Mango Juice Heaven

Hello all,

It has been a few days since I last wrote partly because my body has been defying me by taking on a cold and partly because we have been so busy!  The environment of Cairo does not pair well with my body that was brought up on pure Maine air, cold weather, and fruits and veggies.  Reminds me of how fortunate I was to have that be my home:)

So here is the low down of the past few days:

Seeing the delta to the north of Cairo where the Nile splits into two branches!
Drinking more mango Juice (this can go on the information for each day that I talk about because it is an everyday event and something I will dearly miss upon leaving Cairo).
A little bit of exploring the city and shopping for things like "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle written in Arabic.  -Don't make fun of me who know how much I love children's books, plus how cool is that!

Continuing Arabic class:  Our instructor Malan is out to kill us.  She assumes when she says a grammar rule once that we will retain it and be able to use it in every other circumstance, not to mention in the homework it asks for vocabulary that we have never learned and that is not in the book.  I am glad she gives us credit, but jeez we are here for conversational Arabic and do not need to know about dative case.  But it is enjoyable to be able to have small conversations in Arabic and the people are so excited when you try to speak their language even if I know that I am butchering it most of the time.

Experiment walking alone in the city (just to the Mariott, mom don't worry it was safe).  Got an interesting mix of attention.  Lots of stares some just curious, others uncomfortably sexual.  The report about men cat calling is true, but no groping (thank goodness).  But it is frustrating to me that it feels so uncomfortable because I want to go exploring on my own, but I do not feel comfortable going to far.

US Embassy visit and presentation by US Agency of International Development.  So interesting on so many levels.  USAID is an Agency that would be so interesting to work for so I was very intrigued by the discussion.

Dinner at Abd's (pronounced Abdouh's) house.  The most wonderful night yet.  Mr. Abd is our driver.  He greets us every morning with the largest grin I have ever seen and says sabbah el kheer (Goodmorning!).  He helps us learn our Arabic by singing the number song at the top of his lungs in the car and he and Paul (our director from Harvard) talk a mile a minute in Arabic and laugh and joke.  Abd has a beautiful house and we met his wife and his daughter and one of his sons and his new wife.  They had an amazing meal of turkey rice, french fries(for us Americans), roasted eggplant, tahini, yoghurt dip, and watermelon.  The evening was full of talking and laughing. A man named Denis was there. He works at Northeastern.  The reason that Abd is in our lives now is because he drove a taxi that Denis was in twenty years ago and despite Denis's insistence that he did not have to wait for him to return from his meeting he waited.  He began to drive Denis to work everyday and then he became the driver for both him and his wife.  Paul met Denis while working in Jerusalem.  Then he studied at Northeastern under Denis for his masters and doctorate.  He began to help Denis with his student trips to Egypt and then took over running those trips.  And Abd has never ceased to be the driver for those trips and a great friend to both Denis and Paul.  Beautiful huh?

Then a Sufi Dance Presentation.  Wow.  Men in long dresses playing drums and hand cymbals, and pipes.  Then the whirling dervishes.  These men could spin longer and more beautifully than anything I have ever seen.  Their skirts are gorgeously quilted in many colors and you get dizzy just watching them.  I do not know how they walk straight after.  But it was mesmerizing.


A lecture dissipating myths about women in Islam by Dr. Riham Bahi.  A talk that I wish all Americans could hear.  It was so powerful in breaking the stereotypes of Muslim women as oppressed, voiceless victims.

Meeting with Fulbright-Egypt.

Visit to the American University of Cairo which has moved to an area of town called "new Cairo" basically just like any American wealthy suburb.  Huge houses, lots of Construction, very western looking, bill boards all in English.  The campus is beautiful, but very far from the city.

A huge upscale Mall with everything you could imagine in it.  Materialism crosses all nations if you have the money for it.  It was a mesh of people from all kinds of nationalities with every possible fashion you could think of.  Some women with hijab (headscarf), others with the niqab (face covering), some women with high heels, some sporting calvin klein hijabs, others in skinny jeans.

Sorry this has been so long.  So much has happened.  My mind is bursting.  Three more days before Tanzania.  I am ready.  I have seen things, and met people, and gained many insights.  The people I have met are beautiful and the things I have seen are amazing, but Cairo the city has no hold on me.  I am ready to leave the noise, the dirt, the heat, and the smells.

Miss you all :)