Tag Archives: cairo

Jul 05 2011
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Anecdotes, Two minute read

This day is our day

Yesterday was the 4th of July, America’s main national holiday and the date on which the Second Continental Congress unanimously adapted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the colonies’ separation from Great Britain. I happened to be out of the country, but I could still smell the patriotism roasting from across the pond.

In celebration of America, I partook of my first McDonald’s food since I’ve been here: a chocolate sundae that cost roughly 99 cents. I had no regrets and I have a feeling I’ll be frequenting the McDonald’s 100 yards from my house slightly more often now that I’ve tasted the simplicity and reliability of soft serve ice cream and chocolate syrup. In addition, I and some fellow students sang patriotic songs like Born in the U.S.A. and God Bless America before another failed lecture on security that did more to anger and confuse than assure anyone. Later on that evening I savored some non-local beverages as well as non-local pork ribs grilled to perfection while singing more songs, campfire style, without the campfire. The night ended appropriately with tribal dancing on a carpet wall from a bedouin tent in southern Iraq.

One of my favorite moments of the day, however, was when I and 2 other CASA students were sitting on the shaded lawn inside the campus of AUC Tahrir having a boy scout/hippie dippy moment while singing “Such Great Heights” by Iron and Wine. Less than 200 yards away from us, on the other side of the wall, lay Tahrir square, the locus of current unrest complete with sit-in tents, non stop traffic, and general pedestrian mayhem. The two worlds could not have been more different, though it might not be impossible to mix them.

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Jun 30 2011
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Anecdotes, Two minute read

It’s like a snow day

Tahrir without protestors

Late-ish last night bloody clashes between protesters and policemen began once again in Tahrir square, the focal point of the Revolution of Jan. 25 and also a place I pass through daily on my way to class. From what little I understand (and it is very little), some families were protesting and/or sitting outside some government building in rememberance of sons or daughters that had perished in the revolution. I think the police tried to dispel them by force and then the situation escalated from there.

All through the night the clashes continued, and over 1000 people were injured according to the most recent numbers I’ve seen, most of them from tear gas. Here’s an article about what happened. And here are pictures (not mine). Much of the action took place on the street that directly borders AUC and in some of the pictures you can see the building I usually attend classes in. Those classes were cancelled today of course due to the unrest and we’re still waiting to hear whether or not we have class tomorrow. Part of me hopes that we don’t since I’m not as prepared as I could be even though we had a snow day: there was a lot of facebooking, Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement watching, Moroccan food cooking, and Mohandiseen exploring to do today in addition to the homework I didn’t quite finish yesterday.

But the other part of me realizes I’m not fully comprehending the political situation here in Egypt. What else is new? It’s hard to appreciate the impact of the Egyptian Revolution on people who had been living under the Mubarak regime for 30 years and to feel the pain of people who suffered at the hand of the previous regime when I grew up in a society where most people have never been tortured, beaten, kidnapped, or killed for their political beliefs. And now, the slow pace of transition, the lack of clear change between the way the old regime dealt with people and the way the Supreme Council of Armed Forces is dealing with people, and the continuing economic crisis are all causing increasing levels of frustration especially among the original perpetrators of the revolution. Essentially the main causes of the revolution itself have not yet been addressed, and the clashes between the riot police and the demonstrators were just another example of the lack of change.

I’m no political scientist….just a mere college graduate with a penchant for 30 rock, but to me it seems that oftentimes a post-revolutionary community desires an unreasonable pace of change, leading to hastiness and unstable foundations for the future. Where is the balance between transition and meticulousness? How do you rebuild a society that has the same problems as it did 6 months ago or even worse because of the economic situation and security vacuum? Anyone with answers can  sent them to coolchieftantawi@hotmail.com.

How hard could it be to build a just society in Egypt?

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Jun 25 2011
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Best blog posts, One minute read, The Cairo Metro

Metro Slime

Descending into the Doqqi Metro station and striding into the spacious hall bookended by turnstiles, I can never help but feel fear despite the relative comfort of the air conditioning and soothing decor. It’s because I know there is a clock ticking down my sweet remaining seconds of freedom before I meld with a pixelated blob of people mashed inside an un-air conditioned tube that collectively counts down the amount of stops it must survive.

This is only one aspect of the fear, however; the other aspect involves metro slime. The metro might be bursting with humans or relatively calm depending on the time of day, but regardless of hour, season, or year, every surface in the metro is covered with a fine layer of slime. As my hand grooves fill with pharaonic grime and lose all form of traction, even the slight bumps and jolts of the metro become a challenge to withstand.

Every time I enter, I know I will have to touch a pole or a handle covered in metro slime, and I know I will forget to wash my hands before eating my next meal. This is what we call in colloquial American English a lose-lose situation.

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Jun 23 2011
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Anecdotes, Egypt

Revolution and naptime

I’m sure most people have heard about the Egyptian Revolution of Jan. 25. If not, a simple google search is a great place to get started; a world of interesting political and social commentary awaits discovery. The Revolution is a huge part of current political discourse and enters into many everyday conversations. It was a watershed, portent, harbinger, tidal wave, landslide, rockmelt, volcano, etc. of the current and past political situation here in Egypt. There is no way I will understand the phenomenon of the revolution fully in the short amount of time that I am here, and I certainly don’t currently understand it or its consequences fully.

That being said, and I feel like I speak for most of the students in CASA, I do not desire to sit in a lecture from 3:35-5:00 (30 minutes overtime) on any topic on a Thursday, the beginning of our weekend. First of all, most of us have classes that end at 1:00, so we’re forced to wait around for hours before the lecture begins. Some of us use this time to do homework, others use the time to complain about having to be sitting around waiting for a lecture.

Our lecture today was to be given by a political activist highly involved in the opposition movement Kefaya, which also played a role in the revolution itself. Normally this kind of stuff is riveting, but the circumstantial factors inhibited the students’ level of interest. The lecture took place in a room that could also refrigerate meat on account of the temperature. I opened a window to try to let in some of the hot Cairo air, but the main effect was allowing flies into the room. Their erratic movements and buzzing proceeded to occupy my attention for much of the lecture. The activist did not breathe for a moment in the space of an hour and a half, rattling off fascinating detail after fascinating detail about the revolution and its causes. Her voice began to blend in with the flies after a while. Many students fell asleep, a natural reaction to refrigeration and exhaustion. Some of us asked questions at the end of the lecture, to our own disadvantage; we had to stay to listen to the answers.

Some enjoyed the lecture; some learned much. I doodled a little bit and then thought about what kind of Egyptian outfit I want to buy on Saturday. One day I’ll blog about something relevant to a world outside my personal experience. But that day is not today.

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Jun 19 2011
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Anecdotes, Egypt, Two minute read

Here’s to vomit

Turns out there’s actually quite a bit of homework involved in this “fellowship” thing. I feel like I’ve spend most of the last 2 days plowing through the Yacoubian Building and I still have more work for tomorrow. Will it never end? Answer: most certainly not. But I’m not complaining.

After being stifled in my apartment all day aside from a misadventure to the grocery store that was characterized by paranoia, confusion, and congestion, I road a boat on the Nile for a little bit and then ended up having a fairly pleasant but perhaps not that interesting of a night with other human beings. We ended up at the Cairo Jazz Club and a really neat band, Station, was playing so we enjoyed moving to the rhythm for a spell before peacing. The band was a fusion of all kinds of styles and I could definitely feel a Sufi inclination in it…the beat in some of the songs felt like trance music and I wanted to let my hair down and float away.

But the story that I want to tell involves vomit and is from a few weeks ago. When we were still newly arrived to Doqqi, roommate and I were walking along one of the main streets and all of the sudden we saw a man that was ralphing up a storm right outside of a pharmacy. It was in the middle of the day and we weren’t sure what exactly was wrong with him, but out of nowhere he just started hurling almost directly in front of us into a drain. It was very strange. No one took notice, or maybe everyone turned a blind eye. I wish I could have done so.

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