Egypt, Land of Wonder
Welcome to Egypt
Well, sorry for the hiatus in writing, but I was busy moving to Egypt and just established a proper internet connection this weekend, sort of. Apparently my wireless router arrived at the apartment this morning. Everything here takes a bit of doing. Nothing is easy, really. This is a phenomenon that I have come to refer to as “Welcome to Egypt.”
“Welcome to Egypt” can be used as a normal daily greeting or as a mode of identification with other foreigners who are clearly in the same boat. When you see people attempting to do something that would normally work just fine at home, but which here works only partially or not at all, you say: “Welcome to Egypt” and everyone smiles and laughs and understands each other. It is a nice way of saying, “I feel the same pain as you. I just want to check my e-mail or go to the grocery store too.”
But it is perhaps not as bad as all that. I love it here. There is so much wonder in everyday life. I, for instance, am currently in Cairo for the weekend visiting American friends who have also just moved here to study and work. Every part of this journey has been frought with complications. I decided to stay an extra day upon realizing that I bought a train ticket for the wrong time of day yesterday and would have had to make my return trip at 8 in the morning rather than 8 at night. The answer to this dilemma: play pool and drink with Brits at the BCA in Mohandiseen. I had a right wonderful time. Everything worked out better than planned.
Getting here was also no big deal. I got on a plane in Detroit and a few Xanax and several hundred drinks later, here I was.
I found an apartment in Roushdy in Alexandria. It looks like the sort of apartment that you woul find in East Berlin in about 1983, but it is quite nice. There is good breeze from the Mediterranean and the light is great. It will be a perfect place to live until next June.
The school is also quite nice. It is a little building inside the Alexandria University compound across the street from the Bibliotheca Alexandria in the Kulayat al-Adab (the College of Literature). We took placement exams last week to put us into classes according to level of proficiency in Arabic. The results are due in today, apparently.
I am excited to start classes, but as usual for me, classes have been going on since I set foot here. Every day is a learning experience. Going to the market. Finding a place to live. Having DSL set up and having someone call you on the phone to deliver your router, only able to speak Arabic. These are the experiences that I live for. Every day is an adventure into the mundane. Living here makes it seem as though commonplace things are extraordinary.
Now, though, I must prepare myself and leave for the train back to Alexandria. I will write again very shortly and include some pictures of my journey.
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Sounds wonderful. When I was in Romania (and that was just for two months) is was always the most casual interactions that were the most enjoyable and revealing. But you seem to have zeroed in on one of the most historic cities in the universe. I’m really looking forward to hearing about your adventures.