Something to smile about

I realized that the majority of my posts make Cairo sound like a horrible city with way to many problems. Despite my posts Egypt is great and not just when I go on beach vacations. Here are some reasons why...

1) You can get anything delivered
Anything and everything can be brought to your doorstep, how amazing. The lists includes pharmacies, fast food, grocery stores, laundry, water, fresh fruit and vegetables, liquor, coffee, sushi, real food, all your bills, butcher meat, cigarettes, and a million more things if I spoke Arabic. Also your doorman, if you can call down to him and ask for stuff in Arabic, will get you anything from any of the neighborhood places.

2) There is always a cab

bad news bears for the cabbies who then have to deal with lowered prices and hard to find fares, but it is also the only way Egyptians with no cars can get around. You walk down just about any street at anytime of night or day and there is a cab. The only time I had a real problem was during Ramadan, right before people broke their fasts.

3) The weather
I complain because it is cold and by cold I mean 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Not really a problem.

4) The smog blocks the sun
I was worried about being constantly sunburned, but lucky for me there is so much pollution that the sun is pretty much blocked all the time. This might be a Pollyanna post, but I am trying here. I am willing to bet that any anti-cancer benefits I am reaping are directly opposed by the pro-cancer particles in the air all the time. Still no sunburns yet!



5) My roommates
What are the chances of liking three people you are forced to live with? Not high, especially when you are me and neurotic about eating noises, weird cleaning issues, shelf space, and open windows (I like them). Maybe my roommates hate me, but I like them! They are fun, up for almost anything, like to branch out, like to travel around, and all in all considerate people. Plus Katie makes the all time best drunk faces.









6) Fresh fruit, vegetables and bread
Chances are there is a fruit stand on your corner, a vegetable stand nearby and a bakery within walking distance. If I had the energy or ate a ton of bread I could walk three blocks and stumble upon a delicious bakery, mad fruit and vegetables. I like having food in the fridge, makes me happy to see full shelves, so I just go every week or so.

Good article

Facebook, my dad is on it, started out as a way to stay in touch with other friends at American universities and has become a global social networking site crucial to all kinds of things. This New York Times article does a really good job of summing up the importance of sites like Facebook to a less than free country like Egypt and gives good background to lesser known political movements.

The article should be in the Times Magazine too, if you are cool enough to get that.

I wish I was.

There are no gansters in Cairo

Last night the roomies and I went out to a club (so hip) where towards the end of the night they started playing some mid 90s hip hop hits- "This is How we Do It," "Return of the Mac," etc. I cannot describe to you how hard I was laughing at the dancing, the waving of West Coast hand signs, and general non-gangsterness.

I love imported American culture and what is more imported than hip hop?

Nothing.

In other news I walked out of my apartment door today to find liquid streaming down the steps. At first I thought "Rad I have a haunted apartment!" Then I looked closer and realized the liquid was not blood and therefore my apartment was most likely not haunted. After getting over the disappointment I remembered that is how they clean the steps.

I walked down the stairs before the flooding got to me!

I am recovering well and will most likely head back to school on Sunday. I doubt that my students have learned a thing while I am gone and we have quarter exams in a week, hmmm. So much for the times tables. I am going to suffer through two weeks of class and then Mom comes to visit!!!!

For Grandma and everyone else

Why I love and miss Seattle

The Stranger and glorious sarcastic journalism. Also decent coffee and constant green.

Personal Note

I need a haircut real bad.

I am really sick of not being able to stand upright, this is how cave men must have felt. Hunching over constantly was definitely the ultimate motivating factor in evolution.

I love the Internet. Right now I am sitting at a Starbucks (no love for this place), reading about three news site, facebooking it up, checking bank statements, emailing homies, ordering books, and downloading a movie. How did people survive before this? I mean I know how they survived, but life was lacking and we did not even know how lacking. Thanks CIA and US military and Al Gore for inventing the Internet!

Tunnels

I knew the tunnels would be a problem and since people want to know how Egypt is being affected by the recent Gaza strife they do matter!

Egypt does not want international forces in the Sinai, yet the US and Israel want Egypt to be bound by their own agreement to stop tunnel smuggling using US detection technologies and US help with training troops in Gaza border countries. Both Mubarek and the foreign minister have spoken out against this agreement, but who knows if that was posturing for the domestic audience and how much US aid Egypt will actually accept. Currently they accept quite a bit.

For more information read this article...
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=19165

Appendix

Saturday, after Alex and Liefke left, I woke up with what I assumed was a vacation hangover; tired, achy, and really cold. I rallied and went out to dinner to say goodbye to friends. Rallied on Sunday and went to school only to be besieged by cramps all day and night. I woke up Saturday with more cramps, which were really more like what I assume contractions to feel like.

I went to the school doctor, she gave me an anti-cramping pill. It did not work.

I went back, she gave me two more and asked me to stay, mentioning that I could have an acute appendicitis.

She poked my stomach, let me rest and then the bell rang.

She was convinced I was better and appendicitis free, while I was not.

We get back from school and I go to a pharmacist who says I need blood work and should go today. I call my friend Hesham and he makes as appointment for me at a good hospital. I go in around 5:30 pm, get some tests, sit in a room, don a dashing hospital gown, never really get the results of my tests, get poked by my doctor, friends come and interpret Arabic for me, get a needle shoved in my hand by a nurse not wearing gloves, and around 11pm get wheeled down to surgery. Get put under morphine without any warning, hear a "wa wa wa wa wa" noise, go under, wake up shaking, get wheeled back to the room, and spend the two nights and days in the hospital trying to figure out the least uncomfortable way to sit up, walk, and get out of bed.

All in all a mildly traumatic experience. What was not traumatic was the amazing support I had from friends. Hesham who organized the doctor, roommates who brought me clothes and visited, Hend who stayed two nights in the hospital with me, Mosaad (spelled your name right huh?), Raf, and Amr who all visited and help with so much. Thank you!

Now I am on home rest for the next week or so. Out of school, Hobbling around the house. Although, Katie and I did make it out of the house today, walking half a block to catch a cab was more than enough for me.

Nurse with no gloves. She was actually pretty good and as soon as we said something they all started wearing gloves. Nursing is lacking in Egypt, doctors are good, nurses are not that amazing.

The room where I got cut open, or at least the entry to the room where I got cut open.

Post-surgery. I think I had stopped shaking at this point.

First walk after surgery, Hend was there. I touched the wall all the way down that hall!

Hesham, Gundy and Me. Surgery day plus one.

The most amazing get well card ever created. From Katie.

My insides as seen through ultra sound.

The offending organ. I was told it is huge for an appendix and mine was in the wrong place. I have no idea how your appendix can be in the wrong place.

Back to school and some more politics

Today marked the end of my almost three week vacation and my return to school. :( Upon arrival (15 minutes late because of the bus) I learned that school would be let out an hour or so early because our national school counter part is getting out early due to exams. This will last until the end of the month. I have two weeks of real class, in which I have to teach multiplication, one week of review, and then one week of exams.

Does that sound like third grade to you? Sounds like college to me, only I did not even get a "reading week" like a lot of colleges do. Wisconsin got a "reading day" aka half a day. Good thing I am done with college.

In other Egypt news the situation between Israel and Gaza worsens every day. Egypt seems to be taking a lot of heat in the Arab world for it's alleged lack of action. I do not see Egyptians troops becoming involved and there are some valid reasons for keeping the border closed; not wanting foreign troops on their side of the border, not wanting massive amounts of refugees, wanting international assistance in opening the borders, and trying to remain above the constant calls of jihad and martyrdom.

Recently, as of today, it seems Israel had started bombing the tunnels between Rafah and Egypt, damaging property and border crossing stations on the Egyptian side. The tunnels are a major point of contention because Israel believes (and they are probably right ) that Hamas smuggles in a large amount of weapons through the tunnels. But, there are two types of tunnels really. Hamas' tunnels for weapons. Civilian tunnels for every day goods, because when most of the borders in and out of your country are closed things like TVs, baby formula, and electronics can be hard to come by. Egypt wants an international forces present on the Gaza side to help regulate border smuggling, even though they have the military strength and technique to deal with it.

Side note: Unless you are the only son, have no father or have connections most Egyptian men have to serve 13 months in the military after university.

The death toll has reached close to 900 and 3,600 wounded. Israeli troops are on the ground. Still, if the point of this newest war is to stop rockets from launching into Israel that goal is not going to be accomplished by pummeling civilian or Hamas hideouts. Israeli attitudes remains "Hamas will never be the same." While Hamas' attitude remains "as long as there is occupation there will be resistance." Sounds like both sides are still the same.

Egypt is currently brokering peace talks aimed at first establishing a ceasefire. Israel would like to see a US backed guarantee that arms smuggling through the Rafah border will stop. Israel will not stop its attacks until the tunnels are secured. I am interested to see what Obama does with this his first days in office, but hopefully it will be over by the 20th because to many people have died for something that truly cannot be solved with violence.

Again for a good Egyptian news source check out...
www.dailystaregypt.com
They claim to be independent and seem to be.

Other blogs

Officially my new favorite blog.

http://www.hipsterrunoff.com/

How big of a nerd am I if I am blogging about other blogs? Or am I just being rad and giving sweet blogs a blog shout out? Who knows?

Who cares?

Also if you are bored at work, like many of you are check these out for rad stuff and silly humor. By silly I mean ditzy and childish.

http://www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

www.dlisted.com

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

Liefke and Alex visit... Dahab

In an effort to show Liefke and Alex a non-polluted side of Egypt my two favorites joined diving buddy Hesham, Christina and I for a three night jaunt to Dahab. Located on the Eastern coast of the Sinai Peninsula Dahab is a diving and hippy haven. The beach town also offers easy access to Mt. Sinai, St. Catherine's Monastery and other Sinai desert activities.

No diving took place but Liefke did snorkel for the first time! I was a total weenie and did not even get in the water because I was cold. I am always cold in Egypt, how weird is that? Mainly we woke up late, strolled along the boardwalk and ate at the most amazing rotisserie chicken place ever, King Chicken!

The largest activity was a midnight hike up Mt. Sinai to watch the sunrise. We left the hotel at 11pm, drove about two hours to the mountain. Started hiking in the pitch black, walked for about three hours, stopped about every fifteen minutes at a tea/coffee/cookie shack, did not eat or drink any tea/coffee/cookies, avoided lines of camels coming down the mountain, avoided people who really wanted to rent you camels, got to the top around 4am, froze until the sun started to rise around 6:30am and finally watched an epic sunrise wrapped in a mountain smelling blanket at a very special outcropping a 10 year-old Bedouin boy showed us. If you had to ask I feel more spiritual in the morning, even when I am that cold.

Hesham, at a road side stop on the way to Dahab.

Normally the cats in Cairo are flea ridden, covered in poo and I am convinced they carry herpes. All the little kitties in Dahab were relatively clean, liked people and there was only one kitten covered in poo, not this one.

Sarah Liefke soaking up the beach rays.

Part of the sitting area at the Funny Mummy, the restaurant attached to our hotel. Yes the water you see there is the Red Sea and yes Saudia Arabia is just across the pond.

Christina, another AIESEC intern and fellow traveler. You may remember her from such adventures as "Faye Goes to Alexandria for the First Time" and "Faye Caravans in the White Dessert." Now she is back in Long Island, so sad.

Alex, who only took really serious photos the whole time. He is a rather serious person.

The Dahab boardwalk/coastline. Pretty much the whole town is stretched out along the water. Tourist shops, cafes and small beaches line either side of a boardwalk. From where this picture was taken there is excellent diving and snorkeling.

Same view, different time.

I decided to tell the servers that it was Liefke's birthday. They made her dance and eat weird chocolate bread, good times.

The hike up to Mt Sinai was dark so my only pictures are from the way down. This is a small house/shed we passed after walking down 3,000 stone stairs. My calves killed me for about three days.

View from the top of Mt. Sinai. So good to see some mountains.

Going down 3,000 stone stairs.

More stone stairs.

Apparently when there was a real life clergy at St. Catherine's Monastery (home of the ever so famous burning bush) they grew all their food in this terrace.

The super rad hikers who braved cold weather, late nights, early mornings, vicious camels and even more vicious camel dealers who really wanted you to rent a camel.

Vicious camels.

Egyptian news

I have a hard time getting news on a daily basis because we do not have the internet and I live in a neighborhood where English newspapers are not distributed. So, while I would love to keep everyone super up-to-date with all my thoughts about current events in Egypt I cannot because I cannot keep up-to-date on current events. Sad face :(

Luckily I found a web site for one of the English print newspapers.

http://www.dailystaregypt.com/

There is limited freedom of the press in Egypt and bloggers and journalists seem to get arrested all the time. I just heard about a few that got arrested at protests against the current actions in Gaza. I think they were let go almost right away though.

Also if you are interested in background to Egyptian politics and some on Hamas check out the wikipedia entry on the Muslim Brotherhood, the father of Hamas. From what I remember from classes it is pretty right on and not to biased either way. I love wikipedia. Love.

Liefke and Alex visit... Al Azhar Park

Al Azhar park is a tiny piece of heaven within smoggy, crowded and gritty Cairo. You may recognize the name as the same as the university and mosque and all three are in the same general area of Cairo. The park was inaugurated in May 2005. I would not compare it to Central Park, as it is more of a botanical garden without the greenhouses and focus on various plant life.

I cannot believe it has taken me this long to actually walk around this park during the day. From now it will be a habit and I am waiting for warmer weather to pack up a picnic, get stared at by other families and enjoy the sun.

Liefke, Kaite, Alex and I visited the park near noon on a Friday. Arriving close to noon we were greeted by dozens of mosques' calls to prayer, somehow harmonizing. Other tourists, families having picnics, and couples strolled through the idyllic park paths. We stopped for a late breakfast at one of the two cafes inside. Our crepes and coffees were compliment by the views of old Cairo and the Citadel. Most amazing though was the absence of traffic noise and the abundance of green.

Man I miss the color green.

View of Old Cairo

Looking down from the top of the park at the lakeside cafe.

The entrance from the top of the park.

The restaurant where we ate crepes and drank coffee. We actually sat in the sort of tower on the left at the middle window, to be exact.

The "lake" at the Lakeside Cafe.

Liefke and Alex visit... The Citadel

One of the most fabled tourist spots in Cairo is the Saladin Citadel. History tells us that the citadel used t be famous for fresh breezes, those don't exist anymore anywhere in Cairo. But. history also tells us Salah Al-Din fortified the building to defend against crusaders in the 12 century and that the citadel was the seat of Egyptian governance until the 1860s. There are three mosques inside and a few museums.

Inside of one of the mosques in the Citadel walls. Pretty sure this is the Mosque of al-Nasir Muhammed.

Inside the same mosque.

Waiting outside a mosque, pretty sure this is the Mosque of Muhammed Ali. So many tourists!

Inside the mosque.

Imagine if these lanterns were gas or candle instead of electric. That would be amazing, might even get me to go to services.

Window lattice shot.

You can see the Pyramids!

View of Cairo from the Citadel's heights.

View from outside of the mosque.

Inside of the Citadel you can visit the Egyptian Military Museum. We did because it was free! After viewing large military craft and weapons outside of the museum you walk inside to find miniature tanks, panoramas of various wars dating back to the pharaohs and tons of military stuff. Pretty cool.

These are my seven favorite things about the Egyptian military, in no particular order...

1) Many tanks. Katie's dad apparently knows all about tanks and we took photos so that he could later tell us all about them. Education, always good.

2) All the phases of Egyptian warfare.

3) This large statue. He was just taking a nap after celebrating V-Day. I could tell he was celebrating V-Day and not just statue of a hippy even though he was giving a peace sign because his uniform was to crisp to be a hippy.

4) Liefke with her favorite bust of King Ramses the II.

5) Very special dude, keep reading to find out why!

You read it here! The bronze statue, unnamed and unknown to me, is officially the "Best Soldier on Earth."

6) Three pillars of warfare. I like the "or" option. Good to have options really.

Vicious warriors, in life size displays.

7) Wish I had these boots.