Ramadan Kareem!

This past week was the first week of Ramadan. Ramadan is considered the holiest month of the year by Muslims, and it celebrates the time in which the Qu 'ran was reveled to the Prophet Mohammad. Although it's compared to the Christian Christmas in importance and scope, it's focus is much more personal, and much less commercial. To me, it feels much more like Lent and Easter. During Ramadan, there is an increased importance placed on the of praying and reading of the Qu 'ran, and all able Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.

Unlike Lent, it's not just the giving up of certain things; nothing is allowed to pass through the lips until the sun goes down. In practical terms, this means that Ramadan is month in which nothing gets done. Business open late and close early, if they even open up at all. People are justifiably cranky over the lack of coffee, cigarettes and food (in that order, I've learned), and several hours before the sun goes down, traffic becomes absolutely horrendous as everyone tries to get home. The city takes on a carnival flare; colored lights are strung from every available surface, and everyone hangs up Ramadan Lamps (see the picture above).

The one redeeming feature of Ramadan (at least from a non-Muslim standpoint) is iftar. Iftar literally means "to break fast" and is normally the morning meal. During Ramadan however, it means the meal right after the sun goes down. Unsurprisingly the meal is huge, and there's a abundance of sweets and desserts. Iftar is like Thanksgiving every night for a month- lots of food, laughter, friends and family. Looking through the windows of my flat each night I can see large gatherings of family crowed around tables heaping with food, and the city is positively dead as soon as Iftar starts. There are also Iftar tables in the street, were anyone who can't make it home in time can eat and for the poor to have a good meal. Typically, people eat a ton of food at Iftar, and then stay up until two or three in the morning, eat again, and then go to bed.

I decided to give the fasting a shot for the first week of Ramadan. Let me tell you, it sucks. But I love Iftar, and the amount of food you consume would seem absurd if you ate anything during the day. I got pretty whacked out the first day (we joked that we were several minutes away from seeing smurfs climb the walls by the time iftar rolled around), so I decided that I would still drink water during the day and it's now become tolerable. I also decided to wear a higaab the first three days of Ramadan out of respect, and a touch of curiosity. Oddly enough I felt that I gathered more attention wearing one then I did normally not wearing one. However, I got lots of complements about how nice I looked (my higaab was a lovely shade of green, chosen to match my eyes and because green is the color for peace) so maybe it had something to do with my stunning good looks rather then the oddity of a westerner in a higaab. I'm sure that I won't wear a higaab on a regular basis, but it's an easy way to show respect, and to feel girly.

Iftar has also introduced me to lots of really good middle eastern food that I might not have been able to try otherwise. I've had lots of different kind of meats- spicy grilled kebabs, tender fried chicken, pigeon (very tasty dark meat morsels of goodness), stuffed vegetables and grape leaves of all kinds, soups galore (my favorite was a tomato orzo soup flavored with garlic, lemon and mint) and every kind of bread imaginable. The number one ingredient of desserts seems to be honey, and it's put everything from wheat cakes to ice cream. It's quite a punch in the gut after not eating all day, and I've developed quite a fondness for it.

Ramadan can also a humbling experience. I stayed late at school one evening, and ended up walking home because I couldn't find a cab. Just as I got off the bridge, I was grabbed by an older women, and pushed down into a chair in front of a row of tables. A sea of foreign faces greeted me; I was the only westerner in a group of about a hundred. I was sitting a mawa’id Al-Rahman, or a public Iftar table. There were whole families sitting at the tables, taxi cab drivers, poor people, African refugees and me. We were all waiting for that magical moment when the sun slipped far enough down the horizon so we could eat. The tables were tense, and did not feel partially welcoming. We sat in silence, the Nile breeze playing with the tablecloths and napkins for what seemed like hours. Then suddenly iftar was upon us, and the call to prayer echoed from every part of the city inviting us to eat. In no time I had a heaping plate of food, and was alternately chowing down and answering questions as best as I could. Belts and tongues loosened with the addition of food, and my arabic mistakes seemed to relax the people around me. It was a beautiful sunset, and I was sitting on the banks of the Nile eating a wonderful meal. But I couldn't help but be aware of the differences between myself and the people around me. I had come ten thousand miles to be there; At my feet was my backpack with my laptop and ipod. Both were worth more then what many there would make in several months. Looking at the worn faces around me, I was uncomfortable, happy and grateful all at the same time. It certainly made some food for thought that night. 

I wrote this!

I knew going into this that arabic wasn't going to be easy. It was partly because of the challenge that I chose to major in it. I liked the idea of having to work hard at something; I didn't want to be able to slide through arabic like I have so many other school subjects. I certainly got what I wished for. Although Egyptian (spoken) Arabic hasn't been a breeze, I feel that like I am at least holding my own in the class. Modern Standard Arabic is another story- it's been kicking my nether regions since day one. I am finally at the point in which I can- albeit pathetically- read and write. Or at least that is what my teachers say. I suppose if you call the painful sounding out of syllables "reading" and the slapping together of letters "writing" then I am literate.

Tonight I had to write a small paragraph introducing myself for my Modern Standard class. It took me over an hour to write six simple sentences. It was frustrating as hell. First I wrote the sentences in transliterated Arabic (Arabic in the Latin script), and then I had to re-write them into real Arabic. But now that I'm done, I feel a sense of real accomplishment. I've never written so much Arabic before, and I can actually read the page with some ease. There are certainly mistakes in it, my handwriting is frankly terrible, and it's dry as dust, but the fact remains that I wrote it.

It says, "Ismee Sarah Leonard (My name is Sarah Leonard). Ana amrikiyya min madina Seattle (I am American, from the city of Seattle). Ana taaliba fee gamea al amrikayyia fil qahera (I am a student at the American University in Cairo). Ommree eisreen wa ithnayn sana wa mish mutazawwiga (I am 22 years old and not married). Ana mish akh aw ukht (I don't have a brother or a sister). Aby muhasib wa ummi sikirteera (My father is an accountant and my mother is a secretary). Ana bahibb korat il qadam il amrikiyya wa kora il qadam (I like American football and soccer). 

Language Misadventures

The past couple of days have been brutal- tests galore (my crazy weekend is coming back to bite me...) and everyday I have something to go to after class. Last night I went to a really good talk on mummification by Dr. Salima Ikram (she's on the History Channel quite a bit, and is one of the best in her field) that was great. The day before I did an art expression thing, and the day before that went to a photography show. All of this is rather distracting to the real reason I am here- to learn Arabic. But all distractions aside, I have managed to learn more then I thought possible. To honor what I have learned (and to postpone my homework a bit longer...) I will share some of my favorite words, sentences, and mistakes.

Mumtaz- excellent! I use this word more then any other, much to my chagrin.

Inshallah- My second favorite word. It means "if god wills it" and is used like "I will be in class on time, inshallah" or "I will see you tomorrow, inshallah". It's a great way to say yes when you really want to say no.

Ana mish khawaga!- "I am not a stupid foreigner!" This one came in handy at the pyramids, or when men decide to be pigs and make stupid comments.

Getting to school is also quite an adventure. Most of us have to take a taxi, and this can lead to some rather funny misadventures. For example-

Egyptians call the pyramids "haram". One of my classmates got in a taxi and asked the driver to take her to the "harem" which means forbidden. She thought she was going to the pyramids, he thought he was getting some- it took awhile to sort that one out, let me tell you....

Another female student thought that she was saying "stop here" (bass hina) but mistakenly was saying "buss hina" which means "kiss me here". This driver was kind enough to explain it to her rather then go for it.

I've had some serious issues getting to school. First, I was saying "midan tahrir" (the square my school is on) all wrong, and then I started saying the name of the school wrong. You can't just say "American University" you have to say "Gaa'ma Amerikiyya". I kept saying "Ga'mi Amerikiyya" which means "American Mosque". I ended up in the strangest places, none of which were school. On the plus side, I have seen a lot of mosques.

Sheesha and Giza

This has been a magnuun (crazy) week. I had my first full week of school, and then did way too much over the weekend. The weekend started Thursday night (which is my Friday) when my favorite Arabic teacher Abeer invited us to a movie and dinner after school. Abeer told us that we were going to do as the Egyptians do, and go to a midnight movie. In Cairo, it's perfectly normal to meet someone this late- the city doesn't start waking up until the sun goes down. We met in front of the school gates at midnight, and then piled into several cabs for the short ride to the theater. The group was fairly mixed; Abeer and her husband Amr were there, along with their three kids and a friend. Most of the class was also there, and so the nations of England, Norway, Canada, Japan and America were all represented. The movie was called "Zaza" and was completely in Arabic. I didn't understand much, but it was interesting to see the differences in American crowds vs Egyptian ones. Despite the time, there were several babies in the audience. There were far more teenage boys there then anyone else, and the only women there were clearly with families. It was also much louder then an American theater- phones rang, people talked, babies cried- and this was clearly normal.

After the movie got out we went to a part of Cairo that is well known for it's outdoor restaurants, and had a very late dinner at three AM. I had fuul and tamminyya, which is fava beans and falafel. It was the perfect late night food- salty, warm and filling. We ordered tea and juice, and a little later ordered sheesha pipes. Soon the warm food smells of the street mixed with the scent of apple tobacco, and we spent several hours chatting and joking around. The sun was just starting to come up over the Nile by the time I got back to my flat, and I could hear the first of the mosques issuing the morning call to prayer. I slept in until 11, and then spent the rest of the day studying.

The next day was the long awaited trip to the Giza plateau to see the pyramids. It took about a half an hour by bus to get there from downtown. The city of Giza comes right up to the base of the pyramids; it was like having a Macdonald's on the top of Mt. Rushmore. Despite the commercialism, I still got goose bumps. The constantly shifting light made it impossible for me to put my camera down, and I hope my pictures can do them justice. About an hour into the tour, we got to go into Chepren's pyramid. It was a highly claustrophobic and humid hike through several tunnels to the burial chamber, and as soon as I got there, I wanted out. The chamber was bare and empty except some graffiti left by french explorers, and all I could think was that I was under a hell of a lot of rock. I wasn't the only one having freaked out thoughts, and we quickly made our way back through the base to the welcome sunshine. We wondered around for awhile, and then made our way down to the Sphinx. The imposing grandeur of the pyramids makes the Sphinx seem friendly and welcoming, and I wish that we could have spent more time wandering around. There are traces of red paint still left on the face, and the temple at it's feet has the remains of an alabaster floor that must have been stunning when new.

We finally headed back to the city, and a group of us decided to have lunch at a Chinese restaurant about ten minutes from my flat. The food was excellent, and we sat in a cafe for about an hour afterward goofing off. Finally the shout of homework could not be ignored, and I spent the rest of the evening in. I was more tired on Sunday then I had been on Thursday, and I'm sure most weekends will be this crazy. 

Five years later

Five years ago, the world changed for a lot of people.

No man is ordinary. No loss of life should be treated as such. It is not our complexity, our level of consciousness, or our conquests that make us special. Simply by being, we are unique. We are reminded of this when tragedy occurs, but it should be something that we reflect on everyday. One cannot simply dismiss death as a by-product; the ends certainly do not justify the means. You cannot replace a human soul, or negate human suffering.

What is the worth of a life?

This is my life, part two

Here are a couple more shots of my room. My room is wonderfully big, and has a small alcove with a window that I'm using as an office. The third and fourth pictures are of my building. In the third picture, my bedroom window is the one right below the pink balcony. In last picture, the entryway into the building is the first set of glass doors. There is a small mosque next to the doors to my building.

 

This is my life....

This is the main street outside of my apartment in Zamalek. As you can see, there isn't much traffic (really, for Cairo this tame!) and there are lots of trees. The second picture is of my friend Christal showing off my living room. The door on the left is Hebah's room, and the door on the right is mine. The third picture is another shot of the living room looking into the hall that leads into the bathroom and kitchen. The last shot is off my bedroom (Laura, notice the placement of the flamingo!)

 

I live on an island on the Nile!

The last week and half has been at times scary, amazing, hot, overwhelming, exciting, and last but not least frustrating. If you know about the all of the drama involved in getting me to this county, then you will understand when I say that everything was by no means all taken care of by the time I got here. I've spent the last couple of days trying to get finical aid stuff sorted out (STILL!!!! and half the school has the same problem!), trying to register for classes, and finally finding a flat. I was unable to get the first two sorted out, and because of that, could not even bring myself to start a flat-hunt. Over the last three days my stress level has increased to my pre-Cairo highs, which has rendered me unable to sleep more then a couple of hours a night and capable of a whole lot of nothing.

Sunday I was finally able to get my butt in gear, and started calling around to find a room to rent. I must have called ten places with no luck and I was getting a little discouraged. So I did what all good Seattleites do when stuck with a problem that can't be solved- I hopped on the Internet. In this case, I decided to check craigslist, and there waiting for me was a new post from person who was looking for a roommate in Zamalek. Zamalek is one of the most expensive, nicest, greenest, most western areas of Cairo. It also happens to be an island in the middle of the Nile, which made it impossibly cool in my eyes.

The post simply said that there was female grad student looking for a roommate with a two bedroom flat in Zamalek, and that she had a cat. The rent was 2400 pounds (about $418 a month) split between two people. I immediately emailed her back saying that I was interested, and hoped for the best. For once luck was on my side, and she called me later that night. We made a date for me to meet her and see the place for the following day.

After I got done with some school stuff, Christal and I got in a cab a headed across the Nile. The taxi driver didn't know the street that the flat was on, and had to stop several times to get directions, all which seemed to lead us in different directions. It gave me a chance to see Zamalek, and boy did I like what I saw. There was a Thai restaurant (this sold me the place without even looking at it), lots of little shops, a grocery store, and best of all, lots and lots of trees. Finally we found the place and I got to meet Hebah, the women from the ad.

Hebah is from California, and is Egyptian-American. She's doing her grad work at AUC, and seems to be really nice. She also has an eight month old kitten named Luna, and the idea of living with a kitty was wonderful. The apartment was small but really nice. There was a living room with satellite TV, and brand new bathroom & kitchen and two bedrooms. The second room was huge, and had a little alcove with a window & desk that would make a perfect little office. It also had a great big bed, and a tall cabinet to store all of my clothes. I immediately said yes to the apartment, and Christal and I went back to downtown Cairo to get my things.

We lugged my two humongous and heavy bags out of the hostel and on to the street. It took about ten minutes to get a taxi, but we finally were able to head back over the Nile. When we got to the apartment, the lift (which is on the shady side) wasn't working so we had to haul my bags up to the forth floor (thank you Christal!!!). Finally I was home, and I promptly started to unpack.

Later that night we went for dinner at a restaurant on the banks of the Nile, and was by far the best meal I've had while I've been here (for those who are interested, it was a chicken and vegetable mixture with a great sauce over rice). It was also the most expensive meal I've had at nine dollars including the tip (I love Cairo!). I got to see the sun set over the Nile, and my stress level went down with the sun.

As soon as I get unpacked, I'll take a ton of pictures and post them to the blog. In the mean time, I hope that all of you back home are doing well, and enjoying Seattle for me!

Is there a doctor in the house?

I woke up this morning with a peculiar taste in my mouth. More specifically, my mouth tasted like the inside of the wet vac that we use to suck up dog hair and other nastiness at Petsmart. It wasn't a good way to wake up, let me assure you. I stumbled over to the bathroom sink, grabbed my toothbrush and started scrubbing. Five minutes later, my mouth tasted like the inside of the wet vac and extreme herbal mint Crest. So I turned on the light, and stuck my tongue out. Much to horror my tongue was no longer pink and non-threatening, but covered in a thin black carpet of grossness. I started scrubbing my tongue in earnest, and about twenty seconds later, found that my toothbrush was now also back. It took about ten minutes, a half bottle of toothpaste and much gagging to get my tongue to a semi-normal color and taste. I am left wondering what exactly festered and possibly died on my tongue overnight, and if any of you at home have an answer, please let me know.

Other then the scary tongue and some serious blisters, I have been amazingly healthy. I have been able to eat all manner of street food with no problems; I credit it all to the daily shot of pepto bismal I've been downing (thanks for that tip Johnny!) and my morning glass of mango juice. I'm still chugging bottled water by the liter, but I figure I will slowly start drinking the local water once I have my own place (and therefore my own bathroom). With any luck, my cast iron stomach will hold up, and I will escape King Tut's curse, inshallah.

Home Sweet Home

I've taken these pictures in the last couple of days all around Cairo, and I hope that they show the beauty that I found. The city isn't as green as Seattle, but once you get out of Downtown, it's very nice.

Apartments by the Nile with the hills in the background 

Downtown Cairo from the Nile