Tea

Today I wanted to take a look at tea and it's significance in Egypt culture. It is hard to imagine an Egypt with out tea being sold at every corner. One can pay three pounds or even up to twenty five pounds depending on where you are. In my view the two most popular brands of tea in Egypt are Lipton and El Arosa. Their advertisements can be seen on billboards on the side of the roads and in shopping malls. You can buy both these tea brands bagged or in loose leafs. While living here Ellen and I have kept a large supply of tea and sugar in the room at all times. We drink on average 2 to 3 cups a day and we believe that it is a result of the culture we have found our selves living in.

Maybe back home when someone thinks about tea one can image British people sitting around in old white wigs and eating scones, but not here. Offering tea when someone enters your home is very customary, and usually very appreciated. Policemen in the early morning hours can be seen having cups of tea, usually filled with plenty of sugar. Walking through a market you will see usually younger men delivering tea to the shop owners off of a bent up metal trays. Instead of walking down to a local bar after work many people will retire to their local coffee/tea/sheesha spot.

Tea thank goodness has numerous health benefits such as Theanine and is an extra boost of caffeine. Many people can choose to put milk in their tea as well as mint leaves. Some people drink it like water here. I think my favorite tea experience was while waiting for a friend and his family to meet us by the pyramids. We arrived at 8 am when the doors just started opening and a number of phone calls we realised that we would be waiting there for a while. As we watched the tourists go buy in the most hilarius clothing we noticed that many of the guards were receiving tea from a shack just beside the ticket stand. Finally with encouragement from Ellen, both of us walked up to the enlisted soldier preparing tea. In Arabic I asked him if we could get to tea and he barely blinked an eye before he went looking around for some cups. Two cups were quickly returned and washed out in the sink. With a cigarette hanging out of his mouth he put tea leaves and sugar in the cups. The kettle they were using looked at least as old as me. It was probably tin and had as many dents and dings as the taxis on the street. We tipped the soldier a couple pounds, even though we probably could have gotten if for free. So there Ellen and I sat with our cups of tea watching the tourist pass as the Great Pyramid loomed over us.

Tea is a great Egypt past time. Brianna Lehnert

Donkey Baseball

As expected the semester progressed and Ellen and I became busier than ever juggling school work and play. This weekend we cleared our schedules on Friday for donkey baseball. A game of tomfoolery baseball and good old fashion fun, with an Egypt twist. We rounded up a group of friends, stuffed them in a taxi and flew down the ring road to Margret's. Ellen did an excellent job of directing the taxi driver, by the way. We ate lunch which included schwarmas and kebabs and then set up for donkey base ball. Me and Margret were team captains and we divided it up boy girl.

Rule 1 of donkey baseball: don't spill your drink

Rule 2 of donkey baseball: don't spill drink

Rule 3 of donkey baseball: your feet can not touch the ground, stay on your donkey!

It took about an inning and everyone was really starting to have fun. Hitting the ball with the bat in one hand proved to be quite difficult for some. We had a pitcher and everyone was given an automatic first base so athey could have a chance to make it on the donkey. We played for about an hour or so and then sat around and relaxed with some refreshing drinks and snacks. Conversation with Margret was as eventful as ever and we continued on to Barry's to have a final meal of the day and watch the sound and light show in three different languages. The restaurant is on the roof of a building that is right across the street from the pyramids. We all clambered into to cars and our friend Jeff drove us the back way through the desert which was quite exciting! I miss the days when I used to off road in the family car when we were living here. Now I have to get off to the studying I may have been a little neglect full of during the weekend.

Brianna Lehnert

Settled

We are beginning to settle down into a routine now with our classes at AUC. Started adjusting to the food as well, hopefully McDonald's will only be a special treat to go but the Egyptian food seems filing and spicy enough for me. My Arabic class meets 4 days a week at the early morning hour of 830 and it is really challenging me to speak allot more in class. The teacher is really friendly and it should pick up and move at a really good place because she is going to give us this software that we can practice on. I am also taking a Political Economy class and me and my friend who are in it are still a little confused about what exactly we are studying but it will all work out soon. I am also taking a course on comparative politics in the middle east which looks to be like a really good class as well. I am taking a history of political theory as well which seems to be a very good discussion class and a course on Egyptian government. In the Egypt Gov. course we selected the State or opposition side to represent in future class discussions. I picked the state which should be most interesting I think.

The beginning of the semester has been very fascinating to watch so far. Most teachers barley bother to have class on the first day, but it didn't help that the Africa cup final was later that evening. Teachers put massive amounts of emphasize on class attendance and tardiness. From what I remember going to Cairo American College many of the Egyptian students were often late to class. Though probably the reason most people were late for the first two days of classes was because of the insane design of many of the building on campus. Many long minutes have I stood in front a "map" of the building to not even find the class room on it, but the people on campus have been really help full in helping me find my classes.

The Tuesday break made it feel like the weekend and we had barley while we had barley even started classes. We went and got haircuts down in Maadi and did errands so the break was defiantly nice but we are still in the midst of fighting over laundry machines with the other residents on the girls side. Speaking of laundry go to go change my clothes our from the barbie doll sized washers!!
Brianna Lehnert

Yella Misr Part II

If we thought things were pretty crazy after the soccer game a few days ago, it was nothing compared to the awesome energy and excitement following the Egypt vs. Algeria game last night. The rivalry between these two countries is strong, and I've heard people say that it doesn't matter if Egypt wins the Africa cup, as long as they beat Algeria. Luckily, Egypt had a decisive victory with a score of 4-0. The Algerian team managed to get 3 red cards during the game. A bunch of AUC people watched the game downtown at the Hard Rock Cafe. In retrospect, it would have been better to go to a local cafe with more Egyptians and lower prices. Luckily, the main excitement began after the game ended. After the victory, It was as if the entire city exploded. I have never seen anything like it in my life, and I don't think that there has ever been this much excitement, energy and country pride shown by so many people at once in the U.S. Literally the entire city was involved and I'm sure most of the entire country. The streets were crowded with parades of people cheering and screaming and banging drums. The roads were filled with cars honking horns with people coming out the windows waving flags. People were even riding on the tops of cars and hanging on the backs of trucks. It was complete madness and insanity but the energy was like a living entity. We walked about two miles from the Hard Rock Cafe to the Zemalek dorms where we caught a bus back to campus. It was one of the most amazing and memorable walks of my life! Everyone got caught up in the mad energy and joyous shouting. We were all yelling "Yella Misr!!!!" to everyone we passed and everyone cheered and yelled back. We got caught up in a marching parade at one point and we were jumping up and down and screaming with everyone. Never in my life have I seen a whole city united in joy like Egypt was last night. This experience is one I will remember for a very long time.
Ellen Beste

Bokra, Inshallah

Tomorrow, God willing. This phrase seems to encompass many aspects of Egyptian culture. It is my impression that most Egyptians live by the seat of their pants. They go day to day relying on luck and Allah to make sure everything turns out okay. There doesn't seem to be much thought of consequences or of the future. People ride cars without seatbelts in dangerous traffic and motorcycles without helmets. People regularly cross busy and dangerous streets. They simply say a prayer and go. If they make it, it is the will of Allah. While this may seem like a dangerous way to live, it also gives life a more laid back and relaxed feel. Egyptians are not always rushing and worrying like Americans. Americans often live only in the future and in their plans, and forget to live in the present. Egyptians seem to have a live and let live attitude and they go with the flow. Things will work out tomorrow, God willing.
Ellen Beste

Yella Egypt!

So now that we have settled in at AUC we are starting to make friends and run about Cairo as most International students do. Today we woke up and jumped on the tour bus to go visit Old Cairo. The area during its prime in the middle ages was called Fustat, which meant tent city. It started off as a Garrison town for the invading Muslims and developed over time to become the big city which is Cairo today. Here there are the three Abrahamic religions, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. At the end of our tour of course there was the customary dragging of the tourists to the over priced tourist shops. Many guides will do this to you because they know the owner of the shops and they will often be paid a small fare in return for bringing the tourists there.

The day became more exciting when we were dropped off by the bus in Zemalek. Zemalek is part of downtown Cairo that is located on an island in the Nile. We divided up into smaller groups and explored around until we found a good restaurant to watch the Africa Cup game. Today it was Egypt versus Cameroon. We ordered some food and waited for the game to start. It was so much fun to listen when the Egypt team was about to score everyone would stand up and start yelling and clapping. When ever there was a good save by the goalie as well people would clap to show appreciation. Eventually we were starting to overstay our welcome at the one restaurant we left and made our way back to the Zemalek residences where we could watch the game in the common room.

As we were walking there we were listening for the sounds of a goal as we were passing a block car horns started beeping and people began running around to find the closest TV. Me and our friends found one on a side road in a small vegetable shop. Everyone was crowded around and praising Allah because we had just gained the lead. After that we quickly hurried on to the dorms and encountered a whole mob of people watching with Egyptian flags. While we had been walking Egypt gained another goal so the score was 3-1 Egypt. One could feel the national pride and energy in the room. This is part of the Egypt experience that Ellen and I came to see. People were in the streets and honking their horns as we were driving home in the taxi. Now that we have won this match we are going to play Algeria in the next couple days. This has a great deal of sports/political significance because these two teams have a had a bitter rivalry since the 70's which has flared up recent months. I can not wait to see what happens and of course I hope that Egypt is going to win! Yellabina Misr!! (Lets go Egypt)
Brianna Lehnert

Up and Around Cairo

This week before orientation, Mom, me and Ellen spent our time doing some touring around town and some relaxing outside. We took a driver to Ain Soukhna which is a resort town about an hour out of Cairo on the Red Sea. Watching the rock formations zoom by us I was reminded of all the geological history lessons I had learned about the area; how it used to be under water and how there is still water hundreds of meters underground. We stayed at the Stella di Mare Grand Hotel for one night of relaxation and lots of eating. We arrived at the hotel and checked in pretty quickly. We dumped our bags in the room and changed into swim suits with our clothes on top. There was a little bit of a wait for food in the outdoor eating area. Since it is winter in Egypt there is the slight chance of rain and the poolside restaurant had been flooded out! We had just missed the rain and saw traces of it everywhere. After some food we went down to the beach and waded in the water a bit and walked up and down the shoreline. Dinner was a wonderful buffet filled with lots of mysterious but very sweet tasting desserts.

The next day was spent soaking up as much sun as we could on the beach and using our towels as blankets when the sun would be covered by clouds. We made it back home with a few quick rain showers and started planning for our Alexandria outing.

We decided to spend one day in Alexandria and would travel by train. We made it to the train station at about 7:15 and bought tickets for the 8 am train. With the extra time we sat in the cafe they had there and had a cup of tea and croissant. The train was pretty dirty on the outside, but on the inside we found our seats and we spent most of the time reading or watching the delta farmland pass by. When we got to the station in Alex we hired a taxi for the day and sped of to the Roman catacombs that are famous in Alex. They were really neat and you could barely see anything special from above ground but as we descended into a spiral staircase that seemed to go on and on we entered an ancient world. There were mixes of paintings and carvings with all Greco-Roman design. The amount of space down there was very surprising. The modern day water level actually floods parts of the catacombs during the winter so they had laid down board in parts so we can get across. I guess that is just Egypt for you. Next then it was off to the fortress/Citadel and had some amazing ocean views. What was really fascinating was that there were more Egyptians there than tourists. We also visited the Library at Alexandria which was very modern and up to date and we as well visited King Farouqs palace and its gardens. The ride back home was spent with us lazing around the train and looking at pictures from the day.
Brianna Lehnert

First Impressions

I arrived in Cairo a few days ago, and I have been staying at Margaret and Hazem's house with Bri and her mom. The house here is really nice. It is like a mini villa, with a stable and riding ring out one side of the house and a pool out the other side. The floors are all stone and there is a very high ceiling which keeps the house very cool, even when it is hot outside.
My first morning here we went riding in the desert. It was a wonderful day and we had a great view of the pyramids. The landscape is so stark and different from what I am used to, but it definitely has its own kind of beauty. It was so great to be on a horse again and I am so excited that we are staying with Margaret and Hazem and that we will be able to visit and ride during our entire stay in Egypt.

In my few days here in Cairo, I have been struck by the strange combination of wealth and poverty. We went to a very fancy mall yesterday that was nicer than Tyson's. It had seven floors and was absolutely gorgeous. It had all the American and European stores that you could need and it had many American restaurants including TGI Fridays, Ruby Tuesdays, Chilis and Maccaroni Grill. We saw a movie there which was very similar to seeing a movie in the U.S. This is very different from other places in the city where people are crowded together and there are animals in the streets. The neighborhood around where we are staying has a dirt road and donkey carts.

It took awhile to get used to the traffic here. My mom would probably have a fit if she had to ride around the highways here. People basically completely ignore the street lines, and in some places there are no lines. There certainly are no traffic lights. the cars crowd the street, driving over the lines and there is constant honking as people try to maneuver around each other. To make it worse, there are often people in the street trying to cross, and everyone is driving pretty fast. I've gotten used to it by now, but it was pretty nerve wracking at first.

I am excited to start seeing more of Cairo, and I want to see more of the areas that aren't as nice as the mall we went to. I haven't had any Egyptian food yet, so I am looking forward to that as well. As Bri mentioned, we are heading to the beach today and that should be nice and relaxing!
Ellen Beste

arrival in cairo

Ellen and I finally made it to Cairo and have been settling down quite nicely at Margret's house for the past couple days. For those of you who don't know Margret is mom's best friend from Cairo who lives out by the desert near the pyramids. She is an avid horse rider and has stables right on her property. My mom and I arrived in Cairo at six am on Friday were picked up at the airport and whisked away to Margret's by a driver from Hazem's work place. Once we arrived we were on horses by ten. After that we enjoyed hanging out around the stables with a couple of Margret's friends passing through. I played with Margret's adorable daughters Hannah (age 8) and Lily (age 5), who I used to babysit all the time when I lived here during high school. I had my first real Arabic conversation out when I was riding the day before yesterday. My horse Apple was being stubborn and was not moving so Walid, who is a groom around the stable, stayed back with me while Margret and my mother went on ahead. We talked about family, how I liked Egypt and if I had been here before.

I picked up Ellen from the airport on the 16th. I waited for almost an hour with people giving me strange looks because I was the only white girl waiting practically by herself with a camera ready to document her friend's arrival to Cairo. After a joyful Reunion we got into the driver's car and were on the way home. Catching up was allot of fun and talking about all the plans before school starts.

Today we are off to Ain Soukhna which is a beach on the red sea about an hour away from Cairo. We are staying at the Stella di Mare. The Stella is the best and most nostalgic hotel in the area. It is the only one I have ever gone to in that area. We will stay there one night and just relax. I cant wait to see how the area has changed and developed since I have been gone.
The development of cairo is something that has really caught my eye since I have been here. There is so much construction going on at the edge of the city. Most of the construction seems to be apartments and Villas, which means there will be little infrastructure such as government buildings, parks, shopping and work places. It is nice to see though that the areas around the pyramids, the farms and fields, have basically stayed the same and continue to live as they have.
Well now its off to the beach where we will work on our tans and prepare for an exciting semester at AUC
Brianna Lehnert