Aside from the 20 hour trip to Cairo, the crazy traffic on the ride to the dorm, the jet-lag, and the confusion, I've got to admit that I'm having a pretty good time. The actual city of Cairo is unique (in a good way). Its a mix of high end retail stores, crumbing apartment complexes, and architecture from all periods. There is literally no other city like it. Cairo is not for the faint of heart though. Cars are normally about 2 inches away from each other and its a common driving technique to cut people off. The pollution is enough to to give the moon a yellow-brown hue. On top of all that, the slums can be extremely depressing since most are covered in layers of trash and the buildings are basically decomposing. Despite all of that I feel like I am falling in love with the place even though it's only day one. The city is so different from any American or European city that it's actually refreshing. The people are generally very nice even though I've gotten more than a few stares since I look, well, American.
My first day went like this....
1. Wake up at 9:50, which was ten minutes before the last bus left for the New Cairo. I got dressed in record time and ran out the door with my roommate...and without anything but my keys.
2. Plead with the bus driver and later the campus police to let me in. Succeed and officially adopt the nickname Nora since thats what my name sounds like to most Egyptians.
3. Register, eat falafel pitas for lunch, and proceed to run all around campus for a few hours trying to get my student i.d., student visa, buss pass, and course schedule. Some success and some failure there.
4. Returned to the dorm in Cairo. Slept for an hour, then went out to eat and shop at the Ganina mall.
The mall was built just like any Western mall, and the merchandise in the stores had prices that you couldn't bargain on. The prices were pretty fair (right around American prices) but we were THE ONLY foreigners there. Thus we attracted plenty of stares, especially in the hijab stores. However the more we looked around in each store the more the employees warmed up to us. At one point we even got pumpkin seeds to munch on from the women in a high-end hijab store. It was an accomplishment.
entrance to the Ganina mall.
The Girls I went with!
Possibly the most adorable kid in the Middle East. He was outside asking for money and let me take a pic when I gave him a pound. He liked the pic. :)
6. Returned home via awesome cab driver who coaxed us to clap along to every song he played.
All in all I'd say it was a good start to my study abroad experience. Let's hope tomorrow is just as good.
No comments:
Post a Comment