If you recall, I had hoped to finally see the Pyramids of Giza while Oliver was here. The plan was to go on Friday, 27 March, but then Rachel invited us on her field trip and that sounded incredible, so we did that instead. When we returned from the Saturday field trip, there was talk of going to the Pyramids of Giza that evening due to the pyramids and sphinx possibly lining up with the sunset and equinox that had just happened (I am not explaining that right, but I do not remember exactly what was supposed to happen. It was just a good formula: Pyramids + (Equinox/Sunset) = Incredible. When we got there, the entrance we went to had closed. There was another entrance, but it was further away from the pyramids, so you would have to rent camels or horses to ride over to them and we did not have that kind of time. Another time, I guess. (Oliver was able to go the next day while I had class)
I needed something to show for the attempt:
On Sunday, my mentor (I signed up for a faculty-mentor program as a way to have a resource for all of my Egypt-related questions and issues) invited us (Oliver, Jessica, me) to her home for an Egyptian dinner/celebration of her daughter's 7-1/2 birthday. Let's see if I can remember what I had (warning - I am terrible at describing food): Molokhia (a stew with molokhia leaves, garlic, and another spice that I cannot remember - it was tasty), Chicken Kebab, Kofta (a spiced meat dish), Eggplant Parmesan, Stuffed Tomatoes, another stew (cannot remember the name!)- I definitely had more to eat, I cannot remember what, though. There was a chocolate mousse cake, as well, for the half-birthday girl. It was all extraordinarily delicious. Oliver flew back to the States shortly after dinner.
On Tuesday of that week (31st of March), my Egyptian politics class went on a field trip to a government-operated think tank for the Egyptian Cabinet and then to a Judiciary/Legal human rights group (that doesn't make sense, I know, they work ensure fair laws and that sort of work). Two very different places. At the think tank, we sat through a presentation on what they do and then witnessed the office's ambassador (or some sort of PR guy?) do his job- not answering our questions. He was good. I was most impressed when someone asked him about Egyptians not being honest about their feelings toward the government out of fear and he responded by saying "Egyptians are a shy people". We left the very nice office building and went across town to the NGO. Its office was in the top floor of an apartment complex. We met with the director of the organization and he told us about what they do and then he took questions. He had an amazing story about how he got involved (I will not discuss that here, I am "shy"). He seemed like a very honest and humble person. I think that is the best way to put it to show the contrast between the two organizations we saw.
On Friday (a week ago! - 3rd of April), I had an architecture field trip. I am rather bored with mosques and the like, so I will skip those pictures. The area we went to was right next to Khan al-Khalili. Because we went in the morning and it was a Friday, most of the market was closed. It was strange to see it empty.
On Tuesday of that week (31st of March), my Egyptian politics class went on a field trip to a government-operated think tank for the Egyptian Cabinet and then to a Judiciary/Legal human rights group (that doesn't make sense, I know, they work ensure fair laws and that sort of work). Two very different places. At the think tank, we sat through a presentation on what they do and then witnessed the office's ambassador (or some sort of PR guy?) do his job- not answering our questions. He was good. I was most impressed when someone asked him about Egyptians not being honest about their feelings toward the government out of fear and he responded by saying "Egyptians are a shy people". We left the very nice office building and went across town to the NGO. Its office was in the top floor of an apartment complex. We met with the director of the organization and he told us about what they do and then he took questions. He had an amazing story about how he got involved (I will not discuss that here, I am "shy"). He seemed like a very honest and humble person. I think that is the best way to put it to show the contrast between the two organizations we saw.
On Friday (a week ago! - 3rd of April), I had an architecture field trip. I am rather bored with mosques and the like, so I will skip those pictures. The area we went to was right next to Khan al-Khalili. Because we went in the morning and it was a Friday, most of the market was closed. It was strange to see it empty.
Everything is usually open and there are hordes of people everywhere:
Ok, a few pictures of the buildings (I guess they weren't just mosques, but were hospital and school complexes, too), but little explanation!:
This door was taken from a church in Palestine during the Crusades. It was a trophy, basically.
This was a design on a door:
Intense Mashrabiya:
This was at the Sultan Hussein mosque (the mosque always pictured next to Khan al-Khalili). It was almost prayer time on Friday so they had these things providing shade for the overspill crowd:
I have caught up! I will post the details of my Spring Break plans later today before I leave.
This door was taken from a church in Palestine during the Crusades. It was a trophy, basically.
This was a design on a door:
Intense Mashrabiya:
This was at the Sultan Hussein mosque (the mosque always pictured next to Khan al-Khalili). It was almost prayer time on Friday so they had these things providing shade for the overspill crowd:
I have caught up! I will post the details of my Spring Break plans later today before I leave.
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