Protests on Campus/Tahrir, Classes, and Dates.

Hi everyone!

So unfortunately I have been 1. extremely busy and 2. without a computer and missing a camera battery for the past week or so.  That being said this post won't have any fun pictures on it but I promise I'll put some up on the next one to make up for it.

The past week has been very interesting to say the least.  The reignition of protests in Tahrir, the extrent to which I find myself enjoying my classes paired with the amount of work I have to do for each of them, and the tuition hike protests on campus have all been both suprising and sometimes upsetting.

First on all the protests in Tahrir seem to be more of a festival during the day compared to what I witnessed here last semester.  People in the square sell flags, facepainting, pretzels, and fresh squeezed orange and mango juice among other things.  When chants aren't heard from one side of the square music can be heard that is being played at the other corner.

Night is a whole differrent beast though.  As you may have seen on the news last Friday night the protestors stormed from Tahrir square to the Israeli embassy and attempted to enter a building.  In the end it took police intervention and a swat team to bring those inside the building out safely.  It seems unclear fromm the news reports I've read whether or not the Abassador was there at the time but nonetheless he and most of the staff have already hopped a plane back to Israel.

As I am writing this it's early Friday afternoon and protests are already beginning again in the square.  We will have to see what tongiht brings.


Protests have also been going on all this week at the University.  The initial platform for the protests there was to both show support for underpaid staff at the university and to protest a 9% tuition hike.

I was happy at first to see the protests and to support the causes they were fighting for.  Here's why.

1. The 9% tuition hike is being implemented without any reasons being given to the students as to why.  Back at UT when our programs were cut and our tuition increased we were by no means happy with it, but we knew that it was because of cut endowments and loss of a significant amout of funding from the state.  This was common knowledge in part because of regular updates we got by the President as to the reasons for why we had to cut back on expenses.  Although AUC is a private Univeristy I believe it owes its students this amount of transparency purely because of the significant investment that they have to make in this University towards their future.  If I was paying eight times the national income to go to a University I would like to know how and where changes where being made and why I needed to invest more money into these changes.

2. This call for transparency is actually a little more selfish but nonetheless something that I consider to be a viable argument.  As an American citizen part of my tax dollars are going towards the funding of USAID which in turn provides significant funding to the University.  As a taxpayer I deserve to know how my tax dollars are being spent.

3.  Much of the staff on campus are paid very low wages, work very long hours, and are hired on a monthly basis.  Once again as an institution whose creation was funded by USAID the university should be much more responsible in promoting a beneficial working environment in which an employee doesnt need to worry about whether or not he will have the money to feed his family next month.


Now here's why I have become completely disenchanted with the student protests over the past week.

1.  Students have taken to shouting "haramia" (theives) along with other distasteful slogans at the faculty and the President of the University. There is no way that this could open up the possibility open up the door to future negotiations between students and the heads of AUC.

2. Students have started to go into classrooms in an attempt to force other students attending class to join the protests.  I have to admit that it was pretty exciting at first when they came into my Arabic class in an attempt to have us join them, but reflecting upon the instance not only was the classtime I was paying for disrupting but my choice to go to classes that day was not respected.

3.  Here's the big one.  Yesterday students both marched to the Presidents office to should hateful slogans and took down an American flag on campus.  This is an insult to me and to every American that attends the school.  It is also extremely detrimental to the students cause because once again USAID FUNDS THE UNIVERSITY.  Taking down the flag of the nation that makes your education possible is one sure fire way to create another tuition hike next semester when it withdrawls even more if not all funding.

That being said I as well as other international students will be wearing red, white and blue to campus on Monday.  There is a word in Arabic for how I feel about this situation now.  Its "ziada"  which roughly translates to this escalation in plain stupidity as being "too much."


Now on to better news!

My classes are amaing.  I am enjoying every single one of them.  They are

The Political Economy of Poverty and Inequality:  So far we have been learning about the differences between Modernist Theory, Dependancy Theory, and Marxist theory as applied to international development.  Its extremely interesting to compare and contrast.

The History of Israel/Palestine:  Taught of course from a much different perspective than from the states.  Although it is my no means an antizionist class, the history behind the creation of the state of Israel and the Palestineans within it is....lets just stick with interesting for this as well.

Intro to Humanitarian Law:  This is actually a grad level survey course and long story short out teacher has a British accent and blue hair.  Time to question everything you know about the history and consequences of human rights!

Arabic 201:  I'm taking this a a refreser course to prepare me for third year Arabic at UT. The scary this is that I'm actually the most proficient speaker in the class.  Thank you Arabic House!

Sculpture:  WONDERFUL!!!!  We have to draw stuff for our homework assignments!

One last thing.

Now I know I'm going to get some eye rolls for this but I have started dating another international student here.  I know I said I wouldn't but what the hell.  Jan (pronounced Yan) and I seem to have similar personalities and interests and the converations have never been boring.  We absolutely enjoy eachothers company but since PDA (and I mean even hugs that last longer than five seconds) are banned in the dorms we don't get much a of a chance to actually act like we're dating.  We did however go to Cairo Jazz Club two days back to listen to some really great local bands play and I have to say I really enjoyed getting to dress up for it. : )

That's all for now.  More news and pictures to come soon!

Concert and Sheesha at the Highest Point in Cairo

Due once more to sd card attendance failure I can't post anny pictures yet of my vacation on the North Coast of Egypt at the Mediterrainian sea.  However here are some photos of the concert I went to when I got back.  A band called Massar Egbari was playing and they were wonderful.  

On our drive to the square it was playing in we say this....In the middle of Tahrir square yet again.  It will be interesting to see what happens this Friday.

This is the band. If you look closely you can see that one of the band members is playing a tubla, or a traditional middle eastern drum.

Yasin on Justin shoulders trying to find another group of friends in the crowd.

Derek dancing with an Egyptian man in a spongebob shirt.  The Egyptians there for the most part were in love with his hair.

Derek and Charlotte attempting to do an Egyptian dance move.

The (second) cutest Egyptian kid ever.  No lie, his mother who was decked out in a full niqab, kept pushing him into the crowd to dance with us so she could take pictures.

Lee-ann and I attempting the same dance move.

A picture with the sheesha guy at the cafe/ outdoor hookah lounge we went to afterwards.  The place was literally on the edge of the highest point in Cairo.  It was beautiful.

Sorry that this was such a short post and long overdue at that.  I have been extremely busy with the start of classes, but the next one will be more detailed and have vacation pictures I promise!

The Real Khan al-Khalili and Pigeons

I have some good and some bad news to start off this post with.

 The bad news is I went to the Pyramids two days ago but I don't have any pictures to show for it.  Being myself as usual I brought along the camera but left the sd card in my computer. Every once in a while my common sense flies out the window and things like this happen.  

The good news is that they were so wonderful that a group of students, myself included, have decided that we need to go back and see them again.  Which means that there will absolutely be pyramid pictures in store in the future.  On top of that last night I went to Khan al-Khalili (yes, the actual Khan) and had Nic take over the camera.  So there are still lots of pictures to show you all in this post!

For those of you who don't know what the Khan, it is a huge market composed of multiple streets in Cairo that sells everything from belly dancing outfits to frankincense to brass-ware and of course knock-off Prada.  It's been around since the 1200's and although the place is definitely a tourist haven, if you go late enough at night you will find the souq populated largely by Egyptians who come to bargain and shop.

We started off last night in Zamalek by grabbing some desert at a cupcake place called Nola Cupcakes.

Sarah and I got Mango Kunefe cupcakes.  They were indescribably tasty.  I ended up telling the guy who makes the cupcakes there just how much of a genius he was for making not only these, but a whole array of spectacular cupcakes.  Really, you could live off of these things.

Delicious. 

  

Sean and Miriam with what I think are cinnamon vanilla cupcakes.

We then took a cab to the Khan where we proceeded to begin perhaps the best group outing I have had so far.  (Although we did do a Faluka boat ride and played tag with kids in Tahrir square the night before).

First things first, Sean Nic and I had to try pigeon.  Yes, actual pigeon.  Turns out it's a semi-delicacy here and Sean had heard that you could get them at the Khan. 

 Since we looked like tourists there were plenty of people asking if we wanted to buy this or that including lots of kids.  Sean and I ended up asking a kid where we could find pigeon and in five minutes we had to kids and a younger man acting as our guides to find this bird of luxury.  at this point Nic took over the camera.

 In front is one of the kids and you can see me and sean talking to the other man.  Also in this picture is Miram and Caitlin.


We were eventually led to of all things a chinese restaurant that served stuffed pigeon.

Success!  The pigeon wasn't the prettiest sight ever nor was it the tastiest or most meaty bird out there, but it was definitely worth a try.

The bird was served with traditional bread like the one inn this picture along with tahini sauce.

Once we had devoured most of our pigeon we began shopping.  First place was a shop that sold copper gilded swords among many other things. I begin to take a look at some of them and the next thing I know the shop keeper is placing a sword used for dancing on his head where it balanced perfectly.  Of course I had to try.

And this was the result.  No, I can never stop being silly.  Even in Egypt.

 This is a picture of part if the main street of the Khan.  

 Another shop that sold just about everything.

As we came across a part of the Khan that sold scarfs and bags I decided I needed another Egyptian scarf.  I proceeded to bargain with guy, who proceeded to wrap my head in this get up.

By the way, this man along with MANY other shop owners in that bazaar we extremely nice and welcoming. Once he realized that I could speak Arabic and was a student who knew a little bit about bargaining we began to make a deal on a beautiful blue pashmina scarf.  I got it down to 25 Egyptian pounds (a little more than four dollars) but wanted to keep searching at other shops.  He told me to go ahead and come back when I found out that his was the best price.  He wasn't joking.  No one else would sell it to me for less than 35 pounds.  I got the scarf and Nic got a new friend since both he and this guy seemed to know a little bit of French, German, and Spanish.  Forget about Arabic.

Alright so I had to try this on. Its a belly dancing headdress but I was told it looked like something 70's Cher would wear.  I then proceeded to act like a hippie under then influence and got this lovely picture out of it.

We ended our trip at el-Fishawi, a 200-odd year-old Arabic coffee and tea shop at the Khan.  I drank irfa bil lebn which is essentially cinnamon mild alongside mint tea.  It was both delicious and surprisingly cheap.  There we met Ali, a shop owner who chatted with us and ended up leading us to a chess shop where Nic and Charlotte bought gorgeous chess sets.

 From left to right:  Sarah, Miriam, Caitlin, me, Nic, and Sean at el-Fishawi.

Nic, Charolotte, Sean and me with the shop owners.  They absolutely loved us and we loved them.  We talked with them about the political situation in Egypt and America and they invited us to come back any time to chat.

After leaving the market with out spoils and having made multiple friends (as in they no longer were trying to sell us something and just wanted to chat) we went back to Zamalek and settled down to a view of the Nile at the Rooftop bar.  

Once again.  A successful adventure under our belts.

Day 4: Revisiting Tahrir Square and Food Poisoning

I've had to come back to reality these past few days.  Cairo is still the amazing, exciting city that it has always been to me, but that isn't to say that I haven't discovered at least a few things that tend to upset me.

First of all I now officially have food poisoning.  As if the unending stomach cramps aren't enough to tell me that I have now been prescribed three different medications to help me get through it.  Darn you Egyptian food!!!  You we're supposed to be tasty AND safe!  

Not that I was deluding myself into thinking that Egyptian food wasn't unsanitary sometimes, but I was so convinced by my generally healthy state last time that I thought I wouldn't get full on food poisoning this semester until it actually happened.

Second of all I had my first trip to Tahrir Square since the revolution.  A few places that I visited were ones I didn't get the chance to see before there.  For the rest I have before and after pictures.  Long story short I saw a lot more police (and secret police for that matter) than I would have liked.  If Egypt was a police state before I'm not sure whats changed between then and now just by looking.

We walked down to Tahrir square, which means crossing over the bridge from Zamalek to Dowtown Cairo.    Here's the view of the Nile that we got while crossing over.

Entering Tahrir Square.  The lions are on the side of the bridge entering Tahrir.  Revolutionary graffiti is still on them. Although it looks like someone threw paint on one of the "leave Mubarak" ones.

 Hardee's in Tahrir.  It also has a KFC and a McDonalds.

The downtown campus AUC bookstore we visited.  the campus is located about a block away from the square.

Inside the campus.  Believe it or not the police hid in here during the revolution since both AUC campuses are not under Egyptian but rather American law and act as a safe haven.

Kitties!!!  On campus taking a nap in the shade.

 Here are the before and after pictures.

A wall along the edge of the square during the revolution.

Same area this semester.

 McDonalds on the Square after the Day of Rage protest.

Same McDonalds now.  New window and all.

The circle in the center of the Square.  During the revolution.

The square now.  I couldn't take a picture close-up of the police that stood all around it with shields and batons at their feet.  There was a risk of them taking my camera. However if you look closely you can see about five men in black uniforms.  That's them.

A burnt police truck after The Day of Rage.  It looks like people were filling it with trash that they were cleaning up from the square.

 Police trucks lining the square now....

This is actually a picture of the subway station.  After taking this picture the secret police came and told me I couldn't take pictures of the place.  The last encounter I had with them was when they told me I couldn't enter the square on The Day of Rage.  I didn't even realize that they still existed.

A picture of the street in Tahrir Square after The Day of Rage.

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The square now.  Looks like just another busy thoroughfare.  We'll have to see if it stays the same once Ramadan is over.

  

Day 2 and Three: First Iftar and Trip to (NOT) Khan alKhalili and the Citadel

The past two days have been an absolutely wonderful experience.  From meeting other international students to free trips hosted by hyperactive student advisers, I have so far (with the exception of witnessing the revolution) had an even better time here that I did at the beginning of last semester.  Many of the people I have met have made the comment "this is like being in a resort" in reference to the beautiful campus and the free trips that we have been on.  In truth I feel absolutely spoiled.  I know that once classes begin things are going to settle down here and start feeling more like college than a vacation getaway, but I have a feeling that being in Cairo will never get boring.

Day 2:  In the morning I and a group of a few other students in the Zamalek dorms went out for breakfast/lunch at a coffee shop where I ordered a greek salad.  The feta cheese in my salad was creamy, absolutely delicious, and made up about half of the entire salad.  What surprised me most though was that the tomatoes in my salad actually had flavor to them.  That's right, unlike the watery grainy ones in the states, my tomatoes actually tasted like tomatoes.

After eating we ran to Saudi market to get a few essentials.

This was the storefront for Saudi Mart.


That night I went out with a group of students for Iftar (breaking fast).  Okay, so I had already eaten that day but why not join in the celebration with the rest of Cairo?

This was the group of people I went with to a place called Euro Cafe.  We all originally wanted to find an Egyptian restaurant to dine in with traditional food, but it turns out that during Ramadan the only way to get into one is if you have a reservation or if you wait to eat until nine.  We were too hungry to wait so most of us ended up getting chicken shwarma here.  The food was okay, not the best shwarma I've ever had, but what really sold me on this place was the fruit drink "surprise" that I ordered which turned out to basically be pureed mango.  It was the best mango anything I have ever had.  The entire table agreed.

Later that night we went on a free Faluka boat ride that Residential Life hosted.

This was are Faluka boat.  It essentially is a wide, flat-bottom sailboat.  The nile was absolutely beautiful at night and the wind was calm enough to where our ride was smooth and relaxing....until the other res. life faluka led by Ray, by far the most hyper of our R.A.s, intentionally rammed into us. Ha ha, Ray, very funny.



Day 3:  Day three was the first day of orientation.  One of the most outstanding changes made to the university that I noticed is that there are huge murals all around, like this one.

The murals are male up from a collage of photos taken during the revolution.

Here's a close up where you can see the individual pictures.

This is the same part of the mural zoomed out a little bit.


Correction:  This was a tour of the Old City, NOT the bazaar Khan al Khalili.


Later on that afternoon the international student leaders took us on a trip to visit Khan alKhalili and the Citadel, with Iftar dinner included after our tour.  I hate to say it but my least favorite part was actually the bazaar tour.  Khan alKhalili was crowded and the street was packed with people trying to drive home for Iftar after starving the whole day.  No one was in a good mood and there was plenty of ogling by people hanging around the shops.  On top of that we were such a big group that we took up most of the street, causing multiple traffic jams.

There were some sights in the bazaar that made it worth while.  Old architecture like this was all over.

There was a plethora of Hookah shops, but there were also a few textile shops like this one.

If you look really closly at this picture you can see a wall hanger that has a picture made from calligraphy on it.  

I also had to take a picture of the turkish coffee cups hanging in one shop.

This I believe was one of the mosques we saw on the street.


After the bazaar we went to the Citadel where we took a tour of the Alabaster Mosque.  It was built by Muhammad Ali, the liberator, and later leade (dictator) of Egypt.

This is part of the inside of the mosque.  It was to big to get all of it in one picture.

This was Muhammad Ali's tomb, which faced the prayer niche.

I believe that these are two Qurans that some one left on one of the ledges inside the mosque.

This is the outside view of the mosque.

A view of the city from the plaza in the citadel where we had Iftar dinner.

Iftar dinner afterwards was delicious.  There was an array of traditional dishes laid out for us.  I drank a really sweet and absolutely delicious sweetened milk drink with my meal then finished off with basbousa and baklava.  After dinner we watched a Bedouin show.  It featured whirling dancers (not to be confused with whirling dervishes) whose skirts were lit up to exaggerate their movements.

This was during the first act.

There was also this guy... he seemed to like running around everyone watching the show with his censure and randomly placing it on different peoples' heads.

Here's a close up of one of the Bedouin dancers twirling lit up part of his skirt around his head.

Me and Sarah, another international student who is also my neighbor in the Zamalek Dorm.

Two pretty awesome German guys whose names I can't seem to recall.  They sat and smoked shesha with us at the end of the show.


So that's all.  Tonight I'm going on a Nile cruise also hosted by the international student leaders.  I have intentionally left my camera at the dorms to make sure no unfortunate incidents happen that have it coming in contact with water.  Will report on how everything goes though of course.

Miss you all and hope this post has helped give you a glimpse into what my experience has been here so far!