I am very glad I packed:
1. my rap/hip-hop/ghettoPop-filled iPod. Few things inspire nostalgia for the states more than some thug-worthy rap. Music that I pseudo-liked in the US now finds a very warm place in my heart and eardrums, aparently Egyptians aren't Poppin' Their Collars, Big Pimpin', or Leanin' wit it, Rockin' wit it. In fact, they aren't even Bringing Sexyback yet.
2. a tremendous sense of humor. In Amsterdam, an Egyptian immigrant told me I couldn't enjoy Egypt if I took anything too seriously. He said: If you worry about terrorism, you'll drive yourself crazy. If you worry about feminism, you'll be cranky all the time. If you expect anything on time, you're very mislead. Whether its punctionality, air pollution, or . Instead of getting my panties in a twist I've just been able to laugh my frustrations away.
3. a sewing kit. This seems like an obvious one, but I was unaware of how agressive license plates on parked cars could be to pants and skirts before living here. It's only a matter of time before my wardrobe looks like a kleenex kid... explaination of this phrase is needless if you've walked the streets here, and explaining it would just make me feel elitist.

I wish I had packed:
1. ducktape. This amenity would make our showerhead, which remains sub-par and the household joke, somewhat functional, among other things.
2. a thousand AA batteries. I have recently dicovered "everReady" batteries, convienetly available everywhere in Cairo, have enough power to let me take ONE picture before my camera alerts me that my battery is exausted, again.
3. a normal sized - no, a king-sized! - bath towel. I had some serious towel-envy this weekend on the boat as I dried myselves with my washcloth sized Egyptian towel with ugly embroidry...*grumble* hah.
4. all of my class notes from sophomore year. my academic loads seems like a mirror image of last years classes, except with less SAT words and no copy-right laws.

I am feening for:
1. pleasure readers. People talk about reading like it was some bad habit they gave up shortly after highschool.
2. my sense of academic ambition and career-driven priorities. for the first time in my life I am complacent to the possibility my life might be spent in aimless pursuit of something to pass the time, help people, and reassure me i am not a waste of human potential instead of some solid career. at this point even grad. school seems like an option among others rather than the next thing on the list. this might be bad, but this might also be the liberation my life plan was in need of.
3. standard, sophisticated English. I sound fobbier and fobbier every day. Even my French is suffering from some serious Arabic infusion. I sound like a North African with no solid or grammatically correct grasp on any language. Articles and adverb agreement are fading into conversational

Suprisingly, I do not even slightly miss:
1. my treo or the internet/email addiction that came with it.
2. PrinceCafe and its absurdly over-priced shisha.
3. intimacy. its almost enjoyable to have returned to a state of prude innocence, hah. the lack of sexual intention makes interactions so much more pleasant and gives any slightly lustful exchange of glances so much more refreshing.

This weekend was a nearly hedonistic.

On Thursday night we piled on to this overcrowded little bus for a 6 hour drive to Hurghada. At 2am we found an absolutely gorgeous safari boat awaiting our arrival. The weekend, all of which was spent drifting the Red Sea, was literally a page out of some luxury paradise brocure, the crew cooked outstanding Middle Eastern food fresh at every meal and third-story deck provided a bed beneath a blanket of black sky and thousands of stars…. Life was literally: Wake up. Eat. Dive. Nap. Dive. Eat. Chill. Eat. Nap. Eat. Dive. Eat. Dive. Chill….for 48 hours. I’m attracted to SCUBA in a purely practical way: eff the fish and the reef - I feel like I am invading their habitat and I get stressed out thinking I am going to knock some poor creature’s entire life of growing into coral dust with one kick of my fin… The simple sensation of being underwater, not having to worry about floating or breathing, is what captures me. It’s fascinating to watch how people behave underwater, too. I’m interested in taking the rescue diver course, but that would require me to take the advanced diving course first… then again ship wrecks and night dives might be too tempting to pass up. This may become my new addiction.

also, Ramadan has begun and the city is entirely different. The streets are quiet, shops are closed... during iftar the untrained eye would think the city was abandoned... but inside resteraunts and houses people are breaking fast with sweet dates, tea, and course upon course of food. Before I left my mum asked me what I was most excited for and I told her this month, so inshaAllah it will be as sweet and generous as expected. Ramadan kareem.

First and foremost, a grand apology for not posting. Upon arrival to AUC, study abroad students were informed that during our "acculturalation" process, we would encounter a frustrating dip in our emotions. Luckily I have yet to encounter a dip of any sort, but this week has definitely been the least pleasant among a month of outstanding ones.

For example, this week provided me with the most cultural awkward day I've yet had in Cairo....

Everything started out normal: I rolled out of bed, went to the neighborhood falafel place to pick up lunch for sasha and I, passed by one of the dozen corner kiosks for sweets and a phonecard, and then bravely ventured into the neighborhood grocery store for a big box of water. Please note that Greg, who had been living with us for the past week or so had previously be charged with this responsibility and sash and I would normally have just trekked to Zamalek to shop in the confort of an uber-westernized English-speaking environment. Greg had prepared me for the experience, explaining that a little grocery boy would carry the box to our apartment and two pounds would suffice as payment. So, indeed Hussein, a 14 year old Egyptian boy, and I waded down the narrow streets of our neighborhood until sharia' abdel hamid said where every twenty seconds I assured him I could take the box from here…I am American. My attempts were thwarted and we wound up in the elevator where everything went down hill. The typical "Are you married?" dance elevated into total mess… eventually leading to a thwarted kiss, a shouting match of broken Arabic, and sasha and I pushing with all our weight against our door.

We were not going to be typical Americans in this situation. We were going to be Egyptian women. And in case you don't know, Egyptian woman have an astute faculty for bitchiness. Our goal was to march down to the market, clad in our most modest clothing, and explain to the manager what had happen and insist that the boy be reprimanded. Unfortunately we don't speak Arabic. So, Moodi, like always, came to our rescue and preceded to march down to the market to perform the aforementioned shaming of the local grocery boy. I think everyone within in a three 10 foot radius peeked into the grocery shop to watch the ordeal unroll. Envision: A circle of gossip-hungry Egyptian men and women encircling Moodi, shadowed by me and sasha feigning looks of seriousness and the shop keeper, shadowed by a teenage fuckwit feigning innocence, characterized by sweeping arm gestures and sharp sounding Arabic phrases.

At the end of the day, Sasha and I had shamed the neighborhood grocery boy, and received a dirty, bug-infested gift of pots and pans from our endearing yet odd bowab. I'm still not sure how the pots came into the situation…

Nevertheless, laterns are popping up on every storefront and the conversation seems to buzz with one word: Ramadan. The last month of the Islamic year is begining... very, very cool. I"m just writing from the library before heading out to Hurgada for the a weekend to get my SCUBA certification. More updates soon.

Classes are outstanding, unfortunately the city and Egypt generally is far too enticing for them to become the sole priority. people keep sending me notes with phrases like, “hope you are having the time of your life” and initially I thought these phrases were a bit superfluous or at least exaggerated, but this week, Thursday morning at 3a to be exact, i realized they are neither. Sasha looked at me and said, “this has been the most exciting month of my life”. It’s true. The past three weeks have definitely been unparallel, if not in excitement than at least in some other quality of experience. Twenty minutes before this nostalgic little moment of ours, we were galloping through the Sahara desert with the pyramids in the distance.

The moment a horse transitions from a clumsy trot into a sweeping gallop is one of the most exhilarating feelings I’ve ever experienced. On the way back to Giza, Mohammed said, “Ya Aminah, you’re a good rider, you’ll enjoy this…” and so I followed him. Perhaps a mistake, but one made gladly. After a few minutes of genuine fear and doubt in my safety, I found myself unable to keep the sound of exhilaration inside my body. A breathy haa, haa, haa emanated from, my soul - I think, with every gallop while Mohammed cried “yallah!” and we distanced ourselves from the others: just twilight, a cold breeze, hooves upon sand, deep breathing, and the deafening silence of the desert. This was just one of some many moments here that I am acutely aware and extremely happy that I am alive.

God help us all. Video: Bush reflects on 9/11*

I do not want to talk about terrorism. I want to talk about the indecency of humanity, the self-interest of politicians, and the ignorance of the rich and powerful. The first time I mentioned “9/11” yesterday, was 4pm over shisha with Amanda, she too spent her day unbeknownst of the date but noted its historical significance for our country. This morning I browsed CNN for the Bush transcript and other remembrance clips. I got approximately 3 minutes into Bush’s 16 minutes address, before I went to the water closet at Costa and vomited: There is an inexcusable lapse in empathy between the Middle East and America, amongst Americans themselves, and amongst the powerful in the world system and all those burdened by it. When did Samuel Huntington become the voice of the US administration? I find it ironic and deeply saddening that the people in the world who have the luxury of worrying about world problems seem incapable of comprehending the multiple view points of any given situation, and of fathoming the infinite potential America has to reconcile issues rather than exacerbating them.

The clash of civilizations, as Bush notes so obediently from Lewis and Huntingtown, is a cop-out; is a gauntlet of warfare; is the argument of conservative, wealthy, Americans of European decent with little interest in a global community.

The word ‘evil’ which, is also tossed out confidently during the address, is an irrelevant term because what we define as evil is entirely subjective to our personal and moral compass. Using such blanket phrases as “terrorism” and “evil” is tolerable from a homogeneous, close-minded, and entirely self-interested organization, but from the US? from the country with one of the world’s most eclectic mix of ethnic backgrounds, political standpoints, and financial situations?

I think if Bush and I were in a casual situation, we would agree in far more ways than we disagree: America is threatened by rising extremism in the world. But what is to be done is where I think the Bush Administration and I would disagree. The message the 16 minute address sent to me is “we will get them back”. But I don’t want to get “them” back. Yes, I am NOT the mother of a killed solider or the wife of a 9.11 victim, but I am still a compatriot of those people and I truly don’t think revenge will ease their pain. I think revenge is retroactive and what we need is a proactive solution.

I am a 20something college student living abroad, enjoying affluence, safety, and relative independence from responsibilities… I have the luxury of giving a shit what the US government said today and the naiviete to think I have a better grasp on international affairs then a staff of hundreds of people in Washington. In all fairness, all I can say is when I clicked on to CNN this morning I had expected – had hoped for – something comforting, and instead I received evidence that the voice of the US administration is not reflective of its constituents as a whole, that the crusades never ended, and that America is very, very much at risk, not only from the extremist Islamists abroad, but also the extremist evangelicals at home.

Insomnia is a natural state of mind in Cairo. The sunset brings with it a massive breath of cooler air and everyone seems to pour onto the streets to embrace it. Greg and I sat in Midaan Tahrir watching the moon set and the sunrise yesterday morning after spending the wee hours with Amanda, and Aladin’s friends Wael and Ramy in Mohandessin. Standing sleep-deprived but very satisfied on the October 6^th Bridge we were amazed entire families were still out on the street at such an odd hour of the morning. The most interesting moment might have been when the parked car blasting Arabic pop music stopped for the call of dawn call and then continued on with its early morning hijinks after it was finished, like something truly sacred existed in the few minutes of the muzzins call. Other interesting highlights of the week include:

Walking bustling Cairene streets elevates to a new level with an iPod. Most invigorating musical accompaniments thus far include: Busoni’s Presto Sonata and Busta Rhymes’ I Love My Bitch.

Everytime I walk to school I pass this little shop with an awesome black dress, almost too hip to be called an abbiya (traditional Islamic overdress) in the window… Yesterday when I walked by it was gone, so I went in and asked about it… The woman brought the sultry black floor length hooded gown with turquoise beading from the backroom and had me try it on. Needless to say, I’ve invested in my first abbiya.

Overflowing washing machines, bum shower heads without any approximation of water pressure, light fixtures that stay in the wall out of habit rather than legitimate nails or screws… living in an apartment in Cairo is a comedy of errors. Nevertheless, when I turn off Shari’ Botan onto the little alley that leads to our building I feel the sensation of home, so home it is for the time being.

This weekend was the international study retreat at el Gouna, more aptly described as a vacation away from Cairo air pollution and city noise into an oasis of European luxury on the Red Sea. Despite the AUC elitism that seemed to pervade the gathering, I found a pretty hip little group of friends and enjoyed eating-sleeping-swimming-eating-sleeping-swimming cycle tremendously. We went out one night to a dance club that was open air and it was so nice to be with the aforementioned group of friends simply dancing all the subliminal frustrations or anxiety of our first full week in Egypt into oblivion. At 4am on Sunday I went down to the beach all by my onesy and preceeded to wade into the Red Sea wearing a sweatshirt and my undies. The sea seemed like an inifinte, dark abyss and the sky above was lit by thousands of stars….it was unforgettably beautiful. The true highlight of the trip was probably seeing whirling dervishes for the first time. The dervishes were quite literally human spinning-tops, but watching the passion on their faces brought it to a level beyond visual interest and into spiritual eudaimonia. Wahdat (unity), the main principle of Sufism, is based on the belief that everything is a manifestation of a single reality: al-Haq (God, Truth); yet the essence of this reality does not have a form, therefore the pursuit of every Sufi is to separate themselves from the duality of essence and existence, to realize divine unity.

Classes start tomorrow and this evening Sasha, Greg, Amanda and I are headed to Khan al-Khalili, the biggest souk in Africa, for some evening hijinks and vicious bargaining. *I have extremely cool videos of both the dervishes and an awe-inducingly-attractive bellydancer, just shoot me an email or pop a comment.