Sunday, January 27, 2008

And so it begins...

Every Muslim call to prayer begins with,"Allah u Akbar, Ash-hadu alla ilaha illallah." These words are fresh in my mind, because they were the ones that woke me up at exactly 5:21 this morning. Apparently the call to prayer is one of the many things you get used to after awhile here. Cairo is completely different from what I was expecting, and different from every other place I've been to. For some reason, I was anticipating huge adobe buildings shambled together, one on top of the other. Cairo does not have adobe buildings. It is not a Pueblo Indian settlement, and this is not 1862. Cairo looks like a dirtier, denser, more rambling version of a large European city. It is loud, and crowded, and full of a million things to uncover.

My current housing is pretty far away from the university. Getting there last night was a bit of an adventure, because driving in actual lanes seems to be optional. For every three lanes, there seem to be five that people drive on. My room is small and clean, but I think I might be switching to an apartment closer to campus, or get a non-campus apartment. There are a thousand things to take care of right now, and I'm mostly just trying to get my feet on the ground. There are tons of international students here, so I've been meetings lots of people and making new friends. I'm tired and a bit disoriented right now, but happy to be here and start figuring out how everything works. I miss everyone a lot, but am excited for this crazy, chaotic adventure. Wish me luck!

3 comments:

Sarah said...

Putting aside the torture component (5:21 is heinous), I hope you are having a wonderful time!

Keep updating!

Unknown said...

Hope you have an amazing time there. I recommend a meeting somewhere in northern africa.

-rusty

Lulu said...

Oh my adventurous little! how excited i am for you and the experiences you are about to have! good good good luck with everything and remeber that te quiero muchisimo mi linda! xoxox