As I've been laid low by a migraine, I'm not going to do much more than link you to a few news stories this evening:

UN calls Egyptian mass pig slaughter a mistake.  Christians riot.

Hamas and Fatah give unity talks one "last" go in Cairo.

The LATimes profiles the founder of the largely unsuccessful 6 of April opposition group.

  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.

  

  After a Methods class focused on a few of the controversies regarding people trafficking and how to define it and legally address it, I hopped a cab to the fringes of Ma'adi to get some shopping done at Carrefour with Erin. We lingered for quite some time, overwhelmed with the fluorescent-lit consumerist fairy tale.  Each of us picked up some household goods and some edibles by the end of our shopping excursion.  Believe it or not, it was an exhausting experience.

  I'm back at home finishing off a bottle of ISIS brand doum juice.  ISIS optimistically describes its flavor as gingery, but I myself think that Egypt's gastronomic strengths lie elsewhere.

  Now that the EU has issued travel warnings for the US, I'm thinking I've picked quite the fine time to return home.  Egypt is apparently moving all of its pigs (admittedly, not very many) to a 238-acre plot in 15th of May City far away from residential areas.

Other news:

The Muslim Brotherhood is distancing itself from a debate over Shia and Sunni Islam.  Egypt is a majority Sunni country that has recently experienced tension with Shia countries and groups like Iran and Hizbullah.  The two sects differ over the legitimacy of certain of Muhammad's successors, but the rift often goes far beyond theology.

An ancient necropolis discovered at Fayoum oasis yields dozens of artifacts.

An Egyptian delegation in DC paints a picture of Egypt that Egyptian-American students and others aren't quite prepared to accept.

  I polished off my Migration and Development reaction paper today, only to move on to the final draft of my thesis proposal.  The latter is actually quite enjoyable since a thesis is so much more a personal thing.  

  All over the news are reports of the swine flu and its pandemic potential.  Some nations are even issuing travel warnings to not only Mexico, but the States as well.  It's strange to feel so unaffected by virtue of being in Egypt.  Usually it's the other way around: "Oh good, another case of bird flu?  Parasites in the water?  Bilharzia in the Nile? Pollution so thick you can taste? Wish I were in America."  For now, I'm glad the pigs are so far away.

News:

  An entry in a Discover Magazine blog discusses bird flu in Egypt and swine flu in the Americas and peoples' reactions to them.

  Factional violence continues to threaten unity in Palestine (video) :  Muslim Brotherhood distances itself from Hizbullah terror cell

  I know I have before apologized for including too much detail of my culinary adventures when more important things are afoot here in Egypt, but I must share that this evening, my friends and I went to the Thai restaurant at the Four Seasons in Giza.  Lai Thai has the best service I've experienced in Cairo, even better than that which is proffered by the attentive folks at Crave in Zamalek.  The food was delicious and not outrageously priced (by American standards).  I had the som tum I'd been craving for a while, a vegetarian entree, and coconut sticky rice with litchis for dessert.  Perfect!  And the company wasn't half bad either.  Afterward, four of the six of us diners continued on to Mohandaseen where we hung out at a café for a couple of hours.  It was great people watching made better because I was the only blue-eyed Westerner in the joint.  Alas, now I'm very tired from early morning chats with Egyptian and American friends and need to wrap up the entry before it's really begun.

News:

13 foreign tourists injured in hot air balloon crash in southern Egypt

Egypt sees third bird flu death in a week

American journalist imprisoned in Iran goes on hunger strike (video):

  I trekked to and from Zamalek today to have some lunch and run errands.  At Café Arabica, my French friend Antoine was introduce to the joys of oatmeal.  I myself had my old favorite, fiteer with roasted bell peppers and haloumi cheese.

  Other than that, I've gotten another quarter of my Migration and Development about gender and people-trafficking and its relation to economic development.

News:

Members of an alleged Hizbullah cell may face life imprisonment or death.  A lawyer for the suspects says that reports denying they have been tortured may not be true.

Egypt's religious endowments minister encourages all able Muslims to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem (Al-Quds in Arabic) to "show the whole world" that the city is "something that concerns all Muslims".  Jerusalem is considered by many Muslims to be the third holiest city in Islam.

France's international news network, France 24, is launching its expanded Arabic-language news service in Cairo on Monday.

Individuals detained and jailed in Egypt Twittered their experiences from their cells.  Twitter, a micro-blogging service, was instrumental in the release of a UC Berkeley grad student from an Egyptian jail last year.

  Voilà, another entry where the news will be meatier than the description of my day.  Cynthia came home after being released from the hospital.  She's been taking it easy on the living room couch and I've been trying to be as helpful as I know how.  Other than that, I got through a quarter of a paper for Migration and Development, tweaked my thesis proposal, and corresponded with some sources for my thesis research in the States.

News:

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt supports Hizbullah in row with Cairo.  While the Egyptian government is pointing fingers abroad at the likes of Iran, Qatar, etc., the largest (and officially illegal) opposition party is embroiling itself in the tension by expressing its disagreement with the administration.  With the president vowing that Egypt will "hit with an iron fist anyone who messes with its national security", it is unclear whether the government will ramp up pressure on the Brotherhood as well.

Coptic Church provides conversion certificate to Muslim-born Christian.  This is unprecedented in a country where conversion is no easy process if not formally banned.  The convert is trying to get his identity documents changed to reflect his new beliefs.

American president Barack Obama's envoy says that the two-state solution is the only solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Meanwhile, word is spreading that Egypt is threatening to abandon its role as mediator between Hamas and Fatah. American Secretary of State Clinton is not optimistic that the two factions will reach a unity deal in the near future.