Masalama

The academic part of the program has ended, as of 12:09pm of today. Its not a fun realization that the reason you've been in Cairo is for actually taking classes, & not for fun. Trying to cram everything in over a few nights, especially when you're more used to doing little amounts of studying isn't the easiest change to make.

Tonight we saw the first big round of people leave to return from whence they came, that City on a Hill. The acts of saying "good-bye" in a study program are a bit weird. There's always promises to keep in touch w/ everyone. You probably also know these intentions will be rarely acted out. It puts people in the awkward situation which many don't really want to vocalize- you probably will never see most of them ever again. Ever. In the end though, often fences that were broken are mended, & everyone at least leaves w/ on a good note.

Not me though. I'm joining the rag-tag group of stragglers to go on a cruise down south to see Luxor, Abu Simbal, & Aswan. B/c of this my recent assault of posting regularly will cease, for about 5 days I think.

Keep out of the sun, I'll fill you in when I get back.

Cairo Pretty

Here's around the time towards the end of the trip I wax stupidly about how I just want to travel more. Fortunately, there's another topic (either more fun/mean) on tap....girls. Specifically American girls. Specifically dumb American girls.*

*I realize this is redundant, but there is levels to it.

Anyway, here in Egypt (white) American girls don't have any trouble attracting attention from their Egyptian male counterparts. All they pretty much have to do is walk out of their room. Its probably part the idea that American girls are perceived to extremely easy (I kinda touched on this way back when-2nd 1/2 of it), which Egyptian guys don't really get much chance for action outside of marriage in the first place. The other part (if there is anything beyond the first one) might be some outside chance of getting married & going to America (really), or that they just find American girls hotter than Egyptian (or other Arab) chicks. Whatever the reason, they really love blonds.

Here's the topic: b/c of all of these factors, our average American girl is going to get Egyptian attention. In America she might not be all that special (maybe a "great personality")- now she has guys giving all sorts of attention she's only seen her pretty friends get. Pretty soon shes swooning over her overseas love. Go ahead & fill out the rest of retarded things people tell themselves to believe that they aren't being completely stupid.

At the same time its slightly entertaining, yet sorta sad to watch. But at least they're having fun. & since they might just also be the annoying type, they aren't hanging around in your vicinity as much either. Double win!

An important topic

When you first arrive in Egypt you'll be assaulted on all 5 senses w/ everything that seems cool, backwards, or just doesn't make sense. You want to see the Pyramids, you want to go to the museum, you want to check out some place in the guidebook that doesn't exist anymore since Lonely Planet keeps reprinting the same book for 20 years but puts a new cover on it.

At the end of the day, or in the first hour, you will likely be uttering "I need a drink." Hold on there Westerner, you've just voluntarily traveled X amount of miles to a majority Muslim country. & guess what Islam says about alcohol? Islam says 'no.' Even though drinking is looked down on (in public *winks*), there's still places in Egypt that have alcohol, it just isn't printed in the menu.

Now that you've found a place to get a drink, you better get used to how Egyptians drink. The primary way is Stella. It doesn't taste all that bad, & you better not think it does since this is far & away the most available alcohol in Egypt. Other popular kinds are Sakarra, Miester, Luxor, & Heineken. Heineken is the single beer available in Egypt (that anyone has found) that isn't Egyptian. So if your a Keystone Light snob you're out of luck.

Buying hard liquor at a place can be done, but its going to have to be a high-end bar, mostly likely connected to an American/European restaurant chain/hotel. Liquor is also pretty steep, & the amount they'll put in a drink is rather tiny.

So you're sick of going to the same place every night next to the dorms? You can find an independent liquor store, or most likely the Egyptian chain of Drinkies. These are pretty common where ever tourists are running around or ex-pats might be living. Drinkies are pretty simple set-ups. They aren't ever that big, but they don't have to be. In every Drinkies one wall will be coolers for the 4-5 types of beer on sale. Beer prices are significantly cheaper here, as in America. A Stella may run you 15-20EP ($3-4) at a place, & 6EP(~$1) at Drinkies. The other wall is for crappy Egyptian wines & hard liquor. Not surprising for Egypt, you won't be seeing many brands you recognize. I haven't tried any of these, but I hear they aren't bad.*

*There are knock-offs like Johnny Talker & Goode Gin- I've read to stay away from these unless you want to risk alcohol poisoning.

If you have a place to drink, Drinkies is your best option. Drinking in say, a hotel room in Alexandria, is far more fun since you avoid the extra cost, insanely slow service, & 20% taxes on your bill. Here's a pic from the party we had in 'Alex'.

The only downturn is you will likely attract more people that annoy you when they hear of your treasure.

Being Green in Egypt

One thing as an American you'll notice in Egypt is everyone litters. & not even being discreet about it, you'll see someone finish a pop & just toss it behind their back w/o a second thought. You will no doubt feel the strain & guilt of trying to find a garbage receptacle, & just forget about recycling it. Or should you?

What is the collective chaos of Egypt actually breaks down, behind Western eyes, into (somewhat) organized pathways. The trash of the day is collected at some point-& there it begins its journey. On my way out to Faysal, the place I teach English I can see from the highway one of these places, there are mountains of aluminum cans, etc., all divided into its respective mountain. From here it goes to scrap. Or in the case of bottles (which all have rings on them from wear) they're washed, re-painted, & reused. In Faysal, piles of mostly organic trash are in certain spots in the streets, here they are eaten down by cats, goats, etc. So new trash can be put there, & then eaten.

I even noticed a street cleaner separating kushari cups as he was cleaning up trash. This is probably strong evidence the cup you're eating out of was used just a few days ago. Don't get grossed out-they probably wash everything.

Its a pretty common practice globally. Its done w/ ships (in a way). & also all of your old ipods.

Whats goin' on

Well, something rather big (for a variety of reasons) in Egypt is this. That last story is more correct in whats going on-compared to the sanitized BBC story giving the impression its going to suddenly stop.

The first article touches on another reform that happened not too long ago-raising the age of consent for marriage to 18.

Getting around

Getting around Cairo you have several options. There is a subway system, but its size & area of transport makes it undesirable to bother w/. It also gets just as crowded as the streets, & even more hot since the air circulation is rather lacking.

The way most foreigners may travel is via taxi. Being able to use a generality, the taxis are old models of European cars. Often they have the Egyptian license plated bolted over the old Italian/Greek/whatever one. The cars are welded, strapped, & tinkered w/ continuously to drag the life out to the sheer maximum. Some of them have old meters in them. Since the meter stopped working decades ago, it really just take up leg room for the passenger.


The actual riding a taxi can be sometimes stressful, as you are the one ignorant the actual cost of the ride, & you're also clearly not Egyptian. After a while you get down a general idea of how much rides from one place to another should be, for an American of course. A key mistake a lot of people make is they try to negotiate the price b/f they even get there. All this does is pretty much guarantee you're going to be getting ripped off even more. The proper tactic is just to get out of the cab upon the destination & pay the price you know, say thanks & walk away. Attempting to be nice & over paying on purpose is code for the driver to ask for 5 more pounds. They already know you're paying upwards of 2x(or 3x) for the ride. They also know they may be able to get it out of you.

A truly Egyptian way to get around is the mysterious microbuses. These move about the city, appearing to outsiders in undecipherable pathways. Starting & stopping w/o explanation, they remain used almost exclusively by the natives. I remember seeing these in Jordan, only able to watch, but unable to participate. My teaching partner & I,however, were showed the guarded secrets of how to use them to get out to the place we teach at. One note though, as girls should never sit in the front seat of a cab. For the microbus girls should also sit against a wall & their male friend, or in the single side on the other wall of the van. Once you can start to get an idea of where the microbuses are going, & the connecting stops you use, its a superior way to travel. For example, a 20-25EP cab ride out to the teaching spot turns into a 1.50EP ride on the microbus. Yeah, its that kind of a price difference.

Spendin' all your money on me

Egypt can be fairly cheap to visit since 1. 1 dollar (USD)= ~5.3 Egyptian Pounds (EP), 2. Hostels, food, etc. can be extremely cheap if you do as the Egyptians do. What is more of a headache though is change. The ATM's mostly give you 100's & maybe 50's. While these bills are fine when you're planning on a bar tab or buying 20 scarves for souvenirs , most of the time its a perpetual headache.

The thing is, if you want to buy a pop, a few falafels, or get a taxi ride, handing over that 50 pound bill can be a potential problem. Even though this is far & away a cash-based society, "no change" is something heard over & over again.

When you add in the language gulf, the situation can become more frustrating/difficult. I actually feel more rich when I have somehow collected by shrewd means some amount of 1's,5's, & 10's (20's are okay). Simply, having these bills makes everything far easier.

On another note (ha), the government has seemed to have turned away from minting coins & instead only make new Piaster (cent) bills. When I was here 3 years ago I remember getting coins, now its actually pretty rare to get one. These guys though can quickly fill up your wallet, & you will dump them ASAP.

For a rather funny (to me) ending on this one, my friend got a 200EP bill (which I don't think anyone realized existed) when he went to the money exchanger. This is one you don't want. A tactic I've adopted is go by an American place (Hardees, McDonalds), which you know they keep change & dump it on them. Breaking these 200's, thats probably another animal. They are also gigantic.