Three Days in Cairo

 Where to even start…

How about Sunday?  Sunday was my first day on campus at AUC.  I forced myself to stay up until 2AM Sunday morning and then I had to turn around and wake up at 7AM, 5 hours later, in order to go to the school.  I did this to try and beat jet lag.  it’s still something I am working on.

Let me start out by saying that I love AUC campus, not just like, LOVE! 

The morning started out with a 45 minute commute on the bus from Zamalek to New Cairo.  I really enjoyed this ride because unlike the ride prior, it was sunny and I could see everything.  The driving was just terrifying, but amazingly enough, you get used to it.  On the bus I observed the whole city flying by.  It was shocking to me and also very interesting how there were apartments on top of apartments on top of apartments, and ugly run down buildings and then BOOM! all of a sudden a massive gorgeous mosque would be there  or a beautiful building, then back to the crumbling structures.  The city grew up around the beautiful original structures.

Another thing that struck me is the massive presence of armed (heavily so) police nearly every corner.  The people here are very oppressed and VERY poor.  It really is humbling to know how much we waste that would go to use for these people.  It isn’t the Ethiopian pictures we have seen on the give a dollar to feed a kid for a month commercials, but it’s pretty bad.

Anyway, I digress, back to AUC.  After the bus ride, we headed to the conference center where we were greeted with breakfast and drinks.  I have learned to hoard water when they offer it for free.  I am stocking up. After breakfast I signed in and received a messenger bag filled with goodies.  Inside was a guidebook to Cairo (a blog unto itself,) a stainless steel travel mug, a map of Cairo, a student guide/assignment book, a pen, and a few other things.  It was nice and the bag is really nice.

I signed up and paid for several trips some to landmarks (pyramids, Nile, Alexandria,) and some to cultural events (Khan El Khalili bazaar, and Bedouin Nights.)  I am hoping to have enough to go on the one I really really want to go on; to Luxor and Aswan.  (the Sphinx among other things) It’s a four day boat ride on the Nile with stops at the major landmarks.  It will cost 2000-2500L.E which is almost $500 American, so it’s up in the air.  I may have to see if someone back home will help me out.   I may never get this chance again.

The main thing I spent Sunday doing was trying to get myself into the Survival Arabic course.  I didn’t have the $350 American that it cost and they wanted it up front.  I spent the day with the sweetest woman (Thank you, Amal!) who was on the phone pretty much all day trying to find out if I could set up some sort of payment system.  The end result was to have me sit in on the classes until they decide.  It works out for me because I am picking it up and it really has been helpful.  It also gives me a head start, because I have 9 hours of Arabic this semester and however many at home, so I like to be a little ahead of the curve.

They served a really great lunch on Sunday too (stocked up on more water.)  Lunch was three pitas stuffed with different things.  The first was stuffed with foul (fool)  foul is reminiscent of refried beans, but has a much richer flavor.  The second was falafel. This is a fried bread type product that has a flavor that is hard to describe but is very yummy.  It was stuffed in the pita with lettuce, tomato, and a sauce.  The third and by far the most interesting to me was stuffed with French fries, the same sauce, the same veggies, and served with ketchup.  Very strange, but not unpleasant.  These pitas were served with a side of pickles.  Pickles in Egypt are not like in the States.  these are carrots, turnips, peppers, and tiny lemons put in a spicy pickling sauce.  they are very spicy and I didn’t find them to my liking.

We met with the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.  He is amazing.  He has a long long history in the art world, worldwide.  His list of credentials is longer than my arm and they are all related with the world of visual art.  I spoke with him for awhile, I couldn’t help myself!  At AUC the performing and visual arts are a department within the College of Arts and Sciences,  unlike Tech, where is is it’s own college.

The next big thing I did was my first day in Survival Arabic.  I had missed one day, so I was a bit behind, but Sh’ reen (my instructor) did a quick review of EVERYTHING they had done the day prior, and I picked most of it up pretty quickly.  This class runs from 1:30 until 6:15.  By the end of it, I am so ready for a nap which, I get on the 45 minute ride back to Zamalek.

End of full day 1, I ate at the Euro Café.  I had souvlaki which is kind of like a gyro but the pita is toasted and the meat is chicken or beef, not beef/lamb.  The tzaziki sauce is much more garlicky here too.  Mmmm!  The Euro Café gives AUC students a 20% discount, but I still ended up spending 40L.E  which in my opinion is too much for food here.  They made really good coffee though.

I went back on Monday to campus and got another lunch, breakfast, four bottles of water, and another day of Arabic.  (by far my favorite part.  I really love learning it.)  Monday night; however, I went to dinner with my friend Veronica, and we went to Alex Top.  Alex Top serves koshary, which is a mix of two types of noodles, lentils, chickpeas, and fried onions that are reminiscent of French’s onions.  This is all served with a tomato based sauce.  It was fabulous and I only spent $1.23 American and I was stuffed.  Needless to say, I went back again tonight!

Today, today was much more interesting.  By being one day late, I missed signing up for some of the trips because they filled up.  Today was one of those trips, the trip to Old (or Coptic/Islamic) Cairo and the Khan El Khalili bazaar.  I decided that I would just show up at 8AM and see if there was space for me and turns out there was.

We spent the day touring Mosques, Coptic Churches, and antiquated Synagogues that dated back to 700AD and I think even a few years earlier. I was in Art History heaven.  All day long I think I stood there with my mouth hanging open in awe.  I took zillions of pictures.  (you can find them on my Facebook. d.capulus@gmail.com )  After the tours, we headed into the area known as Khan El Khalili, which is most famous for it’s bazaar.  this is bargainers heaven.  if you are willing to argue, you can get a great deal.  today I talked a vendor down from 50L.E to 15L.E on a scarf because I just wouldn’t back down.  I felt so triumphant and I am going to wear my new pink scarf tomorrow.   

Today is a national Holiday, so we were out of school and that is why they planned this trip.  However, there was a huge political something going on and tens of thousands of citizens started rioting.  They descended on Zamalek while all of us students were in Old Cairo.  Needless to say, they put us all back on the buses and evacuated us to New Cairo (a thirty minute commute) and then put us back on the buses about thirty minutes after that and took us home to Zamalek (another 45 minute commute.)  I think they did this to give the police a chance to get things under control.  Sadly, the police are a part of the reason for the riots.

I uploaded all my photos when I got in and took a nap.  all the stairs in the Coptic churches and all the walking other than that had me completely worn out, but I had the best time and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Tomorrow night, after Arabic, I am signed up for another group to go to the bazaar.  maybe this time I will have more than ten minutes…

So, I Will Never Drive in Cairo....Ever!

My Night:

• Land in Cairo
• Get Visa (shiny sticker as it turns out)
• Go through Immigration
• Leave Immigration and head down to baggage claim
• They lost my luggage (took thirty minutes to determine it was still in London, good news is, they deliver)
• Go through the area where you declare items (since I had none of my items, I had nothing to declare)
• Find guy with AUC sign and we go get in the car/van thingy.

This is where it gets good.  Turns out there really are no traffic laws in Cairo. Sure, there are lines painted on the streets, but those are merely suggestions.  Also, no posted speed limit signs..not that I could read anyway. I know at one point we were going 110km/h.  Put the speed in with a street that has suggestive lines delegating it as a two lane road  when in reality there are five.  If you look down the road ahead of you, it looks comparable to 400 third graders trying to get to a candy tray right outside a doorway.  Most of the time, even at 110,I could have reached out a window and shook hands with the person driving next to us and several times I thought we were going to die. Oh, and forget being a pedestrian.  You can be walking down a street with no one but you in it and a car will come through beeping its horn at you.  yeah, and just for the record, turns out the rumors are true.  While walking around the area looking for a shop that will take American $$$ AND has blankets, I got whistled at on 8 or 9 different occasions.  I chose to be flattered, and I have decided I need to make a friend boy soon.

Back to my list

• I get to the dorm, which is lucky considering the drive and get checked it
• get a room key and head up to the room where I discover...I don't have a blanket.  Evidently only the dorms on the main campus come equipped with blankets and towels.
• So, not only am I without most of my things, clean clothing included, I have no blanket.  Or pajamas.

Thank God I stole the airplane blanket from Continental.

The Final Leg of the Journey

I am about two hours out from Cairo.  This flight has been very nice.  The jet is the same size as the one I took from Houston, but I am on the opposite side.  This makes twice that I have seen the sunset from the sky.

Today I got to sit next to a beautiful older Arabic speaking man.  He was kind enough to speak with me about the language and to encourage me to consider teaching English as a second language to Arabic speaking peoples.  He informed me that those who speak both languages are in great demand, educationally speaking, throughout the middle east.  It’s an exciting thought.  I’m not going to put the cart before the carriage though.  First, to see how I do with the language itself.

I slept the first hour and an half of this trip.  I didn’t even hear the safety information.  I leaned against the window as soon as we were off the ground and I was gone until I started smelling coffee and dinner.

I woke up just in time to miss the warm cloth one sometimes gets on flights to freshen up the skin and energize.  Dang it!

Dinner was very impressive.  This time despite my deep love of chicken, I chose beef.  It was awesome.  Several strips of very tender beef cooked in a sauce (no clue what it was,) saffron rice, a salad with lettuce, cucumber, and olives and what was called rich dressing (YUM!) Included also was a wheat roll, a tiny tub of butter, a wedge of Laughing Cow spreadable cheese, and a piece of carrot/spice cake.  They followed it all with a perfect cup of coffee.  It really was perfect.

I am a bit frustrated with myself (not too much, just kind of shocked.) I played that Arabic game for hours and hours yesterday on the flight from Houston to London and though I know I could win again and again if it were right in front of me, I can’t remember much of it to just spout it out.  I definitely need to learn this in a classroom/immersion setting.  I think the hardest part will be re-teaching myself so I can read from right to left.

I will be in Cairo soon.  Eeeeeeeee!

What exactly is a British Pound?

The flight from Houston to London was uneventful, which in my opinion is always a good thing when one is flying above 2000 miles of ocean.  They served a snack and several beverages followed by a meal which smelled heavenly but was lacking in flavor, several more beverages later and a morning snack (heavenly) was served.  I never eat breakfast, so that croissant and cup of melon was perfect for me.  They even served the croissant warm!

Back to the flight…because my original flight was missed, I lost my beautiful window seat assignment.  Prior to boarding the new flight I requested a window seat and the boarding agent gave me the hook up.  I had an entire row (3 seats) to myself!!!  Woo Hoo!

The truly beautiful thing about reeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyy long flights is that they have equally cool amenities. Along with the customary reclining seat and amazing service; I was able to watch new release movies, listen to pretty much any kind of music I wanted to, play games of all varieties ( I chose one that gave me an intro to Arabic,) and I was able to charge my laptop and Touch the entire way, all from the back of the seat in front of me.  The only thing I was unable to do…sleep.

So now I am literally beyond exhaustion.  I am functioning on several tiny cups of coffee on the flight, and two very expensive (by my standards) cappuccinos.  OMG, they are amazingly good though. I am hoping these two cappuccinos will get me through two more hours until I get on the flight to Cairo.  It’s a nice long flight in which I plan to sleep the whole way even if it means leaning on my seat mates.

I am actually worrying about finances now.  I have spent nearly $30 on two cups of coffee and ten minutes of internet time.  American money isn’t worth nearly as much as British money.  Seriously, I bought a cappuccino, handed the woman at the counter a $20 and she gave me back 8 Pounds and some change.  (To my British friends, forgive my lack of a Pound sign, I can’t seem to find it on this laptop.) It literally makes me nauseous with worry.  I am terrified that I will be stranded somewhere with no finances to support myself.  I wasn’t anticipating this exchange rate, only Cairo’s.  Hopefully I am worrying for no reason. 

One thing I was anticipating, I miss the kids and my roommate.  I am still in mommy vacation mode, but when I think about four months abroad without them and then two more when I get home and they are at their dad’s, it makes me kinda sad.  My roommate I miss a considerable amount.  I wish she were here with me as I sit in this airport café and listen to all the beautiful languages around me.  I would love to have had her on my flight looking out at the Atlantic (when I could see it.) It would have been a nice experience to have shared with someone.

All in all, this trip has been perfect so far.  It is still so overwhelming that it’s real and that I am no longer in the United States.  I never thought, in a million years, I would get to do this while I am still so young.  It’s a dream come true already.  I have some pretty amazing people in my life and I am more than grateful for each one. 

You made this possible for me.

 

Up in the Air

I just flew Over New York City and right before that I flew over Washington DC.  It’s funny.  I waited so long to do what I have always wanted to; see the world, and I still haven’t seen my home.  I find it funny and a little bit sad that my first view of the Statue of Liberty and our capital is from the air.  I know they are down there, but I can’t see them clearly.

I haven’t climbed to the crown of Lady Liberty and looked out over New York.  Four generations ago, she was the hope of my grandmother’s family.  She was reassurance and a sign that there was nothing left to fear.  I haven’t seen it.

I have always known that the United States was a refuge to many many people.  I have always taken it for granted that I could pretty much say what I want and do what I want and believe what I want.  We are working on the “love who I want” part, but we have it pretty good.  I didn’t realize how proud I was of my home until I realized I hadn’t seen it. 

I’m flying around the world and I am so very excited.  I told the shuttle driver, who took me to the airport this morning, that I was from Montana and how much I loved it.  I told him that I loved Texas too, which I do, it’s just never going to be home to me.  I told him that the most exciting part of going to Cairo (aside from the fact that I’M GOING TO CAIRO, is going somewhere so culturally different.  It really is incredible.  He told me about how he ended up in Houston, TX from Pakistan.  It was a good conversation.

We are on our way to fly over Halifax, Nova Scotia and St.John’s and we still have 3300 miles to go.  We haven’t even started flying over open ocean. 

I don’t know if my friend, Caryn, can read my blogs, being that she is traveling the world by sea this semester, but if you can and are, I am thinking about you tonight.  I hope you are well tonight, on the ocean, while I am flying over it.

Barely Out of the Gate

 

An hour prior to my flight, all keyed up to go, nervous, excited and I will admit, slightly terrified; I kissed the kiddos and the BFF goodbye and went through security.  Or tried to anyway….I thought I had gotten all the metal off, but no, I forgot my belt.  Then, I forgot my keys and tin of Burt’s Bees lip balm.  Then, I forgot my iPod.  Finally, I got through the detector…only to get nabbed for random security screening.  This was simple, I had to let them run a cloth over my hands and scan them for chemicals.  This is humorous because the only chemicals I mess with are used to clean the bathroom and, to be honest, that doesn’t happen very often.  While I am glad that there is so much security, leave it to me to get caught for random additional security.  I am the most innocuous woman in the world.  I’ve seen COPS way too many times to screw this up.

Remember how I said an hour before my flight?  Yeah, not so much.  My flight was nearly an hour late, eating up my  one hour layover to my connecting flight and though I ran with all my might,not a small feat in my current physical condition, when I got to my gate to board my flight from Houston to London, it had been gone for five minutes. To say this put a damper on my plans is a small thing.

Let’s just talk about the complicated process of rebooking all new flights.  You wouldn’t think it would be very complicated, but I booked through Cheap Tickets (hey, it was cheap) and when you book with them, if you miss one flight they cancel the rest.  This includes your return tickets.  Another lovely complication is that my flight out of London is on another airline so the follow-on airline had to be contacted in order to guarantee me a seat.  Well, Egyptair was closed.  So we rebooked all my flights aside from the flight from London to Cairo and then the returning flight from Cairo to London. 

Good news, kinda, I got a discounted rate on an airport hotel with a shuttle that still cost me over $70, but hey what’s $70 when you only have $1000 and you have to buy textbooks, right?  On top of this, I had to buy the meal that was going to be served on the flight I missed.  Thankfully, there was a Jason’s Deli (can we say pastrami and rye, Hello!).  Enough about how broke I am.

If you are going to stay at an airport hotel, Econolodge is pretty okay.  I got a non-smoking room on the ground floor and was expecting a dive where I wouldn’t want to turn off the lights and I would need to sleep on top of the blankets.  What I got was a large very clean room with a king sized bed.  There was a slightly separated space with a couch, coffee table, and a  small table set up as a desk.  The room had a large television, a microwave, a refrigerator and a teeny tiny coffee pot (the only improvement needed; a larger coffee pot.  The restroom was very clean and spacious as well.  Seriously though, even if it had been a dive, there was a Jason’s Deli in walking distance, enough said.

I woke up, well woke up would be extremely inaccurate, because I was too stressed out to sleep, but I finally got out of bed and went to the lobby to partake of the continental breakfast. I don’t know how any one else sees it, but I have always thought it should be called the the prepackaged, been here awhile breakfast.  I enjoyed two pieces of toast with strawberry jelly, a cup of coffee, a tiny bowl of raisin bran ( I had forgotten how yummy that is) and a donut from Officer Donut (love the name, the mascot:  a donut dressed as a cop.) Oh, I also had three more little cups of coffee.

After checking my Facebook, I packed up and took the shuttle back to the airport where I made it through security on the first try.  Woo Hoo!  I went to the desk where I had been helped the night prior and everything was situated.  I have flights and my bag should (fingers crossed) end up in Cairo at the same time I do.  The only big negative is that I will be missing the first day of orientation at AUC. 

So, here I sit.  Near a huge window in the concourse food court.  I have just enjoyed a way too expensive but oh so delicious Greek salad and small portion of chicken ziti salad and yet another (this time large) cup of coffee.  I got lucky and found an organic restaurant/kiosk which when compared with other places was equally expensive so I went the yummy, veggie route.  I really enjoyed that salad, it may become a new staple in my food regimen.  This cup of coffee is equally phenomenal.  I have to wonder though;  would the bottom of the pot, found at a truck stop, may have been there for a week cup of coffee taste just as good considering how tired I am?  Like the tootsie pop owl says, “the world may never know.”

One More Full Day…

It’s Tuesday night and I leave Thursday afternoon.  I am beyond excited and so nervous.  I am a mom.  Do mom’s do this?  What if I forget how airports work or if I fall asleep in the terminal and miss a flight.  It’s a 20 hour process, I could fall asleep.  What if I forget something important?  What if I didn’t try hard enough to learn the things I needed to learn prior to leaving?

Everything I have read talks about the panic before the actual departure.  After I walk through security at the airport, it is complete “do what I have to do” mode.  I have to get where I am going.  Once there, I can figure the rest out.

Cairo has 20 million people in it.  I have been in LA, Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, and Anchorage, AK (far far smaller.)  I am having a hard time conceiving of that many people. 

I picture in my mind this old society.  I don’t know why, even after reading and looking through pictures, that Cairo is wrapped in the sense of extreme antiquity.  In between the images I have in my head of the busy city streets I have seen here, the history I have studied, and the reading I have done on Cairo today, I still have this..not romantic, but historical attachment to the depth and length of the history there.

I know that I will see extreme poverty.  The poverty there is worse than anything I can grasp based on the poverty I have both lived and seen here. 

Another biggee for me is that I have 10+ tattoos that all need to stay pretty covered, I am a woman, so modesty is a must, and I don’t know with 100% confidence that I have a good grasp of the attire expected of me beyond that.

Finances are a HUGE concern.  Right now the exchange rate for the US Dollar to the Egyptian Pound is 6 to $1 American.  I just don’t know how much things there cost.  I got every scholarship I had time to apply for.  I hope the money I have to go with and my monthly inheritance is enough to keep me afloat and to still be able to do and see the things I am there to do.  why travel around the world if I am just going to stay in a dorm, right?

There are so many fears to be faced in doing something like this.  There are fears you don’t even recognize.  I know that I have been having strange dreams and haven’t been sleeping well, but I couldn’t tell you what I was dreaming about.  I must check my email 30 times a day and my bank account the same amount.  Once I am on the plane, it isn’t possible for the other shoe to drop, but right now, it’s still entirely possible for something to happen.  Right now, I am just doing everything I can do and praying that I did every single thing I could and can.

8 Day Countdown

     8 days left until I leave for Cairo.  Time seems to be going so fast and so slow all at the same time.  Back in September, when I still didn't believe this could happen, I felt like I was running out of time to do everything I was going to need to do in order to make it.  


     I had scholarships to write for, applications to fill out, destinations and programs to look though until I found the one that most perfectly fit my goals, desires, and to be completely honest, my finances.  Are my essays going to be good enough?  Will my letters of recommendation get there in time?  Will I, a single mom, actually be able to go overseas and study for four months?


     Well, I did it.  I wrote for the scholarships, I arranged for the care of my children and it's phenomenal care.  I ate, drank and slept scholarship essays.  I contacted three different universities, that I had attended over the course of my almost ten year marriage and had them send countless transcripts all over the country.  I drank my coffee every morning for two weeks over edits and lists....but I did it.  I am going to Egypt!


     All that is left now is preparation.  The HIV test, the TB test, the gathering of prescriptions and new eyeglasses are done.  The scholarships have been awarded and spent on tuition, dorm fees, and a bus pass that will take me the 45 minutes from my dorm (In the middle of Cairo) to the campus of The American University in Cairo (AUC.)  Airline tickets are purchased (who knew that it was so expensive to go overseas?) I felt so triumphant clicking that "Purchase Now" link!


     The predominant cultural group in Cairo is Muslim.  It going to be a big adjustment for me and as much as a lot of people here in the states have many many preconceived notions as to how the culture treats women, Americans, or anyone not them, I am still so excited to go and to experience a culture different from mine.  I chose Egypt because it wasn't the United States.  


    Now I just have to pack....