Thesis progress has come at the expense of regular blogging, but I though I'd check in. A new print edition of AUC's Caravan is out, slightly better than the last. Their feature is an attempt at investigative journalism that reveals that several of the donors who have departments and rooms named in their honor may not be the most ethically upstanding. They took issue with a room being dedicated to the memory of Dr Mine Ener.
Ener was a professor at Villanova University and author of Managing Egypt's Poor and the Politics of Benevolence, 1890-1952. In 2003, Ener gave birth to a baby girl with Down's syndrome a fact that appeared to have caused Ener to sink further into postpartum depression. Tragedy struck when, gripped by mental illness, Ener killed her child and later, after being incarcerated, committed suicide. Villanova took down a plaque erected to her memory and instead held a symposium on postpartum depression and psychosis to memorialize her. The Caravan's choice of title for the story, "This Room is Dedicated to a Murderer. Who Else Has AUC Accepted Money From?" is sensational and doesn't take it account the role mental illness played. I won't add further commentary to the sanity and misdeeds of others whom the named spaces honor, but you can checked them out and draw your own conclusions.
Other topics covered in the Caravan included an article and a cartoon about the challenges faced by female students interested in student body politics. Charming quotes like "girls are unable to handle the kind of commitment and campaigning it takes to win a competitive election" and alleged threats to the reputations of women who decide to run for office come from male students, showing that for all it's progressive shine, the situation at AUC smacks of the rest of Egypt's pervasive sexism. The Muslim Brotherhood offer us another example, promising to suspend members who requested positions for women in the party's guidance bureau. "Not all jobs are appropriate for women," wisely asserts a member. This of course is not to suggest that the rough gender equality in the US is anything close to perfect.
The online version of the student paper euphemistically refers to the strongly possible canceling of post-'Aid classes as another "H1N1 Break". According to NPR, Egypt's PM has already declared that the four-day 'Aid al-Adha vacation will be extended a further six days for all government-run schools and universities. It's only a matter of time before they demand AUC shutter for this second "swine flu" vacay. The logic for such a class suspension escapes me, yet again.

Other News & Issues

• Abuse of domestic workers in Lebanon leads to mysterious deaths
• Egyptians circumvent rigid relationship proscriptions by seeking love online
• Growing Evangelical popularity puts Coptic Orthodox Church on defensive

I woke up to an email from the CMRS senior secretary informing those of us that intend to graduate in February must perform a number of tasks involving AUC's Kafkaesque bureaucracy (ok, so perhaps it's not has bad as the Egyptian government, but efficiency and logic are often jettisoned). Furthermore, we have to do this by Thursday or risk having our "names deleted from the Fall 2009 Graduation List." They really have a way with words. So, being notified a week before the deadline on our AUC mail accounts (which few of us use) and four days before the deadline through our department, we're expected to cough up 560 LE to be able to graduate, zip to the new campus and visit at least three different offices between the hours of 10 AM and 2 PM pronto or risk being unable to graduate on time. This fee is not for a cap and gown mind you, but what it actually covers, God only knows. 75 LE of it is for mandatory "Alumni subscription dues". This cost is listed nowhere on the Tuition and Fees webpage, though the remaining 485 LE is if you look hard enough. For graduate students, God knows where the 75 LE is going because you don't even have the option of filling out a graduate student form (despite being asked to in the instructions). You are instead linked to the graduating seniors page where you're asked what kind of bachelor's degree you'll be receiving from AUC. Great. Thanks, AUC! When I'm not attending my swine flu cancellation make-up classes, working, or commuting, I'll be sure to make your four hour window by this Thursday even though you only notified of the elaborate process a few days ago. Don't bother explaining what my 485 LE for "graduation fees" covers or why you think it is you can come up with mandatory alumni subscription fees without announcing them beforehand. Nah. That would be honest and responsible.
An excerpt from another interesting email I was sent this morning reads as follows:

AUC has been notified that a student in the university's continuing education program has tested positive for the H1N1 flu. The student attends an English language class in Heliopolis and is being treated at Abbaysia Hospital. AUC's medical clinic director, Dr. Mohamed Amin, has been in contact with the student and the student is responding well to treatment.

In this case, I actually think the university is being quite responsible and neither overreacting nor unnecessarily placing students at risk. Bravo, AUC.

News & Issues:

• US special envoy George Mitchell meets with Egyptian FM Abul Gheit as Abul Gheit announces Palestinian unity deal could be delayed again
• Cairo's black cloud has returned making breathing a rather more unpleasant affair than usual.
• Evangelicals now make up about a quarter of Egypt's Christian population.
• Muslim Brotherhood MPs to sue Al-Azhar over niqab ban
  

A number of things occurred to me as I took the cleaner of the two metro lines from Mohamed Naguib station to Doqqi for dinner and on the way back (I returned on foot): one, I haven't written a particularly personal entry related to my experiences here lately; two, a lot of the way I see Egypt has been colored by my struggles with anxiety rather than Egypt itself; and three, Yemeni food is delicious.
Though during my scholarship period I attempted to keep my entries upbeat and look for the silver lining, I'm sure there were more than a few that revealed some, shall we say, acerbic sentiments about my host country and its people. It reached the point where I could see nothing but chaos and filth, dishonesty and decay, corruption and inefficiency. I saw my return home and to Europe for the summer as something of a prison break and harbored a deep resentment of Egypt that fed an utter dread of returning.
When I did return, I sought refuge in my air-conditioned room, seldom went out and blocked out Cairo with my iPod and a determination to be bothered by no one. I tried to live in Egypt without actually living here (which is essentially what Egypt's upper class does by retreating to desert compounds and gated communities). There's something to be said for preserving one's sanity, but what I was doing wasn't healthy either. I carried this feeling to Turkey, constantly pointing out Egypt's shortcomings in comparison (i.e. my last entry).
Last night though, something shifted. Walking down Tahrir in the direction of Abdin Palace, I forced myself to ask the question, "Is Egypt really how I think it is?" I wiped the standard dour, standoffish expression of my face and descended into the metro station. On the train, I didn't recoil dramatically or sigh loudly with exaggerated exasperation every time I got jostled. One man turned to talk to me and I tensed up. I didn't understand his Arabic and another passenger translated "Are you getting off at the next stop?" I replied in broken Arabic that I wasn't and realized that they were making sure I was close enough to the door to be able to maneuver through my fellow sardines. The rest of the evening was filled with equally mundane little attempts to recognize and respond positively to the good things I'd convinced myself didn't exist here: instead of scowling at a little kid who yelled "hello," I turned and smiled, etc. etc. Perhaps the most significant indicator happened this morning, however. My landlord, he who inspired near panic-attacks and sleepless nights before, came to collect rent. Already calm from the evening, I went to bed without worrying about what the morning would bring too much, but when the doorbell rang sometime before 11, I felt my stomach lurch and my stress level rise. I was ready to fight over anything. Restraining the force within that almost caused Mohamed not to renew our contract, I allowed for the possibility that maybe he wasn't the evil, weasely man I'd always assumed (by association with his brother, mostly). Lo and behold, our brief meeting was more than pleasant. He apologized that the rubbish collector had been harassing Cynthia and told us he would take care of it and that, instead of us paying the man directly, Mohamed's relative upstairs would take care of it for us.
I realize this is all very minor-sounding, but being able to take into account that the lens through which I view my surroundings makes all the difference is priceless. Demonizing or idealizing serves no one's interests, I don't think. So, dear Egypt, sorry for the bad rap I've given you in some circles. Here's to hoping the Cairene chapter of my life story will end happily.

News & Issues

• Egyptian armed forces to construct factory that will produce H1N1 vaccine
• Security beefed up in North Sinai in anticipation of Bedouin protests
• The Giza Zoo, everyone's favorite place to bribe a guard and hold an animal, was overwhelmed with visitors during the 'Eid with children shooting animals with pellet guns and trying to force their way into cages.
• A Shorouk (in Arabic) poll of online readers finds that some 77% would refuse to conduct business with Israelis.
  
• Cairo's metro to increase fines (article in Arabic): 15 EGP for not having a ticket and 100 EGP for street vendors and beggars. Really? You're going to fine a beggar 100 EGP? I'll bet the one-eyed woman who sells packets of Kleenexes is just flush with cash. Thankfully, to fight congestion, the trains are meant to begin running more frequently as well. And, for your added convenience, swine flu announcements over the loudspeakers.
  

Clearly, living along a river that snakes its way through a vast desert, Egyptians have a certain appreciation for water. Ancient Egyptian culture was deeply informed by a dependence on the River Nile. This is something I'd learned in history class long ago. In college, however, the research one of my professors conducted in water policy led me to understand what a vital role water plays today in international relations and conflict. It was therefore with great interest that I read about Israeli FM Lieberman's visits to Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda, home to the two most important sources of the Nile. This while Egypt and the other Nile Basin states are attempting to resolve their differences over water use issues. Though I'll refrain from Biblical allusions, it looks very much like Israel is trying to use water as a means of leverage over the Egyptians.
What made me think so much about water today wasn't anything on quite so grand a scale: My flatmate Phil purchased a couple of bottles of Hayat brand water for me before my return to Egypt. He prefers it, apparently, for its taste. I am a Nestlé Pure Life man myself it having been recommended as a reliable clean and neutral-tasting choice. I'd always been a little leary of Hayat. Phil and I debated the finer points of the Egyptian bottled water industry (while we weren't in our rooms, noses to the grindstone, working on our theses) agreeing that Baraka tastes the least pleasant of the major brands. With all of the discussion and my admittedly unsupported claims that my brand was healthier than his, I decided to check into the matter further. Such a riveting topic apparently hasn't warranted much journalist attention or blogging lately, at least not in English, but I found an article from early last year referring to Ministry of Trade and Industry tests. The results (probably interesting only to potential consumers of bottled water in Egypt) were that only seven brands were both fit for consumption and accurately labeled for mineral content, etc.: Aqua, Aqua Siwa, Aquafina, Dasani, Mineral, Nestlé, and Siwa. Schweppes, notably, was considered unsafe. Unsafer still are other sources of water in Egypt. Some 40% of Egyptians drink contaminated water that leads to typhoid outbreaks, kidney failure, and thousands of deaths a year. Recent water shortages across the river in Giza have forced local residents to pump their own water only to discover that it is contaminated with sewage. If anyone finds more recent material on bottled water in Egypt, do let me know.

News & Issues

–Egypt

• The South Cairo Criminal Court has sentenced two US couples to jail in a high-profile illegal adoption case and is expected to hand down a ruling in another major case centered on defective blood products.
• AFP reports on the closure of AUC and other foreign universities and schools suggesting that the measures being taken by the Egyptian government may be in line with WHO recommendations.
• The government has taken an important step in tackling the un-Islamic practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). Authorities arrested a 69-year-old man after his circumcision of an 11-year-old girl left her hospitalized.
• A US NGO, Freedom House, is accusing Egypt and others of using their positions in the UN's Human Rights Council to limit the protection of human rights. Find Freedom House's "The UN Human Rights Council Report Card: 2007-2009" here in .pdf format.
• Resurgent 80s fashion trends apparently don't jive with Grand Mufti Gomaa's sensibilities; stretch pants are a no-no, but loose-fitting trousers have been deemed ok in a recent statement following the controversy over trouser-wearing Sudanese women.

–Islam

• Will the real Islam please stand up? Daily News Egypt reprints an article that first appeared in Arab News tracking the multiple forms that Islam has taken in practice in the past century and its possible trajectories.
• Sana from KABOBfest also recently examined the complex relationship between Islam and modernity in her blog noting that the two are far from antithetical.

( Fear of ) Swine Flu Strikes Again

This morning, I received the following email from AUC's VP of Planning and Administration:

AUC will be suspending classes beginning Thursday, September 17 until Saturday, October 3. The decision follows a request by the Egyptian government that the university suspend its classes in line with government universities, which have suspended classes due to concerns relating to the H1N1 flu.

There have been no positive cases of the flu reported on the AUC campuses or by any member of the AUC community.

The university’s administrative offices, the library, sports complex and food outlets will be fully operational during the suspension; however, the day care center will be closed. Staff who rely on the day care center will be provided leave during the suspension, if necessary.

Faculty and students are encouraged to utilize all available electronic resources to continue classroom activity. The Office of the Provost will provide guidance and direction on a revised class schedule to ensure all academic requirements are fulfilled.

As already announced, the university will be closed for the Eid September 19 to September 22. We will continue to provide updates to the AUC community immediately following the Eid.

Splendid. First all the pigs are slaughtered, now education is disrupted for every student in the country. For me, this means missing four class sessions (especially problematic given that each of my classes meets only once a week) and not starting my Writing Center position for another three weeks. American colleges haven't gone to such drastic measures, but they are bracing for a significant outbreak of the strain that has already killed students, so maybe my cynicism is a little unjustified. And, on the bright side, clearing my calendar until the 3 of October will permit me to hole up in my H1N1-free bedroom and churn out more thesis copy.

In other, slightly frustrating news, the garbage man and the man who washes the floors in our building's common areas once a week have been taking my flatmates for a ride all summer. charging them as much as eight times more than they were supposed to be paying. And, in my absence, my landlord absconded with our hard-won vacuum cleaner. The little un-joys of Cairo. By and large though, despite my natural tendency to come unhinged as little stressors accumulate, my re-adjustment to Cairo as been quite easy. I am less bothered than ever by comments on the street, terrible if well-intentioned customer service, and things never happening as they're intended.

News & Issues

Egypt

• According to Daily News Egypt (in an article with an unfortunate title) the Anti-Defamation League has accused the weekly Al-Youm al-Sabei (site in Arabic) of antisemitism for its publication of a cartoon caricaturing Israel as a greedy Jewish man milking water from the udders of what is meant to symbolize the Nile Basin. Humorously in the Daily News article, the head of Al-Youm's international news section is quoted as saying, "This accusation is baseless because there is something called freedom of expression." Oh really? In what country? Perhaps he's forgotten the international outcry over certain Danish cartoons or even the reactions to an American movie in which a dog was named for a former Egyptian president.
• Somali pirates who held Egyptian fisherman were returned to Somalia facing trial in Puntland, the stable(r) section of the failed state. After being held hostage for months, Egyptian fisherman had managed to overcome the pirates and were hailed for their bravery by fellow citizens.

Middle East

• UN Accuses both Israel and Palestinians of war crimes
• Iraqi man who threw shoes at former US President Bush freed from jail, alleges torture

And last but not least, check out KABOBfest, an amalgamation of blogs written primarily by Arab-Americans about a variety of topics impacting the Arab world.

AUC quarantine ends, classes resume

Health workers wearing masks wait to measure the temperature of passengers arriving at Cairo airport -- Reuters

Further cases of H1N1 confirmed in Alexandria; AUC's New Campus off limits to all but residents

Zamalek residents alarmed over cases of the virus in neighborhood dorm

  I've been in this dorm several times and had friends living in it up until the end of last semester.  Luckily they were out before the quarantine.  It's strange how H1N1 seemed so far off when I was in Egypt and then the same day I left the first case was discovered.  I feel for those who are holed up in Zamalek.

  Check out this blog kept by someone who's stuck inside.  The university updates this page with information on the progress of testing for the virus and related administrative decisions.

  Happy May Day, everyone.  Though growing up in Peoria, I knew the 1st of May as a more benign, rather unimportant having something to do with leaving flowers on peoples' porches, it is an important day to celebrate labor and protest for improved working conditions around the world.  Protests are especially vigorous this year given the economic crisis.  Moving beyond labor issues, many in the States are calling for progress on immigrants' rights.

  Meanwhile, in Egypt, the president reminded his constituents that striking is illegal and that doing so would only serve to hurt the economy.  While he was busy doing that, I was, with the assistance of my saintly Egyptian friend Marise and her helpful brother and her godsend of a mother, negotiating the renewal of my lease.  After ten months of getting ripped off, I finally have more or less a fair price.  It's a relief, but I'm holding my breath until I get the physical contract itself in front of me and signed by both parties.

  I got up early for the occasion and cleaned and am rather tuckered out.  Last night, we played Risk until the wee hours of the morning after some tasty and inexpensive Lebanese food in Mohandaseen.

  I've been making headway on my thesis proposal, but a group project for my methods class will have to take precedence today when Cynthia and I go to interview Nigerian migrants about their experiences in Cairo.

  I'm not longer dying from a migraine, but it last through yesterday.  At least I don't have swine flu, I guess, which is, says the WHO, henceforth to be referred to by its scientific name H1N1 Influenza A specifically because of Egypt's spirited but "misguided effort" to prevent the spread of the virus.  The Egyptian government now is claiming the measure was not swine flu-related, but rather a "general health measure".  Either way, Egypts' hogs have been sent to slaughter and Brigitte Bardot isn't very happy about it.  

  Meanwhile, back across the world in Peoria, Ali al-Marri pleads guilty to charges of aiding terrorists.  While it's more than a little unsettling to see Islamic fundamentalism hit so close to home, I sincerely hope that the events surrounding his trial don't fuel more of the ignorance and Islamophobia that are inevitably reflected in the comments on PJStar stories about al-Marri.