June in Cairo

Hey guys, sorry I haven't really been keeping up with the blog. so here are a quick funny, and enjoyable things that have happened to me during the last two weeks.

1. If you are going to get on a bus in Cairo pay exact amount of money or else you pay more than you needed. haha

2. Man, I got on a metro and forgot that a section of the metro is just for women. BIG mistake. haha. All you can do is laugh if you make that mistake!

3.I spent 3 and half hours out in the sun the day I went to the pyramids. haha- my cheeks turn not red or dark-brown but pink!

4. Every time i get on a taxi with Mariam (my boss) and Janet, I can't speak or else we get charged more.

5. I thoroughly enjoyed being at the 25th anniversary of the Deaf Unit in Egypt. Embassadors from Japan, Ireland, Denmark, Minister Social of Work of Egypt , and Bishop Mounieer were there. It was also a very emotional event because Madam Claire (Director of Deaf Unit) is moving to Canada, and you could tell everyone loves her very much. All the kids there were adorable..man i need to learn sign language.

6. I've realized that i am very picky when it comes to eating kepda (liver) cause last time i had it oh man. pretty bad!random I know. hehe

7. My favorite part is walking everywhere without an specific destination. It is very crowded but I enjoy it. You see a lot of small shops and cafe places where mostly likely everyone is smoking the shisha. i always try to find a cafe place where they are showing the Euro2008 cause you can't miss this amazing event. Es futbol!!

8. i have also enjoyed spending time with Refugees in Egypt. Most of them are from Sudan, and on fridays I go to the youth service were Everyone raps and dance to hipo hop. They've asked me to teach how to dance salsa so why not... got to represent latinos somehow.

9. I am excited about interviewing people in the communities of Ain Shames, El Madat Salam, and in Menouf. Pray that I have wisdom in what to say and how to act.

10. I love Egypt!

Dos Weeks en EgYpt

I have been in Cairo for two weeks. It has been a great learning experience, and I am sure I will learn more about the people of Egypt, language (arabic is so hard), traditions, and customs. On tuesday of this past week, Mariam and I had the opportunity to got to Madat Salam Center, right outside of Cairo. There I met Moheb, director of the center, and other people from the staff. We had a meeting- I just try to folllow with the little Arabic I know. The meeting was about the possibility of starting a tutoring program for girls. High school girls from the community would tutor girls who were in primary school. At the end, after a good healthly discussion, Mariam and Moheb agreed in the program. Later that evening, we visited some families from the community. Some families just lived in one single room, where they had a bed, tv, and the rest of their belongings. Wow, and we all complain about not having enough of this and that. I played soccer with the kids, and it was a lot of fun!!!!! They screamed in arabic, and i just pretend that i knew what was going on. Futbol is universal!

Mariam and Janet, and I went to downtown Cairo and had some delicious kusheri. I am definetly learning how to make that, so when i had back to Covenant I can cook some! Eric Scott you would love this meal ;) After some kusheri, we took the metro to Maris Gargis station, and visited St.George Coptic church. One word: Beautiful! Amazing history here in Egypt. Seeing paintings, buildings, and arquitectural work that are from the 3 century A.D was pretty amazing!
THe rest of week I just chilled with my roomate Bishoy! great guy! and if you know any cool words in english let me know, so I can let him know. He loves English!
Ill be visiting more families next week! thanks for reading.

Getting to know the big city of Cairo

I woke up to the sound of loud speakers, call for prayer (Koran) around 3:30 a.m. I couldn't go back to bed, so I decided to pray. I prayed for my family and all of my friends (including those who are probably reading this blog). It was inevitable not to pray for Egypt; I had only been here a couple of days, and I've noticed how religion affects Egyptian society...
Bishoy and I took the bus to the cathedral (place where Mariam works, she will be helping me with my research this summer) around noon. Taking the bus in Cairo is quite an experience. I am suprised Bishoy and I were able to stay inside the bus. Its hard enough to get in, getting out es otra story. Back in Nicaragua's capital,buses are crowded, but Cairo is 10 times bigger! that means crowded is understatement. The majority of the people that use public transportation are men cause according to Bishoy women usually stay at home.
We arrived at our destiniy and we asked for Mariam, and she wasn't there. So we waited. Every time someone would be close to or go in her office, I would ask Bishoy "Is that her?"he wouldn't say anything. He finally replied "I've only had conversations with her on the phone." I laughed, we both didn't know what she looked like...So we waited.
After an hour we finally got to meet her. She is a very nice lady, and she seemed very happy that we were there. Mariam and I decided that we would schedule the research day by day, and we would meet in a specific location. That meant: "Leo's got to learn his way around Cairo". I am so scared!
We got back to our apartment around 3:00 p.m. It was pretty hot, and we were pretty tired: Nap time!
After our nap, we decided to take the metro to Cairo's downtown. It was about 11:30 p.m, and lots of people still walked in the streets of Cairo. This was my favorite part of the day/night. I love walking in places were there large number of people. Noise everywhere, vendors trying to sell food and clothing People laughing and enjoying the cool weath. Bishoy and I did a lot of walking. I had to buy an USB chord for my camera, and it took awhile to find a shop that had one. We crossed the brigdge that stands between the Nile River, and I told Bishoy to stop for a moment. I stood in the middle of the bridge and watched buildings, cars, lots of people, the Nile river. All in the big city of Cairo!

I arrived in Cairo, Egypt friday (May 10th) at midnight. The immigration process took a little bit longer than I thought it would but everything was fine. Bishoy my translator thought that I was coming Saturday at Midnight, so noone came to pick me up. I called him a few times, but I guess he was asleep. I waited for an hour. I decided to take a taxi and try to find an internet cafe so I could check my e-mail and try to find an address or another phone number. I got a facebook message from Caprill, a young American woman, who lives in Cairo. She gave me her phone number, so I took a chance and decided to call her. It was about 2:30 a.m, and I thought she would be asleep. I was thinking in my head:"please answer", and she did. She talked to the taxi driver and we met in front of Tulip Hotel, located in part of Cairo's downtown. I spent the night in the Hotel, and in the morning i decided to try to e-mail Bishoy or call him. I asked a couple of Egyptian guys where I could find an internet cafe, and they responded in Arabic. When i told them , "I am sorry, I don't speak Arabic." They responded in English,"but you look 100% Egyptian." Their names are Muhammad and Ali. They took me to an Internet cafe, and we had breakfast. I tried calling Caprill, but she didn't answer. I checked my e-mail 3 times, nothing. So i spent most of my day with Muhammed and Ali. We had Egyptian food for lunch, amazing!. We had فلافل(felefel: made out of beans) and i can't remember the rest of the food, soon i'll learn the names. After lunch, Muhammed read the Koran, and I really appreciated his conviction and openess about being a Muslim. I had never experience this in my life. We went to an internet cafe, and I was able to contact Bishoy. Muhammed told him where we were, and we finally met. Now i am sitting next to him in the apartment where we are staying. Looking forward to experiencing more things in Egypt.