Pyramids to piles of rubble

This post is dedicated to the sad sight of a rock heap that once was one of the first Ancient Egyptian pyramids. Rest in peace.
Yesterday I ventured to Saqqara, which is an Ancient Egyptian necropolis from the Old Kingdom (about 2500 B.C.E). The step pyramid at Saqqara was, in a way, a rough draft for the pyramids at Giza. Yet it is spectacular in its own right, and the overall experience of being there was more enjoyable than Giza, because it was less crowded, and the vendors were not as annoying. There will be pictures soon, but my internet is being temperamental. Check facebook for my album in the meantime.

Surrounding the pyramid are nobles' tombs, which stole the show. These tombs are hidden gems filled with intact carvings of daily life scenes including fishing, court dancing, and farming. Some carvings still had their color, but unfortunately the guards forbade me from taking pictures of them.
The best part of my tour (and also the scariest) was the tomb of King Titi (laugh now to get it out of your system . . . there you go). This tomb was not for the faint of heart, and about three people in my group couldn't go in because of their claustrophobia. Imagine trying to climb down a steep ramp into a four foot by four foot shaft going about thirty feet into the ground. Now imagine doing it in in a skirt. :D Then when you get to the very bottom of the shaft, the walkway is like a crawlspace that you have to bend over for about one hundred feet to get to a tomb. The whole experience creeped me out, and I kept thinking of those trapped Chilean miners, and how I didn't want to die in the tomb of a ridiculous king named Titi. In the end, the experience was worth the anxiety, because inside there were magnificent hieroglyphs carved all over the walls. Standing forebodingly in the midst of these carvings was the black granite sarcophogus of the king. Amazing.
I can laugh about it now, but on the way out of the tomb, I hit my head quite hard on the low ceiling of the walkway. I was fine, but as I said on facebook, it would have been the coolest concussion ever, and it would have made a great story. It already has.

Later in the day, I went to dinner at the home of a lovely Egyptian woman named Mrs. Keshk with whom I was put in contact by a cousin of mine (thanks Naomi!)
I arrived in style in the car that she ordered to pick me up (she, like many upper class Egyptians has a driver). Her two-story apartment was beautifully decorated with French antique furniture in the living room, and a Chinese table inlaid with irradescent mosaic pieces in the shape of fish in the dining room. Did I mention the apartment has a view of the Nile? The place was exquisite, which reflected the character of the woman herself. She was so sweet to me, and like a grandmother, urged me to eat more food than I could possibly eat in two or three days. After dinner, I was treated to chocolates from Saudi Arabic, tea, and cookies. Then she, her maid, and I watched Turkish soap operas dubbed in Arabic for the rest of the evening. We were all shocked when an unfortunate bride-to-be found her fiancee in bed with another woman on their wedding day. It was among the most fun visits I've had in Egypt, and I will definitely be going back.

Stay Tuned

Tomorrow there will be an in-depth blogpost. Now I need to go to bed after an epic day!

The Weirdest Thing I've Ever Eaten

Well, the title is not entirely true, but I had to get your attention somehow. Today I ventured into the realm of Egyptian cuisine at the AUC foodcourt. The dish that I tried, khoushary, has been on my radar since I heard it was a staple in the Egyptian kitchen. What is it, you ask? Well, its a hodgepodge of starches including rice, macaroni, spaghetti, lentils, crispy onions, and chickpeas in a tomato/olive oil sauce. To be honest, it looked really weird, and I thought, "here we go . . . " since I heard Egypt is the Middle Eastern culinary equivalent of England.
After trying khoushary, I actually enjoyed it. I'm not saying it's as good as Italian, Indian, Lebanese, Japanese, French, Moroccan, American, Mexican, Greek, or Chinese food, but it wasn't bad.
The best part is that it's completely vegetarian.
Other items on the menu at the Egyptian restaurant, el Omda, were similar to other ethnic foods that I have eaten. Fried eggplant, a recipe from my grandmother's Italian family, was available, as well as falafel, and rice pudding.
The weirdest thing I have ever eaten (and this was unknowingly) was when I was eleven and I ate foie gras in France. But this is a close second.
I guess I'm lucky that foie gras is the weirdest thing I've ever eaten, because Anthony Bourdain, my favorite culinary travel show host, ate a boar's anus cooked in dirt in the African bush. I will count my blessings that there are no boars in Egypt.

The anti-Barbie

Just a warning: this post is random.
Since last week I have been on the hunt for the Muslim Barbie doll named Fulla. *I really want to buy her!* She's going to be my personal souvenir from my trip to Egypt as soon as I can locate a toy shop in my neighborhood.
Let me tell you a little about Fulla, because I find her fascinating on many levels. Fulla was marketed to Muslim countries starting in the 90's as a backlash against Western values, and as a way to promote modest dress and behavior. Some say it was part of a larger movement to get more young women to wear headscarves. Among her warddrobe items is a full length hijab, and shorter veils. Her life also revolves more around the home and family, and she loves to pray.
Besides these obvious differences from Barbie, she is represented in many careers (doctor Fulla, teacher Fulla), and likes shopping, cars, and being with friends. There is no Ken equivalent, because dating is forbidden, but I think she is better off without him anyway.
If I can't find Fulla, I will buy Jamila, another doll that embodies the same values and is Fulla's rival.

When I locate her, I will let all of you know.

The Citadel

For the most part, I will let the pictures speak for themselves, because they are numerous and self-explanatory. A brief background: yesterday I went to the citadel, a 12th century fortress built on a bluff overlooking Cairo. Centuries of rulers used the citadel as living quarters, building multiple palaces, as well as a religious center with about five mosques, and a military base.
Now for the pictures.



Above is the mosque of Mohammed Ali, a 19th century ruler of Egypt. The mosque was his way of sticking it to his former bosses, the Ottomans. By defying them in building more than three minarets, and (in his mind) replicating the splendor of the Blue Mosque, he showed them that he was not going to be their docile follower. Needless to say, the Ottomans were not happy with this turn of events.
The next few pictures are of a secondary mosque.



The Egyptian military museum at the citadel was interesting to me because of its propagandist agenda. The prime examples being the glorification of Nasser, and the Egyptian government's spin on battles with Israel that didn't end in their victory. Don't misunderstand me, I'm sure there is an equally propagandist museum in Israel (or the United States), which I would be just as amused to see. That's the kind of cynic that I am. On the propaganda scale, the Egyptian military museum rates far below North Korean state television but slightly above a fourth of July parade.

OCD in the City

Today was a slow news day, except for the fact that I temporarily freaked out about visa issues and deportation. That's all settled, so now I will focus on an issue that eats away at my soul. It is the pervasive, unavoidable fact of GARBAGE. That's right folks, and there will be pictures (see below). Fortunately some of my fears about cleanliness here were moot. The toilets are actually fine (negating an entire blog series about the worst toilets in Cairo that I was planning). However, the street trash is a daily strain on me, not only because I am a germophobe, or that the mounds of garbage are unsightly, but also because it is a safety hazard. Parts of the sidewalk are buried in trash mounds, and when I am forced to walk on these sidewalks to avoid death by kamikaze cars, I have almost tripped and landed on my beautiful face in a pile of decaying crap.

So, feast your eyes upon what I have to endure every day, and thank your lucky stars that you live in a country with an organized trash removal system.

A Cairo Adventure

Sorry for the delay in posting. My internet was temporarily suspended, because my landlord didn't pay his bill. He resolved the issue, and now I'm back!
Yesterday, four of the real housewives of Cairo and I went on an excursion sponsored by the ex-pat community center in my neighborhood. The trip was ambiguously named "Royal Palaces", so I really had no idea where we were going. I soon found out that the focus of the trip was on the Mamluks, a group of Turkish slaves who ruled Egypt from the 13th until the late 18th century. The first stop on the trip was the 14th century palace of the Mamluk sultan's food taster, which had been modified over the centuries to serve (in the 19th c.) as a girl's school, and more recently, a compost heap. (I'm not joking. The locals used the palace courtyard and grounds as a garbage dump . . . there were pictures as proof). In 2000, the government decided to restore it to its previous splendor, and voila, it is beautiful once again.
Our charming tour guide, who had a pension for mixing up prepositions, focused on the Arabesque architectural details, and the advanced plumbing technology the palace maintained. She "overdetailed" us a bit, which is something that I as a campus tour guide have a fear of doing, but she really did know her material.
Our second stop was an island in the Nile called "Rhoda Island" (I'm sure someone somewhere could come up with a joke about that one), which houses the Nilometer, a 9th century structure used to assess the height of the Nile, and the Om Khalthoum museum, dedicated to the illustrious diva of Egyptian music. The Nilometer is hard to describe, so I will post a picture for you below.


Basically, it's a pit that designed to allow Nile water to flood inward, in order to measure its height. It is considered a marvel of medieval engineering.

The Om Khalthoum museum just a few steps away from the Nilometer was probably the highlight of my trip. As a classical Arabic singer and national icon, she is considered to be one of the most important (if not THE most important)Egyptian cultural figure of the last century. She sang for King Farouk and Nasser, and was popular with the whole country. Her funeral procession in 1975 was (after Nasser's) the largest in modern Egyptian history.
She was also remembered for her concert dresses, which were elaborate, and brightly colored. These, along with many of her personal belongings and photos were on display at the museum. For those of you who are interested in seeing a performance, here is a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go-3AN-m2gI&feature=related


Afterward, we boarded our van, and went to the City of the Dead. This city is not related to any Ancient Egyptian place, though, so don't get too excited. Starting in the 12th century, wealthy Egyptians built large mausoleums for their families in this region of the city. Guarding these tombs became a full-time job, and for this reason, many poor men moved with their families to the city to become full-time guards. Over the centuries their descendants' population has exploded to over one million. Many of them live in squalid conditions among the extravagant mausoleums of their masters, and (as I could see) the streets are heaped with more garbage and rubble than I have ever seen in a public place.
Our main purpose was to visit the tombs of Egyptian royalty, mainly the family of Mohammed Ali (turns out he's not just a boxer), who was a 19th century Egyptian reformer and the first in a line of modern Egyptian kings. The most interesting part of the complex was a room that housed the remains of Mamluks (the old ruling elite) who Mohammed Ali slaughtered at a dinner party. Some sources say that the dead numbered between forty and four hundred.
These are the unfortunate Mamluks.


If you want to see the album, check out my facebook page. I will attempt to post pictures soon. :D Have a nice day!

No Running Water and Other Maladies

The title of this post basically sums up my Monday. My morning began with missing the bus because I made the mistake of waiting for my roommate. So we had to take a taxi cab in which the driver **surprise** didn't know where he was going. We made it to school in time, but when we handed him the cash, he acted as if we had stiffed him. Unfazed, we left him gesticulating wildly at the university gate.

Later, I returned home to find that there was not a drop of water coming out of the faucets in my apartment. However, my AWESOME landlord came over right away to deliver us a big tank of water for utilities and two smaller drinking water bottles. Sadly, he can't fix our problem because it's affecting our entire block AND, since this is Egypt, only Allah knows when the water will return. I'm also feeling a bit sick, because I woke up with a headache and a bit of a sore throat. Right now it doesn't seem like anything serious, and I'm considering it most likely due to the fact that I didn't sleep very well last night. :(

This weekend, however, was amazing. I spent time with two Lawrence University professors who are currently living in Egypt. In my time at Lawrence, I've had the pleasure of taking classes with both of them, and was delighted to hear that Carla Daughtry, one part of this professorial coupling, had been awarded a Fulbright to teach and do anthropological field work in Egypt. Her husband, Max, was my professor of Arabic last year, and is one of the kindest human beings I have ever met. They were so hospitable during my visit that they fed me four meals, and had me stay overnight in their apartment.
I also got the pleasure of meeting these two angelic children,


with whom I will be spending a lot more time throughout the semester as their babysitter. :) We watched Spongebob together in Arabic. Who knew?!

On another note, I've started to make a list of the things that I will appreciate much more when I return to the States (and that I am craving right now):
*The numbering is arbitrary

1) Indian Food. There are Indian restaurants here, but they are of dubious quality.
2) Netflix. Watching Youtube is getting old.
3) People. You know who you are.
4) Clean streets.
5) Taxi drivers who know where they're going.
6) Traffic lights, and other parts of an organized traffic system.
7) ALCOHOL. This is a Muslim country and very little alcohol is available (and the stuff that is smuggled into the country is bad quality).
8) Being able to wear low cut t-shirts and short skirts.
9) Dryers (laundry).
10) Drinking water that won't make me sick.
11) Autumn.
12) My cat.
13) No school on Sunday.
14) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I.
15) Pumpkin ice cream. (Extension of #11)
16) Meat substitutes. There is ABSOLUTELY no tofu, tempeh,seitan, or gardenburger within the borders of this country. Well, that may not be entirely true, but I have yet to find them. And I can't eat salads because they were washed in the water. :(

When I get back in December, I am going to have a whole new outlook on my home country.

Happy Eid!

Today ended on a high note, because I have a four day weekend thanks to Eid! So, I thought I would engage in some random musings . . .
I want to be more optimistic in this post, so I will tell everyone what I really like about Egypt, because I spend many of my waking hours complaining to family and friends about how crazy and strange it is.

Likes:
1) The people. Despite a few bad representations of the Egyptian populace (taxi drivers, perverts, taxi drivers who are perverts), I find that upon getting to know Egyptians, they are a very warm, engaging, and hospitable people. Example 1: I went to the AUC bookstore to purchase school supplies, but I realized that I didn't have the right change. The bookstore owner kindly told me to take the items that I had not purchased and bring the correct change later.

2) The pace. Egyptian time is different from American time. Appointments are suggestions, and everyone is more relaxed about deadlines. As a result,I feel less stressed.

3) The cats. I pass at least ten cats every morning on my way to the bus.

4) The trees and flowers. My whole street is lined with twisty, brambly trees that are abloom with pink blossoms.

5) The weather. Although the temperature is hovering around 92-95 degrees during the day, there is very low humidity, and the weather will be perfect from October through December.

6) Affordability. I can afford luxuries like home delivery of groceries, taxi cab rides, and restaurant dining on a regular basis. I can also have a nice two bedroom apartment in a swanky area of Cairo on my meager student savings.

7) The adventure. Every weekend for the next month I get to go on an excursion to an amazing place: The Citadel, Islamic Cairo, the Egyptian royal palaces, Saqqara, and Mt. Sinai.

8) Books. My class schedule allows me time to enjoy reading, something I don't regularly do at Lawrence (besides class texts).

My life is so much more interesting here than in Appleton. I hang my laundry out to dry, hear the eery call to prayer five times a day, get into ridiculous situations with taxi drivers, getting lost, snobby students, rabid dogs, pushy vendors, and street harassment. I'm not saying I love every minute of it, but I know that this is a formative experience, even if a lot of it is negative.
My kitchen sink makes a loud pitched noise every time I turn it on, and I am terrified of my stove which I have to light manually before using. There are piles of garbage on the sidewalk(not exaggerating on this one folks) that I have to either step over or avoid (whilst almost getting hit by cars) on my way to the bus, and there are beggars everywhere. Plus, there is a never ending supply of flies. I certainly chose an exciting and amazing place to study abroad. :D


Here's me. I'm a bit tanner, thinner, and maybe more Arabic looking? I've gotten some men on street corners asking me "Arabiya? Arabiya?". Calm down, boys . . . lol.

School on Sunday

Oh yes, people, be prepared for some complaining. Here is a sampling of my beefs: Satan must have designed the Humanities and Social Science building at AUC, because it took me literally an hour and a half of walking around to find one of my classrooms. AUC students [as a group] are among the snobbiest that I've ever met. International students from the U.S. are even worse. Most of them ride on the reputation of their schools (UChicago, Georgetown) to qualify what they say as an expert opinion. AUC is ranked about 2000th in the world, but these people act as if it's Harvard.
Don't even get me started about school on Sunday.
Also, I was really surprised to find that I was actually placed in an appropriate level Arabic class. Though it caught me off-guard when I arrived to class late and everyone pounced on me with questions in Arabic. I could barely catch my breath, but I was relieved that I don't have to repeat the section I just took.

Other interesting snippets:
Sometimes I forget where I am until I see blatantly anti-Israel propoganda in the school newspaper, which caught me off guard not because I am a die-hard Zionist, but because I've hardly seen the Palestinian side represented in newspaper form.
It's probably worth mentioning that there is a five foot swastika spray-painted onto a wall that is literally less than 300 feet from my apartment building. I walk past it everyday to school. Distrust and (in many cases)hatred of Jews runs very deep here, and sometimes I'm worried that someone will figure out that Steinberg is not a German name.

In other news, I am super excited to be signed up for an October excursion to St. Catherine's monastery next to Mount Sinai. My other future travel plans include a visit to Saqqara, an Egyptian royal palace (not sure what that is, but it sounds promising), and the Citadel. I'm extremely disappointed (and a bit angry at the AUC policy) that I am unable to go on a school-sponsored trip to Luxor because I am not a campus resident. We'll see if I can come up with another way to go there, but so far I'm a bit stumped about what to do. Maybe I will just have to return to Egypt when I'm a little old lady.

Otherwise:
Included in one of my classes on non-Muslim communities in the Middle East is a field trip (yay!) to Old Cairo where there is a famous mosque, an old synagogue, as well as a large Coptic community. I've even set my mind on going to Turkey in November when I have a long break. We'll see how the rest of my trip pans out, but I'm hoping to see as much as I can of this country until I can get the hell out of here in mid-December.
Part of me wants to stay here longer, and part of me wishes I could leave today.

That's the end of this godforsaken post. Sorry it was so disorganized, but that's the state of my brain today.

P.S. I'm still really hungry. Ramadan, will you please end soon?

First day of classes

Tomorrow will begin a week of classes, that will be interrupted by the grand celebration marking the end of Ramadan.
My classes are:

Arabic- completely useless from a practical standpoint, because I am learning the equivalent of a Shakespearean version of Arabic that no one outside of academia understands.

History of Society and State in the Middle East from 1906-present- I thought that having a basic knowledge of the growth of Middle Eastern politics would be helpful in understanding current political trends

Non-Muslim Communities in the Muslim world- Copts and Jews . . . interesting to me as a Religious Studies major

History of Islamic Spain and North Africa (711-1492)- as someone who devoted her high school years to Spanish language and culture, this is of personal interest to me.

I'm sure those of you who know me could be surprised by the absence of a Gender Studies course. AUC does have them, but they are offered at strange times at night, making my commute by bus an unpleasant one. I figure that I have plenty of GEST courses at Lawrence, and I can also buy some of the books for the GEST classes that interest me.
My main interest here is living in Egypt, and my secondary interest is being a student. Most of my learning will be outside the classroom. Walking the streets alone as a woman is enough of a Gender Studies course for me.

Other than that, I cooked for myself for the first time today!
Yay for not starving. The rest of my day was devoted to watching Sense and Sensibility (a favorite of mine) with Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant. I also went to the grocery store and got my food delivered. Not much else to report.

Teaser Trailer

Have you ever . .
Wondered what a "South of the Border" wrap is in Egypt? Thought twice about walking down your street past a rabid pack of dogs? Felt the agony of wearing winter clothes in 100 degree heat? Almost called the U.S. Embassy because you thought your roommate was missing? Experienced a possible earthquake tremor in a foreign country? Feared you had headlice because some bedouin guy put his headwrap on you? Given up your major ethical beliefs so that you can get basic nutrition? Smoked sheesha?
Watch Ari handle all of these situations (successfully) in this week's episode of "Ari in Egypt 2010". Stay tuned.

P.S. nobody died and I don't have headlice, to set the record straight.