Last night was the big Halloween party at the ACE Club, which is where I spend a lot of my time. But first, let's rewind to Thursday night. I went to this place called Sangria Country Club in downtown Cairo on the Nile... which wasn't anything like a country club in the US. Apparently it's cool to hang out by the Nile here. Driving on the bridges or by the Nile at night, you'll see hundreds of people there with their boyfriend or girlfriend or their families. There literally is nowhere to park and there are people everywhere, it's crazy. But I guess I would love a river too if my whole city was built around it and depended on it for survival. I went to Sangria with my Egyptian friend(s), and my Turkish friend. It was a lot of fun... I also got invited to a wedding! My Egyptian friend who I've been calling "S" is friends with this Egyptian guy and this girl from the UK who are getting married in a couple of weeks. S is going to their wedding, and the couple invited me too. I would love to go to a wedding here, espeically one between people who aren't both Egyptian. But I think I will be in Germany... sad day.
So on to the more exciting Halloween night. I went as a pirate with my other friend from Baltimore. OK, let's lay out some names for the next story. We'll call my Turkish friend D and my Baltimore friend M. D and I were going to M's house to get ready and have a few drinks before going to ACE. My friend M left her phone on the bus from school, so we had no way of contacting her... but I've been to her place before and thought I knew where I was going. So D and I got out of the cab when I thought we were there... and then I realized I had no idea where we were. Ooops. So we're walking around looking for Road 15, and we try asking some people. But of course no one speaks English and I don't know how to say "15" in Arabic. I know how to say road and five, but that didn't help. So we keep walking and realize with the help of a security guard that we were on Road 12. So we keep walking, and walking, and walking. We were so lost. Finally, just when we met someone who could speak English, I knew where we were!! And we got to M's house safely, Humdelellah. I learned that you never get out of the cab until you're sure you know where you are. These are life lessons.
So we got ready, and had a few drinks. And a few shots. We went to ACE and there was free beer and free food! There was also a DJ and dancing with fog machines. It was very Halloween-esque. Even the workers were dressed up. And I'm from Wisconsin, so I can put back a few beers... especially when they're free. We ended up closing the place and stayed way after the music ended. We were just talking to these other people we met and having a good time. I stayed up way too late both nights this weekend. On Thursday I was drinking vodka and Red Bulls, so I had a lot of energy!
It was what I needed after a bad week at school. Insha Allah this week will be better... I just need to keep trucking and trying to reach them. I also have a cleaning lady now, so I am officially Egyptian. Everyone here has a cleaning lady because it's so cheap! It's about 100 LE a week, or about 20 US dollars for her to clean your whole house. So that's one less thing I have to do during the week! And she speaks English, which is a plus. I'm keeping positive thoughts about this week, or I'm trying to.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Beating me down into the ground
I must admit that I have not been the happiest person lately. But I think I'm on the "normal" path... as much as I hate to admit that. All of a sudden, everything about Cairo started pissing me off and I was snapping at my friends for no reason.
The Walk for the Cure: this was on Saturday and probably started my bad feelings about Cairo. There were thousands of people at the pyramids to participate in the walk... but do you think they thought to close down the pyramids to other visitors? Of course not. Do you think they thought to close down the road we were walking on to busses and camels? No... what logical sense would that make? There was literally no starting or ending point, and we were trying to be run over by camels or busses the entire time... or be trampled by other people. But alas, I was walking by the great pyramids and the sphynx, so I suppose I don't have much to complain about. Afterwards, I walked around downtown with some friends and bought a designer bag for 150 LE. That's right... less than 40 US dollars. This is a reason I love Egypt... amazing knockoffs.
I think I am just going through a rough time right now and I will hopefully get over my angst soon. This weekend is Halloween (yes, I found somewhere to celebrate in a country that doesn't believe in Halloween), so hopefully that will make me feel more homey. The challenges at school are becoming greater and greater and sometimes I feel like I'm drowning. I don't want to coast through... I want to have an impact. I just don't know sometimes if I can do that here.
The Walk for the Cure: this was on Saturday and probably started my bad feelings about Cairo. There were thousands of people at the pyramids to participate in the walk... but do you think they thought to close down the pyramids to other visitors? Of course not. Do you think they thought to close down the road we were walking on to busses and camels? No... what logical sense would that make? There was literally no starting or ending point, and we were trying to be run over by camels or busses the entire time... or be trampled by other people. But alas, I was walking by the great pyramids and the sphynx, so I suppose I don't have much to complain about. Afterwards, I walked around downtown with some friends and bought a designer bag for 150 LE. That's right... less than 40 US dollars. This is a reason I love Egypt... amazing knockoffs.
I think I am just going through a rough time right now and I will hopefully get over my angst soon. This weekend is Halloween (yes, I found somewhere to celebrate in a country that doesn't believe in Halloween), so hopefully that will make me feel more homey. The challenges at school are becoming greater and greater and sometimes I feel like I'm drowning. I don't want to coast through... I want to have an impact. I just don't know sometimes if I can do that here.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Life's Traumatic Moments
This week has been filled with a lot of drama and moment that have probably taken years off my life. But I guess living in Cairo alone takes year off your life anyway. Really, it all started when I decided I should be healthier. That's just a crazy idea to begin with. I went with 2 of my friends to a group fitness class on Sunday night called Body Pump. It was an hour long and you exercised every major group of muscled in your body using weights. Thank God it was a group class because I would have quit after 15 minutes (it also helped that the instructor was nice on the eyes). I felt great afterwards, but let's just say that I'm walking around like a 80 year old today. I can barely sit down or stand up and I'm hobbling up and down stairs at school. I don't think I've ever been this sore. But hopefully it will get better? I'm determined to look like a bronzed, skinny, beautiful Egyptian goddess when I come home for Christmas.
The next event was much more traumatic. A girl threw up all over my floor yesterday in school. I felt so bad for her, but at the same time I was trying not to puke. Also, right after her class I had my worst class. Of course. So I was trying to take care of her and trying to get someone to tell a matron to clean up vomit (I don't know how to say that in Arabic), and trying to tell my next class to wait outside in the hallway. It was stressful ... I think I have 5 more pimples today. So I took my next class outside which meant they went crazy like monkeys. It was not a good day.
Then this morning... there was a freaking cockroach in my apartment!! I freaked out, grabbed a shoe, and killed it. The shoe is still sitting on its corpse (Insha Allah)... I'm afraid to look because what if it was really still alive and still living somewhere in my apartment? So yeah, I need bug killer and a cleaning lady NOW. My apartment is clean too. I just cleaned it the other day. So what's the deal cockroach? Why are you freaking me out and disturbing the peace? And what if it's not there when I move the shoe? So many fears. Everyone knows I do NOT deal with these things well. I wish I had a roommate.
I got offered a free cab ride the other day... apparently I was looking cute even though I really wasn't. But I had a semi-conversation in Arabic. I need to learn to lie when men ask me if I'm married. The answer should always be "aiywa."
In exciting news, the Walk for the Cure is in Egypt too! And it's this Sat. at the pyramids. A group from my school is going and I'm super excited. Not only is it for a good cause, but I'm doing it at the pyramids. That's pretty amazing. That's all from Cairo. No interesting news except for vomit, sore muscles, and cockroaches. And it's been 100 degrees here the past few days. I miss fall.
The next event was much more traumatic. A girl threw up all over my floor yesterday in school. I felt so bad for her, but at the same time I was trying not to puke. Also, right after her class I had my worst class. Of course. So I was trying to take care of her and trying to get someone to tell a matron to clean up vomit (I don't know how to say that in Arabic), and trying to tell my next class to wait outside in the hallway. It was stressful ... I think I have 5 more pimples today. So I took my next class outside which meant they went crazy like monkeys. It was not a good day.
Then this morning... there was a freaking cockroach in my apartment!! I freaked out, grabbed a shoe, and killed it. The shoe is still sitting on its corpse (Insha Allah)... I'm afraid to look because what if it was really still alive and still living somewhere in my apartment? So yeah, I need bug killer and a cleaning lady NOW. My apartment is clean too. I just cleaned it the other day. So what's the deal cockroach? Why are you freaking me out and disturbing the peace? And what if it's not there when I move the shoe? So many fears. Everyone knows I do NOT deal with these things well. I wish I had a roommate.
I got offered a free cab ride the other day... apparently I was looking cute even though I really wasn't. But I had a semi-conversation in Arabic. I need to learn to lie when men ask me if I'm married. The answer should always be "aiywa."
In exciting news, the Walk for the Cure is in Egypt too! And it's this Sat. at the pyramids. A group from my school is going and I'm super excited. Not only is it for a good cause, but I'm doing it at the pyramids. That's pretty amazing. That's all from Cairo. No interesting news except for vomit, sore muscles, and cockroaches. And it's been 100 degrees here the past few days. I miss fall.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Lights will guide you home...
I suck at updating my blog recently. But I look at that as a good thing... I am busy with school, out enjoying the city and my new friends. But I will try to get better, Insha Allah. First, updates on school.
I genuinely enjoy going to school everyday. I suppose it's a good thing to enjoy your job, right? Of course half the battle is actually getting to and from school. Cairo traffic is never fun, especially when I'm tired and cranky in the mornings... and, well, when I'm tired and cranky in the afternoons. But it's always fun to see about 1,000 Egyptians crammed into a bus, a family of 6 on a motorbike, people crammed into the back of trucks, etc. It's incredible how many people can fit into such a small space. School is its own battle everyday. I learn new management strategies all the time. For example, there's a tsa tsa type sound in this country that is used to say "no" or "be quiet please, it's my turn to talk." This sound has proved to be much more successful than telling them to be quiet, or sssshhhing them, or anything else that would work in the US. There's also a different signal for "be quiet" or "stop that." You know, when you put your hand up to someone? Here it's different. Students don't respond to that because they don't know what it means. Instead, you put all of your fingers together and point them to the sky kind of. That's how you ask someone to wait or to please be quiet. I'm learning...
My students are challenging and humorous at the same time. They make me laugh everyday, they also make me want to pull my hair out. It's a give and take. One of the hardest things is that I don't speak Arabic well. So even when I'm walking in the hallway or on lunch duty, I don't know what they're saying because they all speak Arabic to each other. For all I know, they're talking about me. Of course they would never do that with the teacher look I have.
I just got back from Dahab (again) last night. It was amazing as always. I actually got a tan, I swam in the Red Sea, laid on Turkish pillows, ate a ton of fish and food, smoked sheesha (only once), got a henna tattoo (don't worry, it's not permanent), and did a lot of shopping. I went with 2 of my friends, and I'd say we all had a fair amount of marriage proposals. We each got offered a fair amount of camels to be Egyptians' wives. But we decided it wasn't enough. It was a perfect trip, despite the 9 hour ride on the public bus that insisted on blasting movies and music all throughout the night. Really?
I am officially coming home for Christmas, Insha Allah. I feel super excited and elated, and also have a knot in my stomach about it. I still have dreams that I'm at home and haven't left to come here yet. And I'm still saying goodbye to everyone and have all the nervous energy I had before. Then I wake up and realize I'm still/already here. And that I've been here for 2 months now. It's not that I'm nervous about coming home... I just feel that I might be a mess the whole time. I feel like I'm changing a lot... not necessarily for the worst or for the better, I'm just changing. I guess anyone would who's living in a foreign country, espcially an Arab country. Everyone else is at home doing their thing too and I just want to still fit in where I come from. If that makes any sense. I want to be recognizable to my friends and family... I want to be the same Sara. But what if I'm not? I guess that's what I have a knot in my stomach about. But at the same time, we change throughout our lives all the time... so no one will ever stay the same. Everyone who knows me knows I don't have any qualms about being myself and saying what I want to say... that's never going to change. So I guess I'll never change that much. I'll probably just be a little more conservative in my clothing... or go crazy while I can, haha.
I'm also going to Germany over November break... Insha Allah once again. It will be November-fest instead of Oktoberfest. Yes, I am travelling a lot. No, I do not care about saving money. I'm not going to spend 2 years abroad saving money... what would be the point? I'd rather come home with $5 in my pocket and have seen amazing things and had unforgettable experiences than sat in my apartment in Maadi and missed out on all the beauty that exists in this part of the world. Plus, I'm only 24. I'm reminded everyday about how young I am from all my friends here. I have plenty of time to meet my rich future husband and inherit lots of money.
I genuinely enjoy going to school everyday. I suppose it's a good thing to enjoy your job, right? Of course half the battle is actually getting to and from school. Cairo traffic is never fun, especially when I'm tired and cranky in the mornings... and, well, when I'm tired and cranky in the afternoons. But it's always fun to see about 1,000 Egyptians crammed into a bus, a family of 6 on a motorbike, people crammed into the back of trucks, etc. It's incredible how many people can fit into such a small space. School is its own battle everyday. I learn new management strategies all the time. For example, there's a tsa tsa type sound in this country that is used to say "no" or "be quiet please, it's my turn to talk." This sound has proved to be much more successful than telling them to be quiet, or sssshhhing them, or anything else that would work in the US. There's also a different signal for "be quiet" or "stop that." You know, when you put your hand up to someone? Here it's different. Students don't respond to that because they don't know what it means. Instead, you put all of your fingers together and point them to the sky kind of. That's how you ask someone to wait or to please be quiet. I'm learning...
My students are challenging and humorous at the same time. They make me laugh everyday, they also make me want to pull my hair out. It's a give and take. One of the hardest things is that I don't speak Arabic well. So even when I'm walking in the hallway or on lunch duty, I don't know what they're saying because they all speak Arabic to each other. For all I know, they're talking about me. Of course they would never do that with the teacher look I have.
I just got back from Dahab (again) last night. It was amazing as always. I actually got a tan, I swam in the Red Sea, laid on Turkish pillows, ate a ton of fish and food, smoked sheesha (only once), got a henna tattoo (don't worry, it's not permanent), and did a lot of shopping. I went with 2 of my friends, and I'd say we all had a fair amount of marriage proposals. We each got offered a fair amount of camels to be Egyptians' wives. But we decided it wasn't enough. It was a perfect trip, despite the 9 hour ride on the public bus that insisted on blasting movies and music all throughout the night. Really?
I am officially coming home for Christmas, Insha Allah. I feel super excited and elated, and also have a knot in my stomach about it. I still have dreams that I'm at home and haven't left to come here yet. And I'm still saying goodbye to everyone and have all the nervous energy I had before. Then I wake up and realize I'm still/already here. And that I've been here for 2 months now. It's not that I'm nervous about coming home... I just feel that I might be a mess the whole time. I feel like I'm changing a lot... not necessarily for the worst or for the better, I'm just changing. I guess anyone would who's living in a foreign country, espcially an Arab country. Everyone else is at home doing their thing too and I just want to still fit in where I come from. If that makes any sense. I want to be recognizable to my friends and family... I want to be the same Sara. But what if I'm not? I guess that's what I have a knot in my stomach about. But at the same time, we change throughout our lives all the time... so no one will ever stay the same. Everyone who knows me knows I don't have any qualms about being myself and saying what I want to say... that's never going to change. So I guess I'll never change that much. I'll probably just be a little more conservative in my clothing... or go crazy while I can, haha.
I'm also going to Germany over November break... Insha Allah once again. It will be November-fest instead of Oktoberfest. Yes, I am travelling a lot. No, I do not care about saving money. I'm not going to spend 2 years abroad saving money... what would be the point? I'd rather come home with $5 in my pocket and have seen amazing things and had unforgettable experiences than sat in my apartment in Maadi and missed out on all the beauty that exists in this part of the world. Plus, I'm only 24. I'm reminded everyday about how young I am from all my friends here. I have plenty of time to meet my rich future husband and inherit lots of money.
Friday, October 1, 2010
My Big Adventure Downtown
I have a lot I want to say (or write about, rather) ... but I must dedicate a blog, or at least a portion of an entry, to my big adventure last night. I have a new Egyptian friend, and we decided it would be fun to go to Cairo Jazz Club. Some friends and I tried going there during Ramadan, but of course they were closed. My good Turkish friend and I were going together, and he was bringing some friends as well. He lives about 5 minutes away from the jazz club, so it made no sense for him to drive all the way to Maadi to pick us up, so (I'll call my friend Di) Di and I were going to take a cab to downtown. Downtown Cairo is about 30+ minutes away from Maadi, and our Arabic skills are not good enough to get us there... and we didn't know where the jazz club is, so we couldn't direct him there if we wanted to.
So we started at ACE and had dinner (Di and I), and met some other cool expats there, which is always nice. My Egyptian friend (I'll call him... S) said we should call him when we get in a cab so he could tell where the cab driver to go. We finally left ACE at about 9:40... we were supposed to meet S downtown at 10:00, but apparently we were on Egyptian time. By the grace of God, we picked a good cab because he knew where to take us after talking to S on the phone. But he didn't speak any English... so it was a good time for me to practice Arabic! His name was Mustafa, and luckily he wasn't a creeper. Some cab drivers will stare at you the whole time in the rearview mirror and do a lot worse things than that... but this guy was very nice and cool. I asked him to turn the A/C on, and he did that too!
Di and I were in the backseat going God knows where, and we thought it was hilarious. In the US, I would never do something like that... this is what I love about Egypt. My mom will freak out... but I got in a cab, let S tell him where to go in Arabic, and then trusted that the cab driver would get us there. And I didn't know where we were going to help him if he got lost. It was all very funny. So after about 40 minutes and a 50 LE cab ride, we arrived at our destination. But not without some creepy encounters. In downtown Cairo, there are literally people everywhere on the streets. Everywhere. So people are walking right by our cab, and there's this group of 3 Egyptian men. They all start staring at me and pointing at me in the backseat. So I just shouted "Hello, yes, I am white. Nice to meet you." They looked like they had never seen a white girl before, which I guess is possible. Or maybe not one as beautiful as I am, haha (that was a joke).
Second creepy encounter: we met S and his friends outside of a hotel for S to drive us to the jazz club because it's really hard to find. The cab driver stopped and asked a group of guys were the hotel was, and they pointed and talked in Arabic. Then they all started looking at me and waving. I waved back with a stupid look on my face. They kept waving. I kept waving with an even stupider look on my face. Seriously, this stuff gets annoying.
So we actually got to our destination and gave the cab driver a very nice tip. It could have been much more uncomfortable... believe me, I've been in a couple uncomfortable cab rides. My friends have worse stories than I do, but I won't share them now. So we get to the Cairo Jazz Club, and we're late (because of Di and I), so they gave our table away. Sad day. But it's okay because we just get some seats near the bar. There was a live band singing American songs that I knew, which was very exciting. It was a really cool place and there's live music every night. I love Maadi for several reasons and because it's also very foreigner-friendly, but I wish we had more things like that here. I also was confrontational with two guys who were laughing at Di and I for some reason... I went over there and said "I can tell that you're laughing at my friend and I, and I really don't know what your problem is. You should probably mind your own business." Then they got all freaked out (in my mind) and started saying that they didn't understand in another language. I said yeah right, and walked away. S was wondering what was going on, then there was totally going to be a fight.... but I just told everyone to calm down. S saw that I can be confrontational sometimes.... he said I shouldn't do that in Egypt, haha. So that was my big adventure. S drove us back to Maadi, so we didn't have to worry about getting a cab back... which would have been even more difficult. Di brought a scarf to cover her head if she needed to, haha. She looks Egyptian, so it would have helped. Except that I would be the one speaking in Arabic because she doesn't know a lot yet.
On to school.... I only have 3 days of school this week and then we're on break for Armed Forces Day!! Yay! Yes, another break. So I'm going to Dahab again with a few of my friends. I'm pumped because I love Dahab. It's so relaxing and beautiful and everything I ever wanted. And no one stares at you there... you can even wear shorts and a tank top! Scandalous. Anyway, I love Egypt even with all the staring and language barriers. And I also love vacation and Dahab. And I still am enjoying the challenges of school.
So we started at ACE and had dinner (Di and I), and met some other cool expats there, which is always nice. My Egyptian friend (I'll call him... S) said we should call him when we get in a cab so he could tell where the cab driver to go. We finally left ACE at about 9:40... we were supposed to meet S downtown at 10:00, but apparently we were on Egyptian time. By the grace of God, we picked a good cab because he knew where to take us after talking to S on the phone. But he didn't speak any English... so it was a good time for me to practice Arabic! His name was Mustafa, and luckily he wasn't a creeper. Some cab drivers will stare at you the whole time in the rearview mirror and do a lot worse things than that... but this guy was very nice and cool. I asked him to turn the A/C on, and he did that too!
Di and I were in the backseat going God knows where, and we thought it was hilarious. In the US, I would never do something like that... this is what I love about Egypt. My mom will freak out... but I got in a cab, let S tell him where to go in Arabic, and then trusted that the cab driver would get us there. And I didn't know where we were going to help him if he got lost. It was all very funny. So after about 40 minutes and a 50 LE cab ride, we arrived at our destination. But not without some creepy encounters. In downtown Cairo, there are literally people everywhere on the streets. Everywhere. So people are walking right by our cab, and there's this group of 3 Egyptian men. They all start staring at me and pointing at me in the backseat. So I just shouted "Hello, yes, I am white. Nice to meet you." They looked like they had never seen a white girl before, which I guess is possible. Or maybe not one as beautiful as I am, haha (that was a joke).
Second creepy encounter: we met S and his friends outside of a hotel for S to drive us to the jazz club because it's really hard to find. The cab driver stopped and asked a group of guys were the hotel was, and they pointed and talked in Arabic. Then they all started looking at me and waving. I waved back with a stupid look on my face. They kept waving. I kept waving with an even stupider look on my face. Seriously, this stuff gets annoying.
So we actually got to our destination and gave the cab driver a very nice tip. It could have been much more uncomfortable... believe me, I've been in a couple uncomfortable cab rides. My friends have worse stories than I do, but I won't share them now. So we get to the Cairo Jazz Club, and we're late (because of Di and I), so they gave our table away. Sad day. But it's okay because we just get some seats near the bar. There was a live band singing American songs that I knew, which was very exciting. It was a really cool place and there's live music every night. I love Maadi for several reasons and because it's also very foreigner-friendly, but I wish we had more things like that here. I also was confrontational with two guys who were laughing at Di and I for some reason... I went over there and said "I can tell that you're laughing at my friend and I, and I really don't know what your problem is. You should probably mind your own business." Then they got all freaked out (in my mind) and started saying that they didn't understand in another language. I said yeah right, and walked away. S was wondering what was going on, then there was totally going to be a fight.... but I just told everyone to calm down. S saw that I can be confrontational sometimes.... he said I shouldn't do that in Egypt, haha. So that was my big adventure. S drove us back to Maadi, so we didn't have to worry about getting a cab back... which would have been even more difficult. Di brought a scarf to cover her head if she needed to, haha. She looks Egyptian, so it would have helped. Except that I would be the one speaking in Arabic because she doesn't know a lot yet.
On to school.... I only have 3 days of school this week and then we're on break for Armed Forces Day!! Yay! Yes, another break. So I'm going to Dahab again with a few of my friends. I'm pumped because I love Dahab. It's so relaxing and beautiful and everything I ever wanted. And no one stares at you there... you can even wear shorts and a tank top! Scandalous. Anyway, I love Egypt even with all the staring and language barriers. And I also love vacation and Dahab. And I still am enjoying the challenges of school.
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