been busy

Hmm where to begin. I can't believe its been so long since I've posted. What a looser. Anyway, there are three things that I will talk about, and only three. I hope you like them.

1. Ramada is still going on, and I'm still fasting. I remember way back at the beginning (three weeks ago) I had focused on doing a week. But once I started, it never really made sense to stop. Go big or go home. As a result of my fasting, my understanding of all the things that go along with Ramadan have grown deeper. For example, its well known that everyone is cranky as shit during Ramadan. After working all day and not having anything to eat or drink, I can now relate. It's also well known that some of the best meals of your life will be eaten during Ramadan. There are two reasons for this. 1 Food tastes soooo much better when you're really really hungry. You simply appreciate it that much more after not having it for an entire day. 2 People take cooking to a whole new level when they're preparing for iftar (the meal that breaks the fast). I've had a number of fantastic iftars. The first was at Tom's place, a feast of Tai cuisine, with delicious coconut flavored chicken and pasta. Then there was Nisrin's incredible Iftar. She prepared a delicious ginger chicken dish complimented by Lebanese meatballs and home made hummus. However, this past weekend I had an Iftar that all Iftars wish to become. I was invited up to Taher's place (one of my bosses) in Alexandria to enjoy one of his mother's iftars, a feast unmatched. Walking into the dining room, I was faced with this...



Enough Said

And here's Dody enjoying his Iftar



2. Two weekends ago, Chris and I finally got off our collective asses and decided to finish the painting Kent and Megan left behind. It started with finding the same color paint (luckily it was the only blue they had in the paint store across the the street) buying all the needed supplies, and conning some of our friends to come and help out. We were successful on all fronts. Step one was of course to tape up all the trim. Without a latter, we decided that Chris being the tall handsome man he is, would use the table to reach the top trim. All went well until we realized how big of pain in the ass it was to move the table. The top and bottom of the table are not, how would you say, connect at all.


After taping, we invited Kelly and Andrea over to help out with the painting. And when I say invited over, I mean offered them food of their choice, drink of their choice, and sexual favors... of their choice. Painting went rather well, with only minor spillage. All in all it was a great time. The wall might not be, um, one color, but its many slightly different blue patches, when looked at from a distance, are actually quite beautiful.



And of course we had to break in the the new paint job with some beers.



3. So the last few weeks have been quite hectic, but the next three weeks are going to be even crazier. This coming weekend is Eid, the great feast at the end of Ramanda. A number of us are planning a trip to Siwa for the four day weekend. Siwa is an oasis in the far west of the Wester Dessert. When we get there, we will be camping in the dessert for three days and two nights. Activities will include horse back riding, sand dune surfing, and hot spring swimming.

Two weeks after Siwa Chris, Harrison (crazy Nigeria) and myself are on the facilitation team for AIESEC in Egypt's national conference. It's four days of pure AIESEC craziness. The latest numbers just came out, and we're expecting a delegation of around 280 members, with a team of 8 faci's. Should be fun fun fun. October is going to fly by.

Oh, and one last thing. This past weekend I went horse back riding in the dessert, with a horse that liked running fast. And while I screamed, Harrison surely screamed louder.

Shower Any one?

With Ramadan right around the corner I can't help but get excited about the new things I'm going to experience in Egypt. I've been here for over a month, am finally starting to feel comfortable getting around, started my Arabic lessons with my wonderful friend Luli and am getting serious amounts of work done at SilverKey. Since I've been here SilverKey has always been central to my Cairesian experience. Many hours have been spent there working, many games of guitar hero played and now with the Wii a whole new realm of Wii duck hunt and boxing. But today SilverKey has taken a new place in my heart. After two and a half days without water due to a badly broken water pump, the apartment has a noticeable stench due to my and Chris's lack of showering. This morning, upon waking up and finding again no water, I had no choice. I packed my towel and soap, went to the office and took my shower. It was perhaps the best shower of all time. Not only was it refreshing and clean, but it reminded me that water pressure still exists in the universe. I've grown used to the dribble we call a shower over the past weeks. With this new found showering capability, i might be showering at work more often. Watch out!!

This weekend was unbelievable. Night one was the famed Black and White party, hosted by Komal and Harrison. My first formal Black Tie event here in Cairo, I finally had a chance to wear my suit. The party itself was a huge success with 30 or more guests in full attire. I had a wonderful time, met a ton of new people and made it home sometime just after sunrise.

At the party with Chris, Karim, Manoj and Kenny. Keepin' it real.

I'm obviously smooth with the ladies, can't you tell?

Hanging out at Karoke night

futbol v. soccer

Wednesday night, starting at 10:45 p.m. I enjoyed my first official Egyptian football game. 12 players, 6 on 6, with myself and Ryan (an Australian here for a four months) representing the white man. The game was played on a dirt field, and when I say dirt, i mean red, clay, destroy your shoes dirt. The kind that when inhaled, immediately turns to rock hard boogers. The field was half size, not too long, but wide enough to make you run.

Walking out onto the field, I was brought back to my days playing high school soccer games under the hot lights of Lomann field. My mission, don't embarrass myself and the rest of the United States of American with a poor showing on the pitch.

My play wasn't horrid. I managed to score a nice volley, assist a few goals, and not directly cause many goals. Playing on dirt was a new experience however. I'd never imagined my high school field (with grass) behind North Street school as a privileged place to play, but in comparison to what my Egyptians friends grew up on, it's a paradise. Playing on dirt means the ball never stops rolling translating into me forever underestimating how far they travel. There were a few mistakes, but nothing too bad.

By the end of the night, I was completely exhausted, drenched with sweat, but incredibly satisfied. Wednesday night football has officially become a fixture in my Caironian schedule. Next Wednesday, I'll be back. All you Egyptians better watch out.

Post about this past weekend in Dahab is coming. Weekend of snorkeling, drinking milkshakes, and some hard core lounging.

marriage?

So last weekend I was exploring Cairo, doing a bit of wandering on a Friday afternoon minding my own business. My circle of knowing where the hell I am in Cairo is slowly but surely increasing, along with it my sense of freedom and independence. Kent was great to have around. He knew everything about Cairo, every nook and cranny, the fastest way from one area to another. But I never really had the chance to explore for myself. So away we went. Walking past Madan Talat Harb (a roundabout near our apartment) I was approached by a rather normal looking Egyptian, obviously a working man. He asked where I was from. Upon hearing I was from the U.S., he immediately started talking about his beautiful 20 year old sister. He promised me she was a fantastic house wife perfect for me in every way, every few seconds letting out "Yankee doodle dandy." I was at a complete loss for words. No idea what to say, how to gracefully refuse his sister's hand in marriage, all the while he's yelling Yankee doodle dandy. After smiling and nodding my way out of that, i enjoyed the rest of my exploring.

This weekend, off to Dahab for a weekend of fun in the sun. Looking forward to some world class snorkeling in the Red Sea.

weekend 2, still alive

Well everyone, it's August 13 and I'm still alive and kicking. This past weekend brought a whole new round of adventures. Thursday night was a major first. I was invited to the wedding of one of my co-workers at SilverKey, Hossam Zain. However, before delving into the wedding itself, I must first comment on my pre-wedding experience. Egypt, Cairo in particular, is world renown for its insane traffic, from the congestion, to the pollution burning your eyes, to the ever-present symphony of honking taxis. Living in downtown Cairo, right between Midan Tahrir and Midan Talethaarb, I've grown used to dealing with the traffic. I'd relate it to the once famous game, frogger. Once you build up the necessary nerve to step into the apparently seamless wave of oncoming traffic, it can take a number of moves, forward, backward, side-to-side, to finally make it across. So far every day has been a flawless victory. I hope to keep it up.

Thursday night gave me a glimpse of the other side, Cairo's traffic from behind the wheel. Taher, the CEO of SilverKey in Cairo, was generous enough to drive us to the wedding. Getting into the car I had no idea what was to come. Driving through the city was easy enough, a few honks here, some swerving there. The real fun started once we made it onto one of the many overpasses that transverse Cairo. There was an instantaneous acceleration from 60 k/h to 120 k/m, accompanied by violent weaving, ducking and swerving. Cars were simply obstacles in Taher's path. While he's a great CEO, I think a more fitting career may be found in F1 racing. Without so much as a flinch, Taher confidently placed his car in spaces we in the states would consider dangerous for bicycles to pass through.

After 20 minutes of alternating horror and awe, getting to the wedding was a bit of an emotional relief. Walking in, I had no idea what to expect. The wedding itself was held in Nasir City, outside what is considered Cairo, in a complex built for such ceremonies. When we arrived, an hour late, we realized we were some of the first guests there. I admit that I was surprised that people were more than an hour late to the wedding party but my Egyptian co-workers confided that it was what they had expected. Time truly works different in this country. After 30 minutes of chatting, we were told that the bride and groom were on there way. Walking downstairs, I was greeted not only by the dancing bride and groom, but their dancing families, dancing friends, and an entire band of drum players and horn players complete with two men capturing it all on t.v. style video cameras. To say that Egyptians take their wedding parties seriously is a major understatement. We all danced our ways upstairs into the reserved room. Once inside, the bride and groom had to sign all the needed marriage documents. While I have no idea how long it takes in the States, the simple task of signing, fingerprinting and witnessing all the freakin' papers took 20 long sweaty minutes. As soon as they were done, dancing commenced, with all of the SilverKey team breaking it down. It was later noted by Kent that while we had no idea what we were doing, the Egyptians loved pulling the white kids into the dance. Whether it was out of kindness and generosity or to laugh at our horrid dancing, we'll never know. After a few hours of music the food was served, devoured and cleared in 15 minutes. It was a feeding frenzy comparable to the Bonney household after a hard-fought hockey game. After the food was gone, everyone said there good byes and left. All in all, it was a fantastic evening.

After the wedding was over, Kent told me he was heading up to Alex the next morning. I decided to tag along. After another mind-blowing ride up to Alex in a micro-bus weaving in and out of traffic at 160 k/h on the dessert road, we arrived in Alexandria to visit Luli, my new friend from Scrabble night. Our main mission upon arrival was eating the world famous fuul from Muhammad Ahmed's, Alexandria's self-proclaimed fuul master. From now on, I vow to travel in foreign countries with native people. Luli, a native Alexandrian, ordered us up an entire table of food. Literally food stacked on top of food. It started with the normal bread and pickled vegetables, moved into the tahina, fried cheese (yes, and its incredible), ending with the famous Alexandrian fuul. It took us awhile, but we slowly cleared the table. We waddled out 45 minutes later to walk off the fuul along the beach front. Alex is built around a huge bay leading out into the Mediterranean Sea. At its mouth once stood the famous Light House of Alexandria and the statue of Zeus, straddling the two points. With the breeze from the Med. in our faces we walked along listening to Luli describe the storied past of her city. We stopped briefly for some ice cream before driving to the Yacht Club located at the tip of the Western point of the bay. In the club we met up with Taher and his family, then decided to take a swim in the Sea. After a day of eating and walking, the swim was heavenly. After watching the sun set over the Med. dinner at another famous kafta place, Kent and I headed back to Cairo, fat and happy.

Friday night getting back to Cairo, we met up with Chris and headed to a party at Steve's house. I won't go into the details, as this post is already ridiculously long, but I encourage all of you to go ahead and ask Kent. He had a great time fighting refrigerators and screaming the lyrics to Kayne's Gold Digger.

Sorry for the long post.

out

luke

serenity now

every day Kent, Chris P and I go to lunch. You could call the place a cafe. In front it has its Ta'amaaya, displayed for everyone to see. The smart ones pat the ta'amaaya before going in. Warm means its fresh and delicious, cold and you're in for an upset stomach. Everyday we go to the same place. It smells funky, its full of flies and other unknown insects but there's something about it. Time slows when we go to lunch, time for conversation, enjoying ourselves. After lunch we grab tea at the stand next door.

Today while at the tea stand with Kent, sitting on our plastic stools, enjoying the scalding tea, i realized how happy i was. There were a few beautiful white clouds in the sky, a wonderful little breeze, cats running around on the street, a few screaming children, a crazy car washer yelling at no one in particular, but I was happy. The odd feeling i had sent me back to Cornell sitting on the slope, back to my yacht club after a day on the lake, back to my porch sitting with friends. Here i was in Cairo, thousands of miles away from "home" yet I felt as ease, at peace, as if I had been here before.

It was an odd experience. Deja vu, i don't know. But its something I'm sure not to forget, one of those moments in time. Anywhere, any time, you can find a piece of home.

first weekend

well i've survived the first week of Cairo. I've gone from my normal black-man fro to an Egyptian style quiff, thanks to our neighbor the barber. For the past five days he's been pestering me to trim up my bees nest. I must say, upon completion, Cairo is much more bearable the less hair you have.

Friday was spent sleeping and in the office. I decided to go in with Chris P, check some email, deal with my luggage and a few other backlogged details. I didn't feel great, suffering a spat of what Kent dubbed the Cairo colon. I'm sure you can all imagine what this entails. It results in quick sprints to the bathroom, irritable moods, and potential for disaster at every step. It was a direct result of my decision to jump right into Cairo food and drink. Instead of waiting a week or two, trying the slow and steady approach of gasto-assimiliation, I did the old dive right in and see what happens. My lunches have included the delicious fuul, a paste of beans and spices, as well as ta'mayaa, fellafel with an Egptian twist, both served in a pita. While the result was a bit delayed, there was a result none the less. This phenomena must be a fairly common occurance as all the toilettes I've come across thus far have a very noticeable addition to the standard "western" throwns we're used to. Right in the middle of the bowl is a little metal tube, bent upward. To your right, if sitting on the toilette, is a nozzle attached to the tube. With a slight turn of the nozzle the toilette user experiences quite the unusual sensation of having their ass shot with pressurized water. While this sounds entirely European and unnecessary, on the contrary, with out this beautiful feature my weekend would have been much more uncomfortable.


On Saturday, I was feeling better. We took a trip out to Al-Azhar park, a beautiful collection of green lawns, water fountains and sculptures, cafe's and ponds elevated in the middle of Cairo. From its top, I could see Cairo spreading out in three directions as far as I could see. We decided to grab a quick bit at one of the cafes. We sat for awhile, watching the sun set, when suddenly from below us, the evening call to prayer commenced all across Cairo. From hundreds of different mosques, sung over loudspeakers, the call to prayer mingled together creating a sound completely unique unto itself. i only hope those of you reading have a chance to experience it for yourself.

After leaving al-Azhar park we left heading down to Zimelikh, one of the two islands in the middle of the Nile, to celebrate one of the AIESECers birthday's. The party itself was on a boat tied to the docks of the Marriott. We spent the rest of the evening on the boat, looking out over the Nile, eating birthday cake and having a great time. In truth, most of my conversation was with Chris and Kent about American football. All of us found safety in a bit of home, talking about Madden and his retarded commentary, or Michael Vick and his dog fighting scandle.

All in all a great weekend.


Intellectual Chris, pretending he can read.


Kent, pretending we care about him.


Me, being bad ass with my new due, checking out the hot babes checking me out.


Sun setting over Cairo from al-Azhar park.