Today turned out to be a lot lower-key than expected. Few protests actually took place, an AP article saying efforts fizzled "amid heavy security presence". It seems like the opposition is dispirited and increasingly cynical. Sarah Carr's blog has an account of what little did happen.
Speaking of security, Phil, Antoine, and I met up with Marise and her visiting entourage at the Khan al-Khalili to hang out at al-Fishawy Café, crossing through the area where the bomb went off in February. The entire souq "complex" is extremely porous. Security manning a single metal-detector on the northeast side of the area clearly don't process the majority of visitors to the neighborhood. Worse, there's a nearby gate to allow tour buses in where under less-than-vigilant attention, just about anyone can circumvent said metal detector which in fact always beeps anyway. Anyway, after hanging out at al-Fishawy, we went to a baladi joint where my friends had pigeon and kofta. A couple of the pigeons still had their wee necks attached, but thankfully were head free.
On the way to the Khan, our smiley cabdriver found it appropriate to pull off on a side road and head to a gas station where he made us wait in the car while he filled up. No consideration whatsoever and no concept of us needing to be somewhere in a timely fashion. The cabride back home was less eventful and much quicker.
Class went well, I got my draft thesis proposal back and it seems I'm on the right track. I need to further clarify some things, but should be good to go when it comes time to submit my final proposal.

News:
Obama declares US not at war with Islam
Egyptian president invites Israeli PM to Cairo
Israeli conductor's upcoming visit to Egypt causing a stir

Explosion at the Khan

I'd intended to talk about a documentary I saw at the New Campus today, my program-switching, and the English class I taught tonight in Hay al-Asher, but I'm sure the majority of the readership will be more concerned upon hearing news that there was a fatal explosion in Cairo tonight. Everyone I know here in Cairo is safe and sound. Grenades were thrown into a crowd outside a café at the Khan al-Khalili and at least one French tourist was killed. The Khan is where I did my Christmas shopping and where I was the week before last with my friend Alia. It's obviously more than a little unsettling, but I'm sure the security presence has been beefed up.

News reports on the explosion:
from Huffington Post
from Le Monde (in French)
from Euronews

The Khan, Law, and Lebanese

I spent yesterday at Khan al-Khalili with Alia who was one of my closest friends at boarding school and with whom I traveled to Egypt for the first time four years ago. It was a great reunion and we had a lot of fun bargaining and taking pictures and getting snacks at the Naguib Mahfouz Café. I actually didn't purchase anything, I had no need, but try conveying that to the folks at the Khan–"I have everything you need in my shop and I don't even know what you need!" was one line. Another asked specifically what I needed and when I told him nothing he told me that he had "all kinds of nothing for sale". I changed my approached and answered the next person who asked what I was looking for by saying, "a job". They laughed, I laughed, and they quit trying to sell me scarves–all was well.
Most of today was occupied by reading and Comparative Migration Law, my favorite class. We discussed the history of restrictions on and the exclusion of migrants and Mike told us more about a possible opportunity for some of us to travel with London and collaborate with students from Georgetown and elsewhere on a migration law project. Seems like a great opportunity. I'm going to apply, but the project isn't funded for sure and only four slots are available (out of a class of twenty), so we'll see.
Tonight some classmates and I got Lebanese at a place in Mohandaseen called Cedars. Spinach pie, halloumi cheese, lentil soup, tomayya, and more: delicious. Time to get to reading for my pscyhosocial class though.

News:
Details of Philip Rizk's release
Hamas leader in Cairo for another round of talks
Arabs pessimistic about Israeli election outcome

Cheap Cuisine Continued (and Smoggy Sunsets)

I'll pick up where I left off, which was right before getting to the other reason for the title of the last post: Ross, Glenn, and I had an absolutely fantastic meal last night of tahina, aish, and taamia (Egyptian falafel), and ful with onions and parsley, at a place called Felfela. The restaurant was not too far from our dinner location the previous night (at Le Bistro). Stuffing ourselves with Egyptian cuisine (and not having eaten a single dinner in) is something one might find excessive, but I assure you, doing so is the epitome of frugality. Splitting the check three ways, each of us paid, with tax and tip, the equivalent of $2.99. Wow!
One might be little surprised that Ross and I were there yet again tonight, though we had ful with tahina mixed in, taamia in a sort of omelette, and "lemonade" this time. We splurged on dessert, getting an Egyptian favorite, om ali.
We definitely earned the dessert: after a morning of Kafkaesque office-hopping at AUC (sans breakfast because the inane registration procedures for orientation prevented us getting one) and only some lentil soup (albeit delicious lentil soup) and ice-blended drinks (mine was anise-flavored) to pass for lunch, we dragged ourselves home. I indulged in a piece of toasted aish with some Tanners Orchard apple butter slathered on for a taste of home, but had nothing else as we set out on a 5.5 mile journey east and north past Abdeen Palace and the Museum of Islamic Art up Port Said Street, over on Al-Azhar Street to the Khan al-Khalili (which wasn't as lively as usual, because most of its shops are closed on Sunday; Friday, however is the holy day in Egypt) and finally to Al-Azhar Park. Rather than ramble on about it, I'll include a photo I took there at sunset:Then again, as you can see, the sun's a bit high in the sky, so perhaps it was the hazy layer of smog hanging in the air in Cairo that softened the sun's rays. Whatever the effect on my lungs, the effect on my eyes was wonderful.