Happy Eid! (and host family updates)

The past few days have been part of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim holiday celebrating the end of the Hajj, which is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.


However, things have been pretty hectic around here because I switched host families on Thursday (Nov. 26th). The switch was due to various reasons, but I have been very happy the past few days staying with my temporary host family, so I am glad I finally spoke up and made the switch, even though I was really nervous about it. I will stay with this temporary family for about two weeks until the AFS-Egypt program finds a permanent family to host me for the rest of the year, insha'allah (this phrase means "God willing," and Egyptians use it ALL the time, so it has found its way into all the exchange students' vocabulary).


On Friday morning, I went with my host family to the mosque for the morning prayer, which was really interesting, and I had to cover my head in a scarf like all the Egyptian women do for prayer. We walked back to their apartment, which is actually very near my previous host family's apartment, and then watched a butcher kill three sheep!


The sheep - 'kharuuf' in Arabic - had been living in an enclosed area next to the apartment for a couple nights, and on Friday morning, the butcher came over and literally cut their throats, skinned them, cut up the meat, and threw it in these plastic buckets right there in front of us. He then took the bucket up to the apartment where my host mom sorted through it, put some in the freezer, and then started cooking some on the stove for us to eat later that day. They gave the other kharuuf to their aunt, and the third was for the poor people.


It was quite a spectacle, and I was pretty disgusted, but it was also fascinating how the butcher and his assistant did everything. They waited until most of the blood drained out from the sheep's neck, and then they cut a whole in the sheep's hind leg, and one man blew air into the leg to fill up the abdomen of the sheep while another used a stick to whack the abdomen to separate the meat from the skin. Then, they dragged the kharuuf over to a doorway and hung it from its hind legs while the butcher skinned it and cut off all the meat.

He threw out the intestines, kidneys, bladder, etc., but kept a lot of other organs that we don't normally eat in the U.S.

We basically spent the next two days eating kharuuf, fatha - a rice dish mixed with soggy bread pieces that was actually pretty good, sleeping, and visiting relatives. We spent a lot of time at their relatives' apartments, which was a lot of fun. Everyone was so welcoming, and it was such a happy celebration...and it was such a change compared to my old host family. I was also amazed by how much Egyptians talk! Sometimes so many conversations were going on at once in the same room that the noise level rose to shouting. There was definitely a lot of joking and laughing involved, too. After dinner on Friday the family set up speakers in the living room, and we all took turns dancing, even the parents! Unfortunately, I haven't learned how to dance Egyptian-style yet - it involves a lot of hip-shaking and hand movements, and is really fun to watch.


I slept in until noon for three days in a row, and I went to see a movie at the CityStars Mall on Sunday night - it was packed because everyone was going to the cinema for Eid. I went shopping on Monday afternoon with Izzy and my host sister, so it's been a relaxing vacation! I also went to the hairdresser on Friday morning with my two host sisters and got my hair curled for the first time ever, so I was shocked with how it turned out, but it has grown on me...it only cost five dollars, too.

I don't go back to work until Sunday (Dec. 6th), so it's a pretty long break, and I hope to visit Khan il-Khalili, the huge bazaar in Islamic Cairo, as well as the Citadel, by the end of the week. The Dahab trip was cancelled due to safety concerns from the American Embassy, but I'm really hoping it will be rescheduled sometime soon because I was really looking forward to that!

So Happy Eid, and I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving, too!

P.S. Since I switched host families, please do not send any more letters to that address...and I will unfortunately probably not receive any letters that you sent to that address.

And I apologize for the lack of pictures, but they wouldn't upload properly on this computer, so I will try to post them later or from a different computer if I get the chance.

Egypt is out...

Egypt just played its final two qualifying games for the 2010 World Cup on Nov. 14th and Nov. 18th, both against Algeria.

These games were a HUGE deal for the entire country, and everything went on hold from 7:30-9:30 pm both nights because everyone was watching the games.

The first game, I went with Izzy to watch the game at the apartment of her counselor, who has two daughters around our age. A projector and big screen had been set up outside in the parking area, and a bunch of people had gathered around and sat on chairs and cars to watch the game. Some of the other NSLI-Y students and I had tried to get tickets to the game, but the Egyptian who tried to buy them for us the morning they went on sale, returned with scratches on his arm...apparently, 25,000 people had showed up at the sporting club he went to, and only 8,000 tickets were available there, so I'm sure it was NOT a civil, orderly process.

Starting late morning/early afternoon, cars kept driving by our apartment, honking, and I could hear people yelling "Masr" ("Egypt") cheers, and flags soon appeared all over people's balconies and cars. Men had been selling them along the street for 2-3 days before the games, so it seemed like everyone had an Egyptian flag. picture: our 'outfits' for the 1st game)

I painted Egyptian flags on both my cheeks before the game, and practically everyone was wearing red and black (the flag colors are red, black, and white)...and then we waited expectantly until kick-off.

The US Embassy had actually sent out an email warning about the game and advising that people stay away from the stadium and away from Nasr City (where the stadium is located), because they said it probably wouldn't be safe. I think that was a little bit extreme, but the atmosphere definitely was electric.

The game...

Egypt had to win on Nov. 14th at least 2-0 to even have a hope of qualifying for the World Cup. If they won 2-0, they would have to play Algeria again on Nov. 18th (which is what happened), and the winner of the Nov. 18th game would go to the World Cup. If Egypt won 3-0, then they would automatically qualify, but if they lost, tied, or only won 1-0, then they would be out. So there was a lot at stake the first game, and it was even magnified by the fact that Egypt and Algeria are really big rivals, and many people told me that Algeria's media had been trash-talking Egypt.

Egypt ended up scoring the first five minutes and the last five minutes, so it was pretty exciting. There were six minutes of stoppage time at the end of the game, and I thought the game was over when only a few minutes were left, and I could tell that nearly everyone else had given up on them, too. So when they scored that last minute goal, everyone jumped up and screamed and danced and hugged each other - i.e. only with the same gender - and then continued the party for the rest of the night! (picture: after Egypt scored their 1st goal)

First, there were fireworks, firecrackers, and sparklers going off everyone, and some people were even throwing them from their apartment windows, so it was a bit dangerous to be below. Then, everyone went to the streets!

There were men, women, and children in the streets, but it was mainly the men who were doing all the dancing, singing, beating of drums, and other crazy things. Some were doing these cult-like dances around Egyptian flags; others had Raid/Pyrosol cans and were spraying them onto a flame from a lighter to make these fire columns; and there were many others who were just driving by in their cars with their windows down and waving flags. People were congregating under bridges and in tunnels, and were jumping, clapping, cheering, and beating drums.

It was crazy to think that if the game had ended one minute earlier, and the final score had been 1-0, then none of this would have happened...all these millions of people would not have taken to the streets.

I don't know how long the party lasted, but I wouldn't hesitate to say that it lasted until morning, until everyone had to go back to work and school. (picture: the two daughters of Izzy's counselor, Izzy, and me, after the game)

The second game was played in Sudan, so there wasn't even a possibility of getting tickets for that one, but everyone was still glued to the TV that night. I watched that game at a cafe with my host family. We watched the first 30 minutes at home because we were running late, and then rushed to the cafe. There wasn't even any traffic, which is abnormal for Cairo, because literally everyone was watching the game.

Algeria ended up scoring the only goal of the game while we were in the car, but the cafe was completely packed - mostly with people in their 20s and 30s. A lot of people were smoking cigarettes or shisha, but everyone watched the game attentively until the very end. (picture: inside the cafe, watching one of the 5 TVs)

This time, there was no mass migration to the streets, except to go back home. People folded up their flags, put their Pyrosol cans away, and left in a bad mood. I never saw anyone respond violently, although I did hear that there was some sort of demonstration at the Algeria Embassy in Cairo on Nov. 20th for some reason.

Although I wish Egypt had won the game, it was really interesting to see the opposite reactions in these games, and again, it's still hard for me to believe how deeply these games affect the ENTIRE country. I do not think anything sports-related in the US can compare to this. And unfortunately, Egypt will not be in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

This Friday is a Muslim holiday, and on Sunday I'm supposed to leave on an 4-day, 3-night AFS trip to Dahab in Sinai, so I'm really looking forward to that! Otherwise, my language classes and volunteer work are still going well, and the weather is cooling down, which is definitely nice.

Happy Thanksgiving, too. I will especially miss the cranberry sauce and pumpkin bread, and of course, our family time, so I'll be thinking of you all!

Race for the Cure

The day after the Alexandria trip, we had to wake up early again and go running! Not only was it the first time I had run since I'd arrived in Egypt, but I got to run around the PYRAMIDS!

This was the first ever 'Race for the Cure in the Middle East' to raise awareness for breast cancer, and we heard about it through the AFS-Egypt volunteers. It only cost about $5, and we all got a t-shirt and hat (as you can see from the pictures), which made it even better. I also got to wear shorts in public for the first time since I've been in Egypt, which felt really good, and even though there were a lot of Americans there, it still felt a little weird.

Most of the NSLI-Y students didn't show up for the event, but there was a good group of us there, so we had a lot of fun.

Getting off the bus and seeing the pyramids through the morning haze was such a surreal experience. I couldn't believe I was actually SEEING the pyramids, and even though I'd looked at so many pictures of them over the years, being there in person was amazing. These monstrous structures seem to just be sitting in the middle of the desert, and 3,000 years later, they are still impressive! It also felt strange to BE right there at the pyramids, but to not be completely focusing on them because I was distracted by the race preparations and talking with my friends.

The race was not well organized, so after we registered amid all the chaos, we walked the 1.5 km to the starting line because they did not have enough buses to transport everyone. We stood around behind the starting line in a huge mass of people, not knowing what was going on, and when the race finally started around 10:30 am, the first 0.1 km were a snail crawl because it was so crowded! (picture above of the pyramids and running route)

Most of the other people in my group decided to walk, but I gladly ran the whole way! I had to dodge hordes of people, cars, loose rocks, sand, and tour buses for 1.5 km until I reached the finish line, but it was worthit. A lot of people didn't even follow the correct course, and hundreds weren't even able to reach the starting line in time, so they began in the middle of the race. So it was not, by any means, a competitive race, and there were no winners (because it was impossible to tell). (below: at the finish line)

I tried to soak in the feeling of running by the pyramids, but it was pretty difficult to look at the them while trying not to run over people (or be run over myself by buses and cars). After the race, the event continued with a parade down past the Sphinx to an area below where a tent was set up.

On our way down past the Sphinx, my friend (Izzy) and I, were tricked by this Egyptian man into riding a camel, and it was too late to do much once we were up on the camel's back. However, we managed to get away with a pretty good price for our 10 meter-long camel ride because we acted really upset with him, and Izzy refused to pay any more than 20 pounds (about $4). (above: Izzy being tricked into riding the camel...I got on soon thereafter.)
All of the NSLI-Y students headed back into Cairo because there wasn't much to do after the event, and Izzy and I got some very refreshing, fresh mango juice from one of the many juice bars throughout the city. Drinking fresh juice is one of our favorite activities now, and so far I've tried cantaloupe, guava, strawberry, mango, and lemon...they also have pineapple, banana, pomegranate, and I'm sure a lot more depending on the season!!

I took some great pictures of the pyramids, but I would definitely like to go back and take a tourn INSIDE one of them. (above: after the race in front of the Sphinx and pyramids.)