So, I'm starting to fail at this whole keeping up thing. I actually did something on Tuesday, and then decided I was tired and didn't want to write about it, especially when I was busy trying to get all me weekend homework done. The weekend homework excuse was why I almost didn't blog today, but I leave for Cairo tomorrow, at which point I'm going to forget everything of only a little consequence in Alexandria.
So, I get to sleep in on Tuesdays because I don't have class until eleven. It's glorious. My first class of the day then was Egyptian Dialect, in which we took a trip to a souk because we'd just finished learning names for fruits and vegetables. It was quite an experience.
Most of it wasn't very sanitary, and hence I didn't buy anything, but I did eat some of Charley's weird cheese croissant thing and Elizabeth's baggette that she bought of a tray from a little boy wandering around the market.
It was amazing to see so many fruits and vegetables in one place, but the most interesting/disturbing part in my opinion was the meats. I mentioned in an earlier post seeing stores selling rabbits and chickens. There were similar stores here, except because we were wandering around and not just passing buy, I was privy to actual sales, and therefore actual slaughters. It made me flinch, but thankfully it wasn't that bad.
More bothersome in my opinion were the fish, which were not necessarily dead either. Being so close to the ocean, Alexandria is well known for it's fresh fish. And when they say fresh they don't mean caught that morning. They mean caught five minutes ago. Several of us got a fright passing a fish stands with wares still jumping and flailing about. I saw one fish gasp for a good five minutes before finally giving up. And it wasn't just regular fish, either. They had catfish and eels too. The eels were the worst, especially since one jumped out of its bin only to land and writhe right in front of me.
Apart from the wares, the structure of the souk itself is worth mentioning. Merchants own stalls along a narrow alley through which people have to push and jostle their way through. Eventually, at the end of the alley, you reach some peripheral shops on a more main street, but the point of the souk is being able to shop without worrying about cars. With that many people in such a small space however, heat, stench, and thievery are all big problems.
After the souk we went to a pharmacy, just to make sure we knew how to ask for things properly, and then on to have a tea in a little cafe. We were a little late to lunch, but all in all it was more than worth it.
The entire trip was a great experience, but I would need a lot more energy and English ability than I have at the moment to describe it properly. Suffice it to say that I've been to a real live Egyptian market, complete with street children and pick pockets. None of us got anything stolen, but that doesn't mean we didn't have to watch our backs.
Hadir's been having a lot of exams lately. One every other day it seems. So I bought her chocolate on the way home from class yesterday, just to help with the studying.
Today we had our weekly Flagship meeting. It seems we've all had a lot of homework, but some of the other students in my specific class think the homework's been to easy. I can see where they're coming from, most of it's simple busy work, but I think the structure allows for a lot more private learning. If you look for something to study in the material you can find it, but there's no one handing you a structure and saying "here, learn this."
Also, I've begun reading my novel for the summer. It's called "Sharq al-Nakhil," or "East of the Palms" in English. I'm only twenty pages in, but I'm really enjoying it. We'll discuss it tomorrow in class before getting on the bus for Cairo.
I'm not taking my computer with me to Cairo, so don't expect to hear from me for the next few days. Hopefully when I get back Saturday night, however, I will have the time to write you a nice long description of everything I did there. Also to come next week, I've been invited to Hadir's cousin's wedding on Wednesday. We'll be taking a car an hour out of the city so I can experience an authentic Egyptian wedding. I'm quite excited, even if I will have to take my personal day from classes.
That's all for now. Good night everyone!
~~~~~~~~~~
The Story of the Souk in Egyptian Arabic:
النهاردة روحنا إلى السوق مع أستاذ عماد لنستخدم مفرداتنا عن الخضروات والفواكه. كان تجربة جديدة بالنسبا لي عشان روحت إلى أسواق من قبل بس مش أسواق الأكلة. كل الخاجات اللي شوفتها وسمعتها وشميتها كانت ممتعة ومهمة للثقافة المصرية وكنت مبسوتة لأكون هناك. بأعتقد إنو معظمنا كنا مندهشين شوية من حاجات زي السمك المعيشة، يعني كنا عارفين إنو السمك في إسكندريا تازغة قوي لكن كنا نفتكر إنو صياد السمك يقتلوها أولا، بس لسة تعلمت كلمات أنواع السمك زي بولتي وبوري، ودا المهم طبعا. بردو، كان كتير من تجار الفواكه والخضروات يبيعو كل حاجة من التفاح والموز والمانجة إلى الخيار والتوم والعنب. جزئي المفضل كان العيش، وزورت تاجر واحد كان عنده أنواع العيش كتير، في أسكال مختلفة أو مع الجبنة وكدا. ما أستريت أي حاجة بس أكلت شوية من الباجات اللي استريته آليزباث وكنت موافقة معها لما أعدت الولد اللي يبيعه الفكى. كان مبسوت قوي وابتسامه تأاق كالشمس. في النهاية حبيت زيارتنا إلى السوق وعايزة أرغع مرة تانية أقرايبة.
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