A city within a city

So, we went to a mall yesterday. Or another country, hidden inside the borders of Egypt. I'm not quite sure, as it was so big, so crowded, so.. much. The City Stars Mall is located in Heliopolis in the eastern parts of Cairo, and apparently also has a hotel. And a cinema. And just wow.

It did feel a bit strange to head out to a monster-mall, knowing that some parts of Cairo were getting ready for the first anniversary of Mubarak's ousting. But that's how life is in this city and country at the time. There will always be things going on, and we can't participate or know all about it, all the time.

Finally online in Cairo

For the first time in history, I am now able to report live and direct form my apartment in Cairo. After numerous insha'Allahs here, and a bit of "no, speak Arabic, no English" there, we finally managed to get this place online. 

I understand that a few of my friends and family have worried a bit about our well-being here in Cairo, as the medias presentations of the last days seem rather dramatic. And they are. The situations can be dramatic - but not for us. I personally feel 100% safe here, and even though I've talked to people who'd experienced a few uncomfortable situations, our neighborhood and streets are calm. At times you can feel tension and anticipation, but I've not once felt threatened or stressed. 

If you do want to stay updated though, I think Al Jazeera's live blog from Egypt is okay, in addition to their general news section. For now, I'm going to get a sweet cup of tea, and try to catch up some more news. 

A city of extremes

Cairo has it all. Poverty to your right, and designer bags to your left. Revolution at Tahrir Square, and expats drinking cappuccino in Zamalek. The world has many extremes, but in Cairo they're so obvious it feels a bit overwhelming at times.

My bus ride to school takes about one hour in the morning, an hour where we pass through areas with embassies, and then the dusty streets of Downtown. Looking out of the window we stare at the peripheral areas of Cairo - the City of the Dead - where both living and dead reside among the graves. Minutes later we face New Cairo, an immense building project of malls, offices and private houses with exteriors that has connotations closer to embassies than to a private residence. And then there is our university. Out there, in the desert, with fountains, enormous buildings and a gym the size of a shopping center.

And when the day is over, you jump back on the bus. You look at the whole scenery once more. And then it overwhelms you all over again.

Uptown to downtown

At the moment we're living in Zamalek in Cairo: an island on the Nile, covered in lush trees, embassies and restaurants. And it's all nice and cozy. It does feel a bit isolated though, separated from downtown Cairo, where the life of Tahrir Square, various shawarma shops and... people in general, make the town come to life in a whole different way.

So today, we returned to downtown Cairo, mostly to visit the Egyptian Museum, but also to sneak a peek at  Tahrir. (To my dearest mother: we are ever so careful, I swear, so don't hold your breath in despair.) Some  students went there yesterday, on the actual celebration, but we decided to stay at home. We stick out like sore thumbs in this city, with both our gender and Scandinavian appearance, and decided that the daily dose of sexual harassment and staring is enough. (Which is one of the reasons why downtown will not be where we're settling down for the next months.)

Still, I like it downtown. I like the atmosphere. I'm just not that into walking down the streets, feeling like an indecent dressed piece of meat.

Moving around

Yesterday we moved from our cat-crowded, freezing, somewhat charming rooftop hostel, and into the dorms of AUC. The university kindly offered us to move away from Tahrir Square, which is practically next to where we've been living so far, and into their own premises. Not a permanent solution, but a rather good deal, as it has hot water and heated rooms. Compared to the luxury offered by our previous "home", this feels like a five-star upgrade. (We started at rock bottom when it comes to housing, so it's only getting better from here. And that's a nice thought.)

And how is Cairo at the moment? Anticipating, I think. There will be a lot of things happening at Tahrir Square during the next 24 hours, but I'm not sure what it will be colored by. The older people I've talked to, grin and talk about the night as a joyous occasion. The younger tend to talk a bit more grimly about sacrifices and revolutions, but still don't fail to mention that it's going to be a night of celebration.
What do I expect? I honestly don't know. But it will be interesting to stay in Cairo now, that's for sure.

Rise and shine

Today's my first day at campus. I've been up since six listening to the city, looking out over the rooftops and just enjoying the morning. And now, now I'm heading out to catch the school bus. Sounds like I'm six again. But I like it!

Exploration time - Cairo style

Today, we went out to catch a cup of tea, both to kill some time and to heat up. When the sun sets, Cairo is actually freezing this time of year. (And it's on the border to chilly while the sun is up as well.) As we'd been sitting still for what seemed like hours - on concrete - the situation called for a nice cup of chai. So we headed into the streets, not sure where to go, but never doubting that the journey would end up with tea. And it did. It just took four hours of adventuring to get there.

What happened? Well, we were wandering about in the streets of downtown Cairo when we started talking to an old man. Born and raised a skeptic, I wasn't quite sure about why he wanted to tag along with us, and even less why he wanted to buy us tea. But hey, prejudice never served anyone good, and we went with the flow. A flow of tea cups and cake, sweet drinks and markets. And, my very first visit inside the majestic halls of a mosque! We got to see the charm of the old streets of Cairo, the bustling life of the souq (local market). We stared in awe at the citadel, and laughed at the enthusiastic old man, greeting people to the left and making jokes to the right. To sum it up - we went to buy a quick cup of tea, and ended up with an adventure for hours. And I'm loving every second of it. (I would, however, just about do anything for a good woolen sweater now.)