Marhaban Everyone!
After a little harassment, I've finally decided to sit down and do a blog entry. All this cafe hopping and watching the Mediterranean morning noon and night really takes up my time. I figured I had to make time to squeeze it into my very busy schedule.
Where should I begin?
I arrived in Cairo on November 10th after a very long haul through Kansas City, New York, and Zurich. I was so exhausted on the plane that I was pretty sure I was going to faint/die/or vomit. I was very amused at how many people actually boarded the plane to Cairo wearing those really tacky and cliche wanna-be safari vests (which, I honestly thought were the clothing equivalent of anvils: I didn't know that they actually existed. Or that people even actually wore them unless they were auditioning for Indiana Jones). But, we finally began to land in Cairo and I saw the desert and all the palm trees and I finally felt excited rather than wishing I was dead. The weather in Cairo was perfect: I don't think it ever got much above 80 the entire time I was there. One of the first things I noticed was the traffic: I remember being in India and feeling like I could get squashed by a car at any moment. Cairo is much worse: there are no rickshaws here (even though I guess Giza bought a few from India a few years back, which really confused me when I went to the pyramids a few days ago). In Cairo, you are dodging actual cars. My first few days, I would wait for a about 10 minutes to cross the street just to find an even moderately opportune moment (which I rarely did). I found a great method of crossing the street however: I wait for a large Egyptian man to come along, crouch behind him, and walk with him a he crosses the street. It's proven very effective (I'm not dead, so that says a lot). One little detail I've found hilarious is that the little picture of the "walking" man on traffic lights for pedestrians, isn't a picture of a walking man: it's an illustration of a person sprinting. I think that's brilliant.
I spent my first few days in Cairo just walking around. My method was to pick out a cafe on my pathetic excuse for a map (Lonely Planet has let me down) and spend about 2 hours trying to find it. Getting miserably lost actually worked fairly well. By a few days in, I had very little problem finding my way around.
Cairo is a very difficult city to just relax and enjoy. It's less dirty than what I was led to believe, but the noise factor can really get to you. I really hit my boiling-point with Cairo last weekend before I left for Alexandria. The predatory male factor finally got to me and I couldn't take it anymore. I am actually very very surprised that Cairo has proven to be the stage for the worst sexual harassment I have ever received. I've spent a decent amount of time complaining about it so I'm kind of out of steam. I realized that even though I'm enjoying traveling alone, Cairo is a city best experienced with someone else.
I knew that Cairo was very touristy but I also had no idea that it was to such a strong degree. A lot of tourists there are very closed off and rude to locals (I walked into a restaurant as a woman was screaming at a waiter for not seating them fast enough(it was seat-yourself, by the way) and proceeded to bump into me on her way out. I've never had someone apologize to me more emphatically for an honest, harmless mistake than that moment. Especially in contrast to her attitude to the waiter the moment before, it was very confusing). It was actually a little rare that I would see many tourists just out on the street. A lot of them seem to feel that they are exempt from the dress-code. I never realized it was physically impossible to cover your legs and cleavage. Who knew, right? It really is true that you will get a warmer welcome from Egyptian women if you're dressed modestly.Speaking of which, I think that Egyptian teenage girls might be my favorite people in the whole world: they are the most bubbly and friendly and stereotypical teenage girls I have ever seen. For example I was going to the mosque at the Citadel the other day and this group of girls on a field trip came running up to me to ask if they could touch my hair and take a picture with me (I much more prefer this to the people who have an affinity for coming up behind me on the street and try to fluff my hair).
I think it's about time for me to give wearing a hijab for a day a try. I've found that the amount of hissing and cat-calls is significantly decreased when I cover my hair. I'm also determined to buy a burka and spend a few hours walking around.
I'm a very lazy tourist and I've found that I really don't enjoy doing a lot of the touristy things. Mainly because the only people I encounter are a lot of other tourists in daisy-dukes (not kidding: there was a girl in the Egyptian Museum the other day whose boob was actually hanging out of her tube-top. No matter what country I'm in: that's uncomfortable). However, I never really regret it when I do go somewhere touristy. I went to the Egyptian Museum on one of my first days in the city and it got me very excited about being in Egypt: I remembered an exhibit at the Nelson from way back when I was about 10 that I was so fascinated by. I accredit it as my inspiration for coming to Egypt. It was that kick I think I needed and I got very excited about my trip again.
Not even a week in to my trip, Egypt beat Algeria in that first soccer game. It had been complete madness on the street for a few days prior: about every half-hour or so you would see a little impromptu parade. I was put in contact with a former student of Dale's, Omar, who I walked around downtown with to watch some of the game in passing. (I'm very grateful I got put in contact with Omar: he's been very helpful and has offered some good insight into the culture. Plus, I've actually had an opportunity to have an honest conversation where I don't have to flash my "engagement ring" or talk about my "fiance".) It was really amazing to see the mobs of people all gathered around TVs in the street. I watched part of the end of it with some of the guys who work in my hostel (King Tut is the best hostel ever). After they won, a man who works at King Tut, Ateff, took me and two girls from California who were staying there as well out to see the riot that ensued afterwards. It was hilarious. I was so glad I got to be there for something like that. It took us almost an hour to do what should have been a 10 minute drive because the streets were so swamped. It was worth it though.
And then I got food poisoning...enough said.
As I said, I went to the pyramids a few days ago (I think the fact I hadn't gone to Giza yet was really the only thing keeping me in Cairo. After that day, I could not get out of that city fast enough.) It's very unreal to stand next to the pyramids: they're really almost supernatural. I think it's the scale, shape, age, and purpose that makes them absolutely baffling. One of my favorite things about traveling has always been getting to experience something that is older than I can even fathom. This is going to sound very elementary, but it really felt like history came alive. Those pyramids have endured longer than we can imagine. What's very strange is to be standing next to something that is one of the most mass-produced images in the world and actually touch it. I'm still not done with my meditation on them.
While in Giza, I got to ride a camel through the Sahara. I've been waiting to do that for a long long time. It's really amazing to see the pyramids peeking over the sand on one side, and just miles and miles of open desert on the other. I admit, it is a little scary to be looking into that kind of vastness. However, it's mostly fearsome in a fascinating way. The only thing that's a little depressing is how dirty certain parts of the pyramid grounds are (yes, I know it's the desert: it's dirty. What I'm talking about is the liter). A good part of it was something like a polluted construction site. It's really unfortunate and depressing to see.
I didn't get to spend as much time in Islamic Cairo as I would have liked. After you walk out of the bazaar there are just streets and streets of beautiful mosques and amazing architecture. It's nice little oasis from the rest of Cairo. I'm going back to Cairo in a little over a week to get a package my mom is sending me and get my train to Aswan squared away, so I'm going to make a point to spend a few hours there again.
I finally left Cairo and have been basking in Alexandria for about 4 days now. I am so in love with this city. The people are incredibly friendly, it's more liberal than Cairo, and the food is amazing. I'm really enjoying the fact that there isn't a whole lot to do: I've basically just been spoiling myself with coffee, pastries, and seafood. The Mediterranean is literally right outside the door of my hostel. The air feels so clean and you can just smell the ocean all the time. Along the Corniche is so beautiful: it's so colorful and bright and everything just feels very refreshing. I've pretty much been sitting, eating ($4 fresh calamari every night is literally my dream come true), drinking coffee, and writing for the better part of every day. It's so nice to just be able to sit...finally! It's so nice to be outside here! I dread going indoors, even though the interior of some of these 100 year old restaurants are very beautiful. Despite all the occasional hissing, it's lovely. I think Alex was a wise choice as my post-Cairo city: I've been able to do a lot of reflection on my trip so far. The more distance I'm getting from it, the more I know that I haven't quite figured out Cairo yet. I think it will come to me as time goes on so you'll probably be hearing more about it.
Although it gets frustrating at times, I'm really enjoying being a woman traveling alone. I can see it's going to have its benefits in the long run (I'm definitely not getting the blunt end of any experience). I think my time in Cairo was really an experience of seeing what happens (positive and negative) when westernization comes along. Alexandria on the other hand, is very Greek meets Egypt.
I feel like I should be saying more positive things about Cairo (because it was a really amazing experience!) and I will definitely want to do a blog about the religious aspects (I've been making an effort to ask a lot of questions and it's really very interesting to hear it from the source).
Sorry that this entry is kind of all over the place! As I'm reading through it, I realized I haven't really said a lot of what I want to. This is what happens when I wait too long to do an entry. Right now, I feel like i have all these fragments and I'm not too sure how to piece them all together. All in due time, I suppose (I've still got 5+ months to go, so I'm not gonna rush it). But, I will leave that until later. I have some more sitting and people watching to do.
At the moment, my plan is to stay in Alex another week, go back to Cairo for three days, spend about 2-3 weeks in the Nile valley, then onto Sinai's Red Sea coast for a week or so. Then, I'm taking the ferry to Aqaba and working my way up Jordan before being faced with my difficult decision: Syria and Lebanon or Israel? I only have the time and money to do one! Plus, the whole border-crossing rule is a pain. Either way: I'll spend either 2 weeks in Syria and 2 weeks in Lebanon before taking the train to Turkey. Or, I'll spend a month in Israel before flying to Turkey. I don't know yet. Either way, I'm starting out in Istanbul and working my way down through Konya and Cappadocia, then west along the Mediterranean coast and up the Aegean before returning to Istanbul to fly home on May 6th. Today, that's the plan.
(By the way: can someone please explain to me if "shakira" is a word in Arabic (I can't find it),or if it's just a common cat-call, or if 13 year old boys are actually attempting to address me as "Shakira"??)
After a little harassment, I've finally decided to sit down and do a blog entry. All this cafe hopping and watching the Mediterranean morning noon and night really takes up my time. I figured I had to make time to squeeze it into my very busy schedule.
Where should I begin?
I arrived in Cairo on November 10th after a very long haul through Kansas City, New York, and Zurich. I was so exhausted on the plane that I was pretty sure I was going to faint/die/or vomit. I was very amused at how many people actually boarded the plane to Cairo wearing those really tacky and cliche wanna-be safari vests (which, I honestly thought were the clothing equivalent of anvils: I didn't know that they actually existed. Or that people even actually wore them unless they were auditioning for Indiana Jones). But, we finally began to land in Cairo and I saw the desert and all the palm trees and I finally felt excited rather than wishing I was dead. The weather in Cairo was perfect: I don't think it ever got much above 80 the entire time I was there. One of the first things I noticed was the traffic: I remember being in India and feeling like I could get squashed by a car at any moment. Cairo is much worse: there are no rickshaws here (even though I guess Giza bought a few from India a few years back, which really confused me when I went to the pyramids a few days ago). In Cairo, you are dodging actual cars. My first few days, I would wait for a about 10 minutes to cross the street just to find an even moderately opportune moment (which I rarely did). I found a great method of crossing the street however: I wait for a large Egyptian man to come along, crouch behind him, and walk with him a he crosses the street. It's proven very effective (I'm not dead, so that says a lot). One little detail I've found hilarious is that the little picture of the "walking" man on traffic lights for pedestrians, isn't a picture of a walking man: it's an illustration of a person sprinting. I think that's brilliant.
I spent my first few days in Cairo just walking around. My method was to pick out a cafe on my pathetic excuse for a map (Lonely Planet has let me down) and spend about 2 hours trying to find it. Getting miserably lost actually worked fairly well. By a few days in, I had very little problem finding my way around.
Cairo is a very difficult city to just relax and enjoy. It's less dirty than what I was led to believe, but the noise factor can really get to you. I really hit my boiling-point with Cairo last weekend before I left for Alexandria. The predatory male factor finally got to me and I couldn't take it anymore. I am actually very very surprised that Cairo has proven to be the stage for the worst sexual harassment I have ever received. I've spent a decent amount of time complaining about it so I'm kind of out of steam. I realized that even though I'm enjoying traveling alone, Cairo is a city best experienced with someone else.
I knew that Cairo was very touristy but I also had no idea that it was to such a strong degree. A lot of tourists there are very closed off and rude to locals (I walked into a restaurant as a woman was screaming at a waiter for not seating them fast enough(it was seat-yourself, by the way) and proceeded to bump into me on her way out. I've never had someone apologize to me more emphatically for an honest, harmless mistake than that moment. Especially in contrast to her attitude to the waiter the moment before, it was very confusing). It was actually a little rare that I would see many tourists just out on the street. A lot of them seem to feel that they are exempt from the dress-code. I never realized it was physically impossible to cover your legs and cleavage. Who knew, right? It really is true that you will get a warmer welcome from Egyptian women if you're dressed modestly.Speaking of which, I think that Egyptian teenage girls might be my favorite people in the whole world: they are the most bubbly and friendly and stereotypical teenage girls I have ever seen. For example I was going to the mosque at the Citadel the other day and this group of girls on a field trip came running up to me to ask if they could touch my hair and take a picture with me (I much more prefer this to the people who have an affinity for coming up behind me on the street and try to fluff my hair).
I think it's about time for me to give wearing a hijab for a day a try. I've found that the amount of hissing and cat-calls is significantly decreased when I cover my hair. I'm also determined to buy a burka and spend a few hours walking around.
I'm a very lazy tourist and I've found that I really don't enjoy doing a lot of the touristy things. Mainly because the only people I encounter are a lot of other tourists in daisy-dukes (not kidding: there was a girl in the Egyptian Museum the other day whose boob was actually hanging out of her tube-top. No matter what country I'm in: that's uncomfortable). However, I never really regret it when I do go somewhere touristy. I went to the Egyptian Museum on one of my first days in the city and it got me very excited about being in Egypt: I remembered an exhibit at the Nelson from way back when I was about 10 that I was so fascinated by. I accredit it as my inspiration for coming to Egypt. It was that kick I think I needed and I got very excited about my trip again.
Not even a week in to my trip, Egypt beat Algeria in that first soccer game. It had been complete madness on the street for a few days prior: about every half-hour or so you would see a little impromptu parade. I was put in contact with a former student of Dale's, Omar, who I walked around downtown with to watch some of the game in passing. (I'm very grateful I got put in contact with Omar: he's been very helpful and has offered some good insight into the culture. Plus, I've actually had an opportunity to have an honest conversation where I don't have to flash my "engagement ring" or talk about my "fiance".) It was really amazing to see the mobs of people all gathered around TVs in the street. I watched part of the end of it with some of the guys who work in my hostel (King Tut is the best hostel ever). After they won, a man who works at King Tut, Ateff, took me and two girls from California who were staying there as well out to see the riot that ensued afterwards. It was hilarious. I was so glad I got to be there for something like that. It took us almost an hour to do what should have been a 10 minute drive because the streets were so swamped. It was worth it though.
And then I got food poisoning...enough said.
As I said, I went to the pyramids a few days ago (I think the fact I hadn't gone to Giza yet was really the only thing keeping me in Cairo. After that day, I could not get out of that city fast enough.) It's very unreal to stand next to the pyramids: they're really almost supernatural. I think it's the scale, shape, age, and purpose that makes them absolutely baffling. One of my favorite things about traveling has always been getting to experience something that is older than I can even fathom. This is going to sound very elementary, but it really felt like history came alive. Those pyramids have endured longer than we can imagine. What's very strange is to be standing next to something that is one of the most mass-produced images in the world and actually touch it. I'm still not done with my meditation on them.
While in Giza, I got to ride a camel through the Sahara. I've been waiting to do that for a long long time. It's really amazing to see the pyramids peeking over the sand on one side, and just miles and miles of open desert on the other. I admit, it is a little scary to be looking into that kind of vastness. However, it's mostly fearsome in a fascinating way. The only thing that's a little depressing is how dirty certain parts of the pyramid grounds are (yes, I know it's the desert: it's dirty. What I'm talking about is the liter). A good part of it was something like a polluted construction site. It's really unfortunate and depressing to see.
I didn't get to spend as much time in Islamic Cairo as I would have liked. After you walk out of the bazaar there are just streets and streets of beautiful mosques and amazing architecture. It's nice little oasis from the rest of Cairo. I'm going back to Cairo in a little over a week to get a package my mom is sending me and get my train to Aswan squared away, so I'm going to make a point to spend a few hours there again.
I finally left Cairo and have been basking in Alexandria for about 4 days now. I am so in love with this city. The people are incredibly friendly, it's more liberal than Cairo, and the food is amazing. I'm really enjoying the fact that there isn't a whole lot to do: I've basically just been spoiling myself with coffee, pastries, and seafood. The Mediterranean is literally right outside the door of my hostel. The air feels so clean and you can just smell the ocean all the time. Along the Corniche is so beautiful: it's so colorful and bright and everything just feels very refreshing. I've pretty much been sitting, eating ($4 fresh calamari every night is literally my dream come true), drinking coffee, and writing for the better part of every day. It's so nice to just be able to sit...finally! It's so nice to be outside here! I dread going indoors, even though the interior of some of these 100 year old restaurants are very beautiful. Despite all the occasional hissing, it's lovely. I think Alex was a wise choice as my post-Cairo city: I've been able to do a lot of reflection on my trip so far. The more distance I'm getting from it, the more I know that I haven't quite figured out Cairo yet. I think it will come to me as time goes on so you'll probably be hearing more about it.
Although it gets frustrating at times, I'm really enjoying being a woman traveling alone. I can see it's going to have its benefits in the long run (I'm definitely not getting the blunt end of any experience). I think my time in Cairo was really an experience of seeing what happens (positive and negative) when westernization comes along. Alexandria on the other hand, is very Greek meets Egypt.
I feel like I should be saying more positive things about Cairo (because it was a really amazing experience!) and I will definitely want to do a blog about the religious aspects (I've been making an effort to ask a lot of questions and it's really very interesting to hear it from the source).
Sorry that this entry is kind of all over the place! As I'm reading through it, I realized I haven't really said a lot of what I want to. This is what happens when I wait too long to do an entry. Right now, I feel like i have all these fragments and I'm not too sure how to piece them all together. All in due time, I suppose (I've still got 5+ months to go, so I'm not gonna rush it). But, I will leave that until later. I have some more sitting and people watching to do.
At the moment, my plan is to stay in Alex another week, go back to Cairo for three days, spend about 2-3 weeks in the Nile valley, then onto Sinai's Red Sea coast for a week or so. Then, I'm taking the ferry to Aqaba and working my way up Jordan before being faced with my difficult decision: Syria and Lebanon or Israel? I only have the time and money to do one! Plus, the whole border-crossing rule is a pain. Either way: I'll spend either 2 weeks in Syria and 2 weeks in Lebanon before taking the train to Turkey. Or, I'll spend a month in Israel before flying to Turkey. I don't know yet. Either way, I'm starting out in Istanbul and working my way down through Konya and Cappadocia, then west along the Mediterranean coast and up the Aegean before returning to Istanbul to fly home on May 6th. Today, that's the plan.
(By the way: can someone please explain to me if "shakira" is a word in Arabic (I can't find it),or if it's just a common cat-call, or if 13 year old boys are actually attempting to address me as "Shakira"??)
Wow! I am so happy that you are experiencing all of this and doing so from a place of consciousness, and by that I mean you are really observing and taking it all in -- not just at knee jerk face value!
ReplyDeleteI like your comparison of the safari jacket to the cartoon anvil -- very clever. What a fashion snob you are! !)
I think that the hijab will help, but you knew that before you left -- ah, the curse of curly hair!
I am so happy to hear in your voice such a non-"Ugly American" attitude, so happy and proud of you. I'm also glad for you that you realize that getting lost was the best way to learn to get around Cairo.
What a beautiful post -- so full of your observations of the external -- and -- so interestingly -- the internal. Bravo! I was staring to feel bad about "harassing" you to write on your blog; not anymore as it is a great post and I hope one of many more! UR Mom....