That title has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but I like it :) I just realized I'm becoming one of those people who update their blog everyday. I hope I'm still cool. But this one won't be very long because I don't have a lot to say. Of course I'll get on a rant and this post will probably be the longest one yet.
Today I went with 2 Egyptian friends to a place called Islamic Cairo. I took the Metro for the first time! It's kind of like the subway in NYC, except it's above ground... but it's the public transportation system in Cairo. And it only costs 1 pound!! That's like 25 cents! There are seperate cars for women only, but we took the mixed one because we were with one boy. And I could still take the mixed car, even if I were with all girls. It's a choice I guess. It was hot, but not very crowded... not as crowded as the Metro system in Mexico City anyway. We went to Islamic Cairo to see mosques, which I was pumped about because I've never been in a mosque before. Unfortunately, there's apparently a new rule that no foreigners are allowed in the mosques after 3:00 because people are praying, and security guards want to go home for Ramadan, etc. I didn't really understand it. So... that's pretty much the one thing they won't let you do as a foreigner here!! As an American especially, you can pretty much get away with anything. For real.
So anyway, we got to go in one mosque. Luckily my friend brought an extra head covering for me. You may or may not know that a female must cover her head when entering a mosque, and everyone must take off their shoes. So, for the first time, I wore a head covering and took off my shoes and went into a mosque. My friends went to pray, and I waited. A man walked up to me and asked me where I was from. I told him the US (I hate saying America, because technically speaking Mexico, Canada, etc. are all considered part of "America"), and he offered me a seat, and told me I could go up the tower if I'd like to. I said thank you, but I was waiting for my friends. There's an example of how I can get/do anything because I am American. When they were done, we looked around and walked up the tower. I could see all of Islamic Cairo from there! It was beautiful! The mosque itself apparently was nothing too special according to my friends. There was a fountain in the center, and places to pray. Men and women pray seperately. There were no rows or pews like in a Catholic or Lutheran church... it was more like seperate areas.
After that, we walked around a market... it was sooo hot! I had to stop for a second in the shade and drink some water. I felt bad because I knew they were fasting and couldn't drink water. I apologized, but they didn't care. They know that I'm not used to the heat yet. Somehow we ended up in the same market that I was at Wednesday night with my expat friends... I'm not quite sure how it happened. We had dinner there (after fasting was over, of course) and came home.
I have school tomorrow.. but it's more meetings and time to set up my room. It's strange to be going to work on a Sunday, but I will get used to it. It's nice having Friday's off! School officially starts next week!! I'm excited but scared. I guess this was kind of a long post. Sorry! One more thing... I learned today that a Muslim man can marry a non-Muslim woman, but a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man. I'm just passing on the facts of what I learn.
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