Disclaimer: posts from now on will NOT be in chronological order, unless it just happens to work out that way. sorry.
You-Know-Where. The-Land-That-Must-Not-Be-Named. Israel.
I went there because I figured I should visit the motherland while I was so close - Cairo. Also I have cousins there I'd never met. They turned out to be fantastic! It was kind of a whirlwind 2-day visit, so I really only got to see old city Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but my cousin is a trained tour guide so I definitely got a good deal.
I did, however, get detained at the border because of a certain stamp in my passport from a certain country (syria) that the Israelis were not thrilled about. I was pretty annoyed, because I thought I would have a straight ticket in being that I was there to visit family and all. The fact that the border guards looked like a bunch of giggling 18-year-old girls didn't help ease my frustration.
But after they made me wait an hour and a half (comparatively short, i realize), i got through, then on to a great weekend with Azoffs! they even have the same last name! I definitely have to go back and spend more time in this beautiful and fascinating country.
I was pleasantly surprised in Jerusalem to find the Arabs and Israelis living in such close proximity and friendship. On saturday morning, my cousin, Maya, took me to a nearby Arab village to buy fresh bread, and traded news of the family, etc with the shop owner who she's known since childhood. It was very nice to see, and I got in a few words of Arabic which made me feel better about not knowing any Hebrew.
more soon!
06 June, 2008
O Beautiful, for Spacious Skies
Yes, I have returned to America. it's true what they say, reverse culture shock is worse than forward culture shock. mann, who knew America was so strange?
I have obviously been extremely delinquent in my blogging the second half of my semester. so, now that i am in the US with nothing better to do than lots of packing and unpacking, I will - inshahallah - be updating like crazy over the next few weeks with fun stuff from April and May.
so stay tuned! and check out the photobucket or facebook for lots of pictures!
I have obviously been extremely delinquent in my blogging the second half of my semester. so, now that i am in the US with nothing better to do than lots of packing and unpacking, I will - inshahallah - be updating like crazy over the next few weeks with fun stuff from April and May.
so stay tuned! and check out the photobucket or facebook for lots of pictures!
17 April, 2008
Bon Voyage! Ma'Salaama! Ciao! etc
There will be an even bigger lack of posting (I apologize for my tardiness recently, if I blogged about everything I wanted to blog about, I would be sitting in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for like three weeks straight) in the next 18 days when I'm off on my spring break adventure.
The plan is: Leave from Cairo travel to Jordan via ferry where we will see Amman, Petra, and the Dead Sea
Next, cross the border (inshahallah) to Syria and see many things, including Damascus, Hama, Crac de chevalier (which i can't spell but apparently is the best-preserved crusader castle in the world), and Aleppo (where I will spend Eastern Easter)
Take a bus across the border to Adonna, Turkey, where we catch a plane across the country and arrive in Istanbul for a 6-day stay before returning to Cairo successful and exhausted and probably quite disgusting. I've never had to pack light for such a long trip before, wish me luck!
Plan on there being lots of pictures upon my return, you won't be able to handle it.
Lots of love,
Ariel
The plan is: Leave from Cairo travel to Jordan via ferry where we will see Amman, Petra, and the Dead Sea
Next, cross the border (inshahallah) to Syria and see many things, including Damascus, Hama, Crac de chevalier (which i can't spell but apparently is the best-preserved crusader castle in the world), and Aleppo (where I will spend Eastern Easter)
Take a bus across the border to Adonna, Turkey, where we catch a plane across the country and arrive in Istanbul for a 6-day stay before returning to Cairo successful and exhausted and probably quite disgusting. I've never had to pack light for such a long trip before, wish me luck!
Plan on there being lots of pictures upon my return, you won't be able to handle it.
Lots of love,
Ariel
12 April, 2008
07 April, 2008
so i never told you about #2
THAT TIME WHEN I WENT TO THE CAIRO POLICE STATION
So in all my years at Georgetown I've only lost my GoCard once, and of course within a month in Egypt I'd lose my AUC ID card, which you need to get onto campus and into the library and to get discounts at historical sites around the country. I needed a new one, but I didn't want to pay 250 pounds (about $50) to get it, so I went to the security office where I was told to fill our a report that it had been stolen - which was of course a complete lie, I probably just dropped it somewhere.
Went back to the office several times before they had time for me, at which point I waited for a university security guy to escort me across the street to the AUC security office, where another security guy met me and said he was going to take me to the Cairo police station to make my report.
My guy's name was Hassan. Very nice guy, didn't speak any English. I think I spent around 3-4 hours that morning without speaking a word of English - crazy. We took a cab to the police station (which I paid for) and when we got there had to wait around for my turn, meanwhile I was chatting with Hassan as best I could. Basically what I got is that he likes his job, has been working there for 3 years, before which he was in the army (compulsory for Egyptian men)and feels very lucky to have such a good job. Then he asked me if I had two pounds to slip the policeman behind the counter to move things along. in egypt we call this "Baksheesh".
To make a long (seriously, long) story short, I went from there back to the security office to the ID office back to the security office again then to the cashier then back to the ID office where I finally got my new ID. I think I will never complain about US bureaucracy again. Living in Egypt is very entertaining sometimes, but it also makes you grateful for what you got back home.
So in all my years at Georgetown I've only lost my GoCard once, and of course within a month in Egypt I'd lose my AUC ID card, which you need to get onto campus and into the library and to get discounts at historical sites around the country. I needed a new one, but I didn't want to pay 250 pounds (about $50) to get it, so I went to the security office where I was told to fill our a report that it had been stolen - which was of course a complete lie, I probably just dropped it somewhere.
Went back to the office several times before they had time for me, at which point I waited for a university security guy to escort me across the street to the AUC security office, where another security guy met me and said he was going to take me to the Cairo police station to make my report.
My guy's name was Hassan. Very nice guy, didn't speak any English. I think I spent around 3-4 hours that morning without speaking a word of English - crazy. We took a cab to the police station (which I paid for) and when we got there had to wait around for my turn, meanwhile I was chatting with Hassan as best I could. Basically what I got is that he likes his job, has been working there for 3 years, before which he was in the army (compulsory for Egyptian men)and feels very lucky to have such a good job. Then he asked me if I had two pounds to slip the policeman behind the counter to move things along. in egypt we call this "Baksheesh".
To make a long (seriously, long) story short, I went from there back to the security office to the ID office back to the security office again then to the cashier then back to the ID office where I finally got my new ID. I think I will never complain about US bureaucracy again. Living in Egypt is very entertaining sometimes, but it also makes you grateful for what you got back home.
another funny food observation
Addendum to earlier post about food names meaning different things here:
كوسة = Zucchini= government corruption
كوسة = Zucchini= government corruption
06 April, 2008
Shwaya Anticlimactic
There was supposed to be a big strike today. Bread prices are going up and people are generally unhappy. My understanding of the situation is that there was to be a strike at a textile factory and anti-government groups planned to piggy-back on it to call for a larger general strike. No one was supposed to go to work or buy anything, we were supposed to wear black and fly the Egyptian flag ( i do, incidently , have an Egyptian flag in my window from when we won the match -see below).
Unfortunately, Egypt has been under emergency law since 1967, and it's only been lifted twice for a few months each time, then reimposed. Under emergency law striking and demonstrating of any kind are prohibited. Which is why the thing today was kind of a bust. Sadly. I didn't come downtown because foreigners aren't allowed near demonstrations by law, and I was told it would be dangerous. I considered going somewhere to see what was going on from a safe distance, but I checked in with some friends who live downtown and they said all they saw was a large military presence and no demonstrators. Some news sources (linked below) have pictures of demonstrations but I don't know where they are and if they're even from today. Oh well. I didn't buy anything today in solidarity, but I'm afraid the workers here didn't quite make the statement they'd hoped.
I saw some of the emails that were circulating and my professor helped us translate them. They were very inspiring - calling for civil resistance and peaceful protest and using phrases like "Just sitting still and hoping God will fix your life won't get you anywhere." Apparently the Muslim Brotherhood was supporting the strike too. In Egypt they're prohibited from participating in Government but they run many charity NGOs and programs that really help people, and many Egyptians I've spoken with want them to have a say in the parliament.
In other news, the editor of a major oposition paper - Al-Dostur (the constitution) was convicted of something or other and sentenced to 6 months in prison for writing about the president's health. Oy. Egypt.
Here's more on the strike:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/04/05/egypt.strike.ap/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7332929.stm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/52949F62-D450-42C2-A194-17AE16404ABC.htm
Unfortunately, Egypt has been under emergency law since 1967, and it's only been lifted twice for a few months each time, then reimposed. Under emergency law striking and demonstrating of any kind are prohibited. Which is why the thing today was kind of a bust. Sadly. I didn't come downtown because foreigners aren't allowed near demonstrations by law, and I was told it would be dangerous. I considered going somewhere to see what was going on from a safe distance, but I checked in with some friends who live downtown and they said all they saw was a large military presence and no demonstrators. Some news sources (linked below) have pictures of demonstrations but I don't know where they are and if they're even from today. Oh well. I didn't buy anything today in solidarity, but I'm afraid the workers here didn't quite make the statement they'd hoped.
I saw some of the emails that were circulating and my professor helped us translate them. They were very inspiring - calling for civil resistance and peaceful protest and using phrases like "Just sitting still and hoping God will fix your life won't get you anywhere." Apparently the Muslim Brotherhood was supporting the strike too. In Egypt they're prohibited from participating in Government but they run many charity NGOs and programs that really help people, and many Egyptians I've spoken with want them to have a say in the parliament.
In other news, the editor of a major oposition paper - Al-Dostur (the constitution) was convicted of something or other and sentenced to 6 months in prison for writing about the president's health. Oy. Egypt.
Here's more on the strike:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/04/05/egypt.strike.ap/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7332929.stm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/52949F62-D450-42C2-A194-17AE16404ABC.htm
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