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.