Cairo Digest #2

Dear friends,

My last dispatch from Cairo arrived about a month ago, but a great deal has happened since then. I didn’t want to clog your inbox with weekly e-mails detailing my travels, experiences and observations. As my Georgia-native friend here George Tucker says, “Just follow the five B’s: Be Brief Brother, Be Brief.” I will do my best, but there is much to report.

In this issue:
1.El-Gouna, the Pyramids, and Alexandria
2.Around Cairo: Street food, sitting-around guys, and Kahn il-Khalili
3.School: Classes and newspaper
4.Coming attractions

1. El-Gouna, the Pyramids, and Alexandria

Just after my last e-mail, all 250 study abroad students here piled into six coach buses and embarked on a six hour journey to the Red Sea resort of El-Gouna. We stayed at the Movenpick Swiss Resort Hotel, a beautiful compound with a picturesque view of the sea sub-par beach adjacent to the water. Thanks again to my parents, who found out they treated me to an excellent massage after the fact.

It took me a few weeks, but I finally made it to the Pyramids with my friend Sam, an Indiana University student here with whom I have a number of mutual friends back home. The 5000 year old Pyramids, as expected, were really, really big, and definitely the work of aliens. I even had the opportunity to enter the second largest of the two. The Sphinx, of course, was also impressive.

In addition, on two occasions, I rode horses in the desert next to the pyramids in the middle of the night, which was awesome.

An unfortunate byproduct of being the last remaining ancient wonder of the world is that your magnetism for hustlers is extremely intense. The experience of gazing upon these symbolic structures is truly tainted by Arab men with gym bags trying to sell you the latest crap to enter the counterfeit market. “Mister, mister, you want to buy watch? I give you good price, good price!” It is actually a little depressing, that the Egyptians, who have in many ways failed to protect these monstrosities from military abuse, graffiti, and decay, are also allowing the experience of visiting them to decay into a cesspool of opportunistic salesmen. Such is life.

Two weekends ago I took the “turbo train” (LE 30/$5) two hours north to Alexandria, which the Lonely Planet Guidebook describes as, “The greatest historical city with the least to show.” That’s about right. There are a few ruins, and two major museums. Alexandria was once one of the most important cities on the Mediterranean, but is now not much more than a smaller version of Cairo. The sea breeze keeps the air cleaner, and the atmosphere is a little more laid back. Two millennia ago, one could have gazed upon Egypt’s second wonder of the world: the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria. The site is now occupied by a medieval fortress, but it is not hard to imagine the intense blaze of light coming from the tower, which stood over 500 feet tall and could be seen from 35 miles away on a clear day.

2. Around Cairo: Street food, sitting-around-guys, and Kahn il-Khalili

I am much more settled into Cairo than I was a month ago. I get ripped off less often and am learning to do as the Romans do, as they say. I have taken a great interest in taamiyya (falafel, made of fried chickpeas in a patty) which I can now purchase for approximately $0.08 a sandwich at this little place next to school. The other most popular food in Egypt is foul (pronounced: fool) which is essentially refried beans in pita bread. Foul is also very cheap and very good. I still eat from western-style restaurants on a regular basis, but this is more out of convenience than necessity.

For some quick tea or coffee, I visit my favorite ahwa (coffee shop) in Tahrir Square, often with my friend Mike. We are getting better about asking for the Egyptian tea. If we don’t ask, they assume we want Lipton’s, which just doesn’t do the job.

Cairo, a city of close to 70 million, has the potential for mass unemployment. Fortunately, the people here have worked out an incredible system in which they take the number of people needed for a job and hire three times that amount. There are usually three men sitting next to a cash register, five waiters for your table, and 10 delivery men at a fast food restaurant (Everything here delivers. I mean, everything.) The result is that there are a lot of people who make very low wages and spend their days just sitting in a chair somewhere talking or thinking. Seriously, people here have their chair, and their spot, and they sit there everyday, be it on the sidewalk, in a coffee shop, or at a store. The funniest thing about all this is that despite the overwhelming number of workers, things move incredibly slowly, and quite inefficiently. The socialist mentality and lack of competition in most industries just moves people into a pattern of laziness. A completely free market may not be the answer to our problems, but this month has certainly assured me that neither is socialism.

Khan-il-Khalili is one of the oldest outdoor bazaars in the Middle East, and is full of the smoothest talkers one will ever meet. Twice have I journeyed into their relentless calls to, “Just have a look,” but once you start looking, they make it pretty hard to leave empty handed. So far there, I bought a tripod and jersey of a Cairo soccer team. Unfortunately, I picked the team that everyone hates, and I almost got mauled trying to leave. (I wore that jersey around campus for a few days before the big game between my team and the other Cairo team, and everyone felt obliged to give me their opinion in support of or against my loyalty. Unfortunately my team lost, so I have not worn the jersey in a while.)

3. School: Classes and newspaper

The American University in Cairo is a lot like high school, both socially and academically. Many of the Egyptian students at AUC are immature and unfocused. They come from over privileged homes and are somewhat sheltered. They are also polarized socially into groups of “cool kids” and “geeks,” which is something I haven’t seen since I left Tates Creek High. There are a good deal of approachable, dynamic Egyptian students, however, and I have made friends with a number of them.

The level of academics here is also disappointing at times. I have two classes with excellent teachers (Contemporary Foreign Policy; Muslim Political Thought), two that are mediocre (Colloquial Arabic; Comparative Politics of the Middle East), and one that is quite disappointing (International Security). Some of the teachers are unorganized and teach unstructured lectures. I savor the challenging classes however, and try to make the most of them.

From high school to Brandeis, and from Brandeis to AUC, I just can’t get away from the newspaper scene. What I thought would be some intermittent volunteering turned into a full-blown editorship at the AUC weekly: The Caravan. Mainly, I am designing most of the paper’s English section layout, and sometimes offering my advice on news and editorial decisions. I am having a great time not only because of the cross-pollination of journalism knowledge, but also because I am able to work so closely with Egyptians. Most study abroad students do not share the same level of interaction.

5. Coming attractions

Tomorrow night marks the start of an extremely important month for me, as well as the Muslim community. It is the Jewish month of Tishrei, during which I will observe the New Year, Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and Sukkot (Festival of the Harvest). For Muslims, it is the holy month of Ramadan, which commemorates the transmission of the Qur'an by the archangel Gabriel to the prophet Mohammad.

As for myself, I am working on plans to attend a synagogue here in Cairo. I contacted the Israeli embassy, who said the site was extremely secure, and that made me feel better. As far as I know, there are six Jewish men on my program (I don’t know of any women), and I think all of us will attend services at Shar Hashamayim synagogue led by a French, Orthodox Rabbi. The Jewish community here is small, but it continues to exist.

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims are commanded to fast from sunrise to sundown. After sundown, the party starts. Many families share in the “iftar” or breaking of the fast, and then crowd the streets in celebration until the wee hours of the morning. Our class schedule is different and many stores are closed during the day. People are also expected to give more to the poor during these days so that they too can share in the spirit of the holiday.

This weekend I am planning to go to a small beach town in the Sinai with around 10 people where we will sleep in huts on the beach and make our own food. We may even have the opportunity to visit Bedouins in the desert. I don’t know much about the trip yet, as a few Arab friends are planning the details, but I will be sure to write soon.


As always, I will post pictures as I take them. Visit my site to view them.
http://joshadland.blogspot.com

I wish a sweet new year to my Jewish friends, a meaningful month to my Muslim friends, and a great month of October to everyone.


More to come,
Josh

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How to contact me:
e-mail: jeadland@brandeis.edu
AIM: joshlands
Skype: joshlands
SkypeIn (will ring on my computer): 317-489-3634 (local/long-distance call)
Cell Phone: 011-20-10-531-5261
Web site (with pictures): http://joshadland.blogspot.com