the chicken and the mushroom

I think we all know that I am not really the outdoorsy type, years spent at Eisner notwithstanding, but I did, in fact, willingly go camping this weekend. And it was fun! This weekend is potentially a long weekend: Monday is Mohammad's birthday and an official day off, so many people also took off Sunday and made it a four-day weekend. Since I just took off to go to Amsterdam with Michelle, I chose to work today (Sunday), though I was still up for a little desert excursion.

Since Cairo is so crowded, it can be a bit of a shock sometimes to remember how startlingly empty the rest of the country can be. Our base was the Bahariyya Oasis in the Western Desert (of which the Black and White Deserts are just a small part), and on the 4-hour drive from Cairo to Bahariyya we passed...nothing. Just vast open expanses of desert as far as the eye could see, punctuated by brief spottings of camels or a few reststops. I suppose beach is still my favorite, but there is something I really love about the innate peacefulness of the desert, and this trip didn't disappoint.

We departed Cairo at 4 a.m. Friday morning packed into a minibus, drove to the Bahariyya Oasis, where we ate breakfast and repacked our bags into two 4x4 vehicles for the desert trip. There were nine of us, plus three guides. They drove the cars, made the food, tea and fire, set up the camp, and even played some awesome drum music around the campfire. We first drove through the Black Desert, which is black because of a former volcano in the area. We continued on through some really beautiful scenery, and eventually ended up in the White Desert, where we camped for the night.

The Black Desert was not necessarily my favorite, though the volcano was cool. On the other hand, the White Desert was really freaking awesome. Everything is very lunar looking, and you really feel like you are walking around on the surface of the moon. There are these strange white shapes kind of rising out of nothing, all in this white, chalky rock. It looked to me like it had been snowing on a Dr. Seuss book or something like that. And at night, the moon was so bright and reflecting off the rocks, you could see perfectly even without a flashlight.

In the morning, we stopped at a few noteworthy formations on our way back to Bahariyya. This included The Mushroom (not pictured), and The Chicken, which is the photo on the top of this post. It looks like the chicken is facing a tree. Pretty awesome.

And a sidenote: I didn't even realize it, but this weekend at Northwestern was Dance Marathon, a popular NU fundraiser that I have participated in for the last three years. Hundreds of student dancers dance for 30 hours to raise money for a chosen charity, with even more students volunteering their time to take care of the dancers, raise money with alumni, organize within the university, count all the money, set the dancing area, be in charge of music, lighting and more. It's an incredible undertaking that, I think, really brings together the student body. I missed it this year.

Former volcano in the black desert

Pretty desert photo

This is the awesome place we stopped for lunch. Note the very zen-like stream flowing through the middle.

Our campsite in the White Desert, set up by our awesome Bedouin guides. This was the chill-out area, though we also had a campfire and tents for sleeping off to the side.

Ooooh, wide-lens! Fancy! White desert at sunset. You can see another jeep out there as well.

Another view of the desert in the morning.

i love globalization

This has been a very productive week (and weekend?) for me. In addition to many getting settled things (see below), I also went to a fun party on a yacht on the Nile Friday night. They had a dance floor on the upper deck, and there was a nice breeze, and overall it was just really nice.

On Friday during the day I went to an AIESEC event, which was basically a welcome day for all the new members. They held it at the Sakkara Palm Club, which had a lovely pool and horseback riding and things like that. We used a big conference/meeting room, and the day also included a nice lunch. It was nice for me to see the AIESECers I know and also meet some other interns. Apparently there are like six interns who all work at the same place, so we exchanged numbers and hopefully will hang out.

This day was also nice because I enjoyed some of the AIESEC 101, like when they explained all the acronyms to the new members. AIESEC loves acronyms.

Trivia time! Did you know:
1. The GN (growth network) I am in is called MENA (Middle East and North Africa)
2. My LC (local committee) is CU (Cairo University)
3. I am an EP (exchange participant), though I skipped several steps in the AIESEC process, like I2A (initiation to AIESEC), TR (taking responsibility) and having an LR (leadership role)
4. If I want to help plan a conference, I could be on the OC (organizing committee), where I would work with the X (exchange) function to plan events for the interns and other AIESECers

Plus, in addition to the acronym explanation section (which was totally necessary as you can see), they also taught several role calls (I think I might hold off on those for now...) and had awkward ice breakers. I love awkward ice breakers. I think that's one of the main reasons I became a peer advisor in college.

The apartment is finally starting to look awesome. We have hung up some posters and arranged our books in a cool bookshelf-y way, not to mention some furniture rearranging and whatnot. To pick up a lot of apartment-related things we needed, we went to Spinneys (no, there is no apostrophe, and yes, that kills me) at City Stars. Spinneys is sort of like a Wal-Mart or K-Mart, in that they have appliances and cheap clothing in the same place as a large supermarket, but they still don't have quite as much variety as you might hope for.

Still, A1 and I spent a great deal of time just wandering through the aisles with our cart and admiring all the shininess. Bath mats! Cotton balls! Croissants! We were just so happy to be in a familiar environment and surrounded by Western products that we were overall just basking in the glow of globalization. And then we bought some truly unfortunate potholders that have pictures of ice cream on them, and also a spatula, tupperware, and various other things. I will try to post some apartment photos later this week.

Also, I heard (actually, read on The Daily's site) that Northwestern won the Homecoming game this weekend, meaning our record is 6-1 and we are bowl-eligible. Of course this would all happen after I graduate, but still, even in Egypt I can't help but feel a little NU pride.

je ne parle pas français

This weekend I took a little impromptu trip to Alexandria, or Al-Iskandareyya in Arabic. For those without a map of Egypt handy, Alex is about 2 1/2 hours north of Cairo, situated on the Mediterranean, and is the second biggest city in Egypt with a huge amount of history (founded by Alexander the Great, home to Cleopatra, etc).

N has a friend, L, in town for two weeks, and she wanted to visit Alex. N's roommate S3 is Egyptian and her family lives in Alex, and she invited us all to spend the weekend. S3 and L left on Thursday night, but N and I had a party we wanted to stay for so we left on Friday morning early. (Brief note about that party: it was at this guy W's apartment, he is an AIESECer I had met very briefly before, but we have several friends in common. In any case, I introduced myself at the party and it turns out...that he also went to Northwestern! I know, awesome, right? Total number of NU alums I know in Cairo: 3.)

But I digress. So, Friday morning N and I managed to drag ourselves out of bed and hustle to the train station, arriving in typical Egyptian fashion at 8:55 a.m. for a 9 a.m. train. Tickets are cheap -- LE 30 (approx. $6) buys you a seat in air-conditioned second class -- and we promptly passed out. After missing our stop (I know, it takes skill), S3 arrived in her car to pick us up from the station. We went to her apartment and met her parents, sister, and the American exchange student living with them for the semester. It turns out she is on the same program as J, and their program is very strict in that they sign a language pledge not to speak any language except Arabic, ever. Even when it's just a group of Americans. We were welcomed by S3's family, ate a quick lunch (as it is Ramadan, there would most likely not be any food available near the beach), and then headed for the beach. On the way we also stopped to pick up two French backpackers S3 and L had met on the train (L is studying in Paris so they made friends and spoke in French). We spent a lovely afternoon at the beach, and on the way out we walked around the Montazah gardens around the former palace. Beautiful. I enjoyed the Mohamed Ali pool club in Cairo over the summer, but there's nothing like the beach. It was lovely to be back on the Mediterranean, and it was a private beach so we could wear our normal bathing suits.

After the beach, the six of us (me, N, L, S3, 2 French backpackers) went back to S3's for iftar with her parents, uncle, sister, sister's friend, and exchange student. That made 12 people sitting at the table speaking a combination of English, Arabic and French (Arablish + Franbic = ?), which was interesting. I was able to make it okay in Arabic (I understood a lot and even managed to form some coherent sentences), and as for French...well, when it's similar to Spanish I can understand a bit, otherwise we would speak slowly and wait for a third party to translate. The food was good, the family was fun, and overall it was one of those hilarious "only in Egypt" types of dinners. After iftar we spent some time at an 'ahwa, then hung out at home talking until late.

On Saturday, we slept in a bit, then headed out to be tourists for the day. Five of us (minus the two Frenchies, but with S3's friend Y) went to the new library, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, but unfortunately it was closed (screwy hours due to Ramadan), so we took pictures from the outside and I will go back next time I am in Alex. We had better luck at the Alexandria National Museum, which had lots of cool stuff including a tomb with a mummy and many other interesting pharonic, Greek, Roman and Coptic artifacts. It was nice to get semi-official tours from S3 and Y, who know their way around the city. Y also speaks Arabic and French but little English, though we were able to speak a little in Arabic and some French/English, while pantomiming wildly. We all considered an elaborate game of charades, but this never quite materialized, which is probably for the best.

For iftar on Saturday, S3 had plans with a group of friends at the Greek Club, a nice restaurant overlooking the port of Alexandria. We all tagged along, the food was delicious and the view was amazing. We also went and took some photos of Alexandria's Citadel and the sea. We drove around for a bit admiring the city, and then eventually headed back to Cairo on the 10 p.m. bus. (Pro: It was a double decker and we sat on the top! Con: They played an Arabic movie the entire time. REALLY loudly.)

Anyway, it might have been last minute, but it was a welcome trip. It was nice to stay with S3's extremely welcoming family (apparently we are all invited back), and it gives you a sense of what Ramadan is really about: a time for family and friends to gather. A couple times this month I have gotten to be a part of that family togetherness, and I appreciate those occasions. Plus, Alex is a lovely city; it's much quieter and cleaner than Cairo (although I think cleanliness is relative: Alex is not necessarily clean compared to Chicago, for example, but compared to Cairo it's pristine), and it's also a bit smaller. Unlike Cairo, much of the ancient history that made Alex so famous is gone now, under the sea (plans are underway for an underwater museum, apparently), or just destroyed over time. But many museums and historical sites are being renovated, so the city is going through a sort of renaissance. It feels a bit like other cities I have been to along the Mediterranean, like Marbella in Spain or Tel Aviv.

It is almost hard to believe that a lovely, understated city like Alexandria can exist so close to Cairo, which is by far the most overwhelming place I have ever lived. But in the end, it's that over-the-top nature that I love so much about Cairo; Alex is great for a weekend getaway, but it lacks the chaotic energy of Cairo. Anyway, those are my thoughts after just one weekend, but I am sure I will be back. In the meantime, enjoy some photos below!

This is the palace at the Montazah gardens:

This is the 'ahwa we went to...note all the lanes of Corniche traffic we had to cross.

Standing with some friends outside the Bibliotheca Alexandrina:

Mummy!

Port of Alex (check out the minarets in the skyline):

That's the citadel behind us: