"Today, class, we will talk about adverbs."

This will not be a long post, but I wanted to let you all know that I have begun teaching English and have found it both challenging and rewarding. The students are very kind and bright. One of them, a Sudanese refugee invited me to his home for dinner last night. It was a lovely evening and the food was amazing. He has demanded that I frequent his home for dinner and fellowship. His name is Ez El-Deen. Please keep him and his family in your prayers, as they live here in Cairo with the challenges that inevitably face refugees. Hardship, though, does not stop his warm hospitality, and he offers it with a strong disdain for his guest's gratitude. I could not stop thanking him for the delicious food and his invitation to spend time with his beautiful family, but he told me to stop saying thank you. "Why do you say thank you? This is nothing. We are family."

Do NOT Take the Slow Ferry to Jordan!

This past weekend I skipped my last class on Thursday in order to take the overnight bus trip to Sinai. I laughed to myself as I soon realized that my luck has not changed since my time in Syria. I once again had the great fortune (if you don't sense the sarcasm in this, please read on) of being assigned a seat next to the largest Egyptian man on the bus. However, the trip was not all that unpleasant. I arrived in Sinai just in time to catch the sunrise, but also too early to find a reasonably priced taxi to the beach camp where my friends were staying.

That morning, upon arrival at the ferry ticket office, we debated on whether to take the fast ferry or the slow ferry to Jordan. We decided to take our chances with the slow ferry even though Lonely Planet warned us about the possible consequences for our actions. As it turns out, I am seriously considering becoming a contributor to the next edition of "Egypt" in the Lonely Planet series in order to add a one liner,"If you're a non-Egyptian or non-Jordanian do not, I repeat, DO NOT take the slow ferry from Sinai to Jordan. Paying the extra $10 American will prove to be well worth it. Needless to say, my friends and I spent close to 12 hours on a stuffy ferry, were for some reason locked on the upper deck of the vessel, and were limited to a steady diet of potato chips and cookies packed with preservatives for the duration of the journey.

Despite this nightmare of an experience, we made it to Jordan safe and sound. We were able to spot a "shawarma-ry" open at two in the morning, and the delicious wraps proved to be well worth the wait. The next day was solely dedicated to visiting Petra. It was absolutely amazing and well worth the trying experience getting there. I will post pictures soon. As a side note, listening to the soundtrack from "Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade" truly enhances the experience of seeing the famous Treasury carved out of the Petra mountains. I've posted a video of this point in the trip. Please excuse the commentary. :)

A Short Clip from Petra

Though expensive, this trip was well worth it.

Short Clip from the Pyramids and Sphinx

Seized Opportunities

This past week has given me two amazing opportunities, which I am truly grateful I took advantage of despite my constant paranoia of lacking sufficient concentration on my studies. The first was earlier this week. I was invited by a fellow American in the dorms, who was invited by a recently acquired Egyptian friend, to a celebratory concert, featuring the famous Amr Diab, at Cairo Stadium for the recent victors in the African Cup of Nations, Egypt. The Egyptian team (muntakhab Misr) were present and walked around the stadium with the roaring crowd cheering, waving Egyptian flags, dancing, and chanting memorized odes to Egypt and her soccer team. My companions and I quickly realized that this sort of event is not one usually frequented by foreigners. Consequently, we were welcomed at every corner, asked to be focal points in pictures, and forcibly confiscated from our "Little America" community to walk arm in arm with Egyptians who took the opportunity to show off their English skills. I find that they are always astonished to hear even a little Arabic coming out of our mouths and generously compliment our efforts saying, "You speak Arabic beautifully!"

The second was a couple days ago. My dear friends Gabe and Emelia were in town entertaining a friend of theirs, Parker, who was visiting from New York. They were gracious enough to allow me to accompany them and some of our other friends living here in Egypt to the Pyramids. We hired a wonderful man named Samir as our tour guide, and this proved to be more than redemptive, since my last experience visiting the Pyramids was disappointing to say the least. Samir's many degrees, some including Egyptology and History among others, provided extremely useful and entertaining as we observed the baffling engineering of these colossal tombs. I will post some pictures in the near future so you can get an idea, especially, of the size of the Great Pyramid of Khufa. If you come and visit me, I would definitely seek out Samir to take us around. Until then, pictures will have to suffice.

First Week of School

I left school today, ending my first week of classes, with a bag full of literature, all centered around the city of Cairo. I must say, I feel tremendously privileged to be living on the set of so many fascinating stories, the stomping grounds of so many prolific writers, in just one of the many blossoming eras of Egyptian history. For anyone dying for some interesting reading material and in need of leisure activities, consider reading "Midaq Alley" by Naguib Mahfouz. After the initial few chapters, I quickly realized the enhancement that comes from seeing the actual sites, hearing the actual sounds, smelling the actual smells, and tasting the actual flavors found amongst the characters and settings of the Arabic novel.

In other news, I'm beginning to feel more comfortable with navigating the city. I've ventured into the seemingly complicated metro system, experienced the chaos of micro-buses, and witnessed the understandable affect of gridlock on Cairo taxis. Though challenging at times, and to the likely humor of the local onlookers, I've managed to navigate confidently through parts of the city. The goal will be to gradually become familiar with what is one of the largest cities in the world, daunting though it may be.

Soccer in Cairo

In case you didn't know, soccer is the sport of choice for most in the Middle East. I was not particularly fond of the sport prior to my travels here, but it is near impossible to escape the hype once your here for an extended period of time. All that to say I've become quite the fan.

Last night was the much anticipated match between Egypt and Algeria. It was a match of revenge for the unsportsmanlike conduct of the Algerian team towards Egypt in the previous match between the two.

Egypt destroyed Algeria with a final score of 4-0. After that, all of Egypt went into celebration mode. Celebrations in Egypt consist of people from many different walks of life coming together to bang on drums, wave Egyptian flags, sing and chant, dance, paint their faces, block the streets, and light steel wool on fire to make sparklers. It was very cool to be apart of the excitement. However, it can become somewhat of a nuisance to those en route to their home or jobs. I wish I could have taken pictures, but I thought I'd at least describe the evening as best I could.

I begin classes on Sunday and anticipate an exciting and very educational semester on many levels. Thanks for taking the time to read and please feel free to comment!