not as steady as a horse (since I am such an expert right?) but then we star on desert. And I realize I am on a camel in THE DESERT. This desert goes on for miles and miles!! I revel in the majesty of it. I feel like Harry, the heroine in Robin Mckinley’s The Blue Sword. I was so enchanted, and it was breathtaking to think that these sands and the pyramids were around for so epically long!
The group gathers near a crest in which you have a spectacular view of the pyramids. There are six in all, the 3 main ones, and 3 smaller ones. We gather our camels and take a picture. Then a few of us get off and take pics together. Then we get back on the camels and start the tour again. My camel rider guide asks if I am happy and I say yes of course, and he says “if you happy, then I’m happy”. Then the camel starts running again, and then we see the sphinx. I am so dumbstruck. First off, sits smaller than I thought it would be. But that’s because we are far away. We don’t get very close to it while camel riding, but close enough to be ensorcelled. It’s so big and imposing! Then the camel riding is over. I’m a few feet away from the group, my chaperone is too far away for me to ask how much I should tip. The guide says, “you give me however much you want, if you happy, I’m happy”I start with $5. He doesn’t want this little, so I give him a 50 pound note. 50 pounds is 10 bucks. Good enough right? NO. He wants more, and in a panic, I reach into my wallet again and take out two twenty pound notes. The B**tard took 90 pounds from me! I know I gave it to him, but he was right in front of me, and the camel was right behind me and then this second guy pulls up, saying he’d give me change for 100 pounds. I have a good enough mind to not give a 100 pound note, but I was so jittery and imposed upon. I was not thinking and that’s what scares me, because you need to be firm and NOT scared in these types of situations. Anyway, the guy finally leaves and I am fuming, more pissed off about that than my classmates’ stupid behavior. I go and tell my professor in a joking way, and he says NO! he’d already tipped the main guy IN ADDITION to paying a pretty penny (or pound) for the camel ride itself. My friend Molly paid one pound. I could have paid 30 pounds ($6 bucks) and that would have more than sufficed. I paid the guy in Petra $5 bucks for a 10 minute HORSE ride! UGH. I was so mad.
I saw horses and I really wanted to ride one in the sand, there were BEAUTIFUL black stallions, and I was so envious of those who did ride em. We went to a smaller pyramid and toured a tomb. That was suffocating but Awesome! The tunnel to get in was super cramped but the tomb itself was high, if small as well. Then I was asked to take a picture of a guy’s shirt because it looked like a classmate, and I was bombarded by young Egyptian school girls clamoring for my attention and pictures.. So I took some, and more girls came! I won’t lie, it was kinda fun! I know how celebrities feel now! I was told that it was because of my skin, and the girls said it was because I was American. I had fun, but as more kids came, I was rushed away. Then we kept walking and viewed the Sphinx.
She’s a beauty. I stood a bit away from the group, soaking in her magnificence, trying to imagine what she looked like without her nose missing and without a buttload of tourists clogging her pores. We walked down a bit closer to her and I snapped some pics, but as I sat down, I dozed. I didn’t realize how tired I was. After waking up, I then took some more pics and then fell behind the group with the chaperon buying a towel. I paid maybe 60 pounds for a beautiful blue towel. Jealous? Buying the towel made us lost and we couldn’t find the bus for about 15 minutes and it seemed like everyone wanted to leave. Then we went to the step pyramid, the first pyramid ever built in Egypt, by the celebrated genius engineer whose name I forget because I was too comfortable while watching the mini movie on him. I was absorbed, don’t get me wrong, I was just not able to retain names. We went to see the pyramid, and it’s not too small, and it’s squared away and rather empty compared to the Giza pyramids. I understood the historic precedence this pyramid set though, and I was properly awed. After that, we rode the bus back and then relaxed for a bit before meeting with students from American University Cairo.
That meeting was interesting. I didn’t say anything other than my name because I’m n ot going to lie, what do you say to a diplomats son? He was knowledgeable and spoke in a forthright manner the entire time, and it was nice to listen. I also, didn’t want whatever question I asked to get a ‘bad score’. There was a tendency in my class for some of the more ‘high and mighty, I am holier than thou’ students to publically rate our questions. It had gotten out of control and content to just eat my pizza, I stayed silent that night. (Don’t think I stayed silent for the rest of the trip, read on) Anyway, it was a good discussion, seeing the insight of young students who lived in the region. Then the dinner was over and I don’t remember what I did that night, I think I just fell asleep**. I do remember thinking to myself: why did we visit the pyramids and the sphinx today? Besides being a wonder of the world, what does it have to do with Islam? I believe it was surmised that the Pyramids were a source of pride for the Egyptians. And with pride, you have nationalism, which is important. However, after seeing the way that the Nile was treated with trash strewn everywhere, you needed to inject more pride in the state in order to help the people help themselves. But more on that later.
Saturday November 6
Woke up early. For a reason I can’t recall, I only had 4 hours of sleep**. I may have gone to a tea place with a few classmates and shared all my insecurities, but I would rather not remember that because I don’t like talking about my vulnerabilities. Especially since I was revealing the impact societies brainwashing has on me, and I was trying to explain to the boys we were with that the way they think about women is completely objectifying.** I Was the alarm clock for my roommate. Got dressed. Went downstairs and ate and then got on the bus. We went to the Egyptian museum! The Museum includes the Royal Hall of Mummies and “houses the most extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts in the world (over 120,000 pieces!).” (Thanks Dr.T for that brief intro to the Egyptian museum!) Our group got tickets, had to turn over our cameras (Sad! But I still had my iPhone, though I tend to feel too guilty about thinking about breaking the rules to actually break em). Anyway, the group went to see the Mummies first. Let me say, these former human remains are scary things to see. They are uncannily well preserved and it’s so weird to see their hair and to see where their nails stopped growing. A lot of them had manicured nails, and that was interesting! To see their teeth was strange. It’s odd, seeing them lying down, they look VeRy short. To test this, I would brace myself against their cases, and stretch my leg out and tilt my head back. We were roughly the same size…I am as tall as King Amenhotep II! Haha. I would entertain myself like this until I got the heebeejeebees touching the glass thinking that their handlers touched the glass after they were touched, and therefore I am basically touching the mummies. That made my skin crawl. Still, I couldn’t have gone to the Mummy site with no proof so I took a picture. Gerry would like the picture, I know it! It takes 70 days to mummify a person, and Horus is the protector of the Pharaohs. Then there’s Osiris and the god Re; Anubis, the god of mummification and protector of the necropolis, and Isis, mother god of al Egyptians. So cool, I felt like I was living out my history book, seeing all these artifacts. Then we were able to go off by ourselves. I felt like I was in a movie, exploring and in awe of old things. Or like Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice the movie with Kiera Knightley as she admires the marble statues. I toured almost everything. Then I went to King Tutankhamun exhibit. And saw the headdress that is featured on my Wallpaper shirt. King Tut started that fashion with the color blue. (that was a joke) but to see everything that was put into the tombs, well… no wonder there were grave robbers. But this just begs the question, what else is there missing? Did the grave robbers steal some really important artifacts that can potentially reveal new clues about the past? What is lost? I don’t think we will ever regain what was lost, but we can still be hopeful; A few classmates pointed out that it was strange that we were looking at Mummies and all these artifacts when all the dead wanted was to be buried in peace. However, I am pretty sure that they would be quite happy to be stared at, even if dead, if there was a chance that they could guarantee that their stuff would not be stolen, hence their egos would love Museums. Anyway, I saw the forerunners of Kritios Boy Ehatch! Hahha…they were the painted sculptures of the ideal young male body for the Egyptians. It was interesting because half of the friezes and sculptures and Greco-Roman pieces that were in the museum, I had studied in Art History. And here I thought I would never again use art history. (I would fall asleep every day in Art History because the lights would be off, and the power point was so drowsy- it induced sleep! Still, I would fall asleep but still pay attention, and I would be half-asleep, raise my hand, ask a good question for participation points, and then fall back to sleep. Still, I was mad when I got a B+.) It was really nice and I thoroughly enjoyed all the exhibits. I was writing down the stuff that interested me the most in all the exhibits. After leaving the king Tut exhibit, I noticed a really cute guy and he was with an older g-ma like person, and I wanted to know if they spoke English so I kinda shadowed them and they did, they were British! I was looking at some of the same stuff as them and I even told the gma “isn’t this amazing” and she said something back, and in my head I was like, get your nephew or grandson over here! But I didn’t have such luck, and so I left. Oh well, there’s my sad attempt at finding my future husband in the Egyptian museum.
After that, we went to visit a really old mosque, and my camera died and so I took pics with my iPhone. It was a cool place and the view of Egypt was amazing. I wish I was able to take pictures that my eyes actually see…did that make sense? I mean, I wish my eyes/head had their own camera, so I could take pics like what I actually see. That would be amazing. Anyway, the mosque was beautiful. The architecture, something to be written home about. Then after that, on our way back, I noticed all the trash surrounding one branch of the Nile, and I got into a lengthy conversation with Dr.T about the need to clean the area. I remember reading in a few books, most notably, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series, that one of the ways to help a country is to foster a love of the country in them, and start at the base level of having clean places to live in. There’s psychology behind the cleanliness of where you live; if the place is clean, then you feel better about yourself, and the country. I don’t know, I just thought that if the place were cleaner, then people would have more pride in Egypt and not allow the streets to be so dirty and therefore some of the damage to the Nile could be remedied, and the trash piles just can’t be healthy. Anyway, I was discussing this with Dr.T, and I was wondering if there could ever be an environmental group that was devoted to helping clean the Nile and the streets of Egypt. I mean, they are not lacking in tourism, that should bring in enough money to help create cleaner areas. It’s a despondent site to behold. I think Egypt would have more tourists if the country were cleaner. This train of thought led us to talk about why the Pyramids are vital to our contemporary Islam class. There is immense pride at being the country with the Pyramids, even though Muslims were not the ones who built them, and there is a small number of Egyptians who can be traced to those Egyptians who helped build the pyramids. This pride, this current pride, is the pride of a Muslim-majority country. There is so much money being pumped into the country because of tourism that you would think the government would do a better job at taking care of their citizens, but the reality of it is, that Egypt is struggling underneath the fist of corruption and it seems that no amount of money could persuade the government to relinquish its power to the people. Then I ask about Egypt’s jailed population. Dr.T doesn’t know the exact figures, but I still ask if there is any program that allows for the jailed to help clean up, like the highway clean up in America. Society would benefit tremendously, and in return, the jailed may be able to reduce their sentences with good behavior. (I read of a similar program in Spy Glass…yes a fantasy novel) Anyway, just a theory as to why the Pyramids were important to our study of Islam. 
That night, we walked 7 blocks to a restaurant (we were told it was a block away, apparently, those are Egyptian directions for you) and anyway, we ordered a traditional meal called Koshary. It was AMAZING. I loved it. (according to my roommate, koshary is poor man’s food, and so no wonder I loved it! The Mexican equivalent is beans and rice…YUMMMMMMM) Anywhooo, the dish is made of rice, macaroni and lentils and you can add meat; I added chicken, and slathered in hot sauce and I died of happiness. It was soooo good. I was so full. The dinner was fun even though we were sitting next to the sewer and it was emitting foul stenches, I didn’t smell anything. At the end, because our group hardly ever ate, we had some money left over and we were allowed to order dessert. I ordered the suggested Om Aly. If I thought koshary was delicious, this dessert was absolutely, positively the most scrumptious thing I have tasted since tacos in Mexico. The dessert had meltermarshmallow on top and was made with milk and bread and nuts and raising and my mouth is watering and craving some right now. I REALLY liked it. I practically licked the bowl it was that good. I told myself I was going to go back, and I would mention it at every opportunity, but I never did try it again. However, I will go back to Egypt one day and eat nothing but OM ALY. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh… I need a recipe!!!!!!!!!!!! Then me, Dr.T, Molly and Daegeun walked back to the hotel and we almost got hit, three times! Traffic in Egypt is insane. And the cars have a will of their own and there is no such thing as personal space or adherence to traffic laws. Then right In front of our hotel, there are two huge streets with heavy traffic, and I kinda blanched at the idea of having to play frogger across the streets, but then we noticed this Egyptian guy walking the street all professional like and so we followed him, For the second street directly in front of Pharaoh Egypt Hotel he noticed us following him, and kinda smiled and went a bit slower than he would have normally. I CROSSED AN EGYPTIAN STREET! It was pretty epic because your adrenaline starts rushing and you adopt this air of invisibility, even if you are following a complete stranger. “SHUKRAN!” We say a million times (thank you) and Dr.T says “Now you can say you crossed an Egyptian street by yourself!” I snicker, then respond with “That was hardly by ourselves, but im still excited!” I am content and settle with not doing anything else for the rest of the night.
Sunday November 7
Today, I wake early, eat and get on the bus to visit Islamic Cairo. We visit a mosque (women have to cover our hair) and its really old and beautiful. My camera is still dead, but I take some pics with classmates’ camera. The area we were in was quaint and very very clean, making me wonder why the rest of Cairo couldn’t be as clean. I noticed a man sweeping the street and it was really early in the morning. Then we kept walking and visited possibly three more mosques and a housing compound that had been restored. It was so beautiful and big, and I could see myself living in it. There were so many rooms and it was all connected. I went into a little sanctuary and tried to draw it but I couldn’t and asked Daegeun if he could just take a picture of it. It was majestic. Then we visited another mosque but the cleaning ladies had just finished cleaning it, and we walked right by them and they got really upset. It was understandable, after cleaning the place, we traipse through as if they weren’t there. I hardly wanted to go in because I would be indignant as well, but I had to follow my class. The mosques used to have places where you could come if you were sick and it was so interesting to see the rooms. Also, many of the mosques taught different schools of thought and it was amazing to see the different open spaces/classes for each of the four schools of thought taught. The classes were all next to eachother, something you would never see these days. Once again, I lamented humanities regression. We can’t turn back the time, but we can’t seem to learn from history enough to make the future better.
After that we went to Al-Azhar Mosque “completed in 972 CE… - the first to be built in Cairo, under the Fatimids- and considered ‘the symbol of Islamic Egypt. The thousand-year old Al-Azhar mosque remains today a preeminent symbol of Islamic learning and the continuing importance of the leadership role that Egypt enjoys for Muslims around the world.’” (thanks Dr.T and touregypt.com) The mosque was beautiful.
We visitthe Al-Hussein Mosque built in 1151 and Qala’t an-Nassir (Citadel of Saladin), Muhammid Ali Mosque, Caliph al-Hakin Mosque (second oldest Mosque in Egypt dating to the 10th century) and the Amir Taz Palace. Since it was an early day, by the time we got to the last place, we were really tired and sat in the last mosque. Dr.T was all energy and we were all amazed because he was the only in the group not lagging behind. The day before I tried to be perky but four hours of sleep eventually made me really tired, and it dragged onto today. I tried to be better, and I started talking to Dr.T about the beauty of architecture, and we started comparing the current architecture to the old. Across the street from the mosque was a rundown building with shoddy architecture. It was sad that the people who lived there had to live in the shadows of such old and magnificent building. We wondered where the inspiration had gone, why more buildings were not built to last and compliment the society that was eager to thrive and regain its former glory. Dr.T says that the fact that the people are stuck holding onto their former glory, they are not able to move on and therefore you get shoddy buildings with bad, not-lasting architecture and that they are waiting, always waiting for the time in which their glory will be restored. It was definitely upsetting to know that the main reason good architecture has faded was for financial reasons. Anyway, we drove the bus to make our appointment with Dar Al-Ifta’ the place where Fatwas are created, non-binding religious advice. Egyptian traffic was abysmal and I took a nap. The Grand Mufti creates Fatwas and we were able to speak to his chief advisor.
The advisor was at first friendly, and he answered our questions, but my dislike for him grew after I asked my first question and while I know I wasn’t as eloquent as I could have been, and I was asking a question that required him to think more deeply than I was prompting him to do, he just looked at me and answered with this tone of “are you really asking that?” His air was so stuffy. And I do not like people like that. Furthermore, when the person after me asked a question, he remarks, “That is a very intelligent question.” OH! That was an intelligent question, eh? You are so rude. And it wasn’t even intelligent, it was SIMPLE. So excuse me if he likes the simple questions. Calming myself with no intention of giving up and giving him the satisfaction of knowing he pissed me off, I asked another question, “What other Islamic and scholarly institutions aid in the issuance of Fatwas?” He looks at me again with this air of supremacy, and says, “well, none, we do them ourselves…” RIIIIIGGGGHHHHT. I think he just didn’t like me because to the very next question he responds thatAl-Azhar helps in research, and that they get help from different institutions in order to get help with Fatwas concerning banking and interest, ect. I was so mad. Also, I received negative marks on my questions by few select members of my class. Well, they could all stuff themselves with their egos. I ignored them all.
Our next stop was to chat with a member of the National Democratic Party. Our speaker was a former professor at Cairo University and he was a very interesting man. I asked a question regarding women and the importance of the women’s movement in Egypt and I asked it rather inarticulately because I was the first one to ask a question, and because I, much to my chagrin, tried to dress it up instead of just asking it simply. Regardless, it was a good pertinent question, however, I received several looks from the above mentioned classmates. Anyway, I wasn’t the only one to receive bad marks on my questions, three other classmates received 8,9 or 10 -- tens being shown as Moose Ears-- on their questions (10 being an absolutely silly question in the opinion of these classmates—who may I add did not ask stellar questions). The man said that the women’s movement in Egypt did not come as a reflection of the movement in the West. In 1898 Qasim Amin wrote the Liberation of Women and since then there has been a shift in what constitutes the free woman. The fact that a majority of women wear the hijab or other Islamic dress is a recent phenomenon, in the past 25 years. He said, if you look at the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, and even ‘80s, you would see that the Egyptian woman looks like what American women look like now, there was hardly veiling and it was only the advent of Political and Military Islam that made the women veil now. Interesting perspective. He said that if you stand for principles of citizenship, then you believe in women’s rights and he lauded the fact that women were automatically given a percentage of seats. Though designation of seats retracts from democracy, it is essential to start somewhere. I find that I agree. If it were left up to the men, the women would not even have 64 seats in parliament.
The NDP holds all the power of government in their hands, and obviously does not see their monopoly of power as dangerous and stifling. It was a learning experience, speaking with a member of the dominant political party and seeing how they believe that their oppressive policies are in fact good for the country.
Anyway, after that, we drove back to the hotel and by the time we got off, I had started analyzing the imposed treatment of select classmates on the rest of the class. I realized that I had been putting up with it all semester. It was in less subtle ways, but their arrogance, demeaning behavior and rude, in your face remarks made my blood boil. I was absolutely fed up. I was glad I said something because the select four were given a talking to in which they were told that their behavior was not going to get them anywhere in the professional field. I would have normally just put up with this treatment, because people are always going to talk smack about other people, but there is a fine line between calling someone stupid and harassing them about it. I don’t put up with harassment thank you very much.
That night, we had a female political candidate. She was the most awesome person I had heard speak this entire semester. She was an older woman, part of a very old political family, a graduate from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and part of the WAFT party (opposition to NDP). She expounded on the difficulties women have while running, the difficulties of trying to get 6 million people to vote for her with limited resources, and how the state system favored the men. She was very real, she got perhaps ten calls in the hour that I was there. She had just come back from a rally and you could tell how excited she was. She’d been expressing all the problems and so I raised my hand to ask: “My classmates and I have all discussed different ways we would change the government, what is the platform you are running on? How do you intend to make change and help your constituents?” She was surprised that my class discussed possible changes. (This was not true, the closest my class got to it was on what we would do regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict- but I still regarded talking to Dr.T enough of a discussion) So surprised in fact that she says: “You have talked about governmental changes? Let’s hear them then!” I am flustered, not expecting this at all, and she goes, “nonsense, let’s hear it, I’ve been talking this entire time and its only right to put you on the spot.” I say a derivative of: “You’re the one whose running, this is wholly unfair!” And after a few more protests I say: “Well, I think changing people’s mindset about the country they live in is the best place to start, and you can start at the bottom by starting cleaning up the Nile.” To which she answers: “Nice thought, but impossible. What else do you have?” I then say “Reform the education system, start at a younger age…” --- “Like what?” I mumble something, and she answers, “Nice, but impossible,” and then she goes into how reform is not enough, you have to throw away the ENTIRE education system. That throwing it away goes hand in hand with the evolution of the world. “Teachers are no good here! Thinking here is that you can put ANY teacher in the kindergarten” and then change the students way of thinking at age 10-12 but “it’s too late!”
Sound familiar? I personally think we need an education overhaul in America too. After that, she went on to talk about how Islamists have no real solution to anything, but they are clever and are preying on the 30% of Egyptians who are not literate. Does THAT sound familiar too???
Anyway, it was an excellent lecture, and I am only sad I was unable to stay the whole time. Molly had studied in Egypt a few years ago, and was going to see her host family and she had invited me to go with her. So, we say our thank yous and goodbyes to the candidate, and hop on a cab to Molly’s host family. It took a while, but it was really nice to see more Egypt. There was a point in which next to an intersection, there was a whole bunch of cows. Haha. Half and hour later, we get to the house, Molly says hello to her host sisters and mother, and I am offered soda and cake (reminds me of my Tia in Mexico and how she served us pepsi and pancakes for breakfast. Then Molly starts to talking and I sit and sip my coke and miss my family something terrible. We start watching this movie that is mocking 300 and a lot of other movies, but it was pretty funny. Being with an Egyptian family provided good insight on the social culture of Egypt. After about two hours, we are driven to a part of town where we can catch a cab back. I fell asleep on the way back and then hit the hay. My throat starts feeling sore.
Monday November 8
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| Okay these notes are mirrored, but you can tell how crooked my writing becomes...i don't know why "Kangaroo" is written... hahaha |
After this though, we go to Khan Al-Khalili. A veritable force of a market. This tourist trap is where you can buy anything and everything! I had been looking forward to this the whole trip! Of course I was wide awake for this since I was walking around. Khan Al-Khalili Market was built in 1382! It was overwhelming. We ate first and a classmate and my professor ate pigeon. It was disgustingly fascinating. I didn’t watch them eat the entire time, but I saw enough. I don’t ever want to eat pigeon. I ordered koshary. Yuuuum. It was good, especially with the hot sauce. Then the group split up because half of us wanted to shop and forego going to another historic sight. Khan Al-Khalili was historic enough for us. PLUS, I really wanted to shop. I had just exchanged $160 dollars into pounds and felt RICH. I had barely spent anything before coming. So our armed body guard took us shopping. Hahha, what an image, our armed body guard telling us where the best stuff was. I saw so much jewelry that I wanted, but unlike in Jodan, the silver is weighed and then you find out how much it is. So I didn’t buy anything. I may or nomay not have purchased something for Luis, but that shall remain a mystery until I get home. Then the rest of the class came and we split up into bigger safer groups, and Molly and I shopped with Dr.T. That was fun. We got some stuff, but I was not completely satisfied even after two hours, with what I had purchased. My family gifts were not complete. But I cannot tell you what I bought because it will ruin the surprise. SO then after that, we are done and we go back.
I am then invited to spend some time with the diplomat’s son and some classmates. We go to a ridiculously fancy place. And at once I feel weird for being there. I had never been to a place where the richness was veritably OOZING from every pore. Plus, all we had to say was the diplomat son’s name and the people at the entrance stand straighter and take us more seriously. It was very uppity. We order, I get some coke and everyone else orders a meal and hooka. (I now know the smell of hooka by heart…and never want to smell it again.) Then after an hour and half the son comes and hey! Guess what? His family owns the place. So no wonder his name carried such weight. Anyway, it was an experience worthy of note because now I know that I don’t want to frequent that type of place, Thank You Very Much.TUESDAY NOVEMBER 9
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| We had to wear green... |
I sleep fitfully, and set my alarm. I wake up the next morning to the phone ringing. I bolt out of bed, and beg my roommate to answer the phone. She does. Its 8:57 am. Its Dr. T, he wants to know where we are. We were supposed to be down by 8:45 and in the bus by 9. I rush to the bathroom, not understanding how I fell asleep. I brush my teeth, change necessary garments, and I can’t recall if I washed my face. But I didn’t come my hair and I put my makeup in my bag and ran down the stairs. No body is in the lobby and I run into the bus. I sink down in my seat in a fit of embarrassment. I can’t speak and I KNOW that I look like utter and complete crapola. Anyway, we get to Egypt’s Medical Syndicate very early. We are not expected because the person talking to us forgot that we were supposed to be there! HAha, unfortunately this means that the meeting is rushed. The syndicate is based on the work of volunteers. They are not financially supported by the government and at one cannot practice medicine unless one is approved by them. They are a big deal. They are also responsible for the environment. There are 200,010 registered practicing physicians. They are part of the medical union, they regulate pensions, and one of the coolest things I heard the director say is that provide a lot of help in Gaza. I just read a note I wrote to myself after a page of notes: “I have not gone to the bathroom since yesterday! My bladder is dying.” And so it turns out I didn’t even pee that morning… which means that there is a very good chance I did not wash my face in the morning either. I really wanted to ask their policy on cloning, but I did not. The talk ended early because they are all volunteers and their time is valuable. So I relieve myself and sadly only have one tissue. I think by this point I ran out tissues.
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| So beautiful! |
I let the chaperone know that I was not feeling well and that I hadn’t felt well for the last three days. I think it was the fact that this was the third week in a row that we were traveling without much rest. However, I did not want to ask Dr.T for the time to leave. So we walk to where we will eat and we stop at a bookstore where I proceed to buy five books. Yay! I got my book fix for the trip. It was really hot in the bookstore and I feel a fever comin on. But I will not give in! We go to lunch and I eat a bowl of rice with GIZZARDS on top with marinara sauce drizzled on top. I ordered it because I was accused of being narrow food minded. Sooooooooo. I ate liver! And several pieces of it too. I started thinking of what I was eating and I had to give the remaining pieces to the one who accused me. Also, I ATE DUCK! I tried duck just so that I could tell you LOVELY FRIGGIN READERS that I ate duck. It was aight. Then we get on the bus, and make our merry way to Coptic Cairo. By this time, I am burning up, but I don’t want to leave. So we go and walk around, go to a Coptic church that has no foundation and is known as a floating church.
The art here is amazing and I buy a few things before I throw in the towel. I feel absolutely awful, and I can’t stay there anymore. I ask Dr.T if I can leave and I go with my chaperone. I fall asleep in the cab ride, I am feverish, my throat is basically raw and I know I am ridiculous looking. I know that I slept with my mouth open that cab ride, but heres what goes through my head: “Mouth is open lupe, you must clothes your mouth [mouth tries to move]…ahhh…to tired to try to close mouth” and fall back to sleep. There is a fear expressed by Dr.T and my chaperone that I will not be able to go to Alexandria the next day, but I resolutely refuse to be licked by this sickness so I go to my room and sleep. Though its only 2 pm, I sleep until 6 and then go back to sleep until 2 am, and then go to sleep again until 6 am where I proceed to get dressed for Alexandria.
Wednesday November 10- LAST DAY IN EGYPT
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| The Library |
We leave really early (the hotel made us boxed bfasts…I like it and think I am the only one…) because it’s a three hour ride to Alexandria. We get there around 9 am-ish and its soooo much cleaner than Cairo. That’s the first thing I notice. The Mediterranean Sea is beautiful! We don’t go to the water directly though. We first go to an fortress. It’s cool and there are a lot of students there. Molly and I walk and admire the place when suddenly we are bombarded by a group of adolescent boys. They ask us where we are from and we respond America and they ask us if they can take pictures with us, and we say sure…thinking it was the same as with the Giza pyramids. NOPE. ITS NOT. I am between two boys and they KISS my cheek! Eek! I was not prepared for that, and I was really mad and tried my best to leave, grabbing Molly, but not before they kiss her and LAUGH their heads off. We explore the rest of the fortress, take some pics, are wary of the groups of boys we pass, and then we get on the bus. We stop at another Mosque. We go to the women’s section. I understand I need to cover my hair because I am being respectful, but at this point, I was frustrated by the fact that the mosque itself was partitioned and I was not even allowed to see the whole place! I was so annoyed. And I started thinking, if this is a place of worship, and God is above gender, then it doesn’t make sense to stop women from seeing the rest of the mosque. There were no partitions in any of the other mosques we visited. I will leave it at that. Ask me if you have any questions.
Then we wanted to give the rest of our boxed breakfasts to the homeless woman with her child that was sitting before the women’s section in front of the mosque. We were really excited because there was a lot of bread and jelly and what not, but the driver and our armed escort did not want us feeding them! How rude! We should be able to GIVE our food to whomever we want! WE were paying a pretty pound for the hotel and the food. So it was OURS not THEIRS to give away. But we make it an unspoken rule to listen to a foreign government official with a gun.
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| I was in the elevator in the library... I was so pathetically sick... |
We drive on to another amphitheatre. Its cool, but we only stay there for a few minutes. The tension is rising. We want to go to the beach real bad! Then we go to the Alexandria Library. And I want to stay there for hours. It’s beautiful! A work of architectural genius. Too soon we must leave and I didn’t even get to go to the bookshop! Only Jamie understands that we are in the Alexandria LIBRARY. C’Mon PEOPLE. Anyway, I take my time because at this point, I don’t care to deal with anyone and I’m not gonna put up with anyone’s shenanigans. I buy a few postcards, keychains and shot glasses. Hhaha…I think I’m the only person in the world who would buy shot glasses for family from a LIBRARY. Hahaha, makes me feel happy. The Muslim culture is so lucky. There are sooo many historic artifacts and educational tools at their disposal. It is little wonder that they were the seat of knowledge and they want to regain that prominence. I only wish the government would get its act together and help the people out.
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| I admit... i was being emo when I took this pic! |
Then we leave and are on our way to the beach. It takes us a while because we have to check with a few places, but we eventually get to a small beachfront, and we pay to use the bathroom to change (and let me tell you, by that point I am fed up with paying for bathroom use, too!) But I change and then I soak up the rays before wading in the water just so that I could say that I was in the Mediterranean Sea.
I also took a lot of pics using my self timer because I didn’t want to ask people to take pics of me. We ate dinner, but I didn’t eat very much because my skin started to crawl looking at the fish we were eating. I couldn’t do it. So I ate a bit, but the first bite had itty bitty fish spinal bone and I couldn’t continue. Then we left, and I was determined to go to back to Khan Al-Khalili and even though it took us three hours to get back (it was 9:30), I went back to the market with my prof, the armed guard and two classmates. It was a HUGE success! Can’t tell you what I got cuz it’s a surprise (but not for you). Then I showered, dressed for the next day, brushed my teeth and did my make-up to sleep in and was in bed, but was invited out. Even though I was sick, and on the road to recovery, I was convinced to go out. I sat with everyone and found out entirely too much about the group and had too much hooka smoke blown in my face.
I went to sleep for two hours, woke up at 5, was downstairs by 5:30 because I was already dressed.
THURSDAY November 11
We pile our luggage in the van, and I swear I don’t know how mine is so heavy. I bought so much stuff. I don’t want to think about the trip back to California. Anyway, I was miserable. I lacked sleep, I was extremely irritated and everyone except Molly and Dr.T bothered me. We get on the plane, my nose is leaking and I can’t turn it off, and my red-rimmed eyes make me look absolutely pathetic. The plane is huge and has three isles. Think Home Alone plane. I’m in the middle isle at the end, thank God. I start watching Flipped (click on it!!) and its so adorable. Then we take off, and I sit back for the 5.5 hour plane ride. GOODBYE EGYPT! I WILL RETURN! I LOVED THE TRIP!!!
I also watch something else, but I can’t remember. I may have slept. Oh, I sing a dirge that memory fails me. As we land, my ears stop working. There is such an intense pain that I almost cry. The anti-inflammatory pills I took did nothing! (~I feel compelled to add that I took a lot of pills in the days that I was sick. 3 the first day, two the day after and two on the way back to the States.) Then we land in London I still can’t hear from my right ear, and we wait around a bit, Molly and I chill at chic little place. I buy ice cream. I pay because I owe her money, but instead of being $6 like we thought, it was 12 point something pounds!!! Then I get the change back and its in POUNDS! Not one to waste, I go and buy some candy from a vendor. But I can’t tell you what I bought, rest assured it’s not for you!
Then we get on the train back to the States! I am so happy, more happy than I thought I would be! The entire time though, Molly and I are sharing our homesickness. We both wish we were on our way back to the West Coast! I watch Beauty and The Beast, most of Flipped again and Romona and Beezus. It was SO cute! I loved it! Family, we have to watch it. I almost cried. Then we landed!
I felt like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjlIKuVCEsE go to 2:26… Anyway… I was soo happy! I was all smiles even though I couldn’t hear and my ears ached like no other! I went in line for customs and the cutesy poopsy girl ahead of me was asked how she liked her trip and she had the guy smiling and all happy and they were chatting up a storm and then I go, he asks me where I went and why and when I say “It was a field study of Contemporary Islam and culture” he doesn’t say very much to me after that. He types things on his computer for a bit, asks me what I brought back. And then he hands me my passport and says “Welcome Home”. With a silly grin plastered on my face, I say THANK YOU!!! And I practically skip (I actually do) to get my luggage and go outside. I breathe in deeply, and think about how lucky I am! I love being an American. There are so many privileges afforded to me, because as my professor of Biological Anthropology said this summer, I “hit the biological jackpot being born here.” It was crispy cold and I was on the first bus back to AU. People pay attention to traffic signs!!! There are three definable lanes on the freeway and I don’t feel like I am flying down the freeway!! I was happppppy to be back! Our team leader Eric gave us frail females positions in his imaginary platoon (is there a smaller unit?). I forget what I was but it was fun and it took up the time. Then before I knew it, we were back at AU and I was opening my door, being greeted by my roommates, and unpacking! I was back.
That weekend
I didn’t go to sleep till 3 am that day. I did laundry, registered for classes, and caught up on my internet browsing. I finally fell asleep rather tired. I slept in that day because I was in Cairo time still. Then I kinda just chilled, didn’t do very much. I think I played two games of pool with Amalee and I won once, but I lost all skill I had cultivated prior to leaving. I ate at Tenley and was VERY happy. Everybody grumbles about Tenley food, but I like it. I take advantage of every opportunity I have to eat. People take that for granted too. My stomach didn’t appreciate it because it was used to Arabic food. I can never win. Haha.
Then on Friday, I woke up at 8am, went to Rosslyn and awaited the arrival of Elizabeth Hatch to DC! We were attending a conference called the Ignatian Family Teach-In with Santa Clara’s Campus Ministry. I saw her, and it was like a little ray of sunlight and home! I was so happy! We toured DC a bit before the conference started and I was changed for the better due to that conference. I realized how important my faith is and how my faith calls me to action. Social Justice is a passion of mine and I love helping humanity. This conference gave me a needed refueling of my justiceometer. I am an agent of change imbued, by God, with a spirit of power! I realized how great SCU is in living out the Ignatian values, but that we still need work, and I will be that vehicle of change! I was so excited to go back to SCU and make change. I was also determined to help the Palestinian refugees at the Soof camp. I still need to talk to a lot of people, but I need to help my brothers and sisters who are struggling.
That conference also raised questions about my future graduating. Do I apply for the Peace Corps or Jesuit Volunteer Corps? I want to serve, and I know that I will, but I also want the support of the Church…
Anywhooo, I was empowered and Dr.T snarkily said that the Second Baptism at the Baptism site in Jordan worked! Hahaha…too true Dr.T!
The rest of the last two weeks
I went to my internship and it was okay to be back. Then I went to class and no one really spoke, it was still too soon to be around each other. Ahaha…
Then it was Harry Potter and then I worked on my paper, and then I went back to my internship on Monday and left early (with permission) on Tuesday, and then Wednesday I did not do much, worked a bit on my paper. I watched TANGLED!!! BEST MOVIE EVER!!! I AM IN LOVE WITH IT!!! I got ready and walked to the theater, bought my ticket and waited in line with five other parents with their kids. It was a 3D movie and I was the only one there over the age of 10 without a parental unit. While I didn’t care, I thought it was hilarious. I needed to watch this movie! I had waited tooo long! And the wait was worth it. I want a real life Flynn Ryder. I would like to watch it again. Any takers? I prefer not to go to the movies BYMYSELF! Haha…
Then Thursday was Thanksgiving and that was fun! I was missing the family very much, and I was able to video chat with them. We ate our dinner at 3:30. We made turkey thighs, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, asparagus, cranberry sauce, and I enjoyed my chocolate wine. I felt like such a grownup! Then we hung out with some professionals in the political world and once again I found myself watching others smoke hooka and feeling my face clog. But it was okay. We come back I sleep and now you are pretty much up to date!
On Saturday night, I watched Sleeping with the Enemy, (it’s a Julia Roberts bonanza I guess) and Good Will Hunting with Laila and Amalee. My hamsters!
Okay. Well this is ridiculously long now and I am tired of writing. I started writing at about 11 am….and oh look, its 11 pm. I paused to eat lunch, ride the metro back and eat. I have written for too long. NO wonder I still have a headache. But you are now on par with me. OH! I got a twitter. Follow me @Ggreyes8
P.s. ***** I will become President of the United States one day. Don't worry Maria, I don't believe that I won't get very far...I KNOW that I Will... ****
Okay I have to work on my homework! This was a necessary break.
peace.
You got a twitter?! I love you.
ReplyDeleteHatchet, do you have a twiter, too?!
ReplyDelete