A short entry is on order, as I don't plan to regale you of the tales of remaining all yesterday in my apartment. Suffice it to say I was very productive. I wrote several more pages of my thesis and caught up on class reading. Today will be more of the same, but I've resolved to leave. Mostly because a bag of muesli I purchased from the Alfa Market in Doqqi is crawling with tiny creatures that are begging to be returned. More shocking than that is the fact that I, with a bowlful on my lap, first ate the frozen yogurt I'd dumped on top while staring, nonplussed, at the occasional elongated beetle-like thing that struggled to escape the weight of a raisin or a dried banana chip before voiding the contents of the bowl into the garbage. This has not been a good food week. After botching an order of sushi, Bob Sushi sent us a replacement order in which, as we prepared to consume, we discovered a worm. My reaction was mild and we simply shut the lid on maki roll menagerie and called the restaurant. They refused to accept responsibility or do anything about it and in so doing lost our future business.
Food fiascoes and a new crop of exceptionally speedy mosquitoes (one of which feasted on my carotid last night) have alleviated some of my ambivalence about departing Egypt for good in a couple of months. Some, but not all. Egypt and its bugs have become a part of me.

News & Issues

Egypt

• Interior minister predicts Islamic election success won't be repeated
• City Cab drivers frustrated with pay delays want "efforts to be rewarded"

Elsewhere in the Middle East

• PM Netanyahu vows to fight the Goldstone report. The report, endorsed by the UN, calls on Hamas and Israel to investigate alleged war crimes during the recent conflict in Gaza.

Migration & Refugees

• Sri Lankan refugees end hunger strike
• Iraqi officials refuse entry to refugees deported from the UK

Yesterday, though I wasn't fasting, I began iftar in the traditional way, by eating a date. My flatmate Phil and I joined friends Shannon and Eric at the Yemeni restaurant on Iran St. in Doqqi for the meal. After the dates, we had soup, sahawiq, fasuliya (a fried bean dish) with eggs, and a potato dish and the meat-eaters had fahsa, all to be eaten with rashoosh (Yemeni flatbread).
Meanwhile, in Yemen itself, recent events have caused a great deal of turbulence. Thousands upon thousands of displaced people have been moved to IDP camps.

After dinner, I returned downtown for the class I recently switched into, Migration and Refugees in International Relations. I have to say that my first impressions of both the professor and the class lead me to believe it could be one of the best I'll have taken here at AUC. We discussed the impact of migration and globalization on the concept of the nation-state and what that meant for the field of international relations.

Later on, I headed back across the Nile to Mohandaseen to Cedars to hang out with CMRS colleagues. I sipped on a spicy ginger drink while the rest of the gang enjoyed shisha. When we piled in Marise's car to leave, we got to see the full gamut of Cairo's flashy new traffic signs. Neon lights, the darlings of cab-drivers, have now come into official use, presumably as a means of drawing attention to under-heeded signs and traffic lights. The funniest of these is the crosswalk sign. In most other countries, the sign depicts a man calmly crossing a road. Here in Cairo, there is a man composed of green lights shown running like a bat out of hell across a glittery white crosswalk. Running is indeed preferable to lingering in Cairo traffic, but sometimes staring down a bus is just such fun.

As many struggle with how to remember and interpret the events that happened eight years ago today, the direction of relationships between the US and the Muslim world and between non-Muslims and Muslims in the US itself are brought to the fore. Al-Ahram Weekly examines these both through the optimistic lens of Dalia Mogahed, an Obama advisor, and in light of the still-difficult realities many Muslims face. Prejudices and confusion about Islam and Muslims are still a major obstacle to peace and understand. To find out more about Islam, check out the BBC's religion page.

News & Issues:

Egypt
· 155 arrested in southern Egypt for not fasting during Ramadan
· TV serials during Ramadan intended to foster patriotism
· Thinktank CPA speculates on succession

Migration
· Outburst by Republican congressman focuses more attention on irregular migrants and their place in the US healthcare debate
· US soldier seeks asylum in Canada claiming sexual-orientation based persecution

Since my last post of a quarter day ago, I've gone to my (rather helpful) advising appointment.  Ray explained that he doesn't suggest trying to do my thesis and two courses all at once next semester, but I think I'm going to try and get as much of my research done as possible this summer.  I'm really not inclined to spend Spring 2010 at AUC, but we'll see.  In any event, I'm not the least bit worried either way and am reenergized about my thesis and how dynamic and engaging the process of research and thesis-writing promises to be.

Following my meeting, I made a pit stop at home, chatted with the ever-changing group of people in my living room, and walked to Doqqi.  In between the two bridges, that is to say past the Mohammad Mokhtar museum, I was approached by a grinning Egyptian who I guessed was around my age.  I'd made it that far without any remarks or hindrances thanks to my power-walking and iPod-listening, but the chap was insistant, so I took one earbud out and greeted him tersely.  Over the next ten minutes, however, I realized he wasn't trying to show me his cousin's shop or sell me hash or take me on a tour.  He turned out to be from the countryside, but commutes in to take classes at Cairo University.  He was walking there from downtown as I was heading to get my haircut.  We chatted and inevitably America (I was picked out as American for a change, usually I'm mistaken for a German or an Englishman), George W. Bush, and Palestine came up.  I elaborated my views briefly, apparently to his satisfaction.  He then told me about his American friends and all the English they'd taught him, producing a notebook filled with obscenities and other "useful" phrases to enrich his academic English.  He inquired what the phrases "freak me out" meant, as he'd seen it somewhere and written it down so that he could later look it up.  I wanted to use it in context when he asked if I had Skype, but recognized that it's common for Egyptians to be so gregarious and socially straightforward.  I gave him my Facebook info instead.  Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to meet for coffee and pick up a little more Arabic.

  My haircut was great, as last time.  Getting all the massaging and shampooing and conditioning and cutting and styling for the equivalent of just over twenty bucks with tip included is fantastic.  I had a different hair-cutter this time, but he was just as good and also French.  I left feeling lighter both for having spent an hour relaxing and because he took a whole lot of hair off.  After a funny little discourse with the Ethiopian receptionist, I took off for the supermarket I raved about after going there last time.  More of my meagre funds spent on food.  Ma3lesh!

  I walked all the way back home, glad that my taxi-eschewing, in my mind at least, makes up for not exercising much.  I've just finished dinner and am going to a house party that's raising funds for an AUC organization offers a variety of courses to refugees.  Somewhere in there I hope to get some time for myself and to make a dent in my papers and projects!

News:

Egyptian FM claims Iran and Israeli nuclear threats equal; dismisses reports of own nuclear activity

  Preferring to webchat with my mother, brother, and grandfather who I'd not spoken with in ages, I haven't reserved much energy to type out anything extensive and inspiring today.  I will say, however, that some sort of sublime Zen calmness and pleasantness has followed me back from Tunisia.  The break was even more recuperative than I'd anticipated.  I'm ready to get back to work and end the semester strong.

  This was undergirded by the discovery of the finest grocery store I've yet encountered in Cairo.  It may sound silly, but grocery stores are something of a sanctuary for me–my "happy place".  Ok, I sound like a nut.  Anyway, the Alfa Market in Doqqi is much better-organized and better-stocked than the other branch in Zamalek.  The employees are courteous and attentive and even generous-they let me try physalis fruit when I asked how it was meant to be eaten.  Something I first saw in France, the fruit grows inside a flower that vaguely resembles a little birdcage and tastes a bit like a tart cherry tomato.  I dropped over 200 LE in hopes that the groceries will last me for a while.  

  Prior to this excursion, I grabbed sushi with a contingent of my classmates after visiting my friend Cynthia in the hospital.  While I was away, she fell ill and ended up extremely dehydrated.  She's been in since yesterday and will be there at least through tomorrow.  They haven't clearly diagnosed her yet, but they think it may be parasites.  She looked good today and sounded better than she did last night, so hopefully the myriad IVs they've got her hooked up to are of benefit.  The hospital, though appearing a bit like something out of a movie from the 50s, was much cleaner and better-run than I anticipated.  Cynthia's a trooper, trying her best to parlay her limited Sudanese Arabic into some kind of lingua franca to help her half-communicate with the nurses and doctors.  I'll probably head over to see her again tomorrow if she hasn't been released by the time I'm done with class.  She'll be staying with us most likely when she's free.

  On the topic of health, I'll segue into the news:

Strange patterns in avian flu cases in Egypt cause alarm, but most experts find fears exaggerated

  Even as experts explain their belief that H5N1 has not undergone any significant mutations in Egypt that would suggest adaptation to humans, an Egyptian boy has died after contracting the virus.

Egypt summons Iranian diplomat over Hizbullah tension

  Egypt is pointing fingers at states it believes are directly linked to supporting Hizbullah whom it accuses of plotting attacks on Egyptian soil.  Iran, for its part, claims that Egypt's recent arrests are an attempt to influence upcoming elections in Lebanon.  Egypt's state-owned newspaper, Al-Ahram, has also suggested that Qatar is intent on bringing Egypt to the point of a coup.

Egypt breaks up child-trafficking, organ-stealing operation

  In an ever-more macabre twist on the problem of organ-selling and organ-stealing in Egypt, an operation in which Yemeni children were trafficked to Egypt in order to have their organs harvested and sold was uncovered by Egyptian authorities who have since returned the children to their country of origin and arrested five suspected human traffickers who will face trial soon.  The ring, whose leader was a Jordanian, included Palestinians and Yemenis.

Today has been an exceptionally nice day and it's not even five o'clock yet. Though I stayed up quite late to capitalize on the little time I had left to hang out with Ablavi, I awoke at a reasonable hour, ate, checked my email, read the news online, and started to map out my draft thesis proposal. Before long, it was time to hop a cab to Doqqi. As I left my building, it felt as if all of Egypt were getting in my way. I weaved to avoid stockmen passing boxes assembly line-style into the foyer, destined for the contact store on the ground floor, dodge slow-moving elderly women and families and buses, and hopped into the cleanest taxi I've been in in eons. The drive was courteous and efficient–I almost felt obligated to pay double. As we crossed over Qasr an-Nil Bridge and I saw the palm trees and the hotels and business offices and billboards and feluccas and cars stretch out in every direction, bisected by the Nile, I had one of those beautiful moments where I think, "Oh my gosh, this is actually my life. I'm living in Cairo." Times like that make me want never to stay within the confines of my over-priced abode, to forget coursework, and to explore as long as my walking legs will hold up.
Once at my destination in Doqqi, I fished out an additional handful of fifty piastre notes to add to the five pounds I would've paid for a less comfortable ride, thanked the driver, and headed toward Misaha Street. After a bit of searching, I found next to the Algerian consulate a "villa". My subsequent haircut inside was quite the surreal experience. I timidly wandered in as there were no signs, but I found myself in this semi-swank colonial manor with crown-molding and high ceilings and a team of Egyptians dressed all in white milling around. At the center of the operation was a Parisian hair stylist who was a multi-tasking master–cutting hair, making nice with the customers, directing his team of assistants. As soon as I walked in, I was initiated into the cult; they put a white smock on me and led me to a comfy armchair where they offered me something to drink. A bit overwhelmed and wondering just how much such treatment was going to cost, I declined and looked around the place. Relatively tasteful music played just loud enough to drown out the din of Arabic, English, and French being spoken by employees and customers some of whom were Egyptian and others of whom were European expats. Before long, I was led into a room with comfy reclining chairs and wash basins. The shampooing room had artsy light fixtures and was ridiculously large and airy for its purpose. Wooden doors were drawn shut as I got my hair shampooed (twice?) and conditioned and had a full scalp massage. After that, I was led out to a chair where the stylist and occasionally his assistants lowered my ears. After finding out I was American, he complimented my French, but even better, he didn't screw up my hair. We discussed refugees and living abroad during the cut, and before I knew it, I had a lot less hair, was less than twenty US dollars poorer, and back out in the sunshine. Determined to save money, to get exercise, and to enjoy being out and about in Cairo, I walked all the way home. I crossed two bridges, passed a veiled woman speeding by on a 4x4 in the middle of traffic, and outpaced a worn-looking horse drawing a carriage. Upon reaching downtown, I was delighted to find that what seemed like ten times as many traffic police were out. No weaving and bobbing and ducking and dodging. I walked straight to the Mobile Shop, bought credit for my phone, crossed a half dozen streets without having to worrying about the errant taxi colliding with me.
High on sunshine, sporting my new haircut, listening to my iPod and satisfied with Egypt, I strutted up to my building, began to climb the steps and then fell up the steps. Can't win 'em all. Haha. So now, in addition to my new 'do, I have a new gash on my arm. Ma3lish. I'm sporting an inventive shoelace and sterile bandage contraption to keep the wee wound under wraps.
And now, back to working on the draft!

News:
"Israel and Egypt: A chillier peace", from The Economist
Analyzing the causes behind sexual harassment in Egypt
Islamic cleric issues fatwa against female genital mutilation
Editorial on chances of peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict

Zipping Around All Day in Zamalek and Doqqi

I'm sure I've kept everyone in suspense by not crafting a blog entry yesterday, but I was in fact being both quite social and academically productive. Before I get to that, though, I'll catch up on the rest of Thursday. My advising session served to eliminate one of my options when my adviser convincingly suggested I not leave AUC without having some kind of accreditation to show for my coursework. He also, unhelpfully, told me it really wasn't about the decision one makes as how one makes that decision. "Sometimes," he added, "I flip a coin." Gee, thanks. I'll just flip a fifty piastre coin to determine the entire course of the next year of my life. Anyway, at this point my inclination is to just bite the bullet and take the class I'm not fond of that will drag me out to the new campus simply because it will give me both the graduate diploma and leave open the choice of pursuing the Master's if I so choose.
After advising, I ran into Cynthia and ended up going with her and Reham to Canary, a typical Egyptian sandwich place. The novelty of getting "street ful" has not yet worn off. I ordered a couple ful sandwiches, Reham got one and Cynthia got ta3mayya and we headed back to the Greek Campus to have our snacks. All was good in well until one of the ubiquitous street cats swatted my second ful sandwich onto the ground and began devouring it. Ma3lesh.
Next came class. We discussing the integration of immigrants and, since that's the topic of one of my papers, I chimed in with my opinions and insights (mostly for the sake of my participation grade rather than because of having anything ingenious and brilliant to add). Afterward, I conscripted my friend Brandy to dine with me. She'd already purchased koshary for dinner, so I stopped for a ta3mayya sandwich and a ful sandwich hoping that this time I'd not run into any pawsy, hungry felines. We took our sustenance within the cat-free safety of my flat while watching Al-Jazeera International--a treat for Brandy whose pricey Zamalek flat is not, for some reason, equipped with a TV. Once our Egyptian eats had been consumed, we headed to meet the British girl and Indian guy I met at Sequoia the other night for drinks and shisha (though I had neither, but some delicious lime juice instead) at a rooftop bar above the Thai restaurant in Zamalek that I go to from time to time. I hadn't known about the bar until Thursday night, but was pleased to have been made to discover it. The view overlooking the Nile is amazing and, even better, you can order Thai food up to the roof. Through Sophie, the British girl, I met an Egyptian documentarian who told us about a film he made following the history of an Egyptian lion-taming family. Supposedly this family owns all of the lions in Egypt. Who knew?
After arguing yet again with a cab-driver and threatening to disembark from his moving vehicle, I made it home safely and paid the price I originally told him I was going to pay. Rather boring, really--I'd kind of hoped to practice my tuck and roll on the 26th of July Bridge.
The following day (now yesterday) saw me awake in the honest-to-goodness morning. It was the first time I'd awoken before noon in eons. Naturally, I had a new lease on life at 11:46 because of this and decided to clean the kitchen. Since I've a guest arriving on Monday, I keep feeling the urge to pretend that Ross and I are model apartment-dwellers by tidying up. I cleaned all of the dishes in the sink, then the sink itself and the adjoining counter. The Egyptian fates conspired against me and our water, as often happens, simply stopped working for a number of hours. Ma3lesh. I ate some muesli and yogurt and proceded to do some online chores--extending my trip in France, checking out train fares, making sure I have places to stay, etc. Once the H2O was restored, I showered and headed to meet my fellow ambassadorial scholar, Ambereen for coffee and to catch up. We ended up lingering there and working on various things (I managed to get seven or eight hundred words done on my integration paper). Coffee thus turned into dinner. Ambereen headed for the opera after that and I continued working until it was time for me to join Brandy and Erin to go to our friends' place in Doqqi. Cara is our classmate who's here on Fulbright and Justin is her husband, they're quite possibly the friendliest, most stable, most wholesome couple you could ever hope to meet--sickening, really. Just kidding. Anyway, it was Justin's birthday and a bunch of us gathered to wish him well and play games like Apples to Apples. The festivities, which started at 9 wound down after midnight, but another Fulbrighter (there were three of them there altogether), and I (much better off with my tuition-paying Rotary scholarship, of course) stayed and chatted until after 4 AM. It was a lot of fun and I find moments like these contributing to my feeling more and more at ease living in Egypt.
Today, I'm determined to finish off the Somali integration paper once and for all and begin fleshing out my next paper. I'm breaking to get Thai for dinner later with friends, though, to keep sane.