My program in Egypt is scheduled to end in about ten days. I have decided that I will travel to Israel during my last days here. I plan to visit friends that I made during my study abroad program two years ago and to network and explore potential career options related to Arab-Israeli business relationships, sustainable energy, and/or venture capital. In the meantime, I have much to tell about Egypt since my last posting! Rather than writing a long description of my adventures I have decided to illustrate some of my experiences in Egypt with the pictures and captions below.


I have included this map mostly for reference since some of the photos below are taken outside of Cairo.














This meat hangs in front of one of the two butcher shops on our walk to class each day. Some students find it unbearable, but I think it is healthy to see where our food comes from. I must say that the smell walking past the butcher shop is very distinct. The smell of the meat baking in the 100 degree sun isn’t necessarily even foul – just distinct.











Here is our Arabic teacher, Muse (Moses in English), with one of our fellow classmates in a headlock. Abuse of the students (in the friendliest of ways of course) was a daily occurrence and made for many good laughs during class, sometimes so much so that I would start crying from laughter. Fayez, the student in this photo, was Muse’s favorite to pick on.


Here is Eddie (one of my roommates) dancing his tail off at the wedding party while the Egyptain guests cheer him on. By the end of the night the entirety of that golden shirt was brown with sweat.


Pictured here is my level 0 Arabic class. Although I have graduated to level 2 by this time, I will never forget this first class, which was my favorite. Unfortunately, my Arabic studies have taken a turn for the worst. I would prefer that the classes move more quickly and I have become bitterly frustrated at the Fajr Center’s inability to be flexible to the students’ needs. My roommates and I have a field day complaining about the center together, which, if nothing else, at least gives us lots of good laughs. I must say that my roommates and I are a terrific match and that the amount of laughter that takes place in our apartment on a daily basis is phenomenal.


From left to right Eddie (roommate), Mohammed (Egyptian friend), and Skyler (roommate) eat salad, pita, tahina, and baba ganush while discussing politics between Israel and Egypt. We met Mohammed at a local stationery store and have become good friends. Amazingly, our common language is Spanish, which is very rare in Egypt. The layout of the restaurant in the background is ubiquitous in Cairo – this represents the quintessential sandwich/falafel shop that can be found on every street.


Here a woman walks her children across the tram tracks that split one of the main roads in Nasr City (the area of Cairo where I live). The fully covering black gown she wears is called a niqab. While the majority of women here wear only a hijab (a head covering over the hair), I small percentage wear the full niqab. Perhaps 0.5%? (This is a very rough estimate that comes only from my observations). I am told that just 15 years ago Cairo was far more liberal and that even the Hijab was rare. Since then a wave of conservatism has swept across Egypt.


Here is Skyler and our friend Michelle looking up at the Colossi of Ramsis, which were once part of an enormous temple that is now completely gone. These statues reside near Luxor in southern Egypt (called upper Egypt). During our vacation we traveled to Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel in upper Egypt and saw numerous unbelievable statues and temples of a magnitude similar to, and large than, what is depicted here.









These goliaths overlook Lake Nasser at Abu Simbel, south of Aswan, just 40km north of Sudan. The doorway on the left side leads into an extraordinary, multi-room temple carved into the mountain.












Here Michelle, Skyler walk with our Nubian friends in Aswan who are leading us to a Nubian wedding. In addition to Arabic, the Nubian people have their own language that is only verbal and is not written.


These children are dancing at the Nubian wedding. The robes they wear are called galabias and are very common on men around Cairo and Egypt.


Posing for this photo (left to right) are Lorenzo, Sarah, and Mira all studying Arabic at the Fajr Center and all from Italy. Sarah wears a Hijab over her hair. This is the same garment that the vast majority of Egyptian women wear today. I took this photo at a party organized by the students that might be considered scandalous since it is considered inappropriate to invite people of the opposite sex to our apartments here.