We're Not in Kansas Anymore...

The first thing you notice about Cairo when you fly in is the sprawl. It seems like it goes on and on forever in all directions. The next thing you notice is that all of that sprawl looks like something from the communist era--not terribly surprising given the Nasserist bent that still holds on in Egypt. And it's all the same color as the sand.

The Cairo airport is an adventure in and of itself. All foreign visitors must go through passport verification lines that stretch endlessly. It's a bit of controlled chaos, and I can't help but wonder if that's a harbinger of what's to come for the rest of the semester. Once you get through that line, it's on to baggage claim and an endless stream of taxi drivers offering their services. We (and by we, I mean that whole gaggle of us on the flight from Frankfurt to Cairo heading for AUC) politely declined all of their assistance as we already had transportation set up through AUC. Getting to the buses from the terminal was an adventure, but getting us and all of our luggage on those buses was even more fun. College kids pack a lot of crap when they're going to be gone for a semester, let me tell you.

As for the traffic in Cairo, everything you've ever heard about how crazy it is is 100% true. I'm not sure cars in Cairo could operate if for some reason their horns stopped working because it seems like Cairene drivers honk their horns occasionally just as a reminder to other drivers that they are there. And turn signals? Not much use for those on the streets of Cairo. We started out from the airport to Zamalek around dusk, so the city was still somewhat visible in the setting sun. My initial impression of Cairo's architecture was partially on target. Some of the buildings in Cairo look like they came straight out of the Soviet Union, while others are well kept up with plenty of ornamentation. Along the major thoroughfares are some beautiful murals, mostly of the Pharaonic era, and I can't help but wonder if Hosni Mubarak fancies himself a modern day pharaoh. His picture adorns signs and billboards all around the city and it's a 1984-like reminder that we definitely aren't in Kansas anymore. Unlike the United States with its churches on every corner, in Cairo, it's a mosque on every corner, minarets instead of church steeples dotting the skyline. One very large mosque boasted a huge "Allah" in Arabic in neon green lighting and was oddly reminiscent of American mega-churches.

As for Zamalek, it's really a pretty charming neighborhood, once you get past the traffic and narrow streets and sidewalks with the occasional step up or down that have me convinced that at some point in the next four months, I will bite it in a pretty spectacular fashion. There are little restaurants and coffee shops tucked away all over the place and at least some of them are really friendly to AUC students. We got free drinks last night at the little cafe we went to for dinner since we were new AUC students. It would be very easy to get lost wandering the streets of Zamalek since none of them are anywhere close to being on a grid, so I'm sure that, at least in the near term, we will be adhering to some sort of buddy system...and relying on our RAs to help show us where to go. The staff at the dorm is incredibly helpful and the night security guard is determined to learn all of our names before the semester is over.

That's all for now. I'm still recovering from the plane ride over and trying to adjust to the eight hour time difference. Orientation starts on Monday and then we get into high gear in a week. It's shaping up to be an interesting semester.