Thursday, September 30, 2010

Culture Conglomeration and Political Correctness

What happens when a white guy attends an South Asian culture festival in the middle of an Arab city and tells a suited delegate "Masaa al-kheir, aap kaise hai?"

A: A very confused Indian ambassador

Last week I attended the opening ceremony of Indian Culture Week, organized by the Indian Embassy and the Maulana Azad Center for Indian Culture. Coming from a multicultural American perspective, it astounded me to see Indian Egyptians in the audience. There is diversity in Egypt, I guess I just didn't see it as obviously as in America.



Another thing: In Egypt, there doesn't seem to be such thing as political correctness. For example, my Arabic teacher freely admitted to disliking Japanese people "because they don't say anything in class." But he did say they were very well-organized and motivated, so I don't really know what to think.
As for Indians, when we were walking through a bazaar one of the shopkeepers saw my friend Ihsaan and asked, "Tikka tikka accha accha?" mumbling something about 7-Eleven that we didn't figure out until we'd walked away. (For those of you who didn't get that, it's like saying "Mazal Tov bagel I-just-dropped-a-penny" to a Jew or "Watermelon Basketball" to an African-American.)

At the risk of offending even more people than I already just did, I'll assume you understand when I say that stereotypes here are not only appropriate; they're a means of entertainment. That said, stereotypes here can be both good and bad. The difference is that it's not considered offensive among many Egyptians to talk about other races and cultures in a value-judgment way--partly, I think, because they make fun of themselves so much already.

Many things we'd take extremely seriously in America are laughed off here. I've heard about drivers who get in accidents around Cairo and get out of their cars, yelling at each other about how stupid the other was, when one cracks a joke, defusing the situation and allowing them to go their separate ways.

Anyway, all this just goes to show you that there's much more to Egypt (and any other culture for that matter) than initially meets the eye. Here, an Egyptian ministry official speaks about the importance of cultural relations.



We met the Indian Ambassador, which I realize is not too special since there's two for every pair of countries (India-Egypt, Egypt-India, US-Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan-US, etc), but it still was a thrill to get so close to the levers of power. Not too close though, since his chauffeur almost backed into us as we were standing in the street in his designated parking space.

In yet another paradox, last Thursday I found myself at the Opera House once again, watching a film in Hindi/Punjabi with Arabic subtitles, while my Indian friend translated the Hindi for me as I combined my little understanding of this and the Arabic subtitles to tell my three Egyptian friends what was going on, (because they couldn't understand the standard, formalized Arabic too well). To complete the night, we ate at Nawab, easily one of the best (and least expensive) Indian restaurants in Egypt. I couldn't decide whether Shukran or Shukria was the best response to the manager telling us where to sit, so I settled on Shukrian.

Finally, the closing ceremony last night featured a 40-minute dance recounting the story of Krishna, a Raas team from the state of Gujarat, and a contemporary fusion band called Talaash made up of two guitarists, a drummer and a maraccist. No, not racist. Maraccist.

...and that's The Word, Stephen.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Bad dates

The hot sun beat down on the vast landscape of dunes. Jumping out of the bus, we scrambled up a hill and through a shallow valley, passing colossal inscribed stone blocks scattered across the sands. The valley opened, and we beheld the remains of one of Egypt's forgotten cities.






We had arrived at Tanis, fabled resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. Tanis, known as Djanet to the ancients before the Greeks arrived and corrupted everything, sits on a large hill made of ancient cities built on top of each other (called a Tell), across from the modern Arab city of San el-Hagar in the northern Delta region. In ancient times, Tanis became a flourishing port city after the Nile changed its course and the Egyptians had to move their former riverside capital, Pi-Ramesses, elsewhere. It's desert today, since the Nile moved yet again. The demands of this epic move meant that due to the scarcity of stone building materials for temples and tombs, they had to dismantle the temples in their city and move the stone to a more hospitable place. A huge project, no doubt, likely involving hundreds of slaves with foreign Near Eastern ancestors...but that's just my guess.



As I carefully plodded through the uneven sands, I wondered if I'd fall through the roof of some undiscovered tomb onto a bed of snakes. I couldn't help but remember Belloq's quote from Raiders of the Lost Ark: "You will now become a permanent addition to this archaeological site. Who knows, in a thousand years maybe even you may be worth something!"

Considering only about 10% of the site has been excavated, I'd say there's a fair chance of finding the Ark here. Maybe it was in this box.



I would've tried to open it, but our police escort and a guard were watching my every move from a hundred feet away, and Egyptian jails suck, to put it lightly.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Happy birthday, Michael!

So for everyone who was wondering why there was so much sudden activity on my Wall (or maybe just activity on my wall in general)...

September 22:
My dad emailed me to say it was Michael Faraday's birthday. It's a nice tidbit of trivia in itself since he's my namesake. I thought this was cool, so to honor him I changed my birthday on facebook and went back to being productive in AUC's great library.

I got home late, hung out with some friends and got dinner. I was pretty tired from the long day so I didn't talk too much and then went upstairs to take a nap. About an hour later I got a call from one of my friends, who said I needed to come downstairs asap because she needed to ask me something. This was very confusing. Why all the urgency...

So I went downstairs to the courtyard and saw her and one of our friends sitting at a table. There was a package on the table that looked like it came from a dessert shop.

Oh no, I thought.

She said, "So we thought you were just tired from today and that's why you didn't talk with us much...then I got on facebook and saw that it was your birthday. I realized 'That's why he was so quiet, it was his birthday and we DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!'...so we went out and got you some cake. Happy birthday Jacob!!!"

Me: ...

*takes several bites*

Me: Aw, thanks! This is great!

(they look on in anticipation as I continue eating)

Me: I have something to tell you, too.

Them: Yes?

Me: ...It's not my birthday...

At which point I got slapped (deserved that one).
Unfortunately she didn't know about the Faraday story either, so I had to explain my reasons for all this "dishonesty."

Moral of the story: Don't trust Mark Zuckerberg's creation, it's been known to bend the truth! (Also, now I know who my true friends are, thanks Facebook.)

The True Meaning of Blogging



I know the title may imply that this is going to be another deep, metaphysical post like the last one involving complex concepts only higher lifeforms can grasp, and I try not to disappoint. But I will this time, not so much because I like surprises but because I just ate a large sandwich and am stuffed.

What does it mean to have a "blog?" Look it up in the dictionary, preferably one post-2000. A "blog" is short for "web log." But whoever coined the term was very smart, because we've all been led to believe that this is the real meaning.
In fact, I'm positive they realized the other true definition of blog and didn't want it leaked to the general public (after all, an idea is like a virus). Since this definition has most likely been eradicated from every dictionary due to its controversial nature and potential for sinking the blogging industry forever, I'll give it to you.

"Blog" is short for "backlog."

Speaking of which, I realize I've left out entire parts of what I've been up to for the past two weeks, parts which I will relate presently.

September 11: Following our hike up Mt. Sinai, the real mushkila was getting down. Hiking on a mountain is much easier if you can't see how far you have to go.

September 12: To complete the weekend of sunrises, we woke up at 4am and took cabs into Dahab to rent ATVs. (They're like AT-ATs, but faster and without legs that can get tangled.) Closer to a Mongoose from Halo than anything from Star Wars. We had some nice guides who helpfully dropped us off at a valley and told us to climb the nearest mountain (about 200 feet tall with no clear way up), where "maybe we see the sunrise" in about fifteen minutes. We had in fact woken up this early to see the sunrise, so we demanded to be taken back to the main road.





After the sunrise, we started our engines and took off through the dunes toward the sea. I was relieved there was no Lakitu cloud guy to pick me up and put me back on the road, but we did have one Mario Kart-like incident.

Before:


And the explanation:


Basically Ihsaan's helmet flew off his cart and hit Aakib in the leg, who was driving behind him. Those blue shells are real annoying.



It was finally time to say goodbye to Tropitel. Wonderful memories, I'll never forget your propensity for creating the opposite of what a good vacation should be, minus the free breakfasts.

The second week of class started and finished much the same as the first, which is to say half of us were still madly dropping and adding classes up until the 4pm deadline last Thursday. This is where at a certain point you just have to say khalas, done, finished, be happy. If you don't, combined with AUC's penchant for overcomplicating the simplest procedures, you will go insane, make no doubt about it.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Sinai



On the drive to Mt. Sinai, a young Brazilian man next to me imparted me these pieces of wisdom:
1) Do what you like, and things will fall into place.
2) "Searching for something" means that you may actually never find what you're looking for, because your activity is just that: searching, not finding. The better thing to do is to stop looking for things. You'll discover more, appreciate it more rather than thinking "this isn't exactly what I wanted," and you might even get what you want when you least expect it.

As for the first part, I think to some degree that's true. Of course, there are things expected of us that we must do whether we like it or not--you can't live your whole life just doing only the things YOU like. It's necessary to be part of a greater community that holds us together. But at this stage in our lives, when decisions we make will clearly affect the rest of our lives and the lives of those around us, we need to ask ourselves a simple question: Who are we, and why are we here? (Ok, that's two questions. Whatever.)
Without many obligations compared to those older than us, our only obligation is to ourselves. I don't mean that selfishly. I mean that if we don't understand what we want in ourselves and how we function individually, it's impossible to build a solid foundation on which to branch out and begin repairing the world piece by piece. Self-discovery is what travel is all about, and everyone needs a chance to reflect on why they're choosing a certain path to take.

A large part of figuring out what we like involves searching for what will make us happy. This is a great endeavor, and one that could last a lifetime. Searching, however, WILL last you a lifetime if you don't settle for something when the opportunity is offered to you. In more cases than not, you could find what you're looking for when you least expect it.

To get back to my trip...Mt. Sinai, Horeb/Har Sinai, Jebel Musa--is a place holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims, said to be the spot where Moses communicated with God and received God's commandments and laws while his people waited patiently (not really) at the mountain's base. Who knows if this was the actual mountain--its factual claim to fame is just being the highest mountain on the Sinai Peninsula--but based on the amount of praying I heard while we tried not to slip and fall 7,000 feet to an epic and pancake-like conclusion, I'd say God was at least listening.

It's likely that at the ripe and youthful age of 80, Moses may have had some issues getting up Mt. Sinai. We definitely did, and that was with a clear path, stairs, and flashlights. It was a powerful image to look down as we climbed in the middle of the night and see thousands of tiny lights following us, fellow humans from all over the world who believe this site to have a certain historic and religious significance. Personally I think it may have held more meaning for me if there weren't so many people and camels at every turn. Even when we reached the top three hours later, the summit was virtually covered with people selling tea, talking or sleeping. Moses would have climbed the mountain alone or with a smaller group, which no doubt would have given him plenty of time for quiet and self-reflection.

For us, the summit was cold despite the amount of people tightly gathered there. Around 5 am the darkness finally began fading, causing the entire mountain landscape to take on an ethereal aura. The sun burst from the east, setting the mountain alight, warming our faces, and signaling the start of a new day, a new chance to set things right.


















As this important week comes to a close, here's a chance to reflect on all that's happened in the past year. Strive to be a better human being by being true to yourself and others. Do what you like, but not if it's at others' expense. Believe in yourself and take the time now to see how you fit in to the world, because there's no time like the present. Putting things off just makes them more difficult the longer you wait.
Now is also a time for forgiveness. Be willing to forgive yourself as well as others, because perfection--doing everything you want or not making any mistakes--is an impossibility. See everything as a new beginning and a chance to make the best of it. Bad things happen, and sometimes there's nothing we can do. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that's given to us.

Use it well.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Eid Mubarak! عيد مبارك



At dusk, as I looked out the cab window on the way to catch the bus to Sinai last Wednesday, I realized it was the last time I'd see Cairo during Ramadan. I'd almost gotten used to the deserted streets and strange lack of chaos during Iftar (between about 6 and 7:30 every day, when Muslims break their fast with family and friends). Most restaurants are closed for the day, but everything opens up at night. The stark difference between night and day is comparable to, say, Clock Town in Zelda or the bathhouse town in Spirited Away. Multicolored lights are on every street and people just seem like they're in a better mood. Everyone has somewhere to go, from the old man with a cane doing a remarkable job of crossing the street to groups of women in the full black cloaks called niqab. (They won't offer you gold, though, sorry.) I guess I'll miss the late nights and energy of Ramadan in Cairo, but at the same time it'll be nice to be able to find someplace to eat during the day and not feel guilty about it.

In the rush to get out of the Nile Delta to the Red Sea and Sinai, I'd forgotten not yeast, but my sandals. No matter. Surprisingly, we needed our passports to get to Dahab, a small town on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. One guy had forgotten his, and the Egyptian ticket-checkers didn't seem to have a problem with it until the third and last checkpoint, right near Dahab.

Here's what happened:



Not exactly. But they did haul him off the bus along with an Egyptian who was trying to help him out, and we drove away, never seeing him again.

(Now would be the perfect ending to my post, but we actually found him later while climbing Mt. Sinai. He was fine.)

We arrived in Dahab around 4:15 in the morning, providing the perfect opportunity for a morning swim on our hotel's beach.





Downtown Dahab:





Our friends had gotten a single bedroom that they were planning on sharing. Surprise! The front desk called them and said they owed an extra $16 per night. Why? Apparently a single room is for one person only, even if there happen to be two beds. Also, the space where you write the guest person's name on the online booking is apparently not for your guest, but for you to write your name again. And if that wasn't proof enough that you were purposely trying to lie to the establishment, it's perfectly fine for them to come into your locked room when you're away and check for evidence that two, not one, are staying there (and leave the door unlocked).
Too complicated? Here's a much simpler answer: In the words of the front desk guy, "Imagine you are in market. Item cost 50 pounds. You pay 80. Man give you 100. You take 100 and run away."
We're so ashamed of ourselves.

Hotel madness aside, it was actually a fairly nice place to stay, with a private beach, pool, and far too many ancient Nordic men in Speedos.

After exploring downtown Dahab, we needed to get a cab back to the hotel. We were quickly set upon by two cab drivers. One guy told us LE 30, fine. We started walking to his car. But another guy, who apparently was in line ahead of guy 1, said this wasn't fair and that we shouldn't go with this man. Guy 2 offered us LE 25 but we stuck with guy 1. Guy 2 started arguing with guy 1, so we just told both of them that they could sort out their problems themselves and that we'd just take the free hotel bus back. We walked a few yards to the shuttle stop. No doubt angry at having lost five potential customers, both men immediately got into a full-blown fistfight including headlocks and choking. Someone broke them up quickly but it was on the whole a laysa jayyid experience.

(We later unwittingly used guy 2 as our cab driver the next night. Longest, most awkward cab ride ever.)

Ramadan was over, which means...move those clocks forward! For the next 20 days, we'll be 7 hours ahead of the US East Coast. Then we'll switch back again for daylight savings. Not that it really matters, though...Egyptian time is Egyptian time.

Of course, there's nothing like a little clarification if you're confused about all this time-switching. Just read the hotel notice they gave to us.



The Blue Hole, they say, is one of the world's best snorkeling spots. Situated in a lagoon about 15 minutes from our hotel, it was convenient for us to take a jeep-cab there for the day. Unfortunately it broke down in the middle of the desert and another one had to come pick us up. Our first driver tried getting on this jeep as we left in a desperate attempt to abandon his own and get out of this wasteland, but our new driver accelerated, leaving the guy to wait for help.

That night we planned to go to Mt. Sinai. We hadn't brought blankets for the summit, and figured we'd just borrow some from our hotel room.
Always two steps ahead, of course, the hotel guys had come into our room and removed them.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Day Two

The spread of misinformation, especially across the Arab world as citizens' views grow farther and farther away from their governments', is probably the most frightening thing facing humanity right now. People who make no effort to understand the other side of things, who accept an opinion as fact because they know no other opinion, or who use misinformation for political or personal gain are not worthy of making the decisions that actually affect those personally involved.

This doesn't just apply to the Middle East. It applies to all advocates of a cause, whether you're dealing with building a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center or trying to clean up the disastrous spill in the Gulf. Facts can be so easily twisted, especially with so much information available to those with power in their hands while only selected news is made available to those less well-off. It's our responsibility as human beings to try to sift through the rubbish and determine what is fair and what is not.

On a brighter note, today some AUC students and I played a game where you put your hands on the table in a weave pattern and go in a circle hitting the table once each time. Someone can tap the table twice, and it reverses. If you tap the wrong hand out of turn, you have to do a dare. Some of the best ones involved asking the McDonald's manager for some free food, pretending to be an ice climber on the ground in front of people eating dinner, and skipping around the patio singing "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story. It's things like this that make you realize you actually have a lot in common with those who may not share your political or social views.

I had my first Egyptology class today, Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt. Sadly it doesn't cover the New Kingdom at all (Ramesses and such), but there are field trips so it should be fun. My other option is to take a Cultural Geography class on Ancient Egypt that covers from prehistory to Roman rule. Both professors are awesome and really know their stuff, as you'd hope from any Egyptology professor in Egypt itself.

Speaking of Egyptology, I found this video of me from awhile back. Enjoy.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

First day of class

What a lucky day it's been. Got up at 5 and realized it was 5 due to the time difference, then got up again at 6 and took the early bus to AUC for my first class of the day...3amiya! Next, Egyptian Foreign Policy, MSA Arabic, and International Law.

Half my professors didn't show up to class today. Neither of my politics professors. That is sad. Although to be fair, a lot of people were absent because of Ramadan and Eid being this Thursday/Friday. Egyptians are a sociable lot, and the campus showed this extremely well judging by the amount of people hanging around the walkways chatting with their friends.

I'd go on a rant again about the ridiculous bureaucracy that involves me going to three different places to activate my email password--which I took care of last week and mistakenly thought I was finished--but "the system" will undoubtedly be evident in this and future posts.

I think it's really interesting how people think of education differently than we do in the US. Here at AUC, we Study Abroad students are invited to meet a slice of the Egyptian population that's really the thinnest cut of the top twirl of red velvet icing on your succulent, dark chocolate Georgetown Cupcake. (Why cupcake? No, it's not some deep metaphor for Egyptian society, although I'm sure a lot of less well-off Egyptians would consider these people the "let them eat cake" flavor. No. I just like cupcakes.)
Where was I? Yes, the student population. Being as privileged as they are to attend the best university in Egypt and one of the finest in the Middle East, understandably many don't seem to feel the motivation to work as hard since their family money and connections point to a decent job at the end of college anyway. It's the same to some degree in America. But again, this is just my first impression, so it'll probably change once I meet more people. (Some fondly refer to us as AUCians, but I refuse this label. To me it just sounds like we're from another world. Ok, this may in fact be true. I take it back.)

After walking out of my International Law class after the professor didn't show up, I decided to go to the library and hang out. Figuring I didn't have anywhere to be, I let time tick away aimlessly, knowing that the next bus was at 9:15pm and I'd find people to talk to or something else to occupy my time. Two hours went by.

As I walked to the gym to possibly work out, I remembered two things: the gym was closed in the afternoons for Ramadan, and the free dinner and talent show at Zamalek were tonight at 8pm. Ya Allah, one more day wasted, khalas. No buses before 9:15.

Of course, it pays (or it's free, in my case) to have Egyptian friends. As luck would have it, my friend Ahmed was just about to leave campus for Mohandiseen and gave me a ride back with plenty of time before the dinner. I owe him one, big time.

The talent show turned out to be worth it. We all gathered in the cafeteria area on the floor to see the raw talent (and in some cases stupidity) that our fellow exchange students offered, including Filipino break dancing, a true story/comedy routine involving an American and two giggly Egyptian girls, and a rap from the point of view of an Iraqi insurgent. This latter act reminded me a lot of the Elder Swear and Snape's cry: "Five hundred THOUSAND points from Gryffindor!"
Nobody else wanted to go, so I went up and did the bhangra routine from senior year. I'm sure people were a little freaked out but that's what these things are for. I'll just say this: never be afraid to put yourself out there, because you never know what might happen.

Continue reading.

After we had our free Iftar dinner, one of my friends (who turned out to actually be Indian) did her own dance to Mauja hi Mauja. Totally stole my act. (Although technically I stole her people's act first, I guess.) Apparently I inspired her to do it, which could be a good or bad thing depending on how she thought my dancing was. Near the end I came up and we both performed. Overall a very interesting night.

Even though she and Jens, the Swedish accordionist extraordinaire (first and last ones performing, funny how that works), won the talent competition, I got a lot of compliments most involving having the baidan to dance in the first place. Good stuff.

Then I had a good munaqisha about politics and petrol with Hassan, our soon-to-be-vacated Egyptian roommate, and worked out at the Zamalek gym. I'd say it was a fairly productive first day. On the whole, kuwayyis awi (very good).

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Why I live downtown

You know you go to school in the middle of the Sahara when even the cab drivers have no idea how to find your university.