Some First Impressions

Now that I’ve been in Cairo for almost one week…don’t be confused by the title of the blog, I won’t be in Aswan until mid-month…I thought it was a good time to give some thoughts and reflections of my temporary new home.

First of all, and to get it out of the way, Egypt is hot…anyone surprised? Oh, and it’s humid. I know some of you are thinking “but Egypt is mostly a desert??”, however the Nile is a big river, big enough to have islands. So yes, it’s humid. Also, and this may be surprising, no one talks about the weather. Hot and sunny is kind of predictable. Oh, and Aswan is hotter.

The second thing that is affecting life here right now is that it is Ramadan, which for those of you who don’t know, is the month of fasting for Muslims who fast between sun up and sun down each day for 30 days. In general this means that business hours start a little later and end a little earlier, and pretty much everything is close between 5:30/6 and 9pm. Around 6:30, probably a little before, the call to prayer happens and everyone eats. It feels a little like Christmas, people put up strings of lights, everyone eats with their family, people serve meals for others in the neighborhood. On our way to a picnic lunch in Al Ahzar park yesterday there were tables set up on sidewalks and along the streets. It is really the only time that the city is ever quiet.

For my first couple days in Cairo I was with Rachel. The first day we went to the neighborhood where the project is operating in Cairo, called Dowiekha (you don’t pronounce the k), and to a meeting with a potential partner in some research. We also went to a massive building called Mogamma to my visa extended for the year, and Rachel’s renewed as she has now been here for a year. Otherwise, I’ve been reading up on the project and taking Arabic lessons, which have been going very well. I go two and a half hours per day, five days a week.

That was my first week, the weekend (friday and Saturday) has been very relaxing and a lot of fun, but this is getting long so you’ll have to wait until next time.