Day #2 of the Alexandria Adventures!

Day 2 in Alexandria started with the adventures in the Fort Qaitbey, or Citadel Qaitbey. Which as this amazing Citadel at the opening of the Alexandria Port, and as you can see it was a fun structure to walk around in... and it was relatively cheap for us students... I have to say I love being an AUC student, because I get cheap tickets, because essentially I am an Egyptian when it comes to prices of tourist locations. To see this entire fort, and spend 4 hours there it cost me about $2, or 10 Pounds, the exchange rate is about $1 to 5.30 Egyptian Pounds... Anyway, it was a nice hot muggy day, and we had already checked out of our Hotel, so I had to carry my huge backpack with me, as we walked through this entire fort, but it was totally worth it, I think I sweat off 10 lbs! Not really but I felt that way! Anyway, this fort was built amazingly, and it is right on the water, so by every window you would get an amazing Ocean breeze, which I loved! It was a nice place to tour, and we took our time touring it, taking tacking tourist like pictures, and just being Americans. At the fort you can walk along the wall that was used to protect it, and there are all these nooks and crannies that we would find people it, there was this one spot on the back wall of the fort, on a turret type part of the wall, where we all sat for a good 30 minutes, just relaxing, feeling the breeze, taking pictures, and just thinking, which I know is a waste of time, but it felt soo good to just sit and think, and watch Alexandria! Like I said we spent a good 3-4 hours at the fort. I took alot of photos there. After the fort we headed towards the train station, since our train left in 2 1/2 hours, and while trying to find food near the train station, we got lost in a sense, We were following a guide book, and well the restaurants they mentioned, where not where they were suppose to be, so instead we had walked around the shopping part of Alexandria for about 45 minutes trying to find food, we finally walked into this one Hotel to ask (my idea, since I saw the Hotel and thought it might have a restaurant) and we ended up eating at this AMAZING hotel restaurant called the Versailles, and it was in this nice ballroom type room with the tacky Baroque decorations that I LOVE! After the meal we had come across this bakery that had the most delicious cookies and cakes, so we got some snacks there and then took the train back to Cairo.

I would say the entire weekend was AMAZING, but tiring, we did alot of walking but we saw soo much and I got to swim in the Mediterranean Sea!

I am going to post a blog of just pictures after this one! Dont worry I have alot of pictures from Alexandria!

The First Part of the Aexandria Adventures!

Well I am not going to enumerate all the different parts of my Adventures from this past weekend... but I will do it later on this week, I am really tired! Well I have to say I have swam i the Mediterranean Sea!!! I was very Excited about that... But to start out, we took a Train from Cairo to Alexandria... which was interesting, I was able to see Egypt, not Cairo, but Egypt... as weird as it is to say I got to see how the majority of Egyptians live... the train would go through fields of Wheat, Corn, and Rice Patties... I really enjoyed that Train Ride... once we got to Alexandria we went to the Hotel which was the Hilton Green Plaza, which is a big mall with a hotel over it... and the room was decent sized for the 6 of us. After we ate some lunch at the Hilton, we went to the Bibliotheca, which is this new library that was built over the space where the old Library of Alexandria use to be. It was an intense building that was soo much fun to be in, there was this one area that was dedicated to old books and manuscripts... it was a fun adventure, and we just enjoyed being there... after the Library, we went to the Private Beach owned by the Hotel Renaissance, which was nice we got a cabana to ourselves, even though we were not guest of the hotel!!! So I got to swim and relax in the water, which I swear is a second home to me, I am soo content in or near water, especially salt water... While we were at the Beach we meet this Egyptian names Mag, who would not leave us alone... I understand he wanted to practice his English, which I am all for, but I dont think he got the hint that we were done talking, but he hung out with us, specifically me and this one guy Tim, he could not get enough of us, it was disgustingly creepy... he was a CREEPER... but he was not the highlight of the beach, watching the sunset on the Med was AMAZING... it was soo pretty, and just made my day... one thing I will say about Egyptian men, they are not use to women wearing swim suits, and showing alot of skin, the beach we were on was right near the main road in Alexandria, so there were alot of men walking along it, and they were more than willing to take pictures of me in my swim suit, which got annoying, but I had to remember the cultural differences that existed, and that they are not use to so much skin being shown... and I just laughed because I know American Girls who show even more skin... but that is all I am going to update tonight... I am really tired, and the second day in Alexandria has alot more pictures and stories... so till I have had more sleep!

The Weekend is Almost here!

Well I am almost done with my second week of classes... which is amazing, since it is going by so quickly... I only have 4 more weeks of classes, that means about 5 more weekends to go adventuring, exploring and shopping for presents and cool stuff I just generally want... hahaha... I have spent the majority of this week studying for my Politics class and a map quiz that he gave us, which I think I did alright on, but he asked us about things he did not have on his study guide, so it was hard on some parts, but I think I did decently... but I have started to get to know some Egyptians here at AUC... and they are sooo nice...

After our class today, the Quiz, I went with some Americans and some Egyptians to this Cafeteria Hareya, which means Freedom, where they serve $2 Beers and Chickpeas... it was nice, Egypt is surprisingly relaxed... I mean I would never go and flaunt that I am drinking, but this place is an open hole in the wall bar, where is seems the students I was with always go there... But besides just enjoying the environment, I got to know RJ, Miki (Short for Mikiela) and Ahmed, all natives, they let me practice my Arabic, which is not great but I am working on it... anyway while we were there Ahmed invited us to the upcoming Football (Soccer) game that will be held in Egypt between Egypt and Mawali... Which I was totally up to going, I want to do so much while I am here... I also learned that Ahmed has his own horse, and when he found out I could ride a little (THANK YOU AUNT MARSHA AND CURT) then he invited me later to go Horseback riding with him to the Pyramids or just in the Dessert...

But in other news, I am heading to Alexandria (Iskandaryah) this weekend... I am excited, I will be taking the Train from Cairo to Alex (that is what most of the Egyptians call it for short)... there are about 7 of us going, so we should have fun!!! We plan on seeing the Fort Qaitbey & the Bibliotheca and then go to the Beach and SWIM in the Mediterranean Sea!!! I am excited to be going to a beach, I know I could go to any beach I want, but this one in on the Med!!! Next weekend I am gonna head to Sharm Al Sheik, which is a Resort town on the Sinai Penninsula!!! There are about 14 of us going to Sharm, so a big group! But it should be fun, and I think when we are there we might try to climb Mount Sinai at night, and then watch the Sunrise, and I think near Mount Sinai is the Monastery that houses the Burning Bush, or atleast they say it is the bush that burned.. I don't know but I am taking my Mothers advice and seeing as much as I can, and I am soo glad that I am here in Egypt... Sorry no pictures on this blog... just me talking and blabbing... but I will have more pictures once this weekend gets here!

Mosques Sultan Hassan and Al Rifa'i

Today I took the initiative to try to plan a trip just here in Cairo! I wanted to see the Citadel, and I only have one class today, so I decided to see if people wanted to come with me to see the Citadel... and suprisingly Darshan, Tim, and Austyn (a girl) wanted to come with... so we made a fun trip out of it! When we finally got to the Citadel, we got distracted, by these two Mosques (in the picture, and yes those are two different Mosques)... And we took an adventure to see them as opposed to the citadel, we thought we had time to see all three places... not so much, but hey that mean another adventure for me!

Anyway, what is interesting about these two mosques, besides how closely together they were built, but there is a 300+ year difference between the two... The Mosque on the left is Sultan Hassan, and it is the older of the two buildings... I thought this mosque was beautiful, it was more open to the elements, and just interesting to look at... It also houses the coffin of Sultan Hassan in a room behind the main area of the Mosque, and the Mosque is still a running Madrassa, which means school in Arabic... but what is interesting is that this school teaches Islamic Law and Religion it is not like Catholic or Christian schools that teach a wide range of things as well as Christian Beliefs, which I though was interesting...

After we went through Sultan Hassan, we went next door to Al Rifa'i... which was a much newer mosque, but still very beautiful, and def having an attention to details with in it... the Al Rifa'i mosque seems to be the resting place of many Sultans and Kings of Egypt... we saw the tombs of King Faruk, the last King of Egypt, as well as some Sultan who was the last Sultan of Egypt... and for both of these men, their Wives were also buried there, some having more than one wife... What was funny about this Mosque was that I had to wear this cover up that was green and a long robe type thing, it is something they give to people to wear when they are not modest or showing skin where they should not be, and well I was a girl wearing short sleeved shirt... unfortunately I do not have any pictures of me looking like a leprechaun... but my friends do... so I will get those and post them...

By the Time we were done with the two Mosques, the Citadel had closed, but it was a hot afternoon, so it was nice to had back to the dorm and study... My Politics Class I have a map quiz on Wednesday... which I am not looking forward to... ewwwww map tests... Well till something else happens...

My First adventure into Khan al-Khalili

Adventures today were Tim, Darshan, David and Myself... yes I was the only girl in the group... whatever... We got a taxis and we asked for Khan al-Khalili... and when he dropped us off we did not know where we were... we sincerly thought we were in Khan al-Khalili... but it turns out our Taxi Driver dropped us off about 3 blocks before the Khan... so we went adventuring into the Market that we were dropped off at... and it turned out to be a clothing market... which asI call this entry my first adventure because well I cannot go there just once, I will probably go there a couple of time... The nice, there were some nice Islamic buildings there... but as we adventured we reached the end... and well we did not know where to go so we went right... well that took us to the Museum, and well we did not want to be there... so we started walking again... trying to look at the map and figure out where we are and how we can get to the Khan... the entire time we are walking we mostly had to walk single file behind the others... I was the third in line, and Tim was behind me... well Tim was entertained... because I was receiving a lot of stares and catcalls, and Tim say and heard it all... It seems that most of these men enjoy calling out to women, especially women that are different, ie Me... Finally I am getting feed up so I use my Arabic and asked where the Khan was... well it also seems that the guys that I asked I made their day by talking and asking them a question... So after an hour and a half of walking, we finally find the Khan...but it is on the other side of the road... But there were some pretty Mosques in front of us... so we stopped...and took pictures!!! While we were taking pictures this guy comes up to us and starts talking to us, and then he tells us about a place that makes the mother of pearl inlaid boxes, and he tries to give us directions, but instead he just takes us there... and while we were there, the men show us the difference between their wood and bone boxes and the plastic boxes that everyone else sells... which was interesting, and now I know the differences... So we start talking, and they start asking about us, and we about them... it was nice because I was practicing my Arabic while they were practicing their English... but I also started to figure out that the Man who took us to this little shop made a cut of the profits, because this shop was not really on the main road... but the Boxes were beautiful...

After we left the box shop we made it over to the Khan al-Khalili... and we became tourists, we must have had signs over our heads that said this... but one thing that was interesting about this trip was that even though I was speaking Arabic, and I was asking Directions, all the people there seem to only speak to the guys that I was with... I would get the catcalls, but it seemed Darshan and Tim got most of the attention when it came to directions, like I was forgotten or pushed to the back... which I understand is a cultural norm... but it is still a little weird... After walking through the Khan, we came across these two beautiful Mosques, and of course we grabbed our cameras and took pictures... This triggered a man to come up to us and try to sell us tickets to see the mosques... but we did not want to do it then... but he then started asking us questions about ourselves, and where we were from, and then he turned to me, and he asked me if I was married, I told him no, and then he asked if any of the guys in the group were my brothers, I said no, and then he tried to marry me off to the guys I was with... at this point I am just LAUGHING... near us were some Tourist Police, and this guy is talking to them about how Beautiful I am, and how I dont have a husband, and that me and Darshan (who is Indian and Darked skin) would have beautiful babies because we are mixing light with Dark... his exact words... This guy was the funniest man ever, and it totally made my day... well after all this adventuring, about 4 hours worth, I am tired, and it is only 7 pm here... so nap time... not really though but close enough...

Here are some more pictures again at the bottom of my post...

Taxis and Parking...

I feel the need to make two posts today because I really want to talk about the Taxis and driving here in Cairo...

First the Taxis Drivers here love Americans, because they try to over charge us more for a trip that a typical Egyptian person gets for less... This is good and bad because since I have to haggle the price with them, I am practicing my Arabic... Bad because it ALWAYS happens with me... because I hate to say it I stick out like a sore thumb here, since I am fair skinned and have green eyes...

The Next think I really want to talk about it how the people here in Cairo Drive... I know I mentioned it in another post... but I feel its bears elaboration... In Cairo lanes are not followed, I was on an overpass today that was two lanes, and there were three cars going down it... the way things work here is that one car is straddling the line (if there is one) and the other two cars will be on either side closest to the wall or railing... depending on what is present... Since they dont follow lane rules... Cairo drivers are the worse tailgater's that I have ever seen... they follow so close to the car in front of them I am not surprised by the number of paint scrapes and dents that are one most of these cars... even the really nice ones have paint scrapes... I have had a few panicked moments in taxis... one time the taxi driver told me to hold onto the hand gripe above me on the ceiling instead of holding onto the door, and he was laughing at me and how I was getting scared... :-)

I have also been in many taxis here in Cairo... and a majority of them do not have power steering... when ever the taxi driver tries to turn the car, he had to move his body soo much just to accomplish this... I have also learned that flashers, and lights mean different things, you use your flasher or hazards when you are slowing down to get off of a fast road... this is so no one comes up behind you and crashes into you... Honking is also an art and a form of aggressive driving here in Cairo... you have to be in the car to understand what it means... but Taxis will also use honking to get your attention to see if you want a ride... but I normally just yell out Taxi and all is good!

Another fun thing is to walk down my road and see all the cars double or sometimes triple parked on the road... I have learned that people are able to park two or three cars across because there is always someone on the road whose job it is to park and un-park the cars on the roads... I have also learned that when a car is parked with its windshield wipes up it means it is a stick shift car as opposed to an automatic...

Why talk so much about this... because it is funny, but it also seems a part of the lifestyle here in Cairo!!! I took some footage today of me in a Taxi driving... It is not the best Quality, and it is a little shaky with no sound... but you should get the picture...

Adventures!

I have definitely been continuing my adventures here in Cairo... Since my last post I went on a Felucca ride on the Nile River! Which was beautiful we did it as the sun was setting, and it was soo cool down by the River... Zamalek is a great Island to live on... I have learned that it is an upperclass island, and that it is angled towards tourists and the rich Egyptians that live here... granted that means higher prices, but everything is also better quality (meaning food wont hurt my stomach... very important)

I have also adventured into Nassr City, with my group... the girls needed clothes and the big mall is in Nassr City... On the way to Nassr City is the spot that in 1981 Anwar Sadat was assassinated for signing the Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel... I think it is cool history of Egypt since the assassination was carried out by the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist organization here in Egypt... for those of you who are getting worried... there has not been an attack on Americans in Egypt since 2005... over 3 years ago... so I am safe, the Muslim Brotherhood no longer supports militant reactions by its members...

One thing that I find interesting about Cairo and Egypt is the number of Policemen that exist here in the City... granted some of them dont really do anything... I learned there are three different types of Police Officers on the streets of Cairo... The first group are the Officers in White, and the our the Tourist and Antiquities Police... pretty much they make sure that nothing happens to us tourists, because we are a huge part of Egypt's GDP, since we spend money here is large amounts... haha... The next group is the men in Black Uniforms, they are the Military Police, they ensure the security and safety of everyone, that and they also make sure that us tourists do not take pictures of certain buildings because for some reason Egypt has a fear for their national security... cant fault them, but sometimes we are limited in where we can take pictures... the third group of policing officers are my favorite... they are the men in Suits and Ties, they are the MORALITY POLICE... tell me that is not funny... I mean it makes sense since the country is still a Muslim Country, but they have an entire police force whose job it is to make sure that guys and girls, or any other combination, are not misbehaving or acting inappropriately in the streets...

I do have one complaint about Cairo... the Sun is amazing here... but the Farmers tan that I am developing is soooo annoying... I now have very tan forearms and a nicer tanned face... but the rest of me is turning white!!!

I am gonna post more pictures from my Felucca Ride now!

Skyline here of Cairo from the Nile River!