January 25th Anniversary House Arrest

I have to be really vague and apolitical in this blog post...government authorities are monitoring public forums for people speaking out, even going as far as to arrest people. I am going to stick to the facts and how I personally am feeling today.

I woke up this morning and something was noticeably different -- where was the noise??? No honking, no loud laughing, no sounds of the city. When I looked out the window, an apocalypse appeared to have wiped out the entire population of Dokki overnight. Today marks the anniversary of the first day of the Egypt's revolution last year, and all of Cairo is congregating in Tahrir Square right now. The Egyptians are using this day to celebrate the anniversary and also protest their government's lack of self-determination/ensure that power is turned over to civilians.

Nobody knows how this day is going to turn out, not even the Egyptians that are protesting. It all depends on how the military and police force decide to react to the protestors. It could be a peaceful day or a very violent and dangerous one. Previous crowd control tactics in Tahrir have been tear gas, fire hoses, physical assault, and BB guns. Additionally, rumors are circulating that the police are going to be spraying people with blue paint that will not wash off for months so that protestors can be identified and face consequences.

Protestors in Tahrir today are technically breaking Egyptian law. Egypt has been under a declared state of emergency for decades, starting when Sadat was assassinated. The civil liberties that are guaranteed in Egypt's current constitution (opinion, press, association, forming unions) are essentially null because of the Emergency Law in place. Under this law, people are not permitted to block traffic or prevent government functioning, which is exactly what will happen in Tahrir today. Thus, the government and military has the law on their side.

Due to the unpredictability of today's outcome, you all will be happy to hear that all of us on the program are on house arrest and are spending the day in the apartments. We are going to be thinking of our Egyptian friends that are in Tahrir and hoping that they will return back to us safely. This day is also important because it will most likely determine if we will be able to remain in Egypt. If things get out of control today, evacuation is definitely a possibility. I will be devastated if that is the case... I am in no way ready to say goodbye to Cairo.

On a lighter note, here are some pictures from our trip to the Giza Pyramids this past weekend :)

Cairo Amazing Race

Hi all! The first weekend in Cairo was definitely an eventful one. This past Friday, Matthew sent all of us on a Cairo version of the Amazing Race. We were broken up into teams of four with each group being sent on a different scavenger hunt throughout the city. We had to answer questions along the way about our sites, and we were required to use local transportation including taxis and the metro to get from one place to another. Up until this point, all of the students had pretty much remained within Dokki, so it was an adventure in itself to move beyond our neighborhood boundaries.

After completing our first stop at Cairo University, my group's next destination was the train station and post office. We were asked to find out the next train to Alexandria and the cost of the trip. Then we were to go to the post office and mail a letter back home to our families. It sounded simple enough. We arrived at the train station, which has a beautiful entrance before you enter the actual platforms. At the information desk, we asked where the post office was located and he told us the first platform. As we were walking along the platform, a man started yelling at my friend Nneka for having her iPhone out because he thought she was taking pictures. Photography of any sort of infrastructure, including train stations, is a sensitive issue due to the revolution, and thus we appeared suspicious as a group...a bunch of foreigners looking around and taking pictures of the train platform is cause for alarm. Thus, commence dealing with the undercover Egyptian police...

A man approached us and asked us "Where are you tickets?" Of course, we hadn't purchased any because we were just looking for the post office. When I responded that we didn't have any tickets, the man flashed me his identification as an undercover policeman. I explained to him, in Arabic, that we were mailing letters home and that we thought the post office was in this direction. He asked us to come with him, and we all assumed that he was taking us to the right location. He led us out of the platform and back to the entrance room, where we were joined by two other police officers. At this point, my adrenaline was pumping. A young American was just arrested last week for taking photographs inside the metro. These police officers barely spoke any English, and I was the person in my group that could speak the most Arabic. When they asked me, "What is my job?" I explained that we were American students just arrived and that we were here to learn Arabic. I showed them a copy of my passport, and they seem to be appeased. However, the first undercover cop accompanied us to the post office, waited for us to write our letters, and then proceeded to walk with us to the metro. I ended up speaking to the cop the whole time, and he and I were soon laughing and joking together. We even took a picture with him, as one of our scavenger hunt tasks was to take a picture with a new friend. It was pretty crazy.

Entrance room of Ramses train station

The undercover cop ( pronounced shorta) who we eventually became friends with

Not all of the scavenger hunt was that chaotic. We ventured to a book market and shopped around, purchasing Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets in Arabic. We visited the Opera House complex, which was surprisingly very green and peaceful. Upon leaving the opera house, we hopped in a taxi for our next destination. As we are entering a round-about, a man comes running into traffic and screaming at our cab. At this point, I am thinking....oh great, another undercover cop. As the man approaches our cab, I realize that he has my camera in his hand. It must have fallen out when we were getting into the cab. I wanted to cry. This act of kindness was exactly what I needed to counter our experience at the train station.

At the Souq AlKotob (Market of Books)

Another encouraging aspect of the Cairo Amazing Race is that many Egyptians complimented me on my Arabic. It felt really good to know that people could somewhat understand me and that we could have a normal conversation. I am looking forward to my Egyptian colloquial classes so that I can communicate even more with people that I meet out on the town.

I made it!

The beginning to one of the most incredible experiences of my life thus far, my first week in Cairo has been a whirlwind of new everything - a new city brings new faces, smells, sounds, and flavors. While I was initially pretty anxious about spending four months in a country that many warned me to steer clear from, I now am thrilled to be in a city that is so vibrant and full of life.

The depiction of Cairo in the American media today is solely focused on Tahrir Square - the area downtown where the protests and demonstrations are occurring. I wish that the media would occasionally show the other neighborhoods of Cairo, where life is going on in complete normalcy and peacefulness. My neighborhood, Dokki (pronounced Do-ee), is full of little shops, sheesha bars, a market area, restaurants, and Cairo University. It is thronged with people that are simply going about their day to day routine. I feel safe walking around and exploring my neighborhood - in fact, many people greet me with the staple phrase, "Welcome to Egypt!" Contrary to what you might think, foreigners are typically welcomed by Egyptians on the streets of Cairo. When Egyptians learn that we are American students here to learn Arabic, they beam smiles.

So far, the students on my program and I have been attending our week-long orientation so that we can better adjust to this unfamiliar environment. Our program director, Matthew, first introduced us to the concept of Intercultural Communication. His objective is to remove the American filters that we came here with and help us to perceive our surroundings through an Egyptian lens. We have created a framework to compare culture so that we can assimilate into the Egyptian way of life. Instead of learning to do's and don'ts here, we are learning why. It's pretty awesome, and I think it will definitely help me understand everything that I experience here.

I know that many of you are really concerned about my safety here. If there is one thing you should worry about, it is me crossing the streets of Cairo. Seriously, it is a game of Frogger everything I encounter an intersection. There are no lanes, there are no crosswalks, and there are no stoplights. Traffic flows and you must dodge, duck, dip, dive, and DODGE around the cars. Luckily, we learned the human shield technique -- pick an Egyptian who is also crossing the street, and shadow him/her as you both cross together. It is very effective, albeit slightly creepy haha

This first week has made me realize how truly excited I am to be here. I am so happy with my program, my apartment, and the new friends I have made on the trip. I will post pictures soon -- the internet is very slow here and pretty unreliable. I will try to write as much as I can :)

The view from our apartment -- all 10 girls are living in the penthouse! Notice the Pyramids to the left of the sun in the far distance.

On a boat on the Nile River...we live about four blocks away

Right as you come outside our apartment -- always busy with cars and people

The streets at nighttime 

KC, Bryan, and I drinking some Egyptian beer called Sakara

A poster showing people how to vote...they are all over the city