Carl in Cairo

  I spent yesterday breathing it bits of the Sahara as Google's weather report for Cairo accurately read "sand".  The sky turned whitish-yellow while the air itself seemed almost tangible because of the dust and sand it was full of.

  Undeterred, I managed to finish my thesis proposal and venture outside to make the trek to campus to print it out and submit it.  We had a guest lecturer from the Cairo Family Planning Association who talked about FGM and its pervasiveness in Egypt.

  Later in the evening, Phil and I joined Marise and her family for a trip to Hyper One.  This Egyptian hypermarket is apparently the homegrown answer to chains like Carrefour and Spinney's.  As with any of the hypermarkets, it's a strange feeling to stray into the suburbs and see this little slices of Egypt that are superficially similar to America, but not at all the same beyond the fact that many of the people who shop in them know nothing of life downtown or in the cities poorer districts.  In whichever country you find yourself, it's always possible to isolate yourself from societal problems.

  Yesterday was the president's birthday, but I didn't notice any particularly extravagant indicators of this.  The Daily News Egypt reported on it, but as of this entry, I cannot acces the website, nor can I find anything on Google news.  Strange.  What I have heard a lot about was the continuing of the rather ill-advised pig cull and the reactions.  

  Beyond this brief update, I haven't much time to type as I have to get my nose to the grindstone.  Final papers and group projects to finish up!