Dear readers,
So I'm in Alexandria! And I'm exhausted, so I'll be quick (and I won't include photos because I took too few to warrant a photo post, and most of the pretty scenery today was after the sun set).
Amy and I got up very early so we could commute an hour and a half to get to Heathrow from the hostel, and then go through customs etc, and then find our way through the winding halls of the airport to our gate, and find some time in there to get breakfast. It ended up working out, but just barely.
When we got on the plane, I considered studying Arabic, but I was literally sitting between two native speakers, so I was too self-conscious, and ended up sleeping and reading an issue of "The Economist"... and talking to the guy next to me. Thank goodness I ended up talking with him, because he was a lifesaver later!
His name is Amir, he's maybe in his thirties, and he was traveling to Cairo from Los Angeles (where he works) to visit his family. When I told him that I didn't have an exact plan as to how to get to Alexandria, he told me that his brother was going to pick him up from the airport and when he got there, he'd ask him to help me out, and that Amy and I should find them in the lobby after going through customs. He gave me his brother's cell number "just in case", and I figured I wouldn't have to use it.
When I told Amy about this new development, she was pretty excited and relieved -- and so was I, until we got through customs, and there were about two hundred people in the lobby, fifty of whom were determined to harass us into accepting their help in getting a hotel room and a cab (and baksheesh (tips)). Finally, I told one of those guys about my situation, he offered to let me use his phone, and I proceeded to call Amir's brother (who didn't know I existed before then), and yell at him into the phone until we finally found him, and until Amir showed up later. They succeeded in getting us a car, with a driver they knew personally, and they gave us a receipt for 350 Egyptian pounds, encouraging us to tip him VERY well because he was "doing them a favor" by giving us a ride.
Our plane had left two hours late, and we arrived at the hotel even later because our driver took quite the leisurely drive down to Alexandria! And by "leisurely drive", I mean "extremely fast except when he wants to treat us to tea and fava beans and a walk down the Corniche (the last of which we refused)". He was very, very nice, the tea was delicious, the beans were absolutely SWIMMING in vinegar but did the job (since we never got a chance to eat dinner), and we tipped him between 20 and 30 percent. We got to the hotel at about 11:30pm.
Needless to say... it's been a long day.
We just started unpacking in our (fairly quirky) hotel suite, and as soon as I removed everything from my suitcase, I went to the lobby, socialized with the other people in the program (a few of whom I'd never met because they're from other schools, namely Harvard and Columbia), told my parents I'm alive, and started blogging.
Tomorrow morning marks the official start of the program; not sure what we're doing besides touring the city, but all I can say at this point is that I hope most of the day involves speaking English, I hope the food is good and filling, and I hope I will go through the day feeling well-rested.
More news, in more detail, later!
- Beth C-C
p.s. One thing I should mention is that the driver spoke essentially no English. I had a moderate degree of success communicating with him in broken Arabic, and for the most part we understood each other, which at the time was extremely satisfying, but by the end of the 4-hour drive, I was just drained. Hopefully -- inshallah! -- speaking Arabic will stop being so exhausting within the next week or two? We'll see what happens.
p.s.s. I will also make time at some later date to talk about my last day in London, which was freaking AWESOME and totally worth its own post.
So I'm in Alexandria! And I'm exhausted, so I'll be quick (and I won't include photos because I took too few to warrant a photo post, and most of the pretty scenery today was after the sun set).
Amy and I got up very early so we could commute an hour and a half to get to Heathrow from the hostel, and then go through customs etc, and then find our way through the winding halls of the airport to our gate, and find some time in there to get breakfast. It ended up working out, but just barely.
When we got on the plane, I considered studying Arabic, but I was literally sitting between two native speakers, so I was too self-conscious, and ended up sleeping and reading an issue of "The Economist"... and talking to the guy next to me. Thank goodness I ended up talking with him, because he was a lifesaver later!
His name is Amir, he's maybe in his thirties, and he was traveling to Cairo from Los Angeles (where he works) to visit his family. When I told him that I didn't have an exact plan as to how to get to Alexandria, he told me that his brother was going to pick him up from the airport and when he got there, he'd ask him to help me out, and that Amy and I should find them in the lobby after going through customs. He gave me his brother's cell number "just in case", and I figured I wouldn't have to use it.
When I told Amy about this new development, she was pretty excited and relieved -- and so was I, until we got through customs, and there were about two hundred people in the lobby, fifty of whom were determined to harass us into accepting their help in getting a hotel room and a cab (and baksheesh (tips)). Finally, I told one of those guys about my situation, he offered to let me use his phone, and I proceeded to call Amir's brother (who didn't know I existed before then), and yell at him into the phone until we finally found him, and until Amir showed up later. They succeeded in getting us a car, with a driver they knew personally, and they gave us a receipt for 350 Egyptian pounds, encouraging us to tip him VERY well because he was "doing them a favor" by giving us a ride.
Our plane had left two hours late, and we arrived at the hotel even later because our driver took quite the leisurely drive down to Alexandria! And by "leisurely drive", I mean "extremely fast except when he wants to treat us to tea and fava beans and a walk down the Corniche (the last of which we refused)". He was very, very nice, the tea was delicious, the beans were absolutely SWIMMING in vinegar but did the job (since we never got a chance to eat dinner), and we tipped him between 20 and 30 percent. We got to the hotel at about 11:30pm.
Needless to say... it's been a long day.
We just started unpacking in our (fairly quirky) hotel suite, and as soon as I removed everything from my suitcase, I went to the lobby, socialized with the other people in the program (a few of whom I'd never met because they're from other schools, namely Harvard and Columbia), told my parents I'm alive, and started blogging.
Tomorrow morning marks the official start of the program; not sure what we're doing besides touring the city, but all I can say at this point is that I hope most of the day involves speaking English, I hope the food is good and filling, and I hope I will go through the day feeling well-rested.
More news, in more detail, later!
- Beth C-C
p.s. One thing I should mention is that the driver spoke essentially no English. I had a moderate degree of success communicating with him in broken Arabic, and for the most part we understood each other, which at the time was extremely satisfying, but by the end of the 4-hour drive, I was just drained. Hopefully -- inshallah! -- speaking Arabic will stop being so exhausting within the next week or two? We'll see what happens.
p.s.s. I will also make time at some later date to talk about my last day in London, which was freaking AWESOME and totally worth its own post.
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