On Thursday we had an arabic test and then the sexes separated. Girls got to go learn cooking secrets from Abdo's wife and the guys just got to do their own thing, which means bagel sandwiches and finding ourselves a soccer wahled and whatnot. Jimmy, Conner, and I bought musical instruments from a vendor for 5 pounds each. We made some nice music but got showed up by Katie who can somehow play raindrops on roses. Damn the musically talented. Also, the rice guy at Metro was wicked nice that night.
On Friday we got to go to Alexandria. It was a three hour bus ride and we stopped at this wicked weird food/hellish zoo area, which was a combination of these nice, giant pastries with honey and an odd collection of animals. There were cock fights on the paths, a large collection of dog breeds, lions, tigers, ostriches, and more. Frightening, but better condition than the Cairo zoo.
Seeing the Mediterranean Sea was spectacular. It makes me nostalgic for summer at home. Our first stop was at this awesome castle, that reminded me of exploring Fort Stark, which was an immense amount of fun to climb up and explore. We had lunch at a nice Sea Food place and I got an excellent sea bass. The Library of Alexandria was pretty cool too. It was giant but far too much museum packed into what should be a free area. The planetarium closed as we got there but the Sadat museum was open, got to see the uniform he was wearing when he was assassinated. We also made friends with a couple of wahleds and just soaked in the beautiful seaside sights. Alexandria beats Luxor in my book.
Today was a free day that Miggy, Zack, Nick, and I used to check out the Citadel, the largest mosque in the Arab world (and presumably all the world). On the cab ride there we learned a fun new football cheer, Wahad Wahad, Teta Teta, Zamelek Zamelek, Telata Telata. The architecture was breathtaking and the grounds were so expansive it took forever to explore. We had a great view of the entire city and I managed to acquire a nice Egyptian ashtray to give to someone as a souvenir (and I didn't even get my hand chopped off). The military museum was closed to us because there were important officials there, despite the bs time increments the guards kept telling us as we waited for 45 minutes, and the police museum was utterly odd. While trying to get a taxi back, we were ambushed by a old taxi driver with slicked back hair yelling, "Thirty! Thirty!" and then trying to take Miggy's and Zack's hats as payment. We ended up finding a different taxi.
After we got back, and a three hour nap later, Tori, Caitlin, and I managed to get some awesome Lentil soup at Cafe Noir and then headed to see Nightmare on Elm Street with a bunch of people. It started off with a blank screen and the musical accompaniment of a high school dance (some old Akon, Eminem, and Ludacris) and even through in a surprise Intermission right before someone almost died. It was nice to have popcorn though.
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