First week in Cairo

So today was our last day of "Survival Arabic" and we met our teacher at the old campus downtown instead of at the new campus. I wish AUC were still there- it was pretty and only 15 minutes away (I just added pictures of both the old and new campuses. The new campus is the place with all the pristine buildings. The old campus is the one with grass). We got lunch with our teacher. I just had falafel and mango juice- The juices here are sooo good). Then we walked around the city and she pointed things out and we asked how to say a lot of different things. I took some pictures of the Nile during the day and the Cairo Opera House which is really pretty. Our teacher told us it would only take 10-20 minutes to walk home from where we were. It took an hour, but I guess that is just Egypt time.

I've definitely noticed a lot differences between the US and Egypt in the week that I've been here. It's really weird living on an all-girl floor, especially when boys aren't even allowed on the floor, let alone in our room. Whenever one of the maintenance or cleaning men is on the floor, one of the female cleaning persons will repeatedly yell "Man on the floor! Man on the floor!" I've been warned many a time about harassment on street and so far it really hasn't been that bad. I've had guys say things to me a couple of times, but it's mainly in Arabic so I don't understand what they're saying. Today when we were walking around a lot of guys said hi and "welcome" or "welcome to Egypt." It's definitely a different experience being in the minority.

A couple of other things I've noticed- there are never paper towels in bathrooms. ever. I bought a hand towel to bring with me because I got tired of wiping my hands on my pants. Having to buy lots of water is a pain too. It's super cheap but it's annoying to not be able to use any water fountains. People stay up really late here. We went to a bar on Wednesday night around 11 and people were there eating dinner! I can't imagine eating dinner that late. Also, everyone smokes here. And they do it everywhere. There is a sign in our dorm room saying that "Heavy Smoking" will set off the fire alarm- heavy being the key word there. I guess regular smoking is ok.

Classes start on Sunday and tomorrow is our first day where we have nothing required to do. I think I'm going to go to a big market with some people I've met here. I'll take lots of pictures!

A cruise on the Nile!

So last night we took a cruise on the Nile. It was pretty good. The food was good and we met some cool people. Taking pictures didn't work super well because it was dark but I have the ones I took up on my pic site. The entertainment was pretty good. There was a belly dancer, some guys dancing, and a singer who sang Baliemos (that Enrique Igelasias song)and some Arab songs.

The past couple of days I've just been going out the new campus for "Survival Arabic" and some orientation stuff. I've met kids from all around the US. Talking to them has made me appreciate GW's Arabic program a lot more. We've learned a lot more than most kids who have taken the same amount of semesters as we have. My roommmate said her Arabic class had 70 kids in it. That's crazy. The new campus is really pretty (I'll take pics soon) but it's like an hour and fifteen minutes away and riding the bus 2.5 hours every day is no fun. The past 2 days I've fallen asleep on the way home because I've been so tired.

The food has been good so far. I haven't gone to any of the super American places (like the 2 McDonald's on campus). Tonight I got really good ravioli from an Italian place a few blocks from the dorm (Drew- La Trattoria. did you ever go there?) We're all gradually getting more accustomed to life here. From word of mouth I found out about a convenience/grocery/department store (it had a ton of random things) so I was able to buy a shower caddy, notebooks, pens, granola bars, and a few other things I needed.

I've posted some more pictures, some of the city I took while on the bus and some from the cruise. I thought I had done it last night but I hadn't set the album to public.

p.s. for Kaitlin again (though Noelle, you know what we're talking about too)- one of my friends doubted me but the AUC bookstore had the 2nd and 3rd Twilight books. So I bought them. They don't have the 4th in paperback yet, but I still have some time. The 2nd one is really good so far. I feel nerdy, but Twilight was so good.

First few days!

So I've spent 2 full days in Cairo and it's been pretty good so far.

Quickly about London. After dropping off our extra bags, buying international calling cards, and getting some English pounds (which was tragic) we got on the underground and headed into London. We got off the underground right at the Palace of Westminster where Big Ben is. It was beautiful. We also saw the London Eye, which was really cool to see in person and not just in pictures. Then we got lunch at a cute little pub, and of course we each got a pint of beer. It was weird be able to be served alcohol in a restaurant. And by the time I come back to the states I'll be legal there. Weird. Anyway then we saw Buckingham Palace and got back on the underground to go back to Heathrow.

The flight to Cairo was fine. We landed at night, so we couldn't really see the city which was sad. But I'm leaving during the day in May so I'll get to see it then. We didn't get into the city until pretty late and then we just got our room assignments and went to bed. Yesterday I didn't do too much except get my phone and walk around a bit. Today we had our first day of "Survival Arabic" where we're learning colloquial Egyptian which is pretty different than what I've been learning at GW. Tonight I went to dinner with Alix and we got falafel (called something different in Egyptian) which cost about 50 American cents. It's really nice getting 5.5 Egyptian Pounds for each American dollar.

Tomorrow we start real orientation things. And classes start a week from today.

Also here are some pictures of my room. I'll take a better picture of the courtyard when it's light out!

P.S. for Kaitlin- As embarrassing as it is to say, Twilight is actually awesome. I'm about halfway done it because I stayed up way too late reading last night. I'll have to see if I can find the rest of them over here...

My pictures!

Here's the link to where I'll be putting my pictures. So far it's just the ones from London. The address is also under "about me" on the side. I'm not tech savy enough to make either a link, but if you know how, let me know!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lmcconnell516

Layover in London!

So I wrote a big long post in Word and when I try to paste it in here it doesn't work. Which is annoying. I'll take the time to rewrite it later, but for now I just wanted to say that I am in my dorm in Cairo! Our day in London was super fun. I took a bunch of pictures. We came in late last night and got our room assignments and basically passed out. This morning we went out and got cell phones and lunch (I ordered in Arabic!). Now I'm going to continue to unpack and probably take a nap. I'll write all about England later.

Hi!

Well I'm still in DC right now, but in 12 hours I will be on my way to London. In 36 hours I will almost be in Cairo. Pretty crazy. I still need to finish up my packing!

I'll miss all of you guys but keep touch through email/facebook/skype!