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.
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