A Man's Mall

So, while our relatively easy weekend was relaxing and totally necessary, all of us were ready to do something by the time this afternoon rolled around. So while some decided to go to a movie (in Arabic this time, not just with subtitles), I was among the group that felt a little more restless and didn't want to just go and sit in some theater. So Zuri, Fernando and I decided to try to find this art gallery mentioned in one of the guidebooks that has been sitting on our dining room table.

After poring over the map a bit, we figured out generally where the gallery was and headed over, getting helpful tips from a random Egyptian who assumed we were clueless tourists trying to get to the Egyptian Museum and getting dragged into a store when some of us tried to just buy a few post cards. Poor Zuri and Fernando just put up with it - they can both pass for Egyptian, but I'm pretty sure I'm the one that gives them away. But we found all the right streets and saw a sign and figured out which stairs to go up and discovered that the gallery...

Happy Birthday, Amreeka

So, the Fourth came and went, marking the first time I've been out of the country for its birthday. We celebrated by going to a place called the Maadi House, a sort of clubhouse (unsurprisingly, in Maadi, an area of Cairo) that functions as an unofficial expat haven. We had our lecture there, from a Coptic Christian man who really just facilitated an interesting (but too short) discussion on religion, and then moved on to the buffet of hotdogs, burgers, wings, chicken, potato salad, baked beans and pasta salad. It was so fabulously American, as they played some American hits over the speakers and we watched kids play darts and do three-legged races and grabbed popcorn and cotton candy from a stand.

It was great, but kinda emphasizes the point I made in my most recent post on the official DukeEngage blog - we never fully immerse ourselves into Cairo. Yeah, we go out to definitively un-touristy areas and try to interact with Egyptians and go to Egyptian places as much as possible, but at the end of the day we return to our apartment with our Kelloggs cereal and speak in English. The truth is, this experience is only 2 months, and there are so many of us that it almost makes it harder to fully immerse because we're always with each other. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, or that it would even be possible to try harder and immerse into Cairo further, I just think it drives home the point that I'm not Egyptian and I shouldn't get mad when strangers assume I'm just another tourist. Because, honestly, the difference between me and some tourist really isn't that distinctive.

Anyway, had a great Fourth, and I hope you all did as well. All of you in Tybee - I'm jealous, I hope you all have a fabulous time! Thinking of all of you.