St. Mark's and St. Mark's

Dear readers,

The last weekend we had in Alexandria was only one day long, and none of us had anything planned. Some of us wanted to go to Montaza (though I didn't, since I had already been), and some wanted to go to the Mansheya market for the umpteenth time. Others had already left for home, choosing to skip the last day of the program. The rest of us were fresh out of ideas, so after consulting the Interwebs, we decided to check out two cathedrals -- and each of them, incidentally, were called St. Mark's.

St. Marks #1 (i.e. the first St. Mark's we tried to visit) is a gorgeous Coptic cathedral about a 10-15 minute walk from our hotel.

Gorgeous on the outside:

And gorgeous on the inside, architecturally:

and in terms of actual pieces of artwork, like these:

I think there was a service going on when we went there (on a Friday), and a man was giving a sermon, but very few people were there, and even fewer were paying attention. (It was sad; the only reason why I wasn't listening was because I understood very little of what he was saying.)

After that, we tried to get to St. Mark's #2 -- a.k.a. St. Mark's Pro-Cathedral, so named because it's the first Anglican cathedral in Egypt. It was a little tricky to find. We thought this gate led to it:

 But then we went in, and all we found was this sad old courtyard, full of trash and peeling paint:

 After a few minutes of further searching and asking for directions, we finally found it! ...but it was closed. So I took this photo through a fence:

 

 In case you were wondering, this is the view we missed out on, i.e. what it looks like from behind all the trees:

(I took the photo from Google Images.)

So that was a nice way for us to spend our last weekend afternoon in Alexandria! It was very fun and spontaneous. 

Thanks for reading, folks!

Beth

Field trips!

Dear readers,

As promised, here are some brief descriptions of several cool (short) trips we've taken on this program -- with photos!

1. Sidi Khayr

Three of the girls in the program are friends with a Georgetown student who lives in Alexandria, who invited all of us (except the guys) to her family's beach house for the day. Sidi Khayr is essentially a resort-y suburb of Alexandria where you can only live if your family has a family connection to the military -- or to the previous regime. Sample comment from the girl hosting us: "The guy who lives in that house runs a really big juice company. He used to send us free juice all the time, but he hasn't for a while. He might be in jail now." So, needless to say, going there was an enlightening experience because of stories like that.

And I haven't even mentioned the beach yet!

This photo was taken right as we were about to break fast with our Georgetown friend, at a beachfront restaurant, in our swimsuits. Look how pretty that beach is. Look at that sunset! 

After we ate there, we had dessert, provided to us generously by our friend's family:

What you're looking at there is an assortment of Egypt's finest: pastries with honey, and dates, and more honey. I had never had baklava with dates before, and it was one of the more beautiful experiences of my life. If only I could find somewhere that sells those in America!

To summarize, though: Especially after going on the "fishing" excursion that I blogged about earlier, I felt like, when I visited this beach suburb, I was seeing "how the other half lives". It's wonderful to have seen so many walks of life during my time here; as isolated as this program group may seem, I know that we've seen "the real Egypt", and that's the most important thing.

2. The Gardens at Montaza

The other kids and I knew that it's one of those places that you have to visit, if you come to Alexandria -- though I for one didn't know what to expect. When several of us visited on one weekend morning (early, to avoid the heat), what I got was LOTS of date palms and old buildings:

Pretty on the outside, but gutted and dirty and full of trash on the inside. All the buildings there were like that, including the saddest gazebo I've ever seen (which I did not photograph).

An exception to that rule: the palace at Montaza, in the middle of the gardens:

 

Which I presume is pretty on the inside, too, or else it wouldn't have been so well-guarded. (I took this picture through a fence.)

The path through the gardens led to the ocean, and the view was really lovely:

The gardens and coast were peaceful and quiet and almost entirely empty, which was a nice change from the insanity of everyday life. I was so glad I went!

3. Mansheya market

A market about 20 minutes walk from our hotel that specializes in products for women: fabric, spices, silver jewelry, and women's clothes. I've been there three times, and never been bored. It is so full of beautiful colors and people-watching and Ramadan decorations:

Crucial factor: it is much more civilized (in my opinion) than markets like Khan al-Khalili, where there is never a moment when someone isn't yelling at you. At Mansheya, most shop owners remain in their shops, instead at sitting outside and trying to get you to come in. (Also, most prices are fixed at Mansheya, which is a welcome change for those of us who hate haggling!)

I bought spices/herbs there, that I hope will get through airport security okay: chamomile, cinnamon sticks, lime leaves, cumin, turmeric. I also got some gifts for friends/family. (My lips are sealed, guys! You'll have to wait until I get back.)

4. Egyptian Market

No, really, that's its actual name, literally translated from the Arabic (as-Souq al-Masry). So many vegetables! So many live animals in cages! So many hooves hanging from meat hooks!! It was awesome, and honestly it exceeded my expectations. If I lived in Egypt, I would love to do all my food shopping there. A feast for the eyes!!

 

There wasn't a single boring moment when I was there. I loved everything about it.

I especially love this street cat that I made friends with:

He kept getting up on his hind legs, putting his front paws on my legs, and trying to play with my camera. It's no wonder that he was probably the healthiest street cat I've seen in Egypt; the cuter you are, the more people will feed you. Survival skill!

(And no, Mom, I didn't pet him. I am free of street cat diseases!)

That's about it for now! My last day of class was today, and I only have a couple of days left in Egypt. If cool things in need of documentation occur between now and then, expect an awesome post on the subject. Otherwise, my next post may be a reflection on the entire experience -- written during one of my two four-hour layovers to keep from falling asleep and prolonging my jet lag.

Thanks for reading,

Beth C-C

at-Ta'aam wal-Meshrubaat, al-Jaz al-Thaani (Food and Drinks, Part Two)

Dear readers,

I loved food before this trip -- as all my friends know, since I am more easily enthused by food than almost anyone -- but traveling has made me love food even more. Many of my favorite memories, both from London and from Egypt, have been of restaurants and food. So of all the subjects I've talked about so far on this blog, the one that deserves a second, very long post is definitely food.

Last time, I talked about school day food. I showed you photos of hotel breakfast, and I took photos of the usual places we go for lunch (or at least, the places we went for lunch before everything closed for Ramadan during the daylight hours). Now, I'm going to talk to you about our usual dinner haunts. This post will be split up into two parts: non-Egyptian food, and Egyptian food.

Non-Egyptian Food:

1. Cafe Santos

A diner two blocks inland from our hotel, with terrible music, but a pretty cool pseudo-rock-and-roll design aesthetic:

They serve Western-style food -- and by Western-style, I mean anything Western that they can think of: Pizza, burgers, salads, crepes, coffee drinks, milkshakes, etc. Pretty expensive for Egyptian standards, but I can still get a latte for half the price it would be in America, with even prettier presentation.

Look how pretty it is, all layered in its hot toddy glass! <3 And it tasted wonderful, too; better espresso than at Starbucks, in my opinion.

2. China House

Chinese, Thai, and Japanese food, on the roof of a really fancy historic hotel (Hotel Sofitel Cecil), with a gorgeous view of the Mediterranean:

I've had Chinese food and Thai food from there and I really liked it -- though I didn't like it enough to pay seventy Egyptian pounds for it (which is even on the spendy side by American standards!).

Funny story: The menus brag that China House (and its sister restaurants throughout Egypt) having "only Chinese, Japanese, and Indian chefs" -- which I find bizarre for several reasons, including but not limited to the fact that they don't serve Indian food there.

3. Bamboo

My absolute favorite! <3 It is my comfort food spot and I go there at least twice a week. You have to order over the phone way in advance, because there's only one chef: an Indonesian woman named Susie, who came to Egypt and settled here after marrying an Egyptian man. And now she makes delicious pan-Asian food here :D

We very often eat outside -- because nights in Alexandria are always gorgeous and relatively bug-free -- and I always order the "Combo #1": chicken satay, steamed vegetables with salt and pepper, and tom yum soup. Mmm!

Egyptian Food

1. Gad

Simply put: Egyptian McDonald's. It's cheap, it's quick, and it clogs your arteries. Very similar to the lunch food we get, only worse, and cheaper. (Some of us eat here almost every night -- and Amy eats suhoor here regularly because it's open at all hours of the night/morning.)

 

(photo stolen from virtualtourist.com)

2. Muhammed Ahmed

Also cheap and easy, but a sit-down restaurant, and absolutely fantastically delicious. Best falafel in town! Here is a photo of what the group always gets, and shares:

From left to right: Hummus, falafel, "ful Iskandaraani" (Alexandrian beans -- with veggies and tahini), fried cheese (my favorite <3), and more falafel. Off camera: pita bread.

3. Ibn al-Balad

The most expensive Egyptian place we've been so far, but we really like it. It's a nice sit-down restaurant with significantly more variety than any other one we've been to -- and really good starters (i.e. dips and bread).

It is also the place where I ate pigeon for the first time! In lieu of a picture of me eating it -- because there is no such photo -- here are two photos of my classmates eating pigeon there:

That second picture is of the same pigeon dish that I had -- meaning, the head was still on it. (I didn't eat the head, because as bold an eater as I am, I can't quite work up the courage to eat brains.) But it had rosemary and it was delicious!

One more place, that I can't find a picture of, is Helwiyat Misr (Egypt Sweets), where you can sit down with a coffee and enjoy half a kilo of kunafa with your friends :D

And that's about it for now! It describes my food adventures pretty well -- and it implies why it created within me a hunger (ha ha) for travel food adventure. Last post, I lied that this one would be about trips. But the next one will be!

Thanks for reading anyway,

- Beth C-C

Ramadan Part Two

Dear readers,

More cool Ramadan things have happened since I last posted, and therefore a short post about those things -- some of which involve food -- is in order!

Firstly:
A few days ago, those of us in Advanced level were invited to our professor's house for Iftar (i.e. the meal for breaking fast after sundown). And it was wonderful!! Duktuura Iman is a wonderful person, and her family was very kind to us as well. She had made us really, really delicious food -- without a doubt one of the best meals I've had here.

From top to bottom: Stuffed vegetables (zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper); fateera (Turkish meat pastry); curried chicken with potatoes and tomatoes.

On the left: Pastry with honey and nuts. On the right: Pastry with honey and more honey.

Seriously, though, this was such a wonderful meal, not just because of the food itself, but because of all the wonderful people I was eating with, and because we actually takellemna bil-Arabeya (spoke Arabic)! (We also spoke almost exclusively Arabic to them while we were there, which was SO rewarding. After spending six weeks studying intensive Arabic in Egypt, I'd like to think that I can have a conversation with an Egyptian about something besides who I am, where I'm from, and "where's the bathroom?".) 

And while we were speaking Arabic together, I had an interesting conversation with Duktuura Iman about Alexandria compared to how it once was, with an emphasis on education. The university where she teaches -- i.e. where I'm going to school -- has over 150,000 students(!), and Duktuura Iman told me that she has taught classes of over a thousand people before. When she told me that, I went "But... but... in a room??" and she said "No, out in a large, open space. I used a microphone." You know that a country's university system has issues when stuff like that happens!!

Secondly:

Another thing that makes Ramadan like the Christmas season -- besides eating with your family, putting up festive lights, etc -- is that, even if you didn't do a lot of charity work for the rest of the year, now becomes the time to give to the poor. (For example: you may never give toys to kids without toys, except at that Christmas tree in the middle of your local Sears.) Same thing with Ramadan! And last week-ish I went with a couple of other American students from my program to take part in that Ramadan tradition. 


And... surprisingly, it was not all that different from its equivalent in America. We went to a little storefront-type place -- kind of a hole in the wall -- and put food into bags to distribute to poor Muslims who are fasting but can't afford Iftar. Then we put those bags into trunks of cars, to be distributed. We didn't do a lot of talking, but it was nice to be helpful. It was especially nice, since I do service work with the Episcopal ministry at Georgetown, to do service work with people who, though still motivated by religion, are coming from an entirely different religious mindset. We were united by a desire to help the needy -- and that mindset transcends cultures, borders and languages.


That's about all the news I have for now. Thanks for reading, folks! Tune in next time, when I talk about field trips. :)


- Beth C-C

Escapades in London, Day 3 -- after the fact

Dear readers,

Because I said I'd post about my last day in London: here is that post, about a month late!

Amy and I ended up spending the morning studying and blogging (or at least, I was blogging), before we walked to get postcards from a tourist-y store, and to get some food. As per usual we decided based on what restaurants had more dishes for close to 5 pounds, and we settled on this pub-style place, where I got a steak and ale pie with "peas and mash":

And Amy got fish and chips:

Excellent comfort food!

We then went to Tower Bridge:

(But before we crossed, we encountered a Paralympic team doing a photo shoot, and we creepily took pictures:)

Tower Bridge was bedecked for the Olympics:

(After that photo, my camera died, so I have no more photos for posterity -- so the rest are stolen from Amy's camera. Photo credit to her!)

We checked out the Tower of London area; it was VERY expensive to get in, so we just looked around and took photos outside.

Then we moseyed on down to Globe Theatre, and hung out in the area before the play started.

 

Right around there, we got lunch at this Italian restaurant/hole in the wall, that was really good and seemed authentic:

Mmmm, alleyway Italian food!

Then we got in line for the show (which, by the way, was Henry V, starring Jamie Parker):

And the line was pretty long, and there were definitely lots of other American college students there:

When we got in, the Globe was SO cool on the inside. We got floor seats, meaning we stood up for maybe 4 hours straight, but for what we paid for those tickets, it was SO worth it. We were literally right next to the stage.

And the show itself was pretty much perfect, too! I don't know how much I like the play itself, but it was the perfect show to watch during a trip to London: patriotic, both funny and sad, with wonderful acting, VERY good sets and costumes, and a FANTASTIC actor in the lead role. (I will admit to crushing on him a little bit -- but much of that crushing was due to his acting skill. Really! I swear!) Also: period-appropriate music, all the way through*. Something other productions could learn from.

*played by musicians who also acted; they played horns, recorders, clarinet-ish things, and lute, and all of them sang! Also, every single actor got a chance to sing and dance during the production, and they were all very good. They harmonized! The only flaw was that one of the songs the musicians played before the show began was an arrangement of Riu, Riu, Chiu -- which I thought was just for Christmas?

Either way -- guess who else liked the show, besides me and Amy? This guy!

You may recognize him -- and I did have his name in this post, but then I got at least 75 blog views in the course of 5 hours from random people in France, so I decided to remove it. Either way, this guy played Hamlet at one point, so considering that, I hope he enjoyed the play as much as I did.

So! Hope you enjoyed this post -- and it will be the last one on the subject of London. During this last week(!) in Egypt, I will focus on fitting in as many Egypt factoids as I can before I go.

Much love to my readers <3

- Beth C-C