I am currently taking a course here at AUC called Islamic Art and Architecture of the city of Cairo. You can kind of cancel out the art because really its just architecture. (Which is art anyway but you get my point). My class we learn a lot of background history of Egypt and Islamic history its a nice overview and im really learning a lot about that but also we are exploring of course the many building left behind by each different caliphate/ruler/sultan/general so it is some very cool stuff.
Even better is that the class includes some seven or 8 field trips on the weekends to visit the sites we talk about in class. Since Cairo has never really been leveled or conquered in a very destructive way most of the mosques and buildings that have been built since 800's and on have survived. This saturday we ended up going to 3 specific mosques Ibna Tulun, Al-Azhar, and Al-Hakim Mosque.
I realize that to many people the minutia of the details of each different mosque is probably actually a bit boring so ill keep this brief. Most of the mosques were built during the Fatimid period 900's-1100's when Egypt was Shiia' instead of Sunni. Although of course the mosques have been restored and like Al-Azhar many things were added over the years they still remain very close in style as to when they were built. So rather than write more here are just some of the photos.
So its been a little while since i updated my blog i was going to write about this documentary a group of friends and i saw while we were down in Zamalek but i forgot to write about it so although this happened a week ago i would love to share it.
So my friend Nate managed to somehow here about this documentary screening at the Italian Cultural center in Downtown Cairo. We had a couple days off because of the strikes no homework we were bored and it sounded interesting so we took the bus down to the city and made a day of it. Right when we got off the bus we stopped to ground some falafel and fool (kind of like re-fried beans) sandwhiches each for one egyptian pound. I was confident today and when i order from the guy in arabic i thought i did everything right but then i realized that I accidentally ordered two of each sandwich rather than just one of each. It was an awkward situation but we shared and it was no big deal. We (Nate and I), after getting lost made it to the dorms met up with some more friends then decided to grab some actual dinner after we wandered around the city for a little while.
It was a nice day and the shawermas we ate were also very god and so cheap we stopped by a coffee shop as we waited until the screening of the show at 7pm. It took us about an hour to just walk to the place it was not actually that far but we had gotten lost walking in a part of Zamalek we had never been to. There is this one street the 26 of July that we hardly ever cross one because the cars dont stop so you just have to run across and also because unless you know where you are going its easy to get lost. as we did.
When we arrived at the Italian culture center we realized immediately we were under-dressed, the place was packed, and that we were in a room fool of actually some pretty important people like diplomats from the Portuguese and Italian embassies and the director of the documentary it was a very cool moment we had to sit on the floor but it was absolutely worth it.
The movie was great it showed so much about egypt that i will probably never get to see and just some very interesting lives. The documentary is about the people who make their homes in the graveyard right outside of Cairo. One of the largest "living" necropolis in the world it was crazy. They were able to live in the graveyard because a lot of the burial places are actually little homes that allow for the people to come and visit their loved ones and have a private room to recite the Qur'an and things like that. People even sometimes pay rent, some never leave they grow up live their lives and then pass away right next to the dead. It was an awesome documentary. If you have two minutes i highly suggest watching at least the trailer.
Overall it was a very good night. Better than staying on campus during the strike. Which was very uneventful.
So sadly my trip to the Red Sea and Ayn Sukhna this weekend has also been postponed.
All across campus and around the city of Cairo there has been talk of Civil Disobedience which im sure actually has a definition but here it means literally shut the state down by doing nothing as a form of protest. So a post or two ago i talked about the recent surge in protests due to people being killed at a soccer match. From what i gather from students most people here believe that yes it was set up by the military under SCAF and the police. SCAF has been controlling the country since last year after Mubarak stepped down. The military said it would be a place holder until parliamentary elections. But as with every revolution it has a very real danger of being hijacked and thats what Egyptians are worried about. They think SCAF just decided now to take over and with this new plan and protest they are hoping to get SCAF to step down now and bring a vote for the President. Parliament has been elected but still SCAF have most of the power as the constitution is being drafted.
Now i have mixed feelings. There is the dumb touristy and student part of me that just wishes that this could all be put on hold until I am gone. I want to see the pyramids, i want the country to be stable enough for me to head south to Luxor to visit Alexandria to the north. Heck to travel to downtown Cairo without fear of getting caught in a march/protest.
I'm living within a revolution and this constant not knowing of what tomorrow will look like is finally getting to me. Who knows what will happen. Students are planning to strike and protest on Sunday (when classes begin next week.) i of course will be going to class but if this gets enough momentum like everyone thinks it will.... then i dont know what will happen. Sadly i dont think SCAF is going anywhere soon. It is going to be a lot of waiting around for me while im here in Egypt.
So Saturday (which is the end of the weekend) a couple of friends and I went to the Cairo International book Fair. Which i have to say at first i thought would be kind of underwhelming but i was pleasantly surprised. Well it started of with trying to catch a cab/ just any means of transportation to Nasr City which is just another district of Cairo. It was fun we (Nate, Diane, and I) almost got on what the call mini buses here which are exactly what they sound like. Just they are known for incredibly cheap fares and well incredibly cramped and close quarters with anyone and everyone, When we asked the driver if he knew where we were going he just looked at us kind of said yes offered us 10 pounds each then when we looked confused he said ok 2 pounds.
we eventually just took a cab and he was a really nice guy with his little English and our little Arabic we were able to make it to the Book fair. The amount of book and the variety was just massive. I mean the newer book section felt very organized and like a regular bookstore but then the used book tents. It was crazy people haggling over prices books being sold for under a dollar. And i don't know how but books in German french and dutch were everywhere along with textbooks that i think i may have used in middle school.
It was interesting i bought a Arabic to English dictionary for 5 pounds which is less than a dollar. I should have haggled for a better price but when he said five i was thought to myself that's incredibly cheap! I probably could have gotten it for 2 or 3. Ill remember that for next time. I also met a guy when Nate and I walked into a section that had bibles in Arabic. I was thinking of getting one just for the sake of interest the same way i thought i should buy a Koran but this guy could tell we were american but i managed to actually speak to him for the most part in Arabic. Hassan was a nice guy and the first Copt i have met here. Well i might have met others but i haven't really been asking.
I keep forgetting to take pictures of these things i just dont bring my camera too many places. I feel as if it makes me really stand out as a tourist. According to some people here if i can learn a bit more Arabic i can probably pass as an Egyptian. So that is my goal this semester. Get into a cab have the driver just think im an Egyptian.
So due to the recent surging of protests due to the deaths after a soccer match on Wednesday campus has been closed on Sunday to hold a memorial service and becuase traveling through the city can pose a problem the Pyramids trip has been postponed for 2 weeks.
It is very sad and kind of confusing recent sequence of events that have occurred throughout the week here in Cairo. This article from the Washington Post and this article from the New York Times help explain whats been going on. In case you don't want to read the articles in essence Cairo and Egypt have been an uproar after almost 70-80 people died in a stampede/riot something right after a soccer game. The people seem to blame the deaths on the security forces in their inability to prevent the deaths and occasionally people here even have ideas the conditions only existed in the first place because of the security forces. Something about locked doors plain clothed police offers attacking people. Trying to get what really happened out in Port Said has been really difficult. But whatever happened has caused a new set of protests and police clashes. So i get a front row seat and yet i still think i know less than the rest of the world of whats going on in the city.
Whatever happens i hope that the people of Egypt dont give up. I do believe that the country yes needs stability so that there can be a transition from the military rulers to the newly elected parliament but at the same time, if the people of Egypt aren't constantly watching their leaders like hawks then i believe and many people also believe that one regime will just be replaced by another.
But it also is not my place to be out there on the streets protesting. One because that would i think go against my parents best wishes of being safe while I'm here and believe me i want to make it home insha'Allah. Secondly this is not my fight. I want to support the people here but its their fight and their government which is also why many Egyptians have problems with foreigners at Tahrir. They don't want any foreign influence they want a Egyptian government made by Egyptians and for Egyptians.
I also have a great story of the Cairo International book fair. But thats for another post.
