Falafel? OK, You Sit!

So we finished up our two day orientation both to AUC, our program and Egypt in general. AUC has three "campuses" but they're all so close to each other that they're pretty much one campus spread 0ut over a few blocks. The Greek Campus, which is where I'm sitting right now, is beautiful (though AUC is in the process of moving from this location to the outskirts of the city where the rich Cairenes are building new communities). The vegetation is plush with palm trees and lots of green space which is nice for shade at midday. By the way, the heat isn't too bad unless you're in a sunny area at midday- otherwise it's definitely hot, but sometimes more bearable than a humid day in Chicago. People are young and friendly on campus and it definitely has the feeling of a real academics (and seems a lot like a hotter US).

We were given a long, incredibly interesting and incredibly boring lecture by the Associate Provost (an American who has been here for about 30 yrs. and is one of the utmost scholars on Egypt) about recent Egyptian history and the issues that have shaped the current country. It did a lot to explain how a country with such an amazing history and such promise has become so impoverished, overcrowded and undereducated.

I also had a day of classes today. International Human Right Law is a mix of reading articles on a plethora of human rights issues, United Nations and other governing bodies' works, IMF, etc. work and discussion in the context of our background in American law. It should be really engaging and will focus on globalization and its pros and cons toward human rights issues. Islamic Jurisprudence will be incredibly interesting as it looks at how Islamic jurists have interpreted the laws set forth by Muhammad in the Qur'an and how those interpretations differ and shape the Muslim and non-Muslim world. Interestingly (for those law-minded of my readers) Islamic law is based on private individual interpretations of the Qur'anic laws as opposed to State legislated laws, as there is no authority in Islam besides God and Muhammad- therefore it's like American courts using the Restatements as their bases rather than the legislated laws, since the legislators would have no authority over the Qur'an.

Dinner

So last night, a small group of us stopped studying for a bit and headed out for some food. We wandered a bit and into a couple restaurants, some of which didn't have English menus. In Cairo, as in Paris's Latin Quarter, the restaurant owners all stand outside and goad you into their businesses- oftentimes by having an employee run and set up tables and chairs when they see you coming. We finally settled on a place with outside seating and asked if he had food- he told us "falafel? OK, you sit!" We sat. He then told us it was a coffee shop and he didn't serve food and bade us to wait. A minute later he came running from down the block with the menu from the restaurant we'd been the night before. Shortly thereafter, the waiter from that restaurant came down with the owner and told us if we wanted to sit inside, he'd save our table at the coffee shop. It was weird. We went. I once again had a bowl of lentil soup with hummus and pita which once again ran me 9.50 Egyptian Pounds (a little under $2). The marketplace in Cairo is, needless to say, a lot different than in the States. In some ways, it's much freer and more fun.


A Note on American Misconceptions of Cairo

People here don't all dress differently than in the US. On campus, it pretty much looks like the US, though many of the women do keep their heads covered. In the streets, most young people dress like American youth and the men dress similarly. I have seen some women in full burkahs, others cover their heads with scarves, some don't. Women often walk together or alone without a male companion.

The people of Cairo are incredibly friendly. They don't hate Americans, though some probably do, as some Americans probably hate Egyptians. I get a lot of "hellos" and a lot of "welcomes" while walking down the street and a smile goes a long way to making friendly encounter.

Cairo is not the desert. It's hot, no doubt, and it's definitely dirty and polluted. However, there are plenty of trees (palm and otherwise) and plenty of grass. The desert is close-by, but the city, for the most part is not in it.

I haven't seen a camel yet. I have seen a number of donkeys pulling carts. I have also seen a good number of men on bikes with gigantic boards with upwards of 100 pitas on them.

There's a toilet and toilet-paper in every bathroom so far.

I think that's all I've got so far. If you have any other questions about Cairo, let me know.