Egypt: Living in the Nile

             Ahlan Ahlan to the next installment of Living on the Nile. Ok I’m going to attempt to not sound like a cheesy radio personality in this entry. Basically this entry has no structure what so ever, except that I am just going to talk about things I have done and seen so far, in no particular order. First off it is import to understand the structure of the City of Cairo. It is split up in many different neighborhoods, all with their own names and specific demographics. I cannot begin to explain them all, but just as a reference, unless I say I have gone outside of Cairo, all the names of places I talk about are neighborhood in Cairo. One of my favorite places in Cairo, so far, is Islamic Cairo. Islamic Cairo is an old part of the city that encompasses an area from Khan el-Khalili to the Citadel, and beyond. I have found that this area of the city has some of the best ahwa’s, or café’s, and restaurants. Now when I say restaurants, this is not a restaurant by American standards. They can range from glorified street food, to tiny little one room shops with a few tables. Most Americans would be appalled by the cleanliness standards in some of these places, but the food is absolutely amazing. The rule of thumb I have found is going to a place where there are a lot of Egyptians eating. If the locals eat there, it is probably good. Last weekend my roommate and I went down to Al-Azhar mosque and decided to eat dinner. The mosque is right by Khan el-Khalili, a very touristy area, therefore the tourist restaurants are way overpriced, and generally not places I choose to eat at. We decided to wander around back ally streets until we found a place that was suitable to eat at. I decided not to take any pictures out of respect for the people there who did not want their picture taken, but if my mother saw this place I guarantee she would have not eaten there and would have soon sat in the car. However, the food was quite possibly some of the best I have had in since I arrived in Cairo. I had half a chicken, rice salad, bread, potatoes with mystery meat, and grape leaves for under $2 American. I would love to go back, but I don’t think I could find the place again if I tried. But that’s enough about food.

          Al-Azhar is architecturally amazing on in the inside and out. You walk through the main gate into a large marble courtyard. One the far end of the courtyard is the largest carpeted open space I have ever seen. This is the mosque its self with high ceiling littered with big wood beams. It is one of the oldest working universities in the world and a very spiritually moving place. I have never heard an Athan, or call to prayer, as loud and as clear as the one from Azhar. Pictures of Azhar will be posted below. Sorry I have to cut this short again, however, Liverpool is playing in 10 minutes and I can’t miss this game. As always send me some comments and questions and I will respond as quickly as I can.

Salam wa rahmatuallah wa barakatu,

Matthew Guckenberg

Cairo, Egypt, 2/25/09

                Ahlan all to another installment of Living in the Nile.  I’m assuming some of you may be wondering why I titled my blog “Living in the Nile?” Well it’s because that is where I am.  The dorm that I live in is on an island known as the Gizera, in a neighborhood called Zamalek.  Therefore, I am actually in the Nile.  Ok now that we have that out of the way, we can get down to business.  Today my main discussion topic is sidewalks.  Yes, that’s right sidewalks.  I know many of you may be thinking, what is there to talk about concerning sidewalks, you walk on them?  Ahhh, but herein lies the problem., it seems that in Cairo sidewalks are not for walking at all, but rather for all sorts of other activities.  I have found that most sidewalks are taken up by people sitting in chairs, smoking, loitering, selling various things, and security guard posts.  And don’t let me forget the possibly illegal parking half on the sidewalk, half on the road. So you may be wondering where you walk then.  That’s a very simple answer, the road.  Yes the road the thing that in America is designed only for cars, here in Egypt seems to be a anything that wants to walk drive, crawl or mosey its way to anywhere sort of surface.  Now don’t get me wrong you can walk on the sidewalks, I do it, just not as often as I would anywhere else.  Some of you may be thinking, well isn’t walking on the road dangerous, and the answer is yes, yes it is. It is very dangerous, but oh so much fun.  Crossing the street in Cairo is like playing frogger.  Only in Cairo you only get one life.   Ok but enough with my ranting, let’s move on this weekend’s excursions.

                Cairo is an extremely large city, and there are many ways to travel around.  There is a wonderful metro system and cabs are always handy, but I much prefer to walk.  You get to see more of the city and experience what Cairo is like from street level.  There are so many wonderful smells and sounds coming from shop and alleyway. …… Ok sorry I have post pone this section and tell you about what just happened.  A bomb went off in front of the Al-Hussein Mosque in Khan el-Khalili, the exact spot I was at last night.  So far 12 people are injured and one woman is dead.  The authorities disarmed a second device that did not go off.  I’m sorry I have to cut this short, but I will write about the incident after I learn more about what happened.

Salam,

Matthew Guckenberg

2/22/09 Cairo, Egypt

I am going to attempt to answer everyone’s questions today, as I am stuck inside due to the nice storm we are having outside.  And no that’s not a rainstorm, its a nice windy sandstorm, which burns the skin and eyes and gets into everywhere.  It’s really quite lovely. Ok, on to the questions.

First off let me say again that I apologize for the length of my first post.  I will try, Inshallah, in the future to make the posts more frequent and shorter in length.  Also, I am attempting to put up pictures on the blog itself, but the Internet Egypt is slow at best, and most of the time barely working.  For now until i find the time to post pictures in the middle of the night, you will all have to rely on using Facebook to look at them.  As far as classes are concerned I am currently taking Comparative Political Systems of the Middle East, Political and Social Thought in the Modern Arab World, Islamic Law, and Intensive Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic.  The classes seem to be relatively the same difficulty as those at UMW with much less reading, however this excludes Arabic which is the hardest class I have ever taken. Taking an intensive Arabic class, I have found out, requires on more than a few occasions, no less than 3-4 hours of home work a night, which does not include the memorization of vocabulary. But hey at least I will be able to speak Arabic relatively well when I am finished, if i don’t fail the class in the process. 

Well that’s all I have for now. Ishallah, I will have a regular post on updates early next week.

Ma’Salama,

-Matthew

2/19/09 Cairo, Egypt

Egypt Journal Part 1:

So I know I’m starting this a little late, but it just occurred to me that maybe I should keep a journal of my time in Egypt.  I decided to type it so that it would be able to be read after, as I have found my handwriting is illegible to almost everyone, including me.  Today is Wednesday February 18^th and I am writing this from the Pottery Café on Abu Al-Feda Street in Zamalek.  It’s been over three weeks since I left the U.S, and I have already had a lifetimes worth of experiences.  Egypt is like no other country I have been in, which is few, India and the U.S., however, I love it.  Egyptian culture, although seemly strange to a westerner at first, is a beautiful mix of old and new.  I find it be a melding of glacially slow attitudes run at an amazingly fast pace.  People here are coming and going 24 hours a day, it is almost as if Egyptian hardly ever sleep, but everyone finds some time during the day to relax, sit back have a glass of tea and an enjoyable shisha, something I am doing while writing this entry.  Everyone in Egypt has something urgent they have to do, but they are in no rush to get there or do it.  Everything gets done in its own due time.  It is the same way at university.  Class may start at a particular time, but the professor, let alone the students, may not show up for 15 to 20 minutes after the scheduled start date.  The only thing I have found that runs on some kind of reliable schedule, is my bus to and from school and the 5 daily prayers, even they can be varying in time between mosques.  I have been told this is too distribute people amongst the mosques more equally, but I find that hard to believe as there is a mosque on seemingly every corner. 

                My first week in the grand city of Cairo, and I mean grand over 20 million people inhabit this city, was a time to hurry up and get over your culture shock time as I was thrown into the trenches with the millions of other Egyptians.  Unlike UMW I eat at restaurants every night for dinner and must find my own way around.  I live about 45 minutes from the actual campus so I generally only eat two meals a day, one small and one a bit larger for dinner, the both of them costing under 4 dollars total.  That is of course because I prefer to eat the real Egyptian food that most of the locals eat.  When I talk about the locals I am not talking about the upper class Egyptians.  Cairo, like any big city is a mix of the have’s and the have not’s.  I prefer the have not’s to the have’s.  It seems that even more so than in America, the wealthy Egyptians are abundantly wealthy and seem to have no real sense of value of their money.  Many students I meet on campus spend more money on a snack than I would on a typical meal in the U.S.  I prefer to experience what the vast majority of the Egyptian population experiences every day.  Eating foul, or baid for breakfast, and botatus sandwiches for lunch.  This is beans, hardboiled egg, and fried potatoes respectively,  I have also fallen in love with an Egyptian staple known as Kosheri, Egypt’s own pasta concoction, a mix of rice, lentils, pasta pieces, fried onions, and chick peas, all covered in a wonderful tomato based sauce with a spicy and oily sauce to add at one’s own leisure.  A typical Egyptian sandwich costs under 2 Egyptian pounds, or less than 40 cents, and kosheri for 5 pounds, or under one dollar.  But that’s enough on food for now; I will discuss the rest of the culinary melting pot that is Cairo at a later date. 

                I would like to discuss one last thing before I sign off and go back to my mountainous pile of Arabic homework.  That is the general climate.  First off anyone who has the idea that Egypt has an overwhelmingly dry, hot and rather uncomfortable climate would be very wrong.  Right now it is about 60 degrees and has been the entire time I have been here.  During the day it the temperature has not been higher than the high 70’s and not even close to that in the desert where the AUC campus is located.  I have learned, as one of my professors has told me, the desert is a cruel mistress. It can be pleasantly cool during the day in spring or blazing hot in the summer.  At night the temperature can drop to downright frigid temperatures.  I have found many a day where I was comfortable when I left my room in the city and by the time I return home at night I ma desperately looking for a warm blanket and a cup of tea.      However I have heard that wearing long pants in the summer can become hot, but I don’t expect to have much problem with that.

                This is all I have time to write at this time.  Inshallah, I will write this Journal, or blog, as I have decided to post it online for all you who are back in the states and may have some interest in what I am doing in Egypt, on a regular basis, Inshallah every week or few days.  Coming in the next journal, I will tell you all about the wonderful and perplexing state of Egyptian sidewalks, and whatever else strikes my fancy.  If anyone does read this and wants to know about something I have not yet discussed, either comment on the blog, if that is possible, or shoot me an email.  That’s it for now, As-Salam Al-ayakum wa ratmatullah wa barakatu, or for the non Arabic speaking audience, may the peace and blessing of God be upon you all. 

Ma’Salama,

Matthew Guckenberg

2/18/2009, Cairo, Egypt.