Lebanon: A Trip to the Movies

You know why blogs are amazing? They are the perfect procrastination tool! I can do something that is not studying yet feel like I am doing something wonderfully productive!! ...Hence why you are getting two posts in the span of two days :-P

Raina and I had gone out for Nescafe and a walk along the Med when we got a phone call from her cousin Fadi saying he wanted to take us out to the movies with his family. We said sure and agreed to meet him by a hotel down by the water so he could pick us up. What movie did we see? None other than the famed 2012 (and I must say I thought it was going to be SO cheesy but it wasn't too horrible). We got to the mall right when the movie was scheduled to start. (and guess what....I wasn't freaking out about being late at all! I'm Cured!!! lol) But it also might be because I knew we were in an Arab country where nothing runs on time...so of course the movie started late. But no worries about having good seats because apparently over here when you buy your tickets for the movies it is like going to see a play you buy your seats ahead of time too! So we got out tickets and had an usher walk us to our assigned seats!

Now this wasn't your ordinary theater....I swear to you I could have fit two people in my seat. They were big and comfy! I don't know why the US hasn't picked up on this wonderful trend!! I sat down and looked up at the screen and noticed that there were Arabic and French subtitles on the screen! It was so wild...and slightly inconvenient. For those of you who haven't seen 2012 yet then I should explain that for the most part everyone speaks English. However, there are times when the action is taking place in France/ Tibet and the actors are not speaking English. I am assuming that in the States when these parts of the film come on there are English subtitles....However, that was not the case in Lebanon. When the actors were speaking French there was only Arabic subtitles, and when the actors were speaking any other language the subtitles were still only in French and Arabic. (The whole time I was in Lebanon I was kicking myself for not knowing ANY French...all I can say is "Oui" and Will you go to bed with me tonight...thanks to Moulin Rouge) So I was extremely happy to have Raina sitting next to me translating everything from French to English for me! (Raina is one of those magical people in the world who speaks several languages fluently; French, Haitian Creole, English, and she is working on Arabic)

The movie was good, the popcorn was yummy. I loved that everyone clapped when something cool happened on screen. (Just like how everyone claps when the plane lands!) It was a wonderful night out. Plus I got to spend time with Raina's little cousins, Fadi's kids. They were adorable and made me really miss my little brother. I wish I could have spoken with them more though...once again why didn't I take French!!??!

I think living in the Arab world has also really shown me how concerned we are in the US about time. We are OBSESSED with time. I have to say that things do get done faster in the US and things are probably done more efficiently. But look at all the things we loose as a result of that. I have a panic attack if I am late to something. I start getting nervous 15 minutes before I have to be anywhere....even if I am already in route to that place...heck even if I am already at my intended destination. Will it kill me if I get to a place on time rather than 10 minutes early? No, but I was taught that it would. Why can't we relax? Why do we always have to worry?

Why can't we readopt the days where people get off an hour or two for lunch so they can go home to their families eat with them, have a siesta, then go back to work? Why is the world so focused on the end product of things they can't see how they are killing themselves in the present? I didn't know I was freaking out about being late to things until my partner pointed it out to me. I didn't know that my own internal fear was visible. We today become so immune to our own internal feelings and are constantly sacrificing ourselves for the "good" of everyone around us. That is my biggest flaw...and I am working on it. (wow talk about a tangent.... Back to studying!!!!!!)

Much Love!
~S

PS Back to the US in 7 days!!!!!!!!!!

Lebanon part deux

In the three months that I had been living in Egypt prior to going to Lebanon I probably lost somewhere between 5-8 pounds. Thats what happens when you live off of food you can make in a microwave/hot plate/water boiler. So I was looking forward to eating home cooked meals for a week like you wouldn't believe!! I had also heard stories every day about the amazing food that I was in store for from Raina nearly every day leading up to going to Lebanon. The things that were on the top of my need to eat list were tabbouleh, chocolate croissants, fattoush, and falafel. But never would I have guessed how much food I was going to eat that week or how many different types of food I was going to eat.

I ended up in Lebanon during 'Eid, and part of the holiday is a feast. But I swear to you I feasted EVERY night. The first full day I was in Lebanon I hadn't yet figured out that one I need to eat slowly so that I am not encouraged to keep eating after I am full, and two my stomach hadn't yet expanded to be able to accommodate the amount of food I was now eating compared to my meals back in Egypt. So at around 3am after my first full day in Beirut I got sick...and the wonderful food I had been enjoying all day payed me a second visit. :-( Thank-God Raina came and found me and helped me clean up after myself and shove me into bed. (SORRY RAINA!!!)

But nonetheless....you all seriously need to eat some Lebanese food. Come find me in the US and I will cook some for you! Let me describe to you a normal eating day. Wake up and drink tea and/or Turkish Coffee, eat fruit, chocolate croissants, that cheese filled stuff, lentils with olive oil, mint, and lemon. Lunch would be Mana'esh bread filled with cheese or zatar...which I don't know how to describe..., hummus, lots of flat bread, wara 'inab grape leaves filled with rice and/or meat, tabbouleh parsley salad usually eaten on lettuce leaves (AMAZING), fattoush also salad like, or we would eat out and eat normal restaurant food, and we ended with fruit and coffee/tea for desert. Dinner was usually more of an experience one night we went to a restaurant right on the Med...you name it it made it's way to our table that evening. But the reason we went out that night was to eat fish, don't tell my father, but I ate an entire fish that night! It was a once in a life time experience :-P One of my favorite dishes I ate the whole week though was loubia bi zeit green beans, olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes (YUMM). After we went to the movies (Will come in another post soon) Raina's cousin Fadi took us and his family out for falafel...and I must say Lebanon totally does falafel better than Egypt. 


All in all Lebanon was a fabulous eating adventure and I would encourage everyone to visit Lebanon in the future...even if it is just for a day so you can drink Nescafe from a street vender on the Med and drink a Lebanese beer, smoke argila, and munch on maza in one of the cafes lining the cliffs!


Much Love,
~S

Lebanon part one of a few!

I don't think I can even accurately describe to anyone how amazing Lebanon was. Beirut is beautiful, you can walk along the cornish at sunset sipping nescafe from a street vender (probably the best coffee I have ever had) and watch the sun set over the Med, you can sit in a cafe in the recent remodeled downtown, enjoy a fabulous meal and smoke argila under the watchful eyes of the most beautiful mosque I have ever seen, you can hit up a mall and shop (or in my case take absurd amount of pictures of Christmas decorations), and you can see buildings with bullet holes in them and holes bigger than me blown into the sides from bombings. My trip was eye opening and so enlightening. I was able to talk to people who have seen war, who have been refugees, who have had bullets fly into their houses. I wasn't getting my information from a book, a newspaper, an article, I got to hear first hand peoples experiences and it was so moving.

But most importantly I got to live with some of the nicest people I have ever met. Raina Zantout's  family was so very kind and I couldn't have asked for better people to spend my break with. They stuffed me full of amazing food at every meal (I loved it so much I wend and bought a Lebanese cookbook) and after every meal and before bed every night and for snacks during the day we would drink Turkish Coffee (which I learned how to make!!!) and Tea. Tante Fatme (Raina's Aunt) was SO kind and saw to our every need, she reminded me so much of my Grandmother and I loved sitting with her before bed while she had her evening cigarette and listening to her stories. Tante Nooha (Another Aunt) cooked a majority of the food and I WISH I could learn all of the recipes she has in her head! Tante Farida (Aunt number 3) was always willing to share stories and making sure Raina and I were safe and sound. Amu Najib (Uncle) provided a nice balance to the estrogen filled house :-P and Raina's Aunt Tante Nour from down the street would often come and visit and we went there once too to visit (her house was SWANKY!).

We were in Lebanon during 'Eid al-Adha which celebrates Abraham's extreme devotion to God that he would even sacrifice his own son Ishmael to God because that is what God had commanded. However, after the sacrifice had been performed God comes to Abraham and tells him that a sheep was sacrificed instead and God had saved his son because Abraham was able to transcend his love for this world to show his extreme love of God. This is also why during 'Eid al-Adha sheep are sacrificed and their meat is donated to the poor. 'Eid al-Adha follows the month of Hajj and the festivities last for three days. So during these three days many visitors came to Beit Zantout and I got to meet many family friends and relatives. Raina's Aunt who lives in Texas was in town, several of Raina's cousins who live outside of Lebanon were around and of course everyone who lived close by came to visit. Everything reminded me so much of holidays back home. I come from a large family and LOVE family gatherings because of the complete chaos with tons of people crowded together.

I am so happy I went and I can't wait to share more of my stories with you!!!

Much Love,
~S

The Red Sea...an amazing Escape (Part Two The Sea)

We got to our hotel late and exhausted on Friday night. After checking in and laying in bed for a few minutes we headed out to the waterfront for dinner. I ate the most delicious Thai food, with a Mirinda (and they threw in an orange slice for extra flavor!)  and chilled by the water with my friend Raina. We were cold because of the wind blowing off of the water...but I couldn't stop being absolutely amazed at where I was. First of all I have literally been living in the middle of the desert for three months and I have been living on the water for two years back at school!! My soul needed some water in its life! Plus I was sitting by the body of water that connects Egypt with Saudi Arabia! Never in my life would I have ever thought I would be so close to Saudi. The Red Sea has an amazing history and I was so lucky to be able to spend time by it!

The next day we spent down at the water. I got to swim in the Red Sea!!! We snorkeled for a bit and saw some gorgeous fish. I was saddened that there was a lot of trash at the bottom on the sea...beautiful coral would run parallel to discarded mattresses, tires, and scrap metal. Nonetheless, it was an amazing experience and I am so happy that I was able to go. After swimming I sat out on the beach and did some Arabic homework while taking in the wonderful Egyptian sun.

We then grabbed some food for the road, we stopped at a Mc Donald's but Raina and I opted to get take away from the restaurant next door...some sort of fish house I think...I got shrimp and vegetable curry!! YUMMY Then we were off! I got a few hours of shut eye on the way home. We listened to music and I found an Egyptian band I really like!

The best part of the drive though was seeing the oil fields at night. You can tell where they are because of the fire spurting out of the ground in the expanse of the desert. It was eerily beautiful and creepy.

I think that everyone in their life should make it to the Red Sea. I wouldn't trade in this weekend for the world!

Much Love,
~S

I have now touched the Nile, The Red Sea, and the Med!!

The Red Sea...an amazing Escape (Part One St. Anthony)

Life was closing in!! I had to research my 12-20 page paper due in two weeks...and write it, read two novels, read numerous articles for my classes, and keep up with learning Arabic...and that was just school. My relationship with my lover and best friend was hanging in limbo...I was 6 weeks away from coming home, missing my family, my friends, and just needed a break. When the school proposed a trip to St. Anthony's Monastery (Which I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to see!) I jumped on it! Plus I would get the added bonus of a day at the sea to lay out in the sun! WHY NOT?!

I payed my 120 Egyptian pounds (about 25 dollars!! AWESOME DEAL) 3 days before the cut off date and made myself get through the end of me week of classes. The night before we left, although I REALLY should have slept, I went out for my friend Sean's birthday. I met up with my friends at Harry's Pub downtown after they had sushi for dinner...our goal for the evening...karaoke. Little did the unsuspecting patrons of Harry's Pub that night realize that they were in for complete and utter chaos. The birthday boy Sean and his friends had planned a choreographed version of Backstreet Boys...for video footage of this event check out the videos I am tagged in on Facebook...it was wonderful. Harry's was faced with a problem I don't know if they had had in the past, a flood of college students wanting to sing Journey so badly that we had to bribe them at the end of the evening to let us sing "Don't Stop Believing". It. Was. Glorious. I will have to say though the best part of the evening was having a Saudi man walk into the bar...complete in traditional Saudi garb...and prayer beads....dancing with us on the dance floor....with prayer beads in hand. Guess Allah can't see Cairo, Egypt!

We got back to the University at 4 am...hurried to our rooms to collect our bags then met out in the front of the school for the 5am pick up time. 5:15 rolled around and no one was there....not even an RA. We (Raina, Kelli and I) walked back to our rooms and checked to make sure that we were leaving at 5am. All our e-mails confirmed that that was when we were leaving. We sat out front in the cold until 5:45 when a women from the Residence Life office walked up and said, "OH MY GOSH I AM SO SOORY I FORGOT TO CALL YOU ALL AND TELL YOU THE TIME CHANGED TO 6!!" (I then got a sinus infection from sitting outside...but oh well) The bus eventually came and we were off to the red sea.

We attempted to sleep on the way to St. Anthony's Monastery...not much sleep was accomplished. But it did give me the perfect opportunity to see more of this beautiful country! When you are driving across miles and miles of desert in the morning light and you can see the rising sun reflected in the Red Sea, nothing feels oppressive any more. It is a big shock to realize that you really are nothing in this BIG world. Your cares and problems are nothing compared to what some people go through of a daily bases. And I would like to think that living here has taught me to be more self aware, especially after this trip.

We got to the Monastery at 9 am and piled out of the van. I have studied ascetics, people who remove themselves from society at large, live in caves, holes, trees, and on tops of poles, in an effort to bring themselves closer to God and combat their earthly needs and desires. But never in my life would I have imagined Anthony living where he did. I always pictured him living in a cave slightly outside of an oasis town, close enough for someone to bring him a half a loaf of bread each day, but still far out enough not to be bothered. But this place was FAR from EVERYTHING! I was so shocked! It was beautiful....but it really made me re-think asceticism and what it means to be an ascetic.

We were given a tour of the monastery by one of the monks. He was wonderful and loved the fact that one of the first phrases I learned in Arabic was, "I have fish, and everything is good." (Iendy samack, meshi) (I don't even like fish...that's the ironic part) So he proceeded to point out all the fish motifs in the carvings for me! The monastery is beautiful and is currently being restored. It was filled with paintings dating back to the 9th century and makes some of the most amazing bread I have ever had. St. Anthony, according to church doctrine, is buried under the monastery. I also had the opportunity to drink holy water from a spring that flows to the monastery. 


After exploring the monastery we climbed the mountain to the cave where St. Anthony lived out the last of his days. To get to the cave you have to climb up 1200 steps...doesn't sound too bad right?...WRONG lol The first 900 steps, easy, but then you start feeling the exhaustion. Running on maybe 2 hours of sleep, a juice box, and some bread....you really start feeling the tiredness. The group took a rest stop in the shade by a chapel  marking 2/3rds of the way up. But I had to keep going. If I took a break I knew it was going to be a lot harder getting started again. 


I started walking again, making sure I stepped on every step, not wanting to miss a single layer of my journey. All the while thinking to myself, creating my new mantra, "There are things in life that I cannot control, but this does not make me a bad; sister, daughter, lover, or friend." Every step repeat, "There are things in life that I cannot control, but this does not make me a bad; sister, daughter, lover, or friend." "There are things in life that I cannot control, but this does not make me a bad; sister, daughter, lover, or friend." My brain turned off, all it could think was my mantra, all I could afford to think was my mantra. I had to push my body, my brain took a back seat finally and my body came first. One more step, "There are things in life that I cannot control, but this does not make me a bad; sister, daughter, lover, or friend." I could feel myself going higher and higher up the mountain. The ground receding behind me and painting a picture you only see in fantasies; pure desert, stretching for as long as you can see, no roads, no trees, no buildings, no people. All you hear is the crunch of sand under your feet, your breath in your ears and the repetition of your mantra in your head. "There are things in life that I cannot control, but this does not make me a bad; sister, daughter, lover, or friend." I made myself loose control of myself. No it was more like I let myself succumb to the world around me. (Which I always thought would be terrifying because then I am not in control) But. It. Was. Amazing. 


Never in my life have I felt so much relief when I reached the mountain plateau where St. Anthony's cave is. Not wanting to sit yet, I removed my scarf from my head, finally feeling the cool air created by the mountains shade, I removed my shoes and entered St. Anthony's cave. It was nothing like I pictured it to be during my studies. The path into the cave was only big enough to fit one foot in front of the other and even I had to crouch down to get in. The cave was in two tiers. The first one is only about 2 feet by 4 feet by 5 feet and leads down to the main part of the cave where the Saint would have lived. The "Main Part" of the cave is only 3 feet by 6 feet by 7 feet there was a small shrine at the bottom, and kids were sitting down there with flashlights lighting the path. I touched the shrine, repeated my mantra, contemplated taking a picture but then realized that I would be violating what had become my sanctuary. So I turned and left the cave. 


I finally sat down on the side of the mountain, opened my bottle of water, drank, laid down, closed my eyes, and breathed. It was all gone. All that was left was me. Breathing. Repeating. Breathing. The cool mountain was chilling my body. The people around me were all rejoicing at their success at making it up the mountain. Parents carried their children to the cave. Couples climbing up the steps, one by one, holding hands. Some climbed with cd players repeating Coptic hymns. Others climbed in prayer. A few climbed with their extended families. Some climbed in grief, and some in great joy. We all exchanged our energies, releasing everything we had bottled up inside us out into the world. We were all free. Sitting at the top of a mountain. In the middle of the desert. All alone. Yet all bound together for eternity.


Pictures from the trip at 
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=120793&id=559567285&l=75740e2bc3 


Part Two The Red Sea coming after my trip to Alexandria! 

MORE PICTURES

If you would like to check out my pictures go HERE! It gives a pretty good summary of what I have been doing with my life in the past month!

xoxo
~S

Greece Pictures!

Pictures from Istanbul! (and I would write what all the pictures are but I can't figure out how to do that....getting the pictures up was hard enough!)

Greece

Alison and I got to Greece and chilled in the hotel room our first night there. We found out that our ceiling actually had little lights in it that change colors and look like stars....we were amused! Our first day was LONG. We went to the Acropolis Museum, which opened this June, it was amazing and the artifacts were beautiful. There was actually quite a long line to get in, it is apparently the nicest museum in Greece and has all of the newest technological gadgets to keep everything preserved. The most interesting part wasn't even inside the museum. Before you entered you stood on a platform that was made of glass. If you looked down you could see the ruins that the museum was built over. (It made waiting in line bearable!) While we were wondering around the museum we stumbled upon a few AUC kids who just happened to be at the museum...the world is really small when you think about it!

After the museum we climbed up the Acropolis to see the Parthenon...and truth be told it was a let down. I had gotten so used to Egypt where you can go in temples and explore and look around. There are virtually no limits to what you can and cannot do. But in Greece we weren't allowed in the temples...we had to stand about 5 yards away from the Parthenon. Plus they had scaffolding up everywhere, and have had it up since 2000, to repair the temples. It was still really cool to see! The best part though was defiantly the view from the top of the mountain! After exploring all the temples on the top of the Acropolis we hiked all around the mountain and found the smaller temples that surrounded the Acropolis. These temples ranged from caves...to small groves. It was a fun scavenger hunt! Hiking around the mountain was defiantly more exciting than looking at the big temples on the top of the mountain. It was the only time that we were able to get up close and personal with the sites. Plus who doesn't love exploring caves and hiking?! Needless to say we slept well that night!

The next day we went to the Ancient Agora (It was Athens shopping center back in the day!), Hadrian's Library, The Roman Agora, the Zeus Temple, and Hadrian's Arch. The Agoras were the more interesting sites....mostly becuase I really like seeing where normal people would have interacted on a daily basis and where else would be a better place to study that than at the local marketplace?! This day was also filled with A LOT of walking. Probably more than the day before. But this did give me the perfect opportunity to get lots of pictures of some really awesome street art! (The street art in Athens was amazing! If you are a street art fan I would totally recommend a day trip to Athens.)

Our last day we REALLY wanted to see the water. So we took the metro to the stop that had a boat next to it lol yup that was the extent of our planning. We got there and saw lots of boats....but there wasn't a pier for us to look off of. So we returned home dismayed. After grabbing a quick lunch (and once again feeling really poor because we had to pay in Euros) we headed to the Archeological Museum. At the Archeological Museum in Athens, Greece I saw Egyptian mummies....I haven't even seen a mummy...and I have been living in Egypt for a month...but I saw one in Greece! :-)

We meandered back to the hotel where we picked up our bags and walked 3 blocks to the Suburban Train that took us to the airport. After sitting on the train for about 30 min...I was looking at the awkward map on the train wall and trying to make sure we were going in the right direction (I knew we had gotten on the right train...Platform 2 Line 2). A guy behind me asked me where I was trying to go...I said the airport....and his face fell. "You have to be kidding me" he said. "No I'm being completely serious...why?" I responded. "You are going in the wrong direction" he told me. Apparently the lady who sold us our tickets didn't tell us we needed to switch trains at the first stop. So we jumped off the train we were on. Waited 30 minutes at that station until a train was coming in the opposite direction ( and if you know me you know that I get REALLY anxious and nervous if I am going to be late to something so I was slightly freaking out). But the stop we were at was right by the gorgeous water! So we finally saw the water!!! We got on the next train...switched trains where we should have the first time and got to the airport one hour before our plane left. We got to our gate 15 minutes before our plane was supposed to leave....we were booking it through the airport. And after sitting there for 10 minutes they delayed our flight for an hour....our layover in Istanbul coming home was only 2 hours long...so that only left us with 45 minutes to find our next gate to head back to Cairo.

But all in all we made it back to Cairo safely and non of my souvenirs got broken! Although the trip to Athens was fun and I really enjoyed seeing the sites...I do not want to go back there. If I were to go to Greece again I would go to the islands. Athens was fun but there is not much to do after you have been there for two days.

xoxo
~S

Turkey!

Alison and I left the University at 12am on Friday, after calling our amazing and wonderful cab guy…we finally found a regular one who is awesome and reliable! After being surprised once again at the laxness of security in Egypt…we meandered to our gate and sat. (To pass time we sounded out words written on signs….we didn’t know what they meant but we could say them! Haha) We jumped on our 2:30 am flight to Istanbul, Turkey sleep drunk and ready for a nap! The flight was easy (I wish I could have slept more though) and the landing was gloriously smooth (no Inshallaha Air landing here!)

The taxi ride to our hotel was BEAUTIFUL! I fell in love with Turkey on the ride. (Our old bald driver was blasting techno music the whole time…it was wonderful) It was so exciting to see flowers, and trees, and grass everywhere again! The weather was crisp and cool; which was awesome because I thought I wasn’t going to be able to experience a fall this year! Our hotel was gorgeous and Alison and I didn’t want to leave! It was a nice change of pace and exciting to be spoiled for a few days!

Our first night there we went out and explored the street we were living on. We found this awesome restaurant, Doce, where we ate several other times during our stay. Later that night we met up with two of our friends who are staying in Istanbul the rest of this week and went to a Nargile café and smoked/ drank tea while we planned the rest of our stay.

The next day we went and explored the historical landmarks in Istanbul. We went to the Topkapi Palace, which was the grand palace of the Ottoman Empire. We saw lots of jewels, pretty paintings, and pure elegance. The palace is located right on the water! (Which was wonderful because I was missing those chilly fall days where the wind whips off of the water and sends chills through your whole body!) It was the perfect location for tons of pictures with my friends and me! (I will do a picture only post when I get back to Egypt!!)

Then we ate lunch at a little café by the Hippodrome, across from the Egyptian obelisk, where we witnessed (we only found this out later though) the burial procession of the last Turkish Sultan who died earlier this week. We were scared that we were by a riot! We then went to the Aya Sophia, it was a Church in Constantinople which was later changed into a mosque when the ruling class became Muslim. The meshing of the two religions in one building was astonishing and breathtaking. The mosaics that had been hidden by plaster when the church was converted to a mosque were gorgeous and still glittered with their past elegance! After leaving the Aya Spohia we went to The Blue Mosque.

The Blue Mosque is so named for the hand painted blue tiles that adorn its walls. But before we were allowed into the mosque we had to wait for the evening prayer to finish! Also when you go into a mosque you have to cover up, so we all slipped on our sweaters and put our scarves over our heads…and you must take off your shoes.  (If you don’t have things to cover up with they have people outside handing you robes that you can slip on over your clothing.) The mosque was just as amazing as everyone had made it out to be! It is lit only from light from the windows with a few chandeliers that dangle down from wires that stretch from the ceiling to 7 feet above the floor. It gives the illusion that you are amongst the stars when you sit down on the luscious carpet and look up. We sat in the mosque for a while just taking it all it. The air was filled with a peace that you can only find in a spot filled with so much faith.

That night Alison stayed in and did work while Nimisha, Cheyenne, and I went and explored! We ended up eating the best chicken kabob sandwiches we have ever had from an awesome vender by the hostel they were staying at! Then we headed back to the hotel Alison and I were staying at and had a sleep over!

The next day we woke up and headed over to the spice market! (Who doesn’t want to start their day filled with fresh spices and yummy free food!!!) Then we walked over the bridge to the other side of Istanbul! There we ate lunch (corn from a vender!) and sat by the water. (In order to get to a place to sit we had to walk past a creepy fish market though…it was depressing…) After that we went to a hidden book market outside of the Grand Bazaar. It was defiantly a hidden treasure and smelled amazing! (Who doesn’t love the smell of old books?!) Then we headed back to our hotel where we chilled and watched Aladdin! (The evening was punctuated by a frantic search all over Istanbul for pizza since we had been seeing signs for Pizza Hut all day!) We had another sleep over that night because we wanted to get up early and go spend our last day at the bazaar.

Our last morning in Istanbul we woke up and headed out to the Bazaar where I spent too much money…but it was fun and I got some really cool things! We ate one last time at Doce, the first restaurant that Alison and I ate at in Istanbul, and had apple tea one last time (a local yummy favorite), then headed back to the hotel to catch our cab!

It was a wonderful 4 days and I know I left a part of my heart in Istanbul! I hope that I get to come back to this wonderful city again sometime in my lifetime!

Much Love

Xoxo

~S

What's Been Going On In My Life!

Hey everyone! A lot has happened in the past few weeks! I have been to Luxor and Aswan in Upper Egypt and am currently in my hotel lobby in Turkey waiting for my room to be ready! When AUC decided to close until October 4th I knew I was going to travel but I never expected to have done so much in such a short period of time.

I went on a Nile Cruise with the school and I met some absolutely wonderful people who I feel really comfortable and close with!!! We visited three tombs in The Valley of the Kings; Ramses VII, Ramses IV, and Ramses IX, and I was shocked by how much these tombs have been preserved over the years. In the Ramses IV tomb you could even see brush strokes in the designs that were painted on the walls. Every surface was nearly covered with color from floor to ceiling; there were spots where some of the paint had been chipped away. The most shocking part about visiting The Valley of the Kings is seeing how much land the tombs that they have found take up. And when you look around and realize how much time and man power it would have taken to create one tomb it is mind blowing.

We also visited many temples; The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the Colossi of Memnon, Karnak Temple, Horus Temple, Sobek, Haroeris Temple, and The Temple of Philae. (Truth be told...once you see one temple they all start to blend together!) However, I learned that when touring temples with incompetent tour guides Lonely Planets, and friends who speak other languages are wonderful things to have! All of the temples were beautiful and will hold a special place in my heart.

Our last stop was at the High Dam and Lake Nasser. I think that Lake Nasser is probably the most beautiful man made thing ever created! It was also crazy to think that I was SO CLOSE to Sudan!

                                                (The Nile...on the way to Philae Temple)

To get to all of these places we flew to Luxor then sailed on a cruise ship to Aswan and stopped along the way. The Nile was beautiful and sailing was peaceful. It was a perfect way to spend Eid!

Then we got back to school and my friend Alison and I planed a trip to Turkey and Greece! I know my life sounds so horrible right now. But if it makes you feel any better I still have homework to do and need to keep up with all of my assignments for classes!

Much Love! xoxo
~S

Where in the world is Sarah?!

Hey everyone! I know you all are thinking...wait didn't Sarah just get back from a trip....and the answer would be YES however I am leaving tonight at Midnight for another excursion! I am going to Istanbul, Turkey from Friday September 25th until Monday September 28th then I am heading to Athens, Greece until Thursday October 1st.

School will then hopefully start on October 4th! I promise a nice long post when I get back from the other side of the Mediterranean!

xoxo
~S

Off to Upper Egypt!

I am going to get on my bus to the airport at 3am my time (9pm East Coast time) and my plane is at 6:45am to Aswan. Then head to a ship in Aswan to see the High Dam, the Temple of Philea, and a felluca ride around Kitchener's Island, and the Aga Khan Mausoleum. The second day we are going to a temple shared by two Gods Sobek and Haroeris of Kom Ombo. Then we will sail to Edfu and see the Horus Temple. That night we will sail to Luxor and on day three we will see; the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, and the Colossi of Memnon. Finally we will go see the Karnak Temple and the Luxor Temple. Then back to Aswan. Hop on a plane and back to Cairo in time for dinner on Tuesday!

I will have lots of stories and pictures up hopefully by Tuesday evening! Much Love! And Happy Rosh Hashanah (on Saturday) and Happy Eid el Fitr (on Sunday) !!

xoxo
~S

P.S. Check out my videos on YouTube!  http://www.youtube.com/user/Sarah8104

Internet in the Desert is not Reliable

Hi Everyone! Sorry that it has been a few days since I last posted. Things got busy on campus and my internet was down for a few days. But everything is fine now! Inshallah things will be fine for the rest of the semester.

I have had 4 days of my Survival Arabic class and have learned A LOT! I often find myself wanting to speak in Spanish. I have no clue why. I rarely try to speak English. But I keep thinking and wanting to respond in Spanish. On the positive side of things; I can sound out words and say them when I see them written in Arabic. I can count to 10...100 if I am awake and alert. I can say, "Hi" and "Good Bye", as well as have a few simple conversations about things like food, and prices of food/taxi fair. I am really happy that I took this class because it gave me something to do during the day and made me get my body on Egypt time. ( I still know people who are staying up until 6 am and then sleeping until 2 pm.)

Monday was pretty uneventful except for a trip into town...which became a trip to City Stars. We got into town on the AUC bus. Then found out that the next bus back to the school wasn't until Midnight. (and if you know me I am totally not an evening person.) So my friend Alison and I got a cab and went to City Stars. The cab ride was CRAZY! Picture rush hour DC traffic....with no lines on the road....and a cab driver who is young and willing to take risks. We were weaving all over the place. Making lanes (well there are no lanes....but if there were, we would have been making new ones). I am positive that riding in a cab in NYC after this trip will be a piece of cake! (There were a few times where we were so close to the car next to us that I could touch them IN THE CAR without any effort...it was an interesting experience) But none the less these guys seem like they know what they are doing.

Then we got to City Stars. (City Stars is a HUGH 7 story mall in Cairo. Name a store and they have it!) I had arranged to be taken back to school by Sarah (who totally saved me that night! THANK YOU SO MUCH!) and so while she was eating dinner we wandered around and checked out the stores. I was shocked to find quite a few Lingerie stores. What was defiantly the weirdest part of the experience was during Iftar the whole mall was empty. All the stores closed and everyone headed to the food court. WHICH WAS PACKED!! There were no seats so people were sitting on the stairs and on the floor. Also what I thought was pretty wild is that there is a place to pray in the mall itself. So maybe Monday was more interesting then I thought! :-)

On Tuesday I went to Khan el Kahlily Bazaar and it was AMAZING. (the bus driver got lost on the way there...which is not uncommon...and so we only got to spend and hour there but it was worth it!) I got a scarf which is so pretty. (I love bargaining for things!) They had lamps everywhere that reminded me of Aladdin. Tons and Tons of trinkets, scarfs, rugs, ornate boxes, and lamps. (This is totally where I am going to get souvenirs!) In order to keep track of everyone in the bazaar people looked for blonde heads. If you got separated from the group you just needed to spot a yellow head and head that direction! At the end of the evening we chilled at the coffee/Shesha bar until to bus came. I had fresh Mango juice. Words cannot describe how good it was! The tea was also wonderful and so different from the states. When we were getting ready to leave we attracted a lot of attention. Nothing bad, just a lot of waving and people saying "Welcome!". (The kids seemed the most amused by all of us!)

Wednesday was fun. After class the school provided us with Iftar and entertainment. The food was AMAZING!!! Mostly because I got to eat veggies!!! I MISS VEGGIES SO MUCH! The food here is very meat heavy, very good...but lots of meat. They set up a stage by the library and tons of tables for all of the international students and first year students. We had greenbeans, carrots, and peas. As well as chicken, beef sausage, and rice. I had water, pepsi and apricot juice to drink (IT WAS YUMMY). For desert we had pudding with nuts in it. I was full and happy!

After we ate a club on campus played a movie they made. It was supposed to show arab history through time and be a comedy. But everyone at my table got distracted when in the first 5 minutes of the show they had characters appear in black face. I was sitting at a table with 7 students (2 were African American) and 3 profs. All of the students were staring with their mouths open. The profs didn't react. So an interesting conversation got started about how, yes minstrel shows are not part of Arab history. Therefore, they probably don't realize how offensive black face is. But still, it really hit a nerve, and we all had a MAJOR case of culture shock. (Not being able to flush toilet paper was odd but you get over it. Seeing people in black face and no one reacting but the Americans. Was really weird because that ideas is so ingrained into out culture. But it is in no way present here.) Afterwards they had a DJ come and play music. It was fun to watch people dance because they don't touch each other. (They kind of hop) I found it amusing.

Yesterday I had a Bedouin night....but this post has gotten LONG so it will just have to be by itself!

MUCH LOVE!

~S

P.S. Hopefully I will be able to figure out how to post pictures with my blog soon!

What's on the Agenda

Here is what I will be up to for the next few days!

I had my first day of Survival Arabic today! I can now say hi 3 different ways and goodbye 3 different ways. I can say where I am from and how to say my name. I also learned numbers and letters...kinda (we went through it REALLY quickly so I am not sure how much of it will stick. I know I will have it after the first semester though!) I think that the class will be very helpful and the people who aren't taking the class are pretty much hating life right now because they are running out of things to do.

I also have a few trips planned for the next few days.

Tonight I am going to Khan El Khalily. Khan El Khalily is a market in downtown Cairo. We are going at 9:00 pm I know it sounds late but that is early for most people here. I have been at a grocery store at midnight and there were whole families there and I mean everyone! (little babies is strollers, toddlers...) I think that Cairo is really the city that never sleeps!

Tomorrow I am hopefully going on the Nile River Cruise. But the bus leaves at 5 from Zamaleck and I have class until 5:30 tomorrow....so I might be going I might not be. It all depends on the bus system which can be pretty chaotic around here and if I can get out of class early. I really want to go though! I have heard only amazing things about them. I would be going for Iftar, and while we are there there would be tons of entertainment!

Then Thursday I am going to do a Bedouin Night out in the desert! We go and eat dinner then ride horses....I'm not really sure of all the details I have just heard that it is absolutely amazing.

Sadly I can't do the pyramids on Friday because of my class :-( I am really sad about that. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to go. But it is at the same time my class is. I think a group of people that I have met are going to go to the pyramids on a weekend later in the semester when it is cooler so I will defiantly jump on that!

Lastly I am on the waiting list (2nd in line!! I REALLY hope that I get to go on this trip!!) to go to Luxor and Aswan. It is a 4 day 3 night trip to so many places further south in Egypt.

I guess that is all for now. I am also planning to go up to Alexandria one day with some friends in the future as well. I hope that everyone is having fun back at home!

Much Love,

~S