At the next house, the doorkeeper was nice enough to snap our picture with several of the city's minarets in the background.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Friday, April 29
Yesterday was a nice day in Cairo. We actually went to all the places we intended to go. We started out the day at the Ibn Tuloun Mosque. It's one of the oldest mosques, built somewhere in-between AD 876-879. It's huge, as it was built to accomodate the entire community in its courtyard. Mosques are a like an oasis in Cairo. There's nothing but silence and a feeling of vast space. I can see how the openness and quiet might make you feel closer to God.
Then, we went to the Gayer-Anderson Museum next door. It was interesting. A British major bought two adjoining houses and decorated them throughout his travels. There were many rooms, with detailed woodwork and decorated ceilings. We went in the haram (women's section) with its wooden screens. It even had a secret door with an area for women to discretely look down on the men.
We did a lot of shopping. We found a new shop with lots of handmade Cairo trinkets. Then, we visted another old house, but this one was empty and not as interesting. In all, it was a pretty good day.
We've decided we'll spend the last few days of break being bums.
Then, we went to the Gayer-Anderson Museum next door. It was interesting. A British major bought two adjoining houses and decorated them throughout his travels. There were many rooms, with detailed woodwork and decorated ceilings. We went in the haram (women's section) with its wooden screens. It even had a secret door with an area for women to discretely look down on the men.
We did a lot of shopping. We found a new shop with lots of handmade Cairo trinkets. Then, we visted another old house, but this one was empty and not as interesting. In all, it was a pretty good day.
We've decided we'll spend the last few days of break being bums.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Wednesday, April 27
Well, a fun-filled day of touring around Cairo didn't turn out exactly as planned, but at least we got out of the house today. I got another disappointing haircut today, and then afterwords we set out to find an obscure palace on Rhoda Island in the middle of the Nile. There weren't many taxis so it took us forever to get there. By the time we arrived, the palace was only open for another half hour and two of the museums were closed, so we gave up on that. Then, we figured it would take forever to get to our next destination, so we gave up on that too.
We tried to head to the Cairo Tower, but it took forever. Traffic was horrible because President Putin was in Cairo today, and many streets were blocked. We eventually made it, and did get to go up the tower. Afterwards, we set out to find the only vegetarian restaurant in Cairo, but it either went out of business or it's invisible. Needless to say, we couldn't find it, and settled for another restaurant.
So, I guess we didn't see what we had intended to today, but at least we went out to do something! I tried to post a few pictures of the green areas of Cairo since I'd discussed with some people what the streets actually look like. It's hard to imagine Egypt having anything green at all, but it's there. We appreciate every bit of it.
We tried to head to the Cairo Tower, but it took forever. Traffic was horrible because President Putin was in Cairo today, and many streets were blocked. We eventually made it, and did get to go up the tower. Afterwards, we set out to find the only vegetarian restaurant in Cairo, but it either went out of business or it's invisible. Needless to say, we couldn't find it, and settled for another restaurant.
So, I guess we didn't see what we had intended to today, but at least we went out to do something! I tried to post a few pictures of the green areas of Cairo since I'd discussed with some people what the streets actually look like. It's hard to imagine Egypt having anything green at all, but it's there. We appreciate every bit of it.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Monday, April 25
I tried to blog a few days ago, but our phone service has been a little sketchy lately. It went off a couple of times a day or two ago. We were worried that it was because we hadn't paid our bill. It's hard to know when to pay your bill here. You don't get any bills in the mail, so when it's time to pay your phone bill, you're supposed to just know. You don't pay every month, though. Just every three months or so. However, we went to pay it today, but apparently they didn't want to work today. No one was there, and some guy told us to come back tomorrow. Okay, Tuesday seems just as good a day as Monday. We can do that.
So, the other day I wrote an entire blog about the sounds of Cairo, but it didn't load. And, the subject so inspires me that I feel it's worthy of a second try. Okay, the truth is, I have a lot of time on my hands. It is spring break after all. So, here are the sounds of Cairo for you to appreciate.
1. The Rooster. Now, you all know that I'm a vegetarian. I'm as animal-friendly as the next person, but this rooster has to die. We have a very mixed-up rooster living on our nieghbor's patio. This rooster is sent straight from hell. He crows at 4 am, 5 am, 10 am, 3 pm, 5 pm. The thing crows anytime, all day. It doesn't have a normal rooster crow, either. It has some weird, loud, obnoxious crow. Besides killing the thing ourselves, Joe's latest plan involves going over and offering to pay for a year's supply of eggs for these people if they just kill the rooster. I suppose that might be a little condescending.
2. Car Horns. Car horns and Cairo. The two go hand-in-hand. Let me give you the concise explanation of when to honk your horn in Cairo. To warn someone that you're passing. To warn a pedestrian that you're nearby. If you're a taxi, to get people's attention. To show someone that you're not stopping. Repeatedly, when you are waiting beneath someone's apartment building. Repeatedly, when your soccer team wins. Repeatedly, when there's a wedding. Whenever you feel like it. Honk because you can!
3. Dogs and Cats. Puppies being raised on the neighbor's balcony. Stray dogs in the street. Stray dogs that bark only from 3-5 am on top of cars. Cats battling over food, turf, etc.
4. Mosques. I say this in a respectful way, but mosques are definitely part of the sounds here. You have the call to prayer five times a day, broadcast from the local mosque's loudspeaker. On Fridays, there is the weekly noon prayer which lasts about an hour. Amazingly, the call to prayer is the sound that's easiest to block out.
5. Our neighbor(s). We love our neighbor/landlord, but he does have an amazingly deep voice. Possibly the deepest I've ever heard. They're remodeling their flat, so in addition to remodeling noises, our landlord is often in the doorway, haggling, arguing or maybe giving directions to the people working for him. Often, when you hear someone speaking in a language you don't understand, it sounds like arguing. Who knows? Then, he also likes to call down five flights of stairs to our doorman/boy, Abdou. He calls out at the top of his lungs, "Ya, Abdou! Ya, Abdou!"
6. People in general. We hear people on the street. The neighbors and their TV, cell phone, or radio in the apartments across from us. We hear the guys talking in the abandoned lot where they live below us. We hear the children in the neighbor's courtyard. Sometimes there's a fight or loud conversation in the street behind our apartment.
7. Arabic music. It's everywhere. Cars, cafes, bands that walk the streets, street parties, parties in homes, the list goes on.
8. Street vendors. Ah, street vendors. We know them each by their call. There's the man that bangs on gas canisters. Naturally, when I hear him banging, I want to run down and buy some gas. (hmm...) Then, there's the guy who sounds like he's saying, "Ribbit, ribbit." He's the frog-guy. Wonder what he sells. There's the sweet potato guy who pushes around a cart on which he roasts sweet potatoes. He says something like, "Too sweet, too sweet." In Arabic, of course. There's also the (aarrrggghhh...) cotton candy boy. He blows a loud, obnoxious horn in order to get children to buy cotton candy. Now, we've never actually seen anybody buy this cotton candy. I think he just gets joy from annoying people. We passed him the other day and missed our chance to tell him off. Just kidding. And last, my favorite, the guy who sounds like he was on Dances With Wolves. You know the guy at the end, who calls to Kevin Costner from up above. It sounds something like, "Shumani Tutonka Owachi!" This guy has moved to Egypt! I think he walks around collecting junk that people want to get rid of, so that he can sell it. Maybe he can get back into acting in the Egyptian cinema.
Ah, isn't Cairo interesting. When we come to Iowa, we are going to have to bring a tape recorder of the noises here, or we'll never be able to sleep.
So, the other day I wrote an entire blog about the sounds of Cairo, but it didn't load. And, the subject so inspires me that I feel it's worthy of a second try. Okay, the truth is, I have a lot of time on my hands. It is spring break after all. So, here are the sounds of Cairo for you to appreciate.
1. The Rooster. Now, you all know that I'm a vegetarian. I'm as animal-friendly as the next person, but this rooster has to die. We have a very mixed-up rooster living on our nieghbor's patio. This rooster is sent straight from hell. He crows at 4 am, 5 am, 10 am, 3 pm, 5 pm. The thing crows anytime, all day. It doesn't have a normal rooster crow, either. It has some weird, loud, obnoxious crow. Besides killing the thing ourselves, Joe's latest plan involves going over and offering to pay for a year's supply of eggs for these people if they just kill the rooster. I suppose that might be a little condescending.
2. Car Horns. Car horns and Cairo. The two go hand-in-hand. Let me give you the concise explanation of when to honk your horn in Cairo. To warn someone that you're passing. To warn a pedestrian that you're nearby. If you're a taxi, to get people's attention. To show someone that you're not stopping. Repeatedly, when you are waiting beneath someone's apartment building. Repeatedly, when your soccer team wins. Repeatedly, when there's a wedding. Whenever you feel like it. Honk because you can!
3. Dogs and Cats. Puppies being raised on the neighbor's balcony. Stray dogs in the street. Stray dogs that bark only from 3-5 am on top of cars. Cats battling over food, turf, etc.
4. Mosques. I say this in a respectful way, but mosques are definitely part of the sounds here. You have the call to prayer five times a day, broadcast from the local mosque's loudspeaker. On Fridays, there is the weekly noon prayer which lasts about an hour. Amazingly, the call to prayer is the sound that's easiest to block out.
5. Our neighbor(s). We love our neighbor/landlord, but he does have an amazingly deep voice. Possibly the deepest I've ever heard. They're remodeling their flat, so in addition to remodeling noises, our landlord is often in the doorway, haggling, arguing or maybe giving directions to the people working for him. Often, when you hear someone speaking in a language you don't understand, it sounds like arguing. Who knows? Then, he also likes to call down five flights of stairs to our doorman/boy, Abdou. He calls out at the top of his lungs, "Ya, Abdou! Ya, Abdou!"
6. People in general. We hear people on the street. The neighbors and their TV, cell phone, or radio in the apartments across from us. We hear the guys talking in the abandoned lot where they live below us. We hear the children in the neighbor's courtyard. Sometimes there's a fight or loud conversation in the street behind our apartment.
7. Arabic music. It's everywhere. Cars, cafes, bands that walk the streets, street parties, parties in homes, the list goes on.
8. Street vendors. Ah, street vendors. We know them each by their call. There's the man that bangs on gas canisters. Naturally, when I hear him banging, I want to run down and buy some gas. (hmm...) Then, there's the guy who sounds like he's saying, "Ribbit, ribbit." He's the frog-guy. Wonder what he sells. There's the sweet potato guy who pushes around a cart on which he roasts sweet potatoes. He says something like, "Too sweet, too sweet." In Arabic, of course. There's also the (aarrrggghhh...) cotton candy boy. He blows a loud, obnoxious horn in order to get children to buy cotton candy. Now, we've never actually seen anybody buy this cotton candy. I think he just gets joy from annoying people. We passed him the other day and missed our chance to tell him off. Just kidding. And last, my favorite, the guy who sounds like he was on Dances With Wolves. You know the guy at the end, who calls to Kevin Costner from up above. It sounds something like, "Shumani Tutonka Owachi!" This guy has moved to Egypt! I think he walks around collecting junk that people want to get rid of, so that he can sell it. Maybe he can get back into acting in the Egyptian cinema.
Ah, isn't Cairo interesting. When we come to Iowa, we are going to have to bring a tape recorder of the noises here, or we'll never be able to sleep.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Friday, April 22
I wrote an entire blog last night and then it wouldn't upload, so here goes again. It has been really weird here. We woke up yesterday morning to a rainstorm with actual thunder and lightning. This is the first time we've seen lightning or heard thunder in Egypt. Since then, it has rained like that a few more times. It's a really nice change of pace.
We had a good day yesterday. The first thing we did was go and check out a piano. There are a few places where you can rent out a piano. It was amazing; we went down to Maadi, chose a piano, and had it delivered all in the same day. Nothing like that happens here. Nothing happens in one day. Needless to say, I was thrilled. The movers hiked it up to our fifth floor apartment, and I was playing by the afternoon. Of course, I am thrilled.
Joe had a big accomplishment yesterday too. :) He said his first whole sentence in Arabic without even thinking about it. He said, "ana biraf feyn genina mall dilwate" meaning "I know where Genina Mall is now." I'm sure the taxi driver was as impressed as I was. Although, I don't think either of us was as impressed as Joe was with himself. j/k We're always so proud of ourselves when we can actually communicate with people. We aren't very good at Arabic, but we've come along way since the first day we arrived.
And, Cairo continues to amaze us. Yesterday, when we were out and about, we stopped for lunch at Hardees. We were sitting there, eating massively -proportioned American-style meals. I had about two months worth of our salaries in my purse in cash, and then we saw someone ride by on their donkey. There are too many discrepancies here between the classes. It's really in your face all the time. The doorman who lives in our garage. The men who live in a homemade shack in the abandoned lot. Then, you have people like our students who live in nice apartments with servants, expensive clothes, and private tutors. Hmmm... I'm no better though. I could have gone yesterday with out student council to drop off a donation at a local orphanage. Instead, I went to get myself a piano.
On that positive note, I'm off to be a lazy bum. We'll see how long I can stay in my pajamas today!
We had a good day yesterday. The first thing we did was go and check out a piano. There are a few places where you can rent out a piano. It was amazing; we went down to Maadi, chose a piano, and had it delivered all in the same day. Nothing like that happens here. Nothing happens in one day. Needless to say, I was thrilled. The movers hiked it up to our fifth floor apartment, and I was playing by the afternoon. Of course, I am thrilled.
Joe had a big accomplishment yesterday too. :) He said his first whole sentence in Arabic without even thinking about it. He said, "ana biraf feyn genina mall dilwate" meaning "I know where Genina Mall is now." I'm sure the taxi driver was as impressed as I was. Although, I don't think either of us was as impressed as Joe was with himself. j/k We're always so proud of ourselves when we can actually communicate with people. We aren't very good at Arabic, but we've come along way since the first day we arrived.
And, Cairo continues to amaze us. Yesterday, when we were out and about, we stopped for lunch at Hardees. We were sitting there, eating massively -proportioned American-style meals. I had about two months worth of our salaries in my purse in cash, and then we saw someone ride by on their donkey. There are too many discrepancies here between the classes. It's really in your face all the time. The doorman who lives in our garage. The men who live in a homemade shack in the abandoned lot. Then, you have people like our students who live in nice apartments with servants, expensive clothes, and private tutors. Hmmm... I'm no better though. I could have gone yesterday with out student council to drop off a donation at a local orphanage. Instead, I went to get myself a piano.
On that positive note, I'm off to be a lazy bum. We'll see how long I can stay in my pajamas today!
Monday, April 18, 2005
Sunday, April 17
As you can see from our photos, we did end up going to the Spring Fling on the Nile with our students. It wasn't too bad. We set sail on a big two-deck, open-air ship. They had a DJ and small dance floor up front, and the students danced the night away. I'm definitely learning a bit about Arabic dancing. Some of the students are really good, but they don't realize that my hips just don't move the same way their's do!
It's really funny, but Arabic music is a huge part of life here. Egypt, and Cairo, in particular, is like the Hollywood of the Arabic world, so they have many big stars and performers that come from Cairo. The students often break into dancing, singing, and beating out rhythms right in the middle of class. I told them it's in their blood or something. They break out into singing all the time. Imagine belly-dancing music or at least the beat of it. It's very different and an acquired taste for our western ears. It took us awhile to get used to it, but now I even like some of the songs. I don't really know the lyrics, just that most of them contain the word "habibi" which means "my love."
So, not much is new. Just a few pictures. Only three more days until spring break.
It's really funny, but Arabic music is a huge part of life here. Egypt, and Cairo, in particular, is like the Hollywood of the Arabic world, so they have many big stars and performers that come from Cairo. The students often break into dancing, singing, and beating out rhythms right in the middle of class. I told them it's in their blood or something. They break out into singing all the time. Imagine belly-dancing music or at least the beat of it. It's very different and an acquired taste for our western ears. It took us awhile to get used to it, but now I even like some of the songs. I don't really know the lyrics, just that most of them contain the word "habibi" which means "my love."
So, not much is new. Just a few pictures. Only three more days until spring break.
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