Mohamed and Ahmed on the "mountain". They made my life so much easier in Cairo...and drive me around everywhere:)

 

Mohamed and I. He's my speaking partner...his English is improving so much! and lol my Arabic is getting there:)

"The Mountain"

Here are some pictures of the "mountain" in Egypt. Its extremely tall and very difficult to reach the top. hahah just kidding but I love the view. Mohamed (the one in the picture with me) and Ahamed took me. I've been there twice and really like it. These guys are also the ones that made my life more bearable in Egypt and they told Eslam to leave me alone:) I originally met Mohammed through a program to practice our languages (He practices his English...and I my Arabic...(sort of) lol). Now we hang out a lot and he helps me with his homework and I make fun of him for having so many friends named Mohamed:)

Always know your directions!!

Yesterday (Oct 30) I met a friend, Reham, to hang out. She practices her English and I'm supposed to practice my Arabic... but lol I mostly speak English. Anyway, I took the metro to go meet her at the McDonald's in the area known as El Malek El Saleh. I've met her at the McDonald's before and was planning on walking there from the metro stop. Getting off the metro was horrible...I had so many people make comments about me and one person called me a donkey!! I'm hoping thats the only English word he knows. Anyway, I left the station and had no idea where I was. The last time I was at McDonald's, it was dark. Obviously, everything would look different but I was surprised to notice how different. I decided to keep on walking and hoped it was correct street because I was tired of having people making comments about me and saying Hi and blah blah blah. well the road I was walking on turned into a dirt road, and there were several donkeys. I knew I wasn't in the right area. I called Reham for help but I ran out of credit on my phone! In Egypt, you buy phone cards to add credit to your mobile. Its nice because you get what your paid for. You don't have to worry about not calling enough and wasting your money or paying ridiculous going-over charges. Unfortunately its not fun when your in a situation like mine! I get the courage to ask some girls for help (In Arabic:)) but I misunderstood their directions and remained lost. Then I got the courage to ask a man selling fruit and it turns out that I was on the wrong side of the metro station. I had to go to the bridge and walk on the other side. Then I remembered that the first time I went to McDonalds, I came from a different direction! And then it made sense why everything looked different! Needless to say, I escaped the taunting children (never thought I would be so afraid of 8 year olds:)) and made it safely to McDonalds...and I even managed to buy some more credit:) And I learned a very important lesson about remembering directions...and miss my western mountains even more:)

Corny Men

If you are a girl and feel really depressed and believe that no guy has ever said anything mushy-gushy to you, you must go to Egypt. Some of the guys like to send you corny text messages....and there is one guy I don't even know! lol He doesn't know me either, just heard me from a wrong call and realized I was a foreigner.

Here are some examples:

this is from the unknown person:

1) There is no special reason for this message. I just want to steal a single moment out of your busy day and hope to make you smile wen I say,

"miss you":)

2)** this one doesn't make perfect sense but its ok**
There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick him from your dreams and say 2 him for real!

Miss you
So much

3)Remember M
Remember E
Put them together and remember ME

4) Cotton Candy? Nope!
Chocolate Syrup? Nah!
Lemme C.....
How about Sugar? hmmm...
Nope! Darn!
Still can't find anything as sweet as you!


And then he had the guts to write: By the way i am don't know ur name also. If u interest my name is Aymn.

hahah I'm glad the world is full of people that make me laugh:)

Then another guy, Eslam (he was a friend of a friend and turned out to be a really creepy bad person ...long story ...but he's in Italy right now and my friends (the Mohameds) set him straight so he left me alone...in short he was the one who proposed to me)

He sent me text messages in Arabic and I couldn't understand all of it, so I asked one of my teachers to translate them. I was so embarrassed when I learned how corny they were!

In short, the topics were: If we never find time to meet again, I will always remember you. And, if the eyes never see will the heart ever forget?

these are just paraphrased. I didn't want to make you gag with the full translation:)

Life is better

Hi! So I decided I was tired of being homesick and in order to improve my conditions I would have to live like and Egyptian. So, instead of taking the metro to school I ride a camel, just like everyone else. Everyone here owns a camel, but I don't know enough to buy one myself. Luckily, people have extra ones and I rent a camel from the men in the picture. I pay a pound a day (about 17 cents) so its a really good deal!! I eat all the same food...mainly chicken, bread, rice, and cucumbers:) and I drink a lot of tea. Although Egyptian tea is much different than boxed tea. Its thicker and more bitter, and has grains on the bottom. I keep forgetting about the grains and drink it (imagine drinking coffee grounds!) its disgusting. oh well:) I do live in an apartment though:( If my landlord doesn't get his act together, then I'll move into a tent. It would be much more practical because I can be closer to my school and cleaning would be awesome. I just pick up my tent and move to a different location.


haha I'm just joking!!

Egyptians don't ride camels,,,in fact I haven't seen one this year. Also, many Egyptians haven't ridden one! But its a funny stereotype that most westerners have of Egypt. They also don't live in the middle of the desert in tents (but the information about the tea is true!). Cairo is a very modern city with a metro system, bus system, a huge amount of taxis, and minivans(they act like buses but are much smaller). There aren't skyscrapers but many of the buildings are fairly tall. The only difference is that they can drive without traffic lights, and they don't have a recycling program...I'm not too positive on the trash program in some parts either:( But don't feel stupid if you believed this stereotype because Egyptians of course have funny stories about us. For example, some were told that during Christmas the men exchange wives! I about fell out of my chair laughing. Oh the joys of traveling:) I'll let you know if I hear anymore stereotypes:)

But an update on my apartment,,,

The phone does work! And the maid actually showed up (of course the day after I spent 350 pounds on cleaning supplies and 6 hours of my weekend cleaning:)) oh well...and hopefully she understands when she is supposed to come. You can't blame it on the language barrier because one of my roommates (Hanan) speaks fluent Arabic. We're still waiting on the internet though...but the company says to give them three more days. This is the time when I wish I was in America so I could threaten to sue:) My air conditioner leaks water but luckily it still works because my landlord hasn't been rushing to fix it. Its annoying, but I'll live because I don't really want to talk to him. haha he always comes when I'm home alone and because of that thinks I have no friends and that I stay at home all the time. (yeah thats why I'm able to get 12 hours of sleep every night...I wish!) and he's getting kinda creepy. oh well. My roommates and I owe him 200 pounds for the phone bill,...but we don't feel like rushing to pay him back. hahah I love being stubborn:) Its also nice, because its acceptable in Egypt:) lol there's one thing I can do right!:)

I'm going crazy

London and France were wonderful. Everything there worked, the people said Hi to you, and it was ok to have eye contact! When I returned home, the apartment telephone still didn't work and we are still waiting for internet. The phone doesn't work because we didn't pay our bill, but we never recieved a bill in the first place. My roommate's uncle went to pay the phone bill, but the company wouldn't let him pay for it because it was already paid for. However, the phone doesn't work and the operator keeps telling us that we need to pay the bill. The internet company continues to communicate with us through email. But we don't have internet so how do thy expect us to reply? (**I can get internet at a cafe 20 min from my apt or at school, but thats kinda complicated to do when your only free time is around 11 pm...and I'm just being bitter:)) Well the internet company emailed us saying that they finally tried to install the internet (it only took them 2 months) but they can't because our phone bill hasn't been paid. I'm going crazy because we tried paying the phone bill but they won't let us!! oh and the maid didn't show up when she was supposed to. It was really frustrating to return to a dusty and dirty apartment. The hotels really spoiled me:) We would call the maid to see where she was but we can't because our phone doesn't work and you can't use your mobile to call landlines unless you want to spend a ridiculous amount of money. Also, the maid doesn't have a phone so we have to call her neighbour. I really don't mean to be an ingnorant American snob, but maybe if she showed up and actually worked she could afford a phone? On top of that the fridge works half the time. Sometimes its warm, sometimes its perfect, and then other times it freezes. I had to throw away half my groceries this week because they were either frozen or moldy. Nothing is consistent in Egypt...not even the Americanized grocery stores. They don't have the same produce and products everyweek. They don't even have Hummos!! lol in America all I can find is hummos...even different flavors! I even asked the people who worked at the grocery stores for help with one of my roommates(Hania)...so its not that I couldn't find it. But you should be proud of me...I asked in Arabic. However, they woudn't talk to me. They talked to Hania in Arabic instead because she is veiled and has a middle eastern look...but she doesn't know any Arabic and is from Ecuador. So I would translate for her, and reply to the clerk in Arabic who still insisted on speaking Arabic to Hania even though she had a scared look on her face and I told them that she doesn't know Arabic. oh well. Speaking of Arabic, I am improving in it a lot and am having fun learning it in school. I can't wait until I learn how to say "Yes I am a foreigner, no I do not veil because I am not a Muslim, no I'm not a tourist. I am living here, that is why I'm taking the metro and being smooshed with people just like you, and I didn't do anything to you and don't plan on it...so would you please stop staring at me!! And I know you are talking about me...even if your whole face is covered." lol that will be the day. I expected to be stared at...granite I do stare at people to, but this is just unbearable. There was one day people in the metro station, on the metro, and on the streets were staring at me so much! It was if my eyes were popping out and my head was about to fall off. I have no idea why though. I was dressed appropriatly and my zipper wasn't down...I looked in the mirror for 10 minutes once I got home...but couldn't find anything abnormal. Maybe I had a ghost hovering above me lol! I'm sorry that this entry is very negative because I had to vent somewhere and I had to tell the truth. Its totally not adventuresome like in the movies, and everything is not normal. I do have fun in Egypt though...I actually made friends with an Egyptian girl. Imagine that! The soccer games are awesome and I have some Egyptian friends who drive me everyhwere. They picked me up from the airport, took me to the so called Egyptian mountains (more like driveways for some Boulder people:)) let me speak or try to speak in Egyptian (colloquial Arabic), take me to cafes, make sure I'm safe....and so on. So life isn't miserable...its just that the only thing consistent here is that nothing is consistent (and my Dad would remind me that thats consistent...har har) and I haven't quite gotten used to it. I like to be able to predict some aspects of my life and have a set schedule But it could be worse so I'm going to stop complaining and try to keep a positive attitude:)