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