The Fellowship of the Ring

My program in Alexandria is over. 

Went to the Sinai Peninsula with friends. 

'twas splendid. Really it was.

Climbed Mt. Sinai.

Threw a ring off of Mt. Doom.

My semester abroad is almost over.

My family arrives in Egypt tomorrow.

Will see things and

celebrate Christmas in Cairo and

Leave the 26th early in the morning and then

be home.

Kleenex: The Final Frontier

Semi important detail from my experience here in Egypt:

My name, Matt, in Arabic means "He died." Not only does that start most conversations off with either 1. confusion 2. confusion and sadness, it 3. gets really old after a while explaining my name to people. There is another Matt (Sir Matt Groh), as well, with me in Egypt. He too was confronted with the naming predicament. Thus, we went a-looking for new names together.

Thankfully, Sesame Street provided the solution. Burt and Ernie in Egypt are Shadi and Hadi.
Thus, for the past three months my name has been Shadi (not shady as in under a tree shady or could be in the mob shady) and Matt G. has been Hadi. It's been strange. Hearing my real name is now a shock.

Shadi has a much better meaning in Arabic. It means song bird. Sweet, huh? Light and fluffy, just like me. The connection to Sesame Street also goes over really well with Egyptians. They get a kick out of it. Hadi, on the other hand, means quiet. For those of you who know Matt, I hope you feel the irony (and the love).

Sadly, however, because Matt G. and I are of similar build, we are often confused. On any day I can be Hadi or Shadi.

New place, new name, does that make me a spy?

I don't want to be a pie

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thanksgiving in Egypt is not the same as at home but we managed to do well for ourselves. Wednesday night, we, the students, fixed a feast (it was a lot of food) for ourselves, our Egyptian dorm mates and other people associated with the program.

The meal went great but the preparation was almost more fun. I, along with my friends Joe and Ali, spent the better part of two days preparing 15 kilos of mashed potatoes for the dinner. It was an operation. And I am convinced that water boils slower in Egypt. Can someone do science to back me up on this one? My friends Byron and Phil were responsible for the turkey and did a fine job. Turkeys in Egypt are not nicely packaged and prepared for you as they are in the states. They saw the turkey preparation process through from the beginning, choosing your live turkey from the pen, to the end, in all senses of the word. It apparently was quite an experience.

Thursday we were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by the American consulate in Alexandria. The students from the Big Brother/Big Sister program were invited as well. It was fun sharing Thanksgiving with them. After the guests left, we had a chance to sit down (for the first time. both dinners were super crowded) and simply talk with each other (yes, in English). That was so fine.

That is Thanksgiving for me, sitting down and enjoying the company of friends and family. The food is great but not what is most important. I will always though, take an abundance of both.

Good friends, good food, good God

Galatctic Teeter Totter

A friend once told me that a good way to remember how to distinguish "dessert" as in sweets and "desert" as in giant sandbox is that dessert has two "s" because you want more of it. After my experiences in the desert, I think that statement should apply to both desserts and deserts. If the desert was not totally uninhabitable, I would live there in a heart beat.

This past weekend I traveled with three friends to the Bahariya Oasis and the surrounding deserts. We visited the Black and White Deserts. They are unlike any place I have ever seen before.

Rather than your standard rolling sand dunes, which do not get me wrong, are pretty awesome, the Black and White Deserts were full of ancient rock formations. These formations made the desert seem like a huge sprawling monument rather than the usual empty quarter. Both are shocking and both make one feel pretty small and insignificant.


Our travel to Bahariya from Alexandria could easily be the plot for a movie. There seemed to be a comical amount of steps: We took the train to Cairo immediately after our last lecture Thursday. Once in Cairo, we took the subway to the last station at end of the line. From that station, we walked to a micro bus station under a nearby bridge and met our driver who would take us to Bahariya. It is approximately four hours from Cairo to Bahariya. We spent all day Friday, Friday night, and Saturday morning in the desert and then did the entire trip in reverse. We managed to dash through Cairo on the return trip, riding the subway, buying food, buying train tickets, and making the train in under an hour. We were really impressed with ourselves. Cairo traffic usually puts an end to most efforts for speed and efficiency. It was a lot of travel for a short time in the deserts but so worth it.


We jumped off of sand dunes into the softest sand on the planet. (I make that conclusion, of course, drawing from my extensive background in world sand.) I had sand all over my entire body but that was a small price to pay for FLIGHT.

The night was chilly but we had a fire, good food, and warm tea. The stars were incredible. I think we saw every single one. There was hardly room for another star the sky was so bright.

Galakies, European showers, and عجيب

One Love

I meant to include this story in the previous post but forgot so here it comes.

While in Aswan we visited Elephantine Island, an island in the Nile to the west of the city. The island is a total deviation from the groomed tourist appearance of Aswan. (I use the word groomed lightly.) Elephantine Island is home to some of those who lived to the area before the city became a tourist center.

In our wanderings and getting lost we met some restaurant owners. Setting foreigners back on the right path regularly requires coming in a said restaurant, sitting, and talking so when they invited us in, we accepted. They took us up to the upstairs patio. It was there we met Godzilla.


Godzilla is one ornery crocodile (or alligator? Ah! I forgot). Our friend above in yellow boldly poked him with a stick as me and my friends tried to remain calm and casual. I, personally, was looking for where I was going to hide when the crocodile burst free of his glass prison and went on a rampage. Thankfully though the encounter ended without incident.

That, however, is not the story I wanted to share with you.

Bob Marley has a following in southern Egypt. One of the restaurant workers stopped us on our way out and asked us, "What does tears mean?" We explained the meaning and a smile spread across his face. One of his favorite songs is "No Woman, No Cry" and he did not understand the words. Oh the joy of understanding.

Oh cultural collisions. Especially ones that involve Bob Marley.

I say little darling, don't shed no tears, no woman no cry

He must be Polish

Almost as if our program wanted to treat us for Obama's victory, we took a trip to Upper Egypt and visited the cities of Aswan and Luxor. (Disclaimer: This entry is kind of long. But worth it?)

But wait Matt, Upper Egypt you say? Isn't Alexandria in Upper Egypt? Technically, sort of. Egypt orients itself geographically upside down. Lower Egypt is northern Egypt and Upper Egypt is southern Egypt. Unlike some Egyptian oddities, there is actually a reason for this one. Egypt, I believe, orients its labels by the Nile, rather than the cardinal directions. Therefore, Lower Egypt is the delta region where the river meets the sea and Upper Egypt is upstream.

Aswan and Luxor are home to some of the oldest and most amazing temples and ruins on earth. In Aswan, we visited Abu Simbel, a temple located 40 km north of the Sudanese border.


Pretty sweet, huh?

Abu Simbel was built in honor of Pharaoh Ramses II. Taking the four humongous statues as a subtle hint, Ramses II considered himself the hottest thing since agriculture. (Sliced bread was still yet to come.)

Abu Simbel is part of a greater tragic story. In 1960, Egypt began construction of the High Dam at Aswan, designed to tame the Nile waters and grant Egypt control over the yearly floods that could potentially disrupt crop yields. The damming of the Nile (pun intended?) created Lake Nasser, the world's largest artificial lake and also threatened to destroy countless Nubian settlements and ancient Egyptian monuments. The Egyptian government essentially evicted the Nubian people from their historic land while the international community scrambled to catalog or salvage the priceless ruins that lay in the basin to be consumed by the lake.

Abu Simbel was one of these monuments. To save the temple, engineers tediously dismantled the temple and moved it 60 meters out of the way of Lake Nasser. The operation took several years. For those temples that were dismantled and moved there are numerous known and countless unknown monuments now lost under Lake Nasser. Big stupid lake.

I have been making a conscious effort to keep these entries short because I know too much rambling becomes hard to read. I feel, however, that there's something I must say.

I do not like the Aswan dam. Not one bit. It may have granted Egypt control over the Nile but this control came at the cost of a certain slow death for Egypt. If a certain quick death was the alternative, I suppose this outcome would not be so bad. I'm not sure that was the case, however.

Egypt, historically and still to this day, depends completely on the Nile. Its waters give life to the agricultural delta regions that feed the country. The Aswan dam now effectively stops the river silt that replenished the fields from reaching those regions. This has lead to an increased reliance on chemical fertilizers that have contaminated adjacent water supplies and leeched life from the soil. The acclaimed benefits brought by the dam such as no wild, destructive floods and longer growing periods due to increased water availability have come at too steep a cost. Egypt is in real trouble if it kills the Nile.

Thank you for understanding. I feel much better now. Well, sort of.

The highlight of the trip to Upper Egypt was the four day falucca trip down (heading north) the Nile from Aswan toward Luxor. What is a falucca you ask? Let me show you:

That beauty you're looking at had many names: The Ferrari boat, Rolling Stone, and Princess Sara.

On the falucca we got to relax, nap, read, eat, play music, and make music. (We did many things but those are what first came to mind.) We also learned some falucca language. For those nautically savvy readers, I regretfully do not mean the names of the different parts of the boat. Falucca sailors develop their own language for the more colorful parts of life such as drugs, beer, and women. Consider it cultural immersion. Be proud, Dad.

Only part of the group rode the falucca. The others took a luxurious Nile cruise complete with buffets at every meal, a pool, dance floor, sheets, and running water. Not like I'm jealous or anything. Seriously though, the falucca was unforgettable.


For those concerned, I only sort of got in the Nile. The Nile is notorious for bilharzia, a disease caused by parasitic worms that live in the water and affect a ridiculous percentage of the Egyptian population (something like 40? More? I'm kind of guessing. I know it's a lot though)

Once in Luxor, we visited the must see sites and temples around the city: The Valley of the Kings, Karnak, Der al-Medina, Der al-Bahari, and Medinat Habu. Splendid they all were. I'm sure we missed somethings too. Luxor is just saturated with history. They'll let anyone in though.


To bring a little life back to the temples that are rather lifeless, we did yoga and played sardines during our visit to the Luxor temple. It was so much fun.

We also visited Banana Island, a protectorate of the Banana Republic (I kid.) Banana Island is known for, surprise, its bananas. The bananas were plentiful but just okay. My inquires into Pancake Peninsula and Chocolate Cake Atoll were met only with curious looks. Rats. On the bright side, my friends can do some super fruit impressions.


Egyptian studentry, counting in Farsi, and real living

Graceland

Yesterday my friend Ali invited some of us to his home in the Nile delta province of Kofer al-Sheik. It is about an hour's drive to the east of Alexandria. We spent the day on a falucca (small to kind of medium size sail boat) on the river. Since it was Friday, the Islamic holy day, there were not many other boats on the water. It was peaceful.

This is a picture on our way to the river.


Funny Happening Corner: (by the way, I wish I established this corner earlier) This story requires us to take a trip in the Not-Too-Way-Back Machine to the last time you were near a boat and a dock. As you may know, boats, when they are untethered from the dock, move with the motion of the water. You have to take care when stepping into the boat to not delay too long as your momentum and weight force the boat away from the dock. If you wait too long, you find yourself in a precarious human leg bridge situation that is sure to end comically. Well:

My friend Mohammad tried to board the falucca from a smaller dingy. The tides were against him, rocking the dingy away from the falucca. To his credit, he remained committed to trying to board the falucca. He managed to grab the falucca with his hands as his feet and the dingy bugged out, drifting away from the falucca. His reaction was hilarious as his body slowly stretched out between the two boats. "Guys. Yo guys...Guys! Help me!!"

The boats drifted apart until his stomach sank into the water, his hands and toes still anchored on their respective boats. We were able to pull the boats back together and avert any further submersion.

We all need moments that make us feel that life could be a cartoon. That was one of them for me.

For Halloween, my friends and I ate candy on the beach. In true American style, we overindulged and all regretted it the next day (but Reeses are soooo good). I can say as well that climbing Sugar Mountain was much more fun than coming back down.

Chipsys, beginner's blues, and sea cows

And in the Meadows

Everyone likes to exaggerate. For example:

Some think NASCAR is an athletic activity. (Sorry for those of you reading this blog that like both wrestling and NASCAR. I did not mean to rail against your interests. It just kind of happened. Please forgive me.)

McCain said he is going to follow Bin Laden to the gates of hell. Don't forget the keys, Johnny.

"I laughed so hard after reading Matt's blog!" Right? Right?

When Egypt decided to exaggerate, it chose winter. In Egyptian Arabic, the word for rainy weather is derived from the word "winter." I suppose after summer anything cooler qualifies as winter. The weather has certainly been pleasant. The rain, along with a steady sea breeze, have brought the temperature down slightly. It is still, however, leagues away from conditions deserving the title winter.

This is my friend Adrian unintentionally doing his Donkey Kong impression. He can intentionally do a good Wookie impression. His impersonation range may extend to other fuzzy creatures but I only know of those two.


It wintered a couple days ago, this morning, and more winter is on the way.

Red Sky at Night

The American culture center in Alexandria organized a Big Brother Big Sister program for high school students studying English that want to meet and get to know Americans. We had our first meeting tonight. The kids are great. It is a great opportunity for them to practice English and for me to practice Arabic. We are meeting again this Saturday to hang out. It should be great.

Halloween is coming soon. No surprise, Egyptians do not celebrate Halloween. I could deal with that if I could satisfy my cravings for Mounds. (http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/mounds.asp)
What I would give to have a entire bag of Mound on October 31st. Oh wow. The hunt is on. So good yet so not good.

Shoes, 9 days , and thankful

It's 10 PM

Do you know where your American ambassador to Egypt is?

Well, chances are they are mounting the top rope preparing for a devastating moonsault on their dazed, weary, and unnaturally sweaty opponent to the satisfaction of a wildly screaming crowd. Oh, did I forget to mention that all of our ambassadors to Egypt have muscles on top of muscles that normal humans do not have, can tear phone book with their ears, and prefer to wear unnecessarily small, rhinestone covered spandex?

The WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment, is the America Egyptians choose to watch on TV. Not Opera (well her sometimes but she's drawing viewers in Saudi Arabia instead), the Discovery Channel (and cute animals!), or Bush. Who can blame them? The cultural spectacle of huge, sweaty men brutally yet acrobatically assaulting each other must be irresistible. And it's real.

I tried to convince an Egyptian friend of mine that professional wrestling is not that popular in America. He replied, "But the stadiums are always packed." As much as I do not like to admit it, he's right. Oh my goodness. Americans like this stuff too?

Who cares what politicians have to say? Speeches are deathly boring compared to a seated three quarter face-lock jawbreaker rebuttal after being thrown from the ring and breaking your fall on a stack of office tables.

The America concerned with rebuilding its image abroad has found a strong opponent that has already captured the imagination of Egyptians: the real America.

Vertical suplex stunner, the twist of fate, and why can't we be like Canada and export hockey, not wrestling?

The moonsault: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonsault

Fish

Alexandria is famous for its delicious fish restaurants and lively fish markets. The fish are both fresh and plentiful. There is a good chance the fish you will eat was still in the ocean as you walked to the restaurant. I'm not sure it gets much better than that.

Egypt has another type of fish. This type, however, is considerably less famous and tasty but as prevalent as the other: The Egyptian handshake.

In America, we respect a firm handshake. A strong handshake reflects on you as a mature, self-confident person and conveys your excitement for seeing the other person.

It is the opposite in Egypt. When Egyptians greet each other, they tenderly and limply clasp each others' wrists and then quickly disengage. Although we, as Westerners, recognize this greeting as a hand shake, the hand is nominally involved in the process and there is absolutely no shaking.

The thumb plays no role in Egyptian salutations. The American handshake hinges on good thumb-to-thumb contact. Planting the thumb allows the rest of the fingers to wrap naturally, completely a full handshake. Even in the rare instances in Egypt when your hand finds the other's hand, rather than wrist, the thumb is always excluded. You are left with an uncomfortable palm caress that more resembles an severely underdeveloped high five than a handshake.

The differences in salutation tell an interesting story about our two cultures. Each handshake style still conveys respect and affirms the other person but in two distinct manners. Why does America respect a powerful handshake and Egypt choose a more tender greeting?

I am starting to come to grips with this cultural phenomenon but I do not think I'll ever be hooked by it.


Heads up, liberation from a chocolate prison, and I want my ballot

So you think you can dance

for three hours? I was young once too.

A couple days ago us American students in the dorm went to a farah, or wedding celebration, held on behalf of Nadar's brother. (Nadar is the previously mentioned cat rescuer). Nadar, like many of the students at Alexandria University, comes from the Nile delta region. His home is about an hour away from Alexandria by bus.

Let it be known, Egyptians can celebrate a wedding. Here' s a run down of the evening:

Arrive at the town around 8:30 -9:00 PM and enter Nadar's house
Do the chit chat thing. Nadar's family is extremely nice and welcoming.
Pose for pictures with young adorable children. Proof:


The boy's father took the boy's picture with each of us in turn. We were just making memories that night.

So where were we? Ah...

Feast.
Come up for air.
Resume feasting.
More pictures of us. (This will be a theme for the evening. Not many Americans find their way out to the small towns of the Nile Delta.)
Consider re-feasting but think better of it.
Get our dance on in the street in front of Nadar's house.

It is at this point that time and I parted ways. We danced for a while. How long though? No one can know.

Bride arrives.
Crowd follows bride to alternate dancing location. I'm not joking.


Break from dancing.
Hang out with the local younsters and decline offers to marry off the girls in my program.
Hit the dance floor again.

We partied like rock stars until 1 AM. I have never been exhausted from dancing before that night. (Does that mean I need to get out more?)

Appropriate and very appropriate occasions for Star Wars theme music, floral invasions, and almost famous

My Desert Life (or 1001 Hiding Places for Sand)

I spent the last four days in an oasis town named Siwa in the western Egyptian desert. Due to its remote location, Siwa has a unique history. The oasis enjoyed de facto self-autonomy from Egypt until recently when the Egyptian government built a road connecting Siwa to the modern world. The most prevalent form of transportation in Siwa is still donkey cart.

We rode a bus belonging to Alexandria University for the nine hour journey from Alexandria to Siwa. For those of you following at home, to find Siwa on the map, start in Libya, not Egypt. Siwa is not close to anything in Egypt. It was a long nine hours.

Notice anything peculiar in this picture?

Buses in Egypt come equipped with air conditioning and the occasional shower. Those unwillingly bathed, however, were not that amused.

The oases and desert surrounding the town of Siwa are beautiful. One day we got to go swimming in one of the springs near Siwa. It was great.

Here is the road to the spring:

And the spring! Boing!

Someone forgot their bathing suit.

The highlight of the visit to Siwa was the trip we took into the desert. I will probably use this word many more times before this post is over but it is appropriate: the desert is beautiful. We swam in a large spring surrounded by mountains of sand as the sun set. Gorgeous.

We also went sand boarding. Not quite as fast as skiing but still a lot of fun. There are no lifts though so you get some good exercise climbing back up the dunes. We dived our group into teams and had a relay race down a large sand dune. Going down was awesome. Going up was less so.


We also played ping pong (just 'ping' in arabic) with some Siwans. It just so happened that some of them go to Alexandria University and will be living with us in the dorms. Small world (with a really big desert). Matt Groh, for those of you who know and love him, was a dominate force on the Siwan ping pong circuit. He won six matches in a row. The Siwans quickly traded their initial amusement with an American opponent for a more serious approach as Matt took down some talented players. The Siwans were great company and allowed the girls play ping pong with them too.


My family in Egypt


Older than wisdom, blankets of stars, and well, if you're not going to finish that...

Armed and Expressive

Today in my Egyptian dialect class, we learned how to curse in Egyptian Arabic. I kid you not. I took notes. The Egyptians on my hallway had a ball reading what I wrote. To reassure those who may be scandalized by an academic program that sets aside time to teach students how to make sailors blush, please know they only had our best interests in mind. We can at least now know when we are being insulted (and who in our extended family as well). We were also advised that trading verbal salvos with people in the street could only end badly and to avoid it at all costs.

The most severe curse words in Egyptian society are reserved for use by men only (Sorry ladies. But are you surprised?) Apparently, some Egyptian women may not even know some of the curses we learned. On a somewhat scandalous note, a woman taught us the curses. That was not too popular with my hallmates.

This coming week is the end of Ramadan which is marked by a festival called Eid al-Fitr. It is a national holiday (I think?) so we do not have class. As a program, we are going to travel to Siwa, an oasis in the Western Egyptian desert, to spend a couple days away from big ol' city, spend a night in the desert under the stars, and get this, go sand surfing. Amazing. Pictures are sure to follow.

This past Thursday we had a sand storm in Alexandria. The sky was orange.


Talk about the ultimate curveball for a weather man. How do you predict something like that? I suppose, however, I'm altogether not that sympathetic for Egyptian weathermen. I do not think their job is too hard.

Saying what you mean, meaning what you say, and still not really knowing that much

What about smooching? Is there smooching?

Today I went to Rasheed (Rosetta), a small town near Alexandria on the Nile River famous for a stone discovered there that allowed scholars to decipher hieroglyphics.

There is not much there now. Rasheed's glory days, such as when it was Egypt's most important port, are gone, along with the Rosetta Stone itself. Britain, in its glorious campaign to rid the world of precious artifacts, ferried it away to London.

Here are some pictures:


This is my friend Joe watching a man make konafa. Konafa is a special dessert available only during Ramadan. That means I need to eat as much of it as possible in the next week. It's a tough duty but I think I'm up to the task.


And this just made me laugh:


Donkey power, requests from the audience, and 20 going on 6

Waxing and Waning

We named the cats. Gamal, Abdul, Nasser, and Frank. We're not sure which one is which but those are their names. There's a joke in there somewhere but it might not be funny. They've grown up so much. They have given up timidly crouching in the bushes next to the cafeteria and are now rather forcefully demanding to partake in my dinner. So cute. so cute.

Last night I attend a concert at the nearby Jesuit Cultural Center. Although I was not wearing socks, the concert rocked them. It was awesome. It featured a band with oud (lute in english), toubla (Middle Eastern hand drum), an upright bass, a piano, and best of all, a full blown choir. Amazing. I hardly understood a word but that was okay. Here's proof:


And the choir (although blurry in the picture, they were not blurry in real life. I promise.)


I remember hearing someone read from a guide book on Egypt that Egyptian taxis do not run on gasoline but will power. At the time, I scoffed at the comment and dismissed it has an exaggeration.

Egyptian taxis are like Yzma, the disgruntled ex-administrator/mad scientist from the Disney film, The Emperor's New Groove. I could not find a good picture so I will quote the movie and say she is "living proof dinosaurs once roamed the earth" and "scary beyond all reason." More importantly, Kuzco, the film's protagonist, asks "what is holding that woman together?" The analogy seemed logical to me. Anyway,

What is holding Egyptian taxis together? They must be the most abused automobiles on the planet. Most run at least 12 hours a day in heavy traffic and I think I had a cabbie today who was shifting without the clutch. The answer could be in the decoration. They all seem to be adorned in a Compton meets Safari meets Discotheque style. Maybe those themes combined act as a paste that makes an otherwise deteriorating automobile drivable. Who knows.

25 part harmony, bliss in a bowl, and oh right, it's in London with the rest of our national treasures.

Uphill in the snow both ways

Tonight I was treated to a cup of tea and the company of some elderly Egyptian men sitting and talking outside restaurant. It was a lot of fun. A couple of things:

I enjoy the cafe culture of Alexandria. Every evening you can expect the cafes and restaurants along the Corniche to be packed with Egyptians just sitting and talking. No hurry or rush. America should look into importing this relaxed approach to an evening.

This evening, we talked about, surprise, surprise, American politics and the upcoming presidential election. As one who favors Obama, I am surprised at how little is known about him and his positions here. I suppose not much is known about McCain either but I seem to always receive skeptical looks when I tell Egyptians I support Obama.

One of the men expressed a surprising point of view. I would not have believed it, or understood him for that matter, unless I had first read about it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/world/africa/09cairo.html?scp=1&sq=cairo&st=cse

Tonight was the first time I heard that expressed by an Egyptian. A point I do hear often, thankfully, is that although Egyptians strongly dislike the American government and its current policies, they like American people. Politically, however, America has some work to do and an image to rebuild in the region.

They must have liked me because they invited me back. I'm am quite honored. I heard rumors that tomorrow there will be konafa (heaven held together by honey).

The Egyptian medical students on my hallway have the first of several big exams tomorrow. Stress knows no bounds.

Mickey Mouse, Latin, and is that Elton John I hear?

Don't cross the Corniche

Studying abroad, unlike studying in the states, comes with some rules that should never be broken. I am happy to say that my program in Egypt does not have a long litany of rules to keep but there are a couple crucial ones. The most important of these Please-do-not-Break-Me rules is "Do not cross the Corniche."

Those of you picturing Chuck Norris, the Corniche is not a person or the Egyptian Mafia. The Corniche is the main road/highway in Alexandria. Alexandria is spread out along a stretch of the Mediterranean Sea coast and the Corniche is the eight lane highway (four lanes on each side with a median) that runs between the sea and the city. The fastest traffic, and often the worst driving, can be found on the Corniche. Guaranteed safe passage across the Corniche can be found in underground tunnels that cross under the road at regular intervals.

Last night my friends and I saw a micro bus hit a man trying to cross the Corniche. The windshield of the micro shattered and the man tumbled for 10 yards along the pavement before coming to a rest. He was conscious but noticeably injured, bleeding from his forehead and lying awkwardly on the curb. Traffic on the Corniche slowed immediately as other micros and taxis stopped to help the man. Fortunately, an ambulance was near by as well and arrived to the scene quickly. I do not know the extend of his injuries.

Do not cross the Corniche.

Because I think we all need it, and because my sister asked for it: a picture of kittens.


Aren't dey cute?

Safety first, second, and third

Kittens everywhere! Kittens for everyone!

The title of this post is kind of a joke. But at the same time, it kind of is not.

There are cats all over the place in Alexandria, particularly around the dorms. And as we all know, when you get a lot of cats together, more cats tend to appear. Hence, kittens. Yesterday we (Adrian, Joe, Nadar, and myself) tried to rescue a kitten that had unwisely climbed inside and up a rain pipe (why a rain pipe is necessary in Egypt I do not know). The story that follows is one of daring, bravery, and sacrifice.

Here's the shake down: Adrian, Joe, and I came back from hanging out a cafe and saw a mother cat with three kittens gathered around a rain pipe opening. Drawn by the overwhelming adorableness (that's a word folks), we walked over to oogle. It was then that we heard a mysterious meow. At first we thought it was coming from one of the three kittens but they were not making any noise. We then figured that the catamily (cat-family) had gathered around the pipe because one of their own was in the pipe! (Daring. On the part of the cat that is).

We were not sure what to do so we went and got Nadar, one of our Egyptian hallmates. He loves cats. He came down and stuck his hand up the pipe. (Bravery. Who knows what's in there. Certainly not water.) The kitten was not within reach, unfortunately. We then tried a series of unsuccessful kitten-retrieval methods. We started with trying to coax it out. The cat was not buying that so we gave it up. We next tried shaking the pipe thinking that maybe the cat had become stuck. After some hearty shakes (and more coaxing), there was no kitten. There was still one last option. Sacrifice.

Apparently, cats like raw eggs. We cracked an egg and left it at the bottom of the pipe hoping the scent would draw the kitten down. We were right in some respects. The scent did draw cats. The previously mentioned catamily must not have thought much of our strategy because they ate the egg. Curses!

Thankfully, the kitten found its own way down. We saw it this evening at dinner.

For those who did not want a story about kittens but pictures of kittens, I apologize. I did not take a picture. I do have a picture though of my friend Ali doing his best cat impression.


I went to a Sufi dance tonight. Explaining Sufism would take a big effort (if I even could). I can tell you how they dance though. They spin in circles. Over and over and over and over. Watching them made me dizzy. No joke. It was interesting to watch though. They could do some pretty incredible things all while spinning. The dancers wore colorful, ornate skirts that they would twirl either with the motion of their body or with their hands. Imagine a human kaleidoscope or perhaps a mad scientist creature created from tire swings, crayons, and a thumping bass. I was nauseated but impressed at the end of the show.

Liquified oreo, plastic bottle robots, and spinning in circles.

كل عام و أنتم بخير

Hey Everyone,

Tomorrow is the first night of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calender and is a time of fasting, prayer, and charity for Muslims worldwide. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. They abstain from physical desires such as food, water, and smoking. They are called to reflect upon and concentrate on Allah. Muslims break their fast each night with an evening meal called the iftar. This meal is typically a community event as many Muslims visit close family and friends. A meal called the sahoor precedes the sunrise each morning and the start of a new day of fasting.

Daily life in Islamic countries changes dramatically during the month of Ramadan. A taxi cab driver told me today that tomorrow at 7 PM the streets will be empty as everyone has gone home for the iftar (الإفطار). Alexandria's streets are typically bananas at 7 PM. Many restaurants and shops close or maintain limited hours throughout the month. I am excited to be here and experience Ramadan.

On a somewhat globally less significant note, classes also start tomorrow. Play time is over, unfortunately. I will be taking classes in Classical Arabic or fousha (فصحى), Egyptian colloquial Arabic (عامية مصرية), an elective (Arabic translation, Media Arabic, or History of the Middle East), and a one-on-one discussion on a topic of my choice with a professor from Alexandria University. I requested a professor from the Economics department and I hope to discuss economic issues in the Middle East such as water (or the lack thereof), bread (or lack thereof), pollution (nope, plenty of this) and oil (why can't we eat this?? I suppose it would do a number on our teeth...).

Yesterday I went with my friends Sara and Joe to a church service in Arabic. The people were great and the service was very nice (although I can not say I understood that much). I am looking forward to going again. Christian worship services take place on Fridays or Saturdays in Egypt to line up with the Egyptian weekend and Islamic holy day of Friday.

As I mentioned before, I am new to this whole blogging thing so I did not realize you could insert pictures. Well. This brother has learned. This evening our group went swimming in the Mediterranean and 'twas amazing.


Lastly, as promised, a video from the Wadi Sports Camp. Enjoy.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1035486921309

Garden lions, monkey in the middle of the Mediterranean, and almost a whole(ly) month in Egypt

Lots of New (and some Old) School

Captain's Log 8.26.08 (or for those in basically anywhere but the U.S., 26.08.08)

Good.

I'm in Alexandria! I arrived two days ago by train from Cairo. I met other students in the Midd program at the train station on the 24th and we rode together. I enjoyed meeting everyone. I think the group will be delightful. These past few days have been an orientation to the city of Alexandria and to the program expectations and rules. The orientation has been a little dry but it has been nice having more time to get to know each other before our language pledge begins. Everyone in the program knows Arabic well enough to communicate and interact so we will not be totally silenced but I definitely do not take for granted the freedom of expression that comes with English. I am trying to get it all out before Thursday when we sign the pledge.

My few days in Cairo were great. Anne, a friend of mine from Midd, and I went on a culinary tour of Cairo. Egypt, at least I have heard, really does not have much to boast of when it comes to food when compared to other Middle Eastern countries. That may be the case but I was quite satisfied with what I ate. Both Anne and I ate more than we should have eaten. We just found ourselves moving from one restaurant or cafe to the next. It was probably not healthy but it was amazing. I am looking forward to eating some good seafood in Alexandria.

In other news, I joined a gym today. It is pretty darn nice. It will probably be good to exercise after all these yummy meals. On yet another related note, I saw the most incredibly muscular human being with my own eyes the other day. I was with the other guys living in the dorm waiting for a mashro'a when Whey Protein with legs walked by us looking for a taxi. His biceps were literally the size of bowling balls. I was afraid that he would give up on trying to hail a taxi and just grab one (and start eating it). When he finally gets a taxi (by this point we are all watching), there was legitimate concern that his arms would not fit in the cab. They were that big. It was like his body gave birth to twin super Goliath arms that would only eat nails and fear. Oh my.

Other things of note:

The other day in Cairo Anne and I were totally scammed. We were looking for a market and this man, detecting our confusion (and apparently our gullibility) offered to help us. I mean, he was just a nice, friendly man on his way home who only wanted to help us reach our destination. How humane of him! Wrong. He some how convinced us to visit this mosque (oh now I remember how, he lied to us) and then told us that in order to see the mosque, we had to contribute to the mosque's collection. He told us it would be 50 pounds. I paid the 50 pounds and then he said, "No, no, no. 100 pounds! 100 pounds!" At this point, Anne and I both were like, "No way, chico" and left.

I felt silly. I was also frustrated that some one would offer their assistance freely and generously only in an effort to take your money. I certainly do not want to say something extreme like 'Humans can not be trusted' but to an extent, it makes me hesitate before I accept someone's help, no matter how congenial they are. I do not want to be that way at all but being scammed definitely makes you cautious of others' intentions.

Yesterday I played soccer along the Cornishe (the main road along the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria) with some Egyptians. I was walking with none other than Anne when the guys were like "Yo, come play!" (rough translation). It was fun. We played 3 v. 3 on a side walk. (It was a pretty wide sidewalk.) My team lost unfortunately. I am now historically 0-2 against Egyptian teams in soccer. During sports camp the American counselors played the Egyptian counselors in a game that we also lost. I would like to think both matches were well played but perhaps the Egyptians were just going easy on the ol' amrikee.

I am living in the Alexandria University dorms. They are small but cozy. I have a single. I am excited to buy posters of Egyptian pop stars to decorate my walls. I got to be cool, you know.
Our program coordinator has arranged soccer games for Friday afternoons for the students living in the dorms. I am so excited. The field next to the dorms is one of the nicest I have seen in Egypt. It should be great.

I have been writing this while washing my cloths. I sweat a lot in Egypt. I will end here because I think I may have just broken the washing machine. Oops. Let's hope not.

The sea!, cell block 1 building B, and cross cultural jam sessions

Lotus! Oh, Lotus!

This is my shout out to the Lotus. You know who you are.

Okay. So the other day I went to the pyramids with the group from Houston. The pyramids are incredible. To give perspective to my visit, I had the opportunity to see Niagara Falls on my drive home this spring. I had high expectations for the Falls. I thought it was going to be a deafeningly large, overwhelmingly grand waterfall. Like the can't-hear-yourself-think-or-your-neighbor-talk type of loud waterfall. Do not get me wrong. Niagara Falls is beautiful but it it was not quite all I expected.

The pyramids, on the other hand, are amazing. They are so huge. From a distance they are huge and up close, well, surprise, they're even bigger. I had no idea how insanely massive they are. Not only are they huge but their corners are perfectly aligned with the cardinal directions and the top of the pyramid is directly in the center of the square base. So well done. I have tried stacking sugar packets at dinner and frankly the results are not as impressive.

For our visit to the pyramids, our group had a tour guide. He was quite friendly and a very good tour guide. Before we began our tour, he introduced himself, asked us questions about ourselves, and finally asked if we wanted a group name. The idea behind a group name is to help us stay together during the tour Our group was pretty tired so no one was that interested in team names. Our tour leader recognized our apathy, took the reins, and began suggesting name ideas. We should have said something. Fearlessly and shamelessly, our tour guide choose the name "Lotus." Thus, for the next hour and a half, when ever we moved to a new site, our tour guide would call, "Lotus! Oh, Lotus!" It was painful but I could not stop laughing.

Sadly, Cairo has expanded so far that the pyramids are more a suburb of the city rather than an exotic, isolated wonder of the world. City building are beginning to encroach on the land around the pyramids and the city is easily seen from the pyramid park. A road runs between two of the pyramids. Boo development.

When you visit the pyramids, you have the opportunity to ride a camel. Good deal, huh? The ancient pyramids of Giza, exotic desert animal, and a warm Coke. Yummy.

I chose to not ride the camel and I wish to share why: Camels are ornery, ornery creatures. Perhaps they are so ornery because foreigners ride them all day long. They spit too. Ornery I say. Ornery.

My friends who did ride told me the camels were named funny names like Michael Jackson and 007. Ha.

On an bright note, everyone should try rice pudding with ice cream, fruit, and nuts. Wow. Perhaps everyone else has had that before but it was the first time for me. So amazing.

Building blocks, sand castles, and way too much good food,

Pushing, Catching, and a smaller, better world

Captain's Log: 8.20.2008

We're four months out from port. No sign of the whale but we're not giving up hope. Our beards are thick and manly. Thank goodness.

Okay. So the beard thing did not work out. I honestly tried. I do not want to give up entirely but I'm beginning to think that I just do not have what it takes. Don't worry. I have good support around me. It may take me a while but I want to give it another go.

Things have become so drastic that I'm considering performance enhancing drugs. A new friend, Kyle, is a scientist. (That's right. He makes science.) He won a big science award for creating an algae miracle grow to help in the process of converting algae to gasoline. I have since commissioned him to create a facial hair miracle grow for men (or boys) like myself that find their facial hair, well, lacking (read: invisible). I'll let you know when human trials begin.

This past week I volunteered with a group from my church at the Wadi Sports Camp. The camp is located about an hour west of Cairo toward Alexandria. The camp is supported by the Kasr Al-Dobara church in Cairo. It was amazing.

My main responsibility at the camp was to coach baseball. Baseball is not a popular sport in Egypt so many of the kids were unfamiliar with the rules and the skills. We definitely had to start from the beginning. Another counselor suggested to me that we start by playing kickball. Kickball is a game they know and would help introduce the basic rules of the baseball. We had to clarify, however, that you do not get someone out in baseball by pegging them with the ball. Important distinction.

After kickball, we practiced throwing, catching, hitting, and fielding. The kids learned amazingly fast. I was quite impressed. After covering the major components of the game, we started playing games. Apparently baseball can be boring so the kids were happy to start playing games and competing.

The campers were of the 12-14 year old age group and candy still wields a mighty influence over thier behavior. (I'm 20. I still respond to candy incentives.) A funny story involving candy and aforementioned (I'm so glad I just used that word) Egyptian campers invovles my Egyptian counselor friend Toto. When the campers saw we had candy, they would swarm me and my American co-counselor Daniel. Toto would see this and say, "Egyptians. Egyptians. We have candy in Egypt. Calm down." Toto kept me laughing the entire week. I am so glad he was with the baseball group.

The accommodations at Wadi were really nice. Wadi also hosts corporate groups who come for team building exercises so the rooms for the coaches and campers were cozy. I had two roommates. Their names were Kyle (the scientist) and Michael. They are amazing. I miss them already.

My Arabic was a novelty at the camp. Most of the foreign coaches that come know very little Arabic. After a while it felt a bit like a party trick. The campers and counselors spoke incredibly good English so the sports instruction was done in English. I would try to mix in some Arabic phrases or words which elicited from friendly laughter. Hanging out with the kids and counselors did help me learn some good Egyptian. The counselors are great people. I hope and look forward to seeing them again.

Kyle had the funniest observation about Arabic. He said, "Arabic is nice but it sounds like a lot of pushing. Too much pushing." Perhaps one had to be there. I still think its funny.

There are no rules in Egypt. Sometimes at night the campers would participate in games. One night they played a game called Commandos. The camper's objective was to find a hidden base to earn points for their cabin. As a coach, my job was to catch the campers and send them back to the start. Imagine over 150 kids running and being chased around a sports camp campus at night. Everyone, including the campers, knew people were going to be injured. Kyle told me stories about campers who tried to run through soccer nets (with no success) and through the low ropes course (with no success). Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt but there were some scraped knees and sore ankles.

You could never do something like that in America. You would be sued for more amounts of money that do not even exist. Go Egypt.

One day, Shady, one of the coordinators, took the group to Alexandria. It was neat to see my future home. We ate some delicious seafood and ice cream. I am excited to try new restaurants and foods. I will post some pictures of the city for all to see. I will also soon have links to two videos from the sports camp of myself being silly. Please enjoy.

I am now in Cairo with my friends Lizz and Anne. I have four days until I catch a train to Alexandria with my group. I am looking forward to seeing more things in Cairo.

I also had an interesting conversation with my taxi driver the other day about Egypt and water usage. I hope to learn more about water use in the Middle East, its economic and political impact, and sustainable practice.

Good friends, beach balls, and more good friends,



ps. Olympic weight lifters are unreal. If anyone aspires to become an Olympic weight lifter, I will heartily support you.

Black Tea and Super Colliders

Hey everyone,

This message comes from myself. My anti-self will be posting here shortly.

I arrived in Cairo early this morning after a couple lovely flights and a short and rainy layover in Amsterdam. Oh. There is so much to tell.

On the flight from Houston to Amsterdam I sat next to a lovely, lovely lady named Jetske who was traveling to Holland for her mother's 100th birthday. If I have a 100th birthday, it will be a barn burner for sure. And you are all invited. Thinking about it though, I think 100th birthdays could be sad. You probably can not see well so there's no point decorating. You probably can't move well so you won't be dancing. And, worst of all, you probably do not have teeth so no cake! Tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Jetske was great company and the flight went by quickly.

Amsterdam is a neat place. I visited the Rijksmuseum, home to the paintings of Dutch master painters. The most famous work in the collection is Rembrandt's The Night Watch. It is huge, in many senses of the word. The public transportation in Amsterdam is great. I'm a big fan. Being in Europe is tough though. Everyone is super trendy. That was definitely the most self-conscious eight hours of my life.

On the flight from Amsterdam to Cairo I sat next to a teacher from England. She teaches reception (the British version of kindergarten). Reception sounds so welcoming.

I am staying with my friend Lizz, a Midd graduate, in Cairo. She, her mother, and her roommates showed me around. They are all great. I will meet the rest of the sports camp group tomorrow evening at the airport.

Okay. Now seriously, have you all heard about this Large Hadron Collider in Geneva that could create a black hole and consume the planet? They are looking to recreate the conditions that existed after the Big Bang. Now I'm not a doctor, but that sounds risky. And what does the city of Geneva think of this? Do lab coats and picturesque mountains offer protection from black holes? Or practically, how do you collide two sub atomic particles? They're so tiny. Some one explain this to me.

Oddly, the term super collider could be used to describe traffic in Cairo. Or chaos theory.

The beard is going strong. So full and manly and non-existent. I am not giving up hope. You shouldn't either.

43 hours without a shower, yummy tea, and good company

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Hey everyone,

I want to begin this blog with a confession. I realize we just met but I think we can handle it.

I do not care much for the word "blog" (or any derivations, i.e. blogging). There. I said it. No taking it back. "Blog" sounds like what happens when your meal disagrees with you. I can not help it.

Therefore, this is my ____________ (public journal, diary?, captain's log) for my time serving and studying in Egypt. During the month of August (from the 9th to the 19th) I will be volunteering with a group from my church at a sports camp outside of Cairo teaching baseball. It should be amazing. A typical day's schedule reads as follows: Wake up at 8 AM, play with kids all day, bed time around 11 PM. Brilliant. After sports camp, I will move to Alexandria, Egypt where I will be studying Arabic at Alexandria University for the fall semester (from Aug. 24 to Dec. 8th).

Needless to say, I am super excited. I am shocked, though, at how quickly my departure date (this Wed., Aug. 6th) arrived. To where did the summer fly? I sure hope time passes extra slow in Egypt. First of all, that would mean more opportunities to practice Arabic. Always a good thing. Secondly, that would give me a chance to grow a full, manly beard. I can dream, can't I? It could totally happen too. I think all my beard needs is some positive reinforcement and encouragement.

I will do my best to update this (whatever we're calling it. Thoughts? I personally liked captain's log) often and include pictures when I can.

To Egypt, dreaming, and fully developed facial hair follicles