Alexandria, Egypt

Egypt: April 16-May 7, 2008


Hey everyone, I made it safely (kind of) to Cairo! My flight was really scary and I thought the plane would crash, but it didn't, and here I am. When Celia picked me up at the airport (after a long, confusing hour of misunderstanding...) we took a taxi to her apartment in a neighborhood called Zamalek. She had to go back to work, so we grabbed a quick lunch and I ventured back to her apartment, where I stayed and rested/unpacked until she got home in the evening. We had a traditional Egyptian dinner at her house with another intern, and then went out to a local bar called Huraya, where we were some of the only women... the bar was really rowdy and dirty, and unfortunately the beer in Egypt turns out to be even worse than the beer in Korea (can you believe that, Owen?). But it was still a great time, and I had fun getting accustomed to the feel of Cairo. The next day I was actually sick with a fever, so I had to stay in Celia's apartment all day and rest. On Saturday I was feeling better, so we took a train to Alexandria for the weekend.




April 19-20

After a few days in Cairo getting oriented, Celia and I took a weekend trip to Alexandria, on the Mediterranean Sea.
















This was the view from our room in Hotel "Crillon" (we don't know why there were quotes around "Crillon," but that made it even funnier). We had taken a train from Cairo with the intention of staying at Celia's favorite hotel, but on the train she realized she had forgotten her passport. We were worried we would have to return that same night, but after being rejected from the first hotel, "Crillon" took us in. The hotel itself seemed as though it had once been a beautiful building, but what remained was creepy and filled with taxonomy...

walking across a "bridge" to get to the hotel

We spent the first day walking along the Mediterranean coast and looking at Fort Qaitbey, which occupies the site of the former Pharos Lighthouse, which was one of the original 7 wonders of the world. It basically looks like a sand castle. It was really beautiful and sunny while we were at the fort, so I was able to get some nice photos.

Ahhh, the Mediterranean...

cats are everywhere!

On our way out of the Fort, a large group of young teenage girls asked me to pose in a picture with them. As usual, I stand out a lot in this country, so it's hard not to get harrassed. It was nice to have some friendly girls interested in taking a picture with me for once instead of men who may have other ideas... the picture was really funny and cute, but unfortunately we didn't get one on my camera.

There are always tons of picturesque minarets everywhere you go.

After the fort, the sun was beginning to set, so we decided to get dinner before heading home to get ready for a night out. In Alexandria there is always an abundance of fresh fish that you choose yourself. I don't really know what kind of a fish we picked, but it was delicious anyway! We also had calamari, both fried and sauteed. It was a fabulous dinner!

Fresh fish dinner

After dinner we searched and searched for a liquor store (they can be kind of hard to come by here, because of the whole Muslim thing...) and finally found some rum that Celia assured me would not make us go blind. It almost did. :) So we sat in our hotel room, enjoying the creepiness of it all, until we were ready to head out for the evening.

prefunking with an interesting rum concoction

We headed out to the Spitfire, which was a bar with a really Western feel to it. There weren't very many people in there and we made friends right away. It was really fun to meet some Egyptians and hear about Egypt from their perspective.

From our room at night

The next day we were supposed to return to Cairo, and we ended up having pretty much the whole day to spend in Alex because of bus schedules, so that was nice. We mostly walked along the coast in the sun all day, and later took a tram (which was definitely an experience!!) to the San Stefano mall (where Celia says all the rich Egyptians hang out) and met some of our friends from the night before at... STARBUCKS. Haha, I think I've been to a Starbucks in all the other countries I've been in, and they really are all the same, just like home.

Lord Shave is apparantly very popular in Alexandria

This picture is of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which was inspired by the original great library founded in the 3rd century BC. It is intended to hold 8 million books, but actually only has a few hundred thousand. We didn't actually go inside, but it was very nice with the sun hitting the water and windows.

I really liked this sculpture

I took this picture to give everyone an idea of how terrifying it is to cross the street in Egypt. Cairo is actually much worse, but this street was really bad in Alex. There are no crosswalks, and you basically have to play frogger to cross the street, except you honestly think you might die EVERY SINGLE TIME. There are rarely any openings between cars for you to dart out and say your prayers that someone will stop for you. There is also constant and incessant honking to distract and disorient you so that it's even more difficult to concentrate and cross "safely." Crossing the street is BY FAR my least least least favorite part of Egypt.

Sunset in Alexandria

Since it's taken me so long to start posting to my blog (sorry, guys!!!), I have seen so many beautiful and amazing things, but before doing much traveling, Alexandria was my favorite part of this trip. It is still my favorite part of Egypt, and I would love to return and spend more time in this seaside city.

Ok, keep posted, I am really trying to catch up on my blog today... I'll do my best!! Hope everyone is doing well back home, and I miss you all!!

p.s. Sorry about the crappy layout of this blog posting... something is messed up with the html and the the computer is basically formatting this however it wants.

Whirlwind trip through a giant city

I arrived in Mexico City on Thursday evening (April 3), after spending a looooong day flying and waiting in airports. As I landed, I was blown away by the view below me. Mexico City is bigger than you could ever imagine, and houses and buildings stretch on as far (and farther) than the eye can see.















After waiting forever for my luggage and freaking out that it was lost, it finally arrived and I passed painlessly through customs to find my best friend Kristina waiting for me! We got in a taxi to her neighborhood, la moderna, which is near the Xola subway station. We spent the evening catching up and eating homemade spaghetti with her roommate, Liliana. I "practiced" my Spanish, and realized I basically can't speak it anymore. :/















Liliana & Kristina

On Friday Morning, Kristina had to teach an English class, which was luckily her only obligation the whole time I was there! When she got back we took a train to el centro (downtown) and exited the station right into the zócalo, which is one of the largest public squares in the world.



































We walked around el centro and went to an exhibit at el museo de la ciudad. There was an intense photo exhibition of several graffic events that had happened in the past year in Mexico.















A picture I liked- a special transvestite bathroom

Some of them were too bloody and gory for us, so we had to skip them. Continuing through, there was a graffiti exhibition with political/social commentary that was amazing.















We continued through the gorgeous building and were in awe of the architecture and decor.

















































































After the museum, we stumbled upon a bead/gem shop called MineraliA, where we bought some stones to make earrings. Then we were hungry, so we walked down la calle gante and chose a Mexican restaurant from a large selection of eateries. After lunch we decided to get a view of the massive city at the torre latinoamerica, which used to be one of the tallest buildings in Mexico. At the top we could really take in the full effect of the sprawling city.
















































el zocalo





























Palacio de Bellas Artes


































We continued on to the mercado de artesanías (arts & crafts), which reminded me of the markets at the Tijuana border. There are tons of souvenirs to buy and bargain for. No trip to Mexico would be complete without haggling your way through a market like this. :)

It was beginning to get dark, and we walked back to el zócalo just in time to wander into la catedral metropolitana at 7:00 mass. It was hard to get a good photo because I couldn't use a flash, but it was breathtakingly ornate, beautiful, and massive. We stayed long enough to hear a haunting chant, then left since we felt like we were intruding.




















Not a good pic, but you get the idea




















That evening, I was lucky enough to enjoy an authentic Mexican performance by some of Kristina's friends. They brought their instruments over and played and sang for hours, in the style of music called "huapango." The lyrics are mostly improvisational and the point is to rhyme and boast with the other performers, while catering to each unique audience.















"Hutch" playing the violin, Fernando playing the jarana, and Daniel playing the aquinto


































Kristina and Liliana dancing

The party ended up going on until 5 in the morning, making the next morning a little difficult to get going. :) On Saturday, we took the subway back to el centro so I could pick up some souvenirs at the gift shop attached to el museo de la ciudad. Here are some photos from walking around the city.



















Ornately carved door















church















everything is beautiful!


























































In Mexico City you don't even have to leave downtown to see ancient ruins, they still stand right in the center of the city!














The Templo Mayor is an amazing cultural site of Aztec ruins.










































After the ruins, we walked through a museum that was the original site of the first university in Mexico (I can't remember the name), which ended in a little break in a beautiful courtyard where we ate a typical Mexican antojito (snack) called molletes. It was bread toasted with beans, cheese, and pico de gallo. Mmmm!














beautiful courtyard!















After lunch we wandered the city and stopped for dessert at a panadería, then went into the fine arts museum, Palacio de Bellas Artes.















The day and sun had worn us out, so we decided to go back and rest before dinner, where we went to la condesa, a hipster neighborhood full of bars, clubs, and fusion restaurants. We ate dinner with Kristina's boyfriend Nerssvin ("the N" as I call him) at a delicious Italian restaurant called Santino, near Parque Espana.














There was such a choice of bars and clubs that we had to try several out that night. :) Our first stop was Zydeco, which was small and energetic, packed full of a mix of young and old.














Kristina and the N

Our next stop was Makena, a tiny dark bar underground where I tried (and failed) to order a Long Island Iced Tea (which no one could figure out how to translate).

We really wanted to dance, so we stopped into Bling, where they had stopped playing popular American top-40s from earlier in the night and switched to reggaeton.




















The crowd was too young, and after a drink we tried our final destination, called Kaya, a reggae bar. This proved to be the best by far, and we had an amazing time, although it was almost 3:00 when we arrived so we didn't have long until closing time. We got home around 4:00 after a great night on the town.















dancing to the Fugees at Kaya

On Sunday, we decided to allow ourselves to sleep in a little before we returned off to Bosque de Chapultepec. Little did I know, this would be my biggest adventure yet. After we got off the train to the park, we saw a large crowd around a payaso (clown). Normally we wouldn't have stopped, but we saw that the center of the act was a foreigner in a crazy outfit, so we stopped for a second. Of course we were spotted immediately, and before we knew it, I was being dragged into the center of this giant crowd and became part of the "make fun of foreigners" act!!! I had to dance with the Australian tourist (who really had it much worse than I did because he didn't speak or understand a single word of Spanish) and that crazy payaso. Everyone was cheering, laughing, and taking tons of pictures. I was mortified, but decided I had no way out, so I went along with it. Luckily Kristina got lots of pictures so I could document my embarrassing/exciting moment of fame. :)















James being humiliated by the clown




















Humiliating myself




















Jumping on the Australian.















the whole gang... LOOK AT THAT CLOWN!















James carrying me and showing me off to the crowd while "Unchained Melody" plays in the background (yes, this all really happened)
















planning my escape

When we finally ran away we took the walk up to el castillo (the castle) de Chapultepec, where Maximilian and Carlota lived when they came over from France. The day was gorgeous and hot (of course I got a massive sunburn). I got lots of great shots around the castle, although I could only sneak a few inside because photos weren't allowed.



















































































































torre mayor




































































































































































































After a few hours admiring the castle, we were on our way out, where I stopped to buy a mascara de luchadores as a souvenir. It was scary.















We took a cab back to la condesa to an organic restaurant that had caught my eye the night before, la buena tierra (the good earth). We enjoyed a delicious dinner followed by a walk through a local outdoor vender's market- bazar de arte y diseno, in Parque Mexico. I wanted to buy everything I saw, but resisted because the trip had already been so cheap, I decided to keep it that way.

We were basically exhausted after such a huge weekend and decided to come home for the night. The next morning I was off for an all-day flying/layover adventure again to come home and try to recover from the terrible cold I had on my vacation. That was the only downside to my trip- the air is practically toxic to breathe in Mexico City. Now I'm back in Seattle recuperating before I'm off to Egypt!! I had an amazing trip and I hope to go back someday for a little longer...

Here are some bonus pics to admire. :)