Okay, sorry for being slow about posting Cairo stuff. I've just been rather busy here! I'm not so good at giving play-by-play info, but I'll try to post some of the funny occurrences periodically. There certainly have been plenty from which to choose! Feel free to read it all or to just look at the pictures! Here goes:
The job: I'm doing education policy research with the Social Research Center at the American University in Cairo. Basically, this means I get to analyze data and use STATA all day which I like, but it also means I sit in a chair for 8 hours each day staring at a computer which I don't like so much. I work for an ex-pat researcher who's really nice and extremely enthusiastic about his research. I sit in an office with three research assistants who are middle-aged Muslim women who like to chat in loud voices in Arabic all day and feed me Egyptian food. It's fun, but I wish I could understand more of their conversations.
The living: I lived with Amr's family briefly when I arrived in Cairo, but now I'm sharing an apartment across town with a girl from Taiwan. She's friendly and helps teach me things about Egypt, i.e. you can't flush toilet paper (oops), the bowab (the doorman) is annoying but good at fixing light fixtures, cab drivers rip you off if you speak to them in English, etc. As of this Tuesday, I'll start house-sitting for an AUC professor. I have to watch over her two cats (yeah, not much experience there), but I don't have to pay rent and the apartment is really nice and has a great balcony. I'll post pics eventually...
The running: Kind of sucks. I've been getting up by 5:30 about every other day or every third day to run, but it's not ideal. It's rather hot even in the mornings especially since I wear long pants when I'm running by myself. I joined a running group last weekend, though, which was fabulous. The guy in charge is really rich and his "secondary house" is a mansion along a golf course on the outskirts of town. We ran 12 miles (albeit slowly), went swimming in his personal pool and then had a fun pseud0-Egyptian brunch which a bunch of ex-pats from all over the world.
The pyramids: They really do exist! And, they are very big. The Sphinx is cool even though it's missing its nose. I went inside the Great Pyramid, but it was not worth the 50 pounds I spent to do so. I had to climb up a narrow, steep passageway filled with sweaty tourists and screaming babies. At the end of the strenuous hike, my reward was getting to see a dark room about the size of my bedroom with stark black walls and a little modern graffiti. I understood quickly while Amr had declined to join me.
The food: Is yummy. Amr's mom is a fantastic cook. Egyptians eat a ton of fruit but not too many veggies (which of course makes me sad). Amr hadn't ever seen broccoli until he came to the States. Oh well! I guess I'll have to suffer and eat juicy watermelon.
The horse-back riding: Craziness! As a "treat" during my first full weekend in Cairo, Amr decided to take me on one of his favorite outings here - horse-back riding. I told him I hadn't ridden in many years and would need help. Before I knew it, he was jumping on a horse and telling me to do the same. He took off before I got on my horse. My horse, Sheina, caught up and trotted right past Amr and the guide. I was a little scared but could handle the methodical trotting. That is, until I turned around. I looked back to get directions as to how in the world to ride a horse when I saw Amr off his horse and his horse sprinting in the other direction. When I screamed, Amr waved and then sprinted after his horse. The guide who was supposed to be helping me took off about both of them, leaving me to trot along into the desert on Sheina. They finally came back, but then at a full-sprint. As they passed me, my horse took the hint and started sprinting behind me. For the next hour, Amr fought to stay on his horse while the guide swatted mine in the butt telling it to go faster. Let's just say I was a little sore for a few days not to mention shell-shocked!!
The culture shock: The biggest difference between Cairo and the US is that in Cairo, anything goes. It would be a misnomer to say that things are unregulated because there are cops on every street corner, but people don't follow small, petty rules very well (or, actually, at all). Traffic lanes and lights have no meaning. Drivers simply "go with the flow." Cars fly by each other, weaving through whatever space they can find on the road. On the more narrow streets, the drivers fold in their rearview mirrow in order to slide by the cars that park on either side of the street. Pedestrians boldly jump in front of cars, knowing the cars will stop instantly to let them cross the street. It's going to be dangerous for me to cross the street when I get back to the States!
Okay, that's enough for now. I promise I'll post more boring stuff soon. Thanks for reading!!
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