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!