back in the USSR

This past week was full of excellent cultural experiences. On Monday I went with a group of about 16 friends to Peking, a Chinese restaurant in Zamalek, to celebrate the Chinese New Year (it's the Year of the Ox, which is totally my sign, so I think that means it's my lucky year or something). Then on Tuesday we went to see Aida at the Cairo Opera House. Since it wasn't sold out, we got moved to really good seats in front. For those unfamiliar with Aida, it's incredibly appropriate to see it here since it takes place in Egypt. The sets and costumes were great, and while I am not usually an opera person, I enjoyed it a great deal. It was nice to do something classy with my friends, and it's always fun to have an excuse to get all dressed up.

On Friday I went with some friends to the Cairo International Book Fair, which is spread out through a few different exhibition halls at the Cairo convention center in Heliopolis. There are displays from major publishers and bookstores from around the Arab world, and other countries like Spain, France, Italy and Greece also had booths. I wasn't about to buy a ton of Arabic books (my reading level is not that great), but I did want to pick up some children's books. That is much more appropriate. After debating between enticing titles like "Maggie And The Cat" and "There Is A Ghost In My House," I opted for "How Great Is The Summer?" which I am excited to start reading. I also got a translated version of "Little Miss Giggles," which is part of a series I am sure many of you remember fondly. I wanted the "Little Miss Sunshine" one, but they were out. Sad! I was also tempted by an Arabic copy of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," but ultimately decided against it.

The other excellent part of the book fair was the massive used book tent, where the different stalls had stacks of magazines in every language going back decades (Cosmo in Spanish from 1998, Glamour in German from 2005, Foreign Affairs or National Geographic from pretty much any year conceivable, etc.), old comics like Batman and Superman in Arabic, huge collections of well-worn English paperback novels, etc. There is no real logic in the way things were arranged, so it was pretty much a browsing situation. I love book fairs, so this was my favorite part. Below are some photos of the book fair, including a photo of my number one find in the used book area (which I did not buy): Lonely Planet U.S.S.R., publication date 1989. I know, it's awesome.

More book fair -- some of the stalls were outside.

Me reading Harry Potter in Arabic.

Lonely Planet U.S.S.R. Note how it says "travel survival kit" in the top right. This is clearly the most awesome thing I found at the book fair.

and now for a weather report

I am in love with my space heater. It keeps my room warm and toasty and makes comforting noises and everyone is jealous. Winter in Cairo is not really so bad, especially compared to Chicago. On a good day I can still wear flip-flops, and on a windy day a fleece and scarf are a good idea. But no extra-puffy down jackets, no snow (not even any rain, so far), and definitely no below-zero temperatures (even in Celsius!).

The main problem I guess is that because the winters are mild, almost no buildings are heated. That might not seem like such a big deal, but it essentially means that the temperatures outside stays the same inside. So if it's a cold day (or more likely, a cold night), there isn't really anywhere to go and warm up. In Chicago it was freezing outside, but when you came inside it would be nice and warm and you could start shedding layers. But in Cairo, if it's cold outside then it's cold inside also. My apartment's large living room/dining room/reception area gets particularly chilly -- we have been wrapping ourselves in blankets while watching TV. And so that is why I love my space heater -- just when I think I can't escape the cold, I just crawl into bed directly in front of the heater. Glorious.

In other appliance news, A1 brought a George Foreman grill for us back from the US. Extremely exciting. I have made grilled cheese several times already. We still don't have a microwave, but small steps. We've survived without one until now, but who knows -- it could still happen.

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.

new phone!

A couple posts ago I mentioned that my company entered a deal with a bigger corporation. Well, as a result of that deal, I got my first-ever employee benefits: a shiny new phone! My old phone is literally the cheapest phone that they had in stock in the Vodafone store when I first got here, so imagine my delight at getting a flippy phone (and I think we all know how much I love those) with free minutes and actual ringtones and a camera and other fancy things, the Arabic letters on the numbers so I can text bilingually.

As you can see, the classy (and shiny!) flip phone on the left is proof of my semi-legitimacy in Egypt. (I have a work phone! I've never had a work phone before!) On the right is the tiny, mostly functioning phone I picked up when I got here.

Also, successfully asked for first-ever official vacation time, in December when the fam comes to visit. Overall, feeling very adult and professional this week. Scary.