Welp, I got sick again. Way way sicker than last time, but here at last, for your reading and viewing pleasure, is the story of my trip to Cairo. It is, if possible, longer than the Badia story, but the pictures are cool.
(I took no pictures this day)
Cool antiques shop in Coptic Cairo 
Day 1:
On Wednesday last I got up at 4:30 to leave for Egypt. I had not slept very many hours because my host sister was studying in our room with the light on. At 2:00am I told her to go study else ware, since I had to be up in an hour and a half. The entiregroup met at SIT bright and early, and somehow we managed to negotiate 33 students, and 3 chaperones to the airport, through customs, and onto the plane.
When we got to Cairo the first thing I noticed was how green everything is. Amman is the driest, brownest, city I have ever set foot in. Cairo looks like Minnesota compared to it. The men at immigration told us that they were happy to see tourists in Egypt again. The country’s economy is strongly tourist based, and after the revolution things have dropped off dramatically.
We checked into the Pharaoh Egypt hotel, which is in Giza, slightly east of Cairo. A lot of the girls complained that the bathroom was too small and dusty; the halls were dark, and the rooms Spartan. It did feel a little like summer camp (Alexandra, Hannah, and I had three twin beds crammed cheek to jowl in out room) but I pointed out that if they wanted to stay in an American hotel, they should have stayed in America.
The Pharaoh Egypt Hotel
We were supposed to have a lecture that evening about the Arab spring, but the lecturer had recently had surgery, and in typical Arab fashion had not informed Dr. Raed that he would not be able to meet with us. This left us with a few hours of free time before dinner. Alexandra and I wandered around Giza with a few other people. We weren’t in a heavy tourist area, so most of the places we saw were targeted toward upper middle class Egyptians. We finally stopped for tea and argeela. The café was really cool, at the top of a hotel in Giza. It was a little silly leaving one hotel for another, but the place was nearly empty and offered sweeping views of Cairo.
Cairo is HUGE. 7 million people live in Cairo, a million more than live in the entire country of Jordan. The traffic is absolutely atrocious. Picture Sunset Cliffs Blvd at noon on the on Fourth of July, but all the time everyday, no matter where you are trying to go.
Cairo Traffic
For dinner that night we had Kushori (pronounced cush-ore-i), which is a traditional Egyptian dish. As Dr.Raed explained it is “the food of the poor” It is rice, pasta, lentils, chickpeas, and tomato sauce that you mix together and eat hot with a chili sauce. Not everyone liked it, but I thought it was delicious.
Day 2:
In the morning we had a lecture about ancient Egyptian civilization with a professor from Cairo University. After that we went to see the Cairo citadel and Mosques of Muhammad Ali and Sultan Hassan. Muhammad Ali controlled Egypt after the fall of the Ottoman empire. The citadel is not much to look at, but it did give great views of Cairo. We females weren’t even asked to cover our hair, though we all did have to take off our shoes.
The second mosque was beautiful, and we got to hear an imman chant part of the Q’ran, which was unbelievably cool. Our tour guide sat with us for a while afterwards and told us some of the aspects of Islam, which we all knew because most of us are Middle East studies majors and even those that are not have lived in Jordan long enough to figure it out. It was ok though, and I’m sure she is used to giving lectures to groups of tourists who have not spent much time in the Middle East
After the mosques we went to Khan al Khalili Bazaar, one of the oldest markets in Cairo. There was a time where the artisans made all their goods right there and you could watch them make it, but now a lot of the stuff is made in China. I explored a little with some other students, and we found some really cool shops off the beaten path where people still make their own goods.
The merchants there were pretty crazy. They would go to any lengths to get your attention so you would buy something. My favorite was "Excuse me! (I look away pointedly) No! I have a wife, I just want your money." I told him I appreciated his honesty. I know these people have to make a living, but it was insane the amount of shouting and haggling that went on. I did manage to argue down a good price for some scarves for my roommates and Christmas presents for my brothers.
For dinner that night we went to a place called Nile Action where they had had a lion cub that they were taking pictures with. They would let people hold the cub and then take a picture of them, at the cost of 35 Egyptian pounds (about 6 USD). I don’t like wild animals being handed around to tourists, so I did not have my picture taken holding a lion.
Day 3:
We left pretty early to see they pyramids and the sphinx. When I saw the pyramids from the window of the bus I felt my stomach drop. They were absolutely amazing. Easily the best part of the trip was the camel ride. The little boys who led the camels were so much fun and so funny.
Joe, Dr. Raed, Ahmed, and myself
I love camels!
After the Pyramids we went to the papyrus factory where we saw the traditional ways of making papyrus. I bought a papyrus scroll to hang in my house. It was a little more expensive than the ones they sold on the street, but this one looked beautiful and I have no confidence that the ones they sold on the street were made of anything more than paper with lines drawn on it.
Day 4:
The trip to Alexandria was absolutely exhausting. It was amazing to be in such an old city. I couldn’t believe that I was walking along the same coast that Cleopatra, Ceasar, Alexander the Great, and Saint Mark walked. I loved the library at Alexandria. It was the most beautiful place I have ever been. I would love to come and study at a library like that. It is a great testament to the original library, one of the wonders of the ancient world. It is really a tragedy that only one of the scrolls is still in existence.
Fishermen on the coast of the Mediterranean
The most beautiful library in all the land
After the library we went to the Royal Gardens and a little beach. Sitting on the beach and drinking tea while the boys on the trip splashed around in the ocean was a great way to end the day. One of the boys on my trip told me that this was the first time that he had ever seen the ocean. Growing up in California makes you take some things for granted I guess.
Downtown Alexandria
Day 5: We visited the Cultnat center, which is the Center for Cultural and National Heritage Documentation. They do have a lot of really cool documentation and presentation stuff, including a panorama viewing room that has a lot of really interesting timelines and information about Egyptian history. The program is funded the government. If I was a hungry Egyptian citizen I’m not sure I would be happy that I was paying for such a fancy center. IT looked like something out of the Silicon Valley or some swanky business park in La Jolla. I’d been wondering where the rich business district of Cairo was, and I guess I found out.
I'm saving these pictures for when I launch my investigation into government spending in the Middle East
Obviously kidding Government Overlords who might or might not monitor my internet
I took a nap back at the hotel. About 8:00 we went to a place called the Culture Wheel to watch a local band in concert. It was very loud, but I loved it! It was great to see the sort of youth energy and vibe that drove the revolution back in January.
I don’t know if it is because of the size of the city, but Cairo is a much more liberal place than Amman. Men and women socialize freely, and I even met some Muslim girls who didn’t wear a hijab when they went out, something that would never happen in Amman. The young people I interacted with in Cairo were much more open to talking about politics and government, and a lot more interested in changing things. Hiba and her friends have little to no interest in these issues.
Day 6:
To continue our interaction with people our own age we went to Cairo University. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Dr. Raed has connections in the Political Science department at the university, so we met up with a bunch of students who were our same age and studied the same things we did. We got to spend half a day walking and talking with people who were participants in the revolution. All of the students we met had either been protesting at Tahrir square, or had participated on Facebook or in their neighborhoods. How often do you get to hang out with revolutionaries 8 months after the revolution? The students seemed optimistic about the revolution, but were insistent that serious reforms needed to happen before it could be declared a success. I asked the girl in our group if she thought elections were going to be the next critical step and she told me no, a constitution had to come first, how else could you guarantee that the elections were fair? I thought this was a pretty intelligent and insightful answer.
Day 7:
We had Arabic class in the morning, and then went to explore Coptic Cairo. We were supposed to get an assignment and visit it in groups, but the policeman who accompanied our group everywhere wanted us all to stay together, so we got shuffled from place to place. It was still neat to see some really cool churches, and even a synagogue!
The Coptic churches are all in little windy alleyways far away from Caro’s main hustle and bustle, which I think is a testament to the decades of persecution that the Christian people have faced. A lot of the churches were built on top of old walls of other buildings, including secret catacombs where people would worship without anyone finding out.
That night we went on a boat cruise on the Nile. The boats were not fancy, very traditional, but it was really beautiful to be sailing on the Nile at sunset. The cruise was cut a little short because we got stuck in traffic on the way there (surprise). After dinner we went back to the rooftop café and enjoyed one last night with a view of Cairo.
Day 8:
We checked out of the hotel early and went to the Cairo museum. Cameras are not allowed in the museum, they have x-ray machines to look for cameras in people’s bags. The museum is huge and has a ton of impressive stuff, but it is horribly organized. I have never been to a museum in the US that provides so little information about exhibits. Maybe they were trying to get you to buy a tour, but the few tour groups I pretended to be a part of were hurrying people through the exhibits so fast that I didn’t really think it would be worth it.
The display of King Tutankhamen’s tomb was amazing. I went through a King Tut phase, and it was amazing to see the photos Howard Carter took right next to the things that he took them of! Because I tend to linger in museums, none of my friends were around when I finished. I sat outside for a while and talked with a Coptic Christian Egyptian man who was not a fan of president Obama. He begged me not to vote for him for reelection because “He keeps saying he will do things, and then he does not.” He and I were pretty much on the same page on that one.
Our flight left Cairo and we somehow managed to get 36 people back through customs. We only have a week of classes left, and then we are going to Dana, Petra, Wadi Rum, and Aqaba for a week. After that, the Independent study period starts. I can’t imagine how easy it is going to be to only have one paper to write. Usually I have to do 3 finals, 3 papers, and debate. Having just one paper is going to be a cakewalk.
All the best,
B
