I took my visitor to the pyramids at Giza today.  It went surprisingly--I think I found the too most honest cab-drivers in all of Cairo.  The camel ride we took wasn't particularly cheap, but the prices weren't too unfair and, I'll have to admit, it was kind of fun.  We took a whole lot of photos, some of which I suppose I should post some day.

  Came home to find the water wasn't working at all.  I called my landlord who eventually came to fix it and I pounced on the opportunity to relieve myself of a boatload of anxiety by asking him to sign the lease.  He was livid that we'd made amendments, but we'd simply added the provisions that had been in the previous contract we'd signed with his brother.  I don't know if he'll try and back out, but his signatures on the paper, and that's provided a little relief.  I'm not going to lie though, this whole ordeal as well as school-related stressors have not left me feeling positively about my decision to come back in the fall and finish my MA.  I think I need the whole summer away from Egypt to make it bearable to come back.  Hopefully this is just a phase.

  Anyway, tonight we ended up dining at La Bodega, a restaurant in Zamalek that I'd never been to before but am all the better for having visited.  I raved once about Crave on my blog, but this place was tenfold as fantastic in terms of service and the food was excellent as well.  I'll definitely be going back.

News:

Exiled Egyptian dissident has jail term overturned

Those arrested in connection with February blast suspected of links to al-Qaida

Policeman sentenced to ten years for shooting

  I neglected to mention a couple of extraneous but delightful observations yesterday.  When Erin and I were riding in the cab to Carrefour, we saw a pick-up truck carrying a perfectly smug-looking trio of camels.  I've seen a dozen men packed into a pick up, I've seen just about every type of produce piled from the bottom of the bed of trucks to twice their height, but I've never seen dromedaries being spirited away from central Cairo.  I'm not sure what they were up to or why they looked so non-plus about their journey, but Erin and I spent the rest of our own trek to the store guessing.  Perhaps this means we have no lives.  It's better than thinking about the economic crisis or swine flu or group work (the last is the far gravest threat, I'm convinced).

 While shopping, we also spied a women wearing a niqab carrying around a toy sword in fron the Nike store and all through Carrefour.  It was far funnier to see than it is to describe.

 The taxi ride back was more like a carnival ride than a form of transport as there were no shocks and each tiny bump sent us flying into the beige cloth drooping down from the ceiling.  Oh, Egypt.

 Today I had an economics-heavy session of Migration and Development which wasn't the most rousing thing I've ever experienced.  Cynthia, who's now entirely moved in, cat and all, and I joined Ross for dinner at the fatatri place on Tahrir for dinner. Fiteer was a cheap, delicious, and Egyptian dinner option, but not the least greasy.  Ma3lesh.  I can spend the summer munching on organic mixed greens in America...or tamiflu.

  Speaking of swine flu (since everyone else is), Egypt seems to be just as alarmed at the prospect of a pandemic as other countries who have halted pork imports, issued travel advisories, etc.  Some members of the lower house of the Egyptian parliament have called for the nation's 250 000 plus swine to be put to death immediately.

  

Other news:

  A Saudi-based IGO pressures a controversial video game manufacturer to remove a combat game from its site that allowed players to pit religious figures such as Muhammad and Jesus against one another.  

  A brother of a Hamas spokesman was arrested on the Egyptian side of the border with Palestine today.

  

  The European Union plans to strengthen ties with Egypt according to the Czech presidency.