Okay, so... having fallen behind on school work, and therefore blog posts (because school comes first), it occurs to me I have a ton to write about. I am, therefore, going to break it all up over several posts to be written throughout the weekend. Going in chronological order, that means I'm starting with Cairo.
On Thursday, we were instructed to bring our luggage with us to our classes so that the bus to Cairo could leave from the University as soon as classes ended at one. Not wanting to lug a suitcase through the bust streets of Alexandria I managed to fit everything in my backpack, but it still wasn't pleasant. Classes were uneventful, but when they ended, because everything runs on Arab standard time, things still weren't ready. Some people had run to the corner store, others were just sitting in the dar instead of getting on buses. We finally pulled out around two and set off on the long road to Cairo.
They served us lunch on the bus, to conserve time, but part of me wishes they'd conserved food too. Because they didn't know who liked what they packed each person a lunch big enough for three. It was ridiculous, and a big waste. Still, it gave us something to do on the three-four hour bus ride other than stare out the window at the sand.
We were originally supposed to head straight to the hotel to check in before going to dinner, but because we were running late we went straight to the restaurant instead. The restaurant was called Nile City and built in the river to look like a boat, even though it didn't move. I got a table by the window so I could look at the water while we ate, and I was glad for the view because the food was mediocre at best. Soggy french fries, oat rice, and several unidentifiable meats. By the end, my table was very tempted to split a giant ice cream, but we eventually decided against it and headed out to the deck to look out at the river and the city beyond for an hour or so.
After the restaurant came the river boats. We all piled on to one of four motor boats and went off for a pleasant ride on the nile. It was night, with too much smog and ambient light to see the stars, and the only real view other than the water was a bunch of hotels. But still, it was relaxing, with the river breeze wafting through as we chatted.
After the boats, we finally got to the hotel. It wasn't like any hotel I'd ever seen though. Every room was entirely different. Some had parlors others had breakfast nooks, some had metal keys others had key cards, and I don't think I heard about any two showers being alike. Charley and I were lucky, we got put in one of the rooms without problems. The shower flooded the bathroom every time we used it, but that was nothing compared with bed bugs and broken air conditioners.
That first night, I went straight to sleep, being exhausted from the week and having and early morning the next day. I did hear the next day (when a girl threw up on the bus from her hangover) that a fair number of people went out to experience the Cairene nightlife, seeing as Alexandria has none to speak of. When I woke up the next morning I showered and went down to breakfast, which was a nice buffet of traditional Egyptian breakfast items: breads, cheeses, boiled eggs, olives, etc. They had tried their hand at American coffee, but I had a cup and it tasted like hot water. The juice was interesting though. I still haven't identified it, but it was red and thick, like nectar.
Immediately after breakfast, we split into two groups: one going to see the pyramids and one going to see Islamic Cairo. I was in the former, as was almost everyone who hadn't been to Egypt before. The pyramids are one of those things you have to see at least one, but that I could understand not wanting to see multiple time.
The first stop on the pyramid tour was Saqqara, the ancient burial grounds for earlier kings and later respected dignitaries. It was here that Imhotep designed and built the first pyramid to be the tomb of King Djoser. There's an entire complex at Saqqara with a theatre that shows you historical films and a museum with artifacts out of the tombs.
Our tour guide for the day met us there and gave us a basic run down of pyramidic structure before we started looking around the complex. Most of Saqarra is still under excavation, so the complex serves a touristic limitation. Behind the museum, however, is that first pyramid built by Imhotep. From what I hear, three of the girls from UT found a guy who let them inside for five pounds a piece. It sounds sketchy, but I still would have loved to have gotten the same offer. Instead, I wandered up to the precipice overlooking the burial grounds. It mostly looks like a lot of sand with bits of stone here and there. There aren't many pyramids, because there aren't as many kings there. Still though, it's a captivating sight.
The most fun part about Saqqara were the tourist hunters. Men wander Saqqara with donkeys and horses and camels trying to lure people in to taking a five minute ride with them for ridiculous amounts of money. The funniest part is, their form of luring is picking you up and putting you on an animal without asking your permission first.
This is how I found myself on top of a donkey being led around by a man in a kufia named Aymaad. The worse part was, they'd put a kufia on my head too. I cringe to think what bugs I might have gotten, but my head hasn't started itching yet, so maybe I'm safe. Once I was on the donkey anyway, I didn't see the point of getting off. And Aymaad did take a lot of pictures on me with the pyramid, and with the desert and what not, even if they all kind of suck.
When I got off the donkey five minutes later and went to pay, he tried to charge me a hundred pounds. That's a little less than twenty dollars, for those who don't know the conversion rate, and ridiculous for Egypt where everything is cheap. I bargained it down to fifty, which is still ridiculous because it was only worth ten, and just paid him. I was hot, and tired, and as you will discover later in my stories, do not like bargaining. I imagine I'm like my mother. I'd rather just pay them and leave.
We went to lunch at a Saqqara tourist restaurant. The food there was better, but you had to pay to use the restroom, and it was outside in a tent, so I was always worried about flies. Being gross from the dessert, I agreed to pay the ridiculous fee of fifteen pounds for a coke. Buying drinks kills in Egypt, and in Cairo especially. That's probably why the program agrees to pay for our meals and not out liquids.
After lunch came the papyrus institute. We got a short lesson on how papyrus is made and then we got to wander an art gallery of gorgeous papyrus paintings for sale. Some people bought pieces, but the Egypt veterans told us it would be cheaper in the souk we were visiting later, so most of us held off and just admired. For the record, I haven't bought papyrus yet, but I really want some. I'm hoping I can still find some in Alex. If I do, it's almost guaranteed to be cheaper.
After the institute came (dramatic pause) the pyramids! And this time I mean the real ones. The great pyramid and the two smaller ones flanking it. Their the set next to the Sphinx that you always see in pictures and tourism magazines. There's not much to say about them really... You'll see the pictures when I get home, but mostly it was just really sandy. One of the merchants selling things asked if I was Canadian. I don't know if that counts as interesting...?
While the Sphinx is near the pyramids, it's actually a lot smaller, and you have to pay to get in to see it from closer than a huge distance. The American councils had bought us tickets though, so we got to walk through an old temple like ruin to approach it. I bought an alabaster Anubis sarcophagus from one of the merchants there because I thought it was pretty, but I talked him down to a third of his original asking price before doing so.
We went back to the hotel for showers (we were filthy from the desert) and dinner and afterwards loaded on the bus to go to Khan el-Khalily, the famous tourist souk in Cairo. It was fun, in that way that there were lots of colors and tons of things to do and look at, but... I didn't really enjoy it. Because it's a tourist souk, everyone's yelling at you to come into their store, and they assume you don't know what you're doing so they're even harder to bargain with.
At one point I ended up in a rather sketchy back room... Yes, I know, I'm sorry mother. But I had friends nearby and I was in easy shouting distance. The shopkeeper, like every other shopkeeper, told me he'd give me a discount because I spoke Arabic and then did no such thing. I learned quickly what things are worth, and trying to charge me two hundred pounds for something worth twenty did not sit well with me. I was firm with him though, and eventually left with quite a few tiny souvenir-y things for a fair price.
The other thing I bought at Khan el-Khalily was a soccer jersey, and while it's my absolute favorite item that I've bought in Egypt, I paid way too much for it. At the University, the Flagship students are divided into classes named after famous Alexandrians. My class is Muhammad Neggi Gedo, the most famous soccer player in Egypt at the moment. So I had to have his jersey. I wore it to class on Wednesday and let me say, it was quite the experience. More on that later.
When we got back to the hotel from the souk, none of us really wanted to go to bed. It wasn't terribly late, and we didn't have as early of a morning the next day. A group of about ten of us wandered around searching for a cafe that an Egyptian had told us was a few blocks away. We never did find it, but we ended up back at the cafe next door to the hotel. Thanks to its proximity it was a little more touristy than we were looking for, but the banana juice was to die for.
We didn't stay too late at the cafe before heading back to bed. The next morning was a repeat of the morning before, and then we all packed off and headed down to Citadel of Salah al-Din. It's a complex of three mosques, one of which is a larger jaam3, built into a fortress to keep out intruders. It was the first time I had ever been in a mosque, and the architecture was beautiful. From the patio outside you could see all of Cairo, or rather all of Cairo that you could make out through the smog. Thing there took a while, so we were running a little late when we left, but nothing that we couldn't make up. Until disaster struck anyway.
On the way to lunch I fell asleep, and woke up only to feel the bus lurching beneath me. Looking around we were in a very enclosed space, so I started asking around to see what was going on. As it turns out, the directions we had to get to our lunch restaurant took us through a street that was far too narrow for a tour bus. And now we were stuck. There were police running around, moving cars without owners' permission, trying to find room to get us through. Eventually we were able to back up far enough to go the wrong way down a still too narrow one way street. Oh yeah, and we hit a car on the way. And just kept going. It was a little ridiculous, but from the time I woke up it took more than forty five minutes to get us, so we'd wasted a lot of time.
It was worth it though, because when we got to the reasturant, The Happy Dolphin, the food was the best I've yet had in Egypt. It wasn't anything dramatically different than what we'd been having, but the dips with the bread had much more flavor, the meats were identifiable, and they had a variety of sugary desserts, from jello to kunafa.
By the time we finished lunch, it was technically time to leave Cairo, but there were still things to do on the schedule. They took a vote, ignored the results, and then we all headed off to the Coptic Quarter, tired, hot, and miserable. I am kind of glad we got to go, but being so rushed I'm not sure what we got was worth the misery we were all going through. We saw a famous Jewish temple that used to be a Church, and an even more famous Church that's still a Church. We spent so little time there I'm not even sure what their names are, but I do have pictures for later.
The Coptic Quarter itslef is quite pretty. It's a city in and of itself, walled in and made up of alleys with tall buildings on either side. The advantage to that is that everywhere was shady, but it would have been nice to have more time to explore.
After the Coptic area, we loaded back on the bus for the final time and headed back to Alex, wanting nothing more than to curl up in our beds and go to sleep. Alas, most of us had too much homework for that. I spent all night completing three different essays for two different classes and then trekked off to the University the next day. It was unfortunate that I was so busy and tired, because Sunday (excluding classes) was my only day to rest before the wedding on Monday. But the wedding was still fun. More to come on that later.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Same Story in Formal Arabic:
كما تعرف، ذهبنا أنا وزملائي إلى القاهرة في العطلة الماضية وطبعا شاهدنا كثير من الأثار القديمة مثلا الأهرمات وأبا الهول وقلعة صلاح الدين وبالإضافة إلى ذلك شاهدنا مواقع بيئية أيضا مثلا النيل والصحراء ولكن الطريق كان طويلا والحر كان شديدا ومع أن كل شيء كان جميلا وفاخرا وممتعا فأظن أن كلنا شعرنا بالمرض قليلا قبل نهاية السفر.
تركنا الإسكندرية يوم الخميس "بعد الصفوف يالضبط"، يعني ساعة بعد الموعد مع مشاكل النظام، فركبنا على أوتوبيسين إلى مطعم اسمه مدينة النيل في مركب على نهر النيل طبعا بالرغم من أن كان الجدول أن نصل إلى الفندق أولا. كانت المشاهد من خلال الشبابيك مثل الصورة مع أن كان الطعام مقبولا على الأكثر ولذلك قضينا وقتا طويلا خارج المركب نشاهد السماء والماء قبل القيادة إلى مراكب أخرى لنركبها تحت النجوم.
لما وصلنا إلى الفندق معظمنا ذهب إلى النوم بالوقت لأن الفطور كان مبكرا جدا في اليوم الثالي، يعني كان من اللازم أن أقوم في الساعة السادسة لآخذ دش بدون وصول متأخر إلى الوجبة. بعد الفطور ذهب نصف مجموعتنا إلى القاهرة الإسلامية بينما ذهبت مع النصف الآخر لنشاهد الأهرمات وأبو الهول في سقارة والجيزة ولسوء الحظ ما عندي الكلمات المناسبة لأصف العجب الذي هو الأهرمات ولكني استمتعت بالتجربة كثيرا. بعد العشاء في الفندق حدد المجموعتان لنذهب إلى سوق خان الخليلي لنشتري البضائع السياحية، ومع أن الزيارة كانت مفيدة لفهم الثقافة السياحية لم تكن أفضليتي.
فعلا شعرت بالسعادة أني أسكن في الإسكندرية طوال الصيف وليست في القاهرة لأن على الرغم من القاهرة جميلة وتاريخية ومهمة من الناحية العالمية فلم يكن ممكن أن أتكلم مع أي مصري كمصري حقيقي لأن كلهم عاملوني كسياحي فقط مع أني تكلمت العربي وفي حقيقة الأمر استخدموا العربي ليحاولوا أن يقتنعوا لي أن السعر الغالي كان السعر الصحيح ولذلك لم أشعر بالاحترام الذي أشعر به كل يوم في الإسكندرية.
بعد خان الخليلي نزل بعضنا لنستكشف القاهرة ولكن التكسيات هناك غالية جدا فشربنا القهوة والعصير فقط من مقهى قريب من الفندق وكان لذيذا على أننا رجعنا إلى الفندق قبل وقت طويل لننام. في الصباح استعدنا للرحيل من الفندق وذهبنا إلى قلعة صلاح الدين الذي كان أول جامع زورته في مصر فالتجربة كانت ممتازة بالرغم من التعب.
كانت مشاكل كثيرة على الطريق إلى الغداء وهو المهم أن الأوتوبيس كان أكبر من الشارع إلى المطعم ولذلك ضرب سيارة، وكانت شرطة كثبرة في المنطقة فلم تكن مشكلة حقيقية ولكن كلنا كنا مندهشين قليلا. بسبب المشكلة هذه كنا متأخرين جدا في الغداء وبعده كثير أردنا أن نعود إلى الإسكندرية فورا ولكن الزيارة إلى القاهرة القبطية ما زالت على البرنامج فذهبنا بسرعة ولم نعد إلى الإسكندرية حتى المساء.
في الحقيقة استمتعت بالقاهرة كثيرا ولكني لا أريد أن أسكن فيها أبدا لأن هناك مدن كثيرة في العالم هي جمياة في الزيارة ولكنها سيئة في السكان وفي رأيي القاهرة واحد من هذه تماما.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Same Story in Egyptian Arabic:
زي ما بتعرف، روحنا أنا وزملائي إلى القاهرة في العطلة إللي فاتت وطبعا شوفنا كتير من الأثار القديمة زي الأهرمات وأبو الهول وقلعة صلاح الدين، وكمان شوفنا مواقع بيئة مثل النيل والصحراء، لكن الطريق كان طويل والحر كان قوي وكل حاجة كانت جميلة وفاخرة وممتعة فبأعتقد أنو كلنا حسنا بالمرض شوية قبل نهاية السفر.
تركنا اسكندرية يوم الخميس "بعد الصفوف بالضبط"، يعني ساعة بعد الموعد مع مشاكل النظام، فركبنا على أوتوبيسين إلى مطعم اسمه مدينة النيل في مركب على نهر النيل طبعا، رغم كان الجدول نصل إلى الفندق أولا. كان أيه شوفناه من الشبابيك زي صورة، بس كان الأكل مقبول على الأكتر وعشان كدا قضينا وقت طويل برا المركب نتفرج السماء والماية قبل السواء إلى مراكب تانية لنركبها تحت النجوم.
لما وصلنا إلى الفندق معظمنا نمنا بالوقت عشان الفطور كان بدري جدا في اليوم إللي جيء، يعني كان لازم أصحى في ساعة ستة لآخد دش بلا وصول متأخر إلى الوجبة. بعد الفطور راح نص مجموعتنا إلى القاهرة الإسلامية لبينما روحت مع النص التاني لنتفرج الأهرمات وأبو الهول في سقارة وجيزة ولسو الحظ ما عنديش الكلمات المناسبة لأصف العجب إللي هو الأهرمات لكن استمتعت بالتجربة كتير. بعد العشاء في الفندق كان موجود المجموعتين لنروح إلى سوق خان الخليلي لنشتري الحاجات السياحية، والزيارة كانت مفيدة لفهم الثقافة السياحية بس ما كانتش تفضيلي.
فعلا حسيت بالسعادة عشان أسكن في اسكندرية طوال الصيف ومش في القاهرة عشان رغم القاهرة جميلة وتاريخية ومهمة عالميا ما كانش ممكن أتكلم مع أي مصري كمصري حقيقي عشان كلهم عاملوني كسياحي بس، مع أني تكلمت العربي وبصراحة استخدموا العربي ليحاولوا يقتنعوا لي أنو السعر الغالي كان السعر الصحيح وعشان كدا ما شعرتش بالاحترام أني أشعر به كل يوم في اسكندرية.
بعد خان الخليلي بعضنا نزلنا لنستكشف القاهرة لكن التكسيات هناك غالية جدا فشربنا القهوة والعصير بس من مقهى أريب من الفندق وكان لذيذ، بس رجعنا إلى الفندق قبل وقت طويل لننام. في الصبح استعدنا للرحيل من الفندق وروحنا إلى قلعة صلاح الدين إللي كان أول جامع زورته في مصر فالتجربة كانت ممتازة رغم تعبي.
كانت مشاكل كتيرة على الطريق إلى الغدا وهو المهم أنو الأوتوبيس كان أكبر من الشارع إلى المطعم وعشان كدا ضرب سيارة عليه، وكانت شرطة كتبرة في المنطقة فما كانتش مشكلة حقيقية لكن كلنا كنا مندهشين شوية. عشان المشكلة دي كنا متأخرين جدا في الغدا وبعده كتير مننا كنا عايزين نرجع إلى اسكندرية فورا لكن زيارة إلى القاهرة القبطية كانت على البرنامج لسة فروحنا بسرعة وما رجعناش إلى اسكندرية لغاية المساء.
في الحقيقة حبيت القاهرة كثبرا لكني مش عايزة أسكن فيها أبدا عشان هناك مدن كتيرة في العالم هي جميلة في الزيارة ولكنها وحشة في السكان وفي رأيي القاهرة واحد من دي تماما.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment