It hasn't quite been a week yet, but I've already done so so much here. After getting all settled in on Thursday and already meeting a bunch of people, on Friday night we took a Felluca ride on the Nile. A felluca is basically a sailboat with a bunch of seats on it for tourists. So 20 per boat we piled on and took off for about a 30 minute trip on the Nile. I have some pics, but my camera is acting funny in the dark, so not many pics look good. I need to learn how to adjust the exposure time...but anyways.....
It was a time for us to get to know one another as well so we played different ice breakers and such. It is a very interesting group here on campus. I live on the New Cairo campus. There are about 500 students living here. Then there are students living in the old dorms in Zamalek - the very "American" ex-pat part of Cairo with I think a thousand or so students and then most students live in housing for a semester or year and then find an apartment in Cairo to experience Cairo life more fully.
Here there are about half Egyptians and half international. I've met 40 or so Americans so far that are either doing grad studies or their undergrad studies here. But I've met like 200 Americans that are doing semester and year-long study abroads. There are students here from 62 countries including all 29 Egyptian states and something like 30 U.S. states. Although being from the Midwest is somewhat of a commodity. The vast majority of the Americans I have met here are from the coasts.
I have met Japanese and Italian, one of my roommates is Korean, and most of the Arab countries are all represented. Its the most diverse campus I've ever been on - and I love it.
I've been shopping a few times and stuff is pretty cheap. We went to the biggest mall in Cairo - City Stars, which is a 7-story ridiculously plush mall with a huge, but cheap supermarket on the first floor. I was able to get pots, pans, cups, spatulas, silverware, etc and 5 bags of food for about $55. Because there are plenty of food options on campus, but an average meal is $5-$6. Why pay that every day, when I can just pay for groceries and have more money to spend out. There is a horseback riding trip to the pyramids tonight at 9pm, but by the time that me and my friends tried to sign up, it was already full. But one of our Egyptian friends, Ahmed, said we can go for half the price that they're charging so we're going to go another time. Also, all of the trips they organize each semester and I'm here for at least 4, so I think I'm good.
I am signed up for a trip to Old Cairo on Saturday which is the centuries old area of CAiro with old museums, mosques, etc. That should be a great picture day. Throughout the semester there are many great trips planned. So I plan on taking all that I can! I'm going to Rehab again today to get my phone unlocked so it can take my Egyptian sim card. So hopefully I'll have an Egyptian number soon!
And remember I do have a skype number so you can call it anytime as an Indianapolis number and it will ring me in Cairo! If I'm online - I'll answer, and if not (it is 7 hours difference) than you can leave a voicemail! So feel free to call! 317-353-3233
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Cairo
Ok, ok - I know this is LONG overdue.... I have been so very very busy here in Cairo.
London was a lot of fun - and it was great to see my friends there. Wednesday the 25th was a long day for me. I woke up about 9AM so we could get ready and then head out with my luggage. I needed help to get myself on to the tube train that takes me to Heathrow b/c I had all my bags for Cairo with me. So I got on the train and arrived at the airport and was ready to check in at 1pm for my 6 pm flight. So I chilled outside a while smoked and enjoyed the last cool day I would have for a while. Then I checked in, went through security and still had about 3 hours to kill. I finally got aboard my flight to Frankfurt Germany and landed an hour and a half later. I had another two hours to kill in Frankfurt. Thank God for the Germans who still have smoking rooms IN the airport terminals! Then I finally arrived in Cairo at about 3:00AM, headed through Customs, and got picked up at the airport with my friend Justin. He is a one-year study abroad student from UC Berkeley. We were on the same flight but didn't meet until the ride from the airport to campus. I didn't get any pics from the airplane b/c I was in the middle row (had it all to myself though) and it was too dark to see anything anyways.
Everything my Arabic professor (thanks Dr. Mashhour!) told me about driving in Egypt
was true! Even the campus drivers drive CRAZY! There are speed bumps every so often to encourage people to slow down - but all they do is floor it to like 90 and then hit the brakes hard when they see a speed bump - and they don't drive in lanes and they pass whenever they feel like it! It was a little scary! But every ride since coming here has been similar.
So I finally arrived in my room after check-in at about 4:30AM. I though about unpacking for a minute - but decided against that quickly and just hit the sack. The room came a lot more furnished than I had expected. I had sheets and a comforter and trash can and desk lamp and rug and towels, etc. So I had to buy much less than I had originally expected to.
The first day on Thursday was pretty low-key. I met a few people and then Friday I met LOTS of people and took my first trip to Rehab (a suburb of Cairo). I should take this moment to explain where I am. I am living on the new campus (this is the third semester for this brand new campus) in New Cairo. New Cairo is a suburb about a 25 minute drive from Cairo and is in the MIDDLE of desert on all sides. It is QUICKLY expanding and in the next 5 to 10 years it projected to have a population of 2.5 million. It is mostly upper class and upper middle class. There is housing going up EVERYWHERE around us and also shopping centers and such as well. There are buses that normally leave every hour for various destinations around Cairo and its suburbs until 10pm and buses that come back to campus from these locations until 2AM. So it is pretty easy to get into the city easily and quickly.
I don't want to put too much in this first post, so I will post more later today with pics and a little more about whats been keeping me so busy, en sha allah.
ma salaama!
~Randy
راندي
London was a lot of fun - and it was great to see my friends there. Wednesday the 25th was a long day for me. I woke up about 9AM so we could get ready and then head out with my luggage. I needed help to get myself on to the tube train that takes me to Heathrow b/c I had all my bags for Cairo with me. So I got on the train and arrived at the airport and was ready to check in at 1pm for my 6 pm flight. So I chilled outside a while smoked and enjoyed the last cool day I would have for a while. Then I checked in, went through security and still had about 3 hours to kill. I finally got aboard my flight to Frankfurt Germany and landed an hour and a half later. I had another two hours to kill in Frankfurt. Thank God for the Germans who still have smoking rooms IN the airport terminals! Then I finally arrived in Cairo at about 3:00AM, headed through Customs, and got picked up at the airport with my friend Justin. He is a one-year study abroad student from UC Berkeley. We were on the same flight but didn't meet until the ride from the airport to campus. I didn't get any pics from the airplane b/c I was in the middle row (had it all to myself though) and it was too dark to see anything anyways.
Everything my Arabic professor (thanks Dr. Mashhour!) told me about driving in Egypt
was true! Even the campus drivers drive CRAZY! There are speed bumps every so often to encourage people to slow down - but all they do is floor it to like 90 and then hit the brakes hard when they see a speed bump - and they don't drive in lanes and they pass whenever they feel like it! It was a little scary! But every ride since coming here has been similar.
So I finally arrived in my room after check-in at about 4:30AM. I though about unpacking for a minute - but decided against that quickly and just hit the sack. The room came a lot more furnished than I had expected. I had sheets and a comforter and trash can and desk lamp and rug and towels, etc. So I had to buy much less than I had originally expected to.
The first day on Thursday was pretty low-key. I met a few people and then Friday I met LOTS of people and took my first trip to Rehab (a suburb of Cairo). I should take this moment to explain where I am. I am living on the new campus (this is the third semester for this brand new campus) in New Cairo. New Cairo is a suburb about a 25 minute drive from Cairo and is in the MIDDLE of desert on all sides. It is QUICKLY expanding and in the next 5 to 10 years it projected to have a population of 2.5 million. It is mostly upper class and upper middle class. There is housing going up EVERYWHERE around us and also shopping centers and such as well. There are buses that normally leave every hour for various destinations around Cairo and its suburbs until 10pm and buses that come back to campus from these locations until 2AM. So it is pretty easy to get into the city easily and quickly.
I don't want to put too much in this first post, so I will post more later today with pics and a little more about whats been keeping me so busy, en sha allah.
ma salaama!
~Randy
راندي
Monday, August 23, 2010
Vacation in London
So since we've last talked I've done a lot. Starting on Friday night we went to TGI Friday's in Covent Gardens. I know, I know, you would have thought I needed a break from TGI Fridays food as I only stopped working there 2 weeks ago, but Stefano, the friend I'm staying with LOVES Friday's food.
It turns out, Fridays is not much different in London - they still have to sing Happy Birthday to people and the food isn't all that much different other than they have kept things on the menu that the U.S. stores got rid of long ago.
I've done some browsing too, but not any real shopping. My suitcases arrived in London at the max weight, so buying anything at the moment is NOT an option (sad, b/c I love to shop) but it's probably a good thing since I need to budget anyways until I get my school money later in Cairo.
I was trying to think of what were the things that I missed last year in London. There honestly is not a lot, since I was here for 7 weeks last time I got to see most things. The two things I came up with first were seeing the grave of Karl Marx and visiting Buckingham Palace. I did get to see Karl Marx's grave. Its located in Highgate Cemetery on London's northside - a very old cemetery.
Tombstones here in the UK are very different from US headstones. They come in basically two varieties - tall statue and what I describe as a "planter tombstone".
The planters are long (the size of a casket) and are filled with dirt which was intended to be tended by decendents who would plant flowers, etc and take care of it. However, years of neglect at most, have either left them overgrown with weeds and bushes or just covered in grass.
It was a very interesting cemetery because the tombstones are bascially on top of one another and there is hardly any space between tombstones at all. Just like all of London, space is a premium and its hard to come by, so in death, like life, homes are ran up against one another.
The queen leaves for Windsor Castle two months of the year and while she is not in residence you can tour it. So last year I got to see Windsor, but not Buckingham b/c she doesn't leave until mid-August and I left at the beginning of August.
However, it costs about 50 American dollars to tour it! What are they thinking. I'm sure its cool, but I'm also sure it can't be much different than any other royal castle I saw last year. So I think Buckingham is probably out.
Today we're going house shopping (Stefano has to move) which should be fun to see flats and prices in different areas as London is a place I would like to live after grad school so this will give me a great preview. And tonight at 8pm I'll be watching Avenue Q in London's theater district.
I couldn't leave without seeing a show, and I've heard such good things about Ave Q.
Very excited for the day. Wednesday I leave! So not much time left. I wanted to take it easy this time, it's less about sightseeing and more about vacation before I head to Cairo and life gets crazy one more.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
London first real day and stuff
Well first, i forgot to thank the two anonymous strangers that helped me immensely yesterday in the London tube. Here I was with two fifty-pound suitcases, a carry-on and a laptop bag trying to figure out how I was going to carry these massive things on and off the subway by myself and up the stairs at the subway too! I didn't have to think for long because the two times that I needed helped a guy (different ones) volunteered straight away to help me carry a bag up the stairs.... I was SO happy b/c I think I would still be down there now trying to carry those ridiculously heavy things up stairs.
Today was a little rough. I managed to wake up on my own at 9am local time (that's 4am Evansville time) and I thought i was fine! I got up, showered, ate breakfast and went out to explore London. But sadly it was about 3 hours later that I fell asleep on the subway and missed my stop because it turns out I was exhausted after all. So I relented, went back to the flat and took a nap. Here's hoping I'm not feeling jetlagged tomorrow. Although it is 1am here now which is my normal bed time anyways so I hope it will be fine.
One of the victims of my packing nightmare (trying to fit everything I need for two years in 2 suitcases) was ANY long-sleeved or warm clothing. After all Egypt gets coldest at about 70 degrees! But I forgot that London in August is cold. Its about 50 degrees outside and windy so I'm pretty much cold here all day!
Speaking of packing nightmare - I'm still nervous about my flight out of London - there is chance, albeit a small one, that Lufthansa could stick it to me with an $800 over-weight baggage fee.... I THINK I got it all resolved with their customer service and they put a note on my travel ticket but who knows... I'm still keeping my fingers crossed and I'm arriving at the airport HOURS and HOURS early in case they make me jump through hoops.
I had forgotten how tiny the streets are in London and how CRAZY drivers are. In Indianapolis, this street would have two lanes, but in London, it is 4 lanes. You have just enough space when parking to have one tire touching the curb and one touching the line. I would sideswipe cars all day in London. And when you ride the bus you think you're going to die about every 30 seconds. These bus drivers are better than Nascar drivers - I swear! I hope they get paid well because I think they're job is HARD!
And people can park in whatever direction they want! So people park front to back and front to front, I don't know how there aren't more accidents - but I guess they're use to it. And it helps that there so so many small cars like the white Toyata pictured here.
Every doorway it seems is beautiful as well with tile on the either side of a recessed doorway and stained glass. It is very welcoming - but you MUST love your neighbors because you there is NOT much space between you. Big yards (or yards at all) are a luxury in London and they are few and far between.
Tomorrow I will start really exploring what I managed to miss the first time. I think I'll be seeing a play this weekend and I should have a lot of fun. But still trying to have fun on the cheap since I have to budget my money well for Cairo. I will be in Cairo almost three weeks before I get my refund check so its all budget, budget, budget until then!
Until tomorrow... Cheers!
Today was a little rough. I managed to wake up on my own at 9am local time (that's 4am Evansville time) and I thought i was fine! I got up, showered, ate breakfast and went out to explore London. But sadly it was about 3 hours later that I fell asleep on the subway and missed my stop because it turns out I was exhausted after all. So I relented, went back to the flat and took a nap. Here's hoping I'm not feeling jetlagged tomorrow. Although it is 1am here now which is my normal bed time anyways so I hope it will be fine.
One of the victims of my packing nightmare (trying to fit everything I need for two years in 2 suitcases) was ANY long-sleeved or warm clothing. After all Egypt gets coldest at about 70 degrees! But I forgot that London in August is cold. Its about 50 degrees outside and windy so I'm pretty much cold here all day!
Speaking of packing nightmare - I'm still nervous about my flight out of London - there is chance, albeit a small one, that Lufthansa could stick it to me with an $800 over-weight baggage fee.... I THINK I got it all resolved with their customer service and they put a note on my travel ticket but who knows... I'm still keeping my fingers crossed and I'm arriving at the airport HOURS and HOURS early in case they make me jump through hoops.
I had forgotten how tiny the streets are in London and how CRAZY drivers are. In Indianapolis, this street would have two lanes, but in London, it is 4 lanes. You have just enough space when parking to have one tire touching the curb and one touching the line. I would sideswipe cars all day in London. And when you ride the bus you think you're going to die about every 30 seconds. These bus drivers are better than Nascar drivers - I swear! I hope they get paid well because I think they're job is HARD!
And people can park in whatever direction they want! So people park front to back and front to front, I don't know how there aren't more accidents - but I guess they're use to it. And it helps that there so so many small cars like the white Toyata pictured here.
Every doorway it seems is beautiful as well with tile on the either side of a recessed doorway and stained glass. It is very welcoming - but you MUST love your neighbors because you there is NOT much space between you. Big yards (or yards at all) are a luxury in London and they are few and far between.
Tomorrow I will start really exploring what I managed to miss the first time. I think I'll be seeing a play this weekend and I should have a lot of fun. But still trying to have fun on the cheap since I have to budget my money well for Cairo. I will be in Cairo almost three weeks before I get my refund check so its all budget, budget, budget until then!
Until tomorrow... Cheers!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Arrived in London
Well.... I arrived in London safely. I didn't think that I would EVER make it to London. We had SOO many delays - we had incorrect baggage make it on the flight and we had to go back to the gate. Then the airport found a lost passport for a passenger and we had to go back to the gate again to get it. Then in mid-flight over the Atlantic a lady about 6 rows back went CRAZY! She stood up and started SCREAMING at someone behind her to stop kicking her seat or she was gonna come over the seat and it got super crazy and hairy for a minute. It took a couple of flight attendants to go back to her and calm her down. They even threatened to turn the plane around!
But then I landed and went through customs without an issue. I picked up my bags (both of which had the "random search" tag inside when I got them. I figured as much since I was flying a one-way ticket to the Middle East. I am really jetlagged. In the last 36 hours I have slept about 3. So tonight will be a GOOD nights rest for me but hopefully staying up today will get me close to being on track with a new sleep schedule 6 hours ahead.
After a VERY busy school year with 2 jobs, 2 internships and a full class load even into the summer - this week off to enjoy myself in London is JUST what I need to unwind and relax before I arrive to Cairo for grad school. Tomorrow I plan to head out into the city and try to catch some stuff I missed on the last time around. Expect some pictures to come tomorrow and some more updates too!
Oh and by the way - there is a link on the left hand side of my blog page where entering your email can alert you when I put up a new blog! (Thanks to cousin Angie Dobbs for teaching me about how to add that to my blog:)
Until then....
R
But then I landed and went through customs without an issue. I picked up my bags (both of which had the "random search" tag inside when I got them. I figured as much since I was flying a one-way ticket to the Middle East. I am really jetlagged. In the last 36 hours I have slept about 3. So tonight will be a GOOD nights rest for me but hopefully staying up today will get me close to being on track with a new sleep schedule 6 hours ahead.
After a VERY busy school year with 2 jobs, 2 internships and a full class load even into the summer - this week off to enjoy myself in London is JUST what I need to unwind and relax before I arrive to Cairo for grad school. Tomorrow I plan to head out into the city and try to catch some stuff I missed on the last time around. Expect some pictures to come tomorrow and some more updates too!
Oh and by the way - there is a link on the left hand side of my blog page where entering your email can alert you when I put up a new blog! (Thanks to cousin Angie Dobbs for teaching me about how to add that to my blog:)
Until then....
R
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Getting Ready...one week left!
Well...one week left in Indianapolis! My parents come up on Saturday of this week (the 14th) to pick me up. On our way home we will be visiting my Aunt Barb and cousin Penny. Then on to Eville to see friends and family before I leave for the Louisville airport on Wednesday the 18th. From Louisville I will fly through Newark to London. There I'm staying for a week to see friends and fall in love with London all over again. After a week, I will continue my travels on to Cairo arriving on the 26th at 3AM Cairo time. Then the fun begins.
In the mean time - I've been packing and sorting. I've got a few friends coming over today to pick through my stuff and make good homes for what I can't take with me.... should be a fun afternoon! So anxious to leave and this seemingly endless getting ready for it is driving me NUTS!
In the mean time - I've been packing and sorting. I've got a few friends coming over today to pick through my stuff and make good homes for what I can't take with me.... should be a fun afternoon! So anxious to leave and this seemingly endless getting ready for it is driving me NUTS!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)