Something to Ponder...

I wanted to do a separate post about this, because it doesn't relate to food or to either of the two adventures I wrote about in the post below. It is just something that came up in class this week that has really made me think. It was a question posed by one of the girls in my program and I'm interested to hear anyone and everyone's thoughts on this. The issue came up while talking about the practice of wearing the hijab, a cultural norm which most women here partake in. Especially in Cairo, but also here in Alex, the women are extremely fashionable and wear some incredibly beautiful and elaborate outfits. Their hijabs often match perfectly the other clothing they have on, no matter if their top or skirt has the most specific and difficult to match shade of blue or purple one can imagine. Often these headscarves are decorated with bright colors, loud patterns, big flowers, and/or sparkling thread or beads.

A colorful array of hijabs

The point of wearing the hijab is that the Qur'an instructs that women (and men for that matter) should be dressed modestly. The idea is that seeing a woman's long hair and the form of her body might excite men and plant dirty thoughts of the woman in their mind. Setting aside the issues I have with the idea that it is the woman's job to control men's perverted thoughts, a more basic question has been bothering me since before I left. Namely, what is modest dress? Obviously western concepts of modesty are different than eastern, but does simply covering the skin and the form make something modest? More specifically: if I am dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt and loose slacks or a long skirt, but have my hair exposed, am I less modestly dressed than a woman in a bright pink, red, yellow, orange, teal or purple outfit complete with a sparkly hijab?

Hood Gondol

So, in an attempt to keep my promise of exploring Alexandria's excellent seafood options, I took one of my friends from the program on a little bit of an adventure to find the restaurant described by the Lonely Planet as the following:

"When Alexandrians need a quick fix of delicious, fresh and ridiculously cheap seafood, they make a beeline for this local favorite near the Bibliotheca Alexandria. A massive plate of mixed seafood, including prawns, calamari, spicy clams and fried fish. There's no menu and little English is spoken here, just turn up, point to the trays of fresh fish lining the downstairs display and find yourself a seat. It's located down an unmarked alley; ask for directions as everyone knows it by name."

An extremely accurate description I think (except for the ridiculously cheap part). The first proof we had that the guidebook knew what it was talking about was our inability to find the street the restaurant was located on. Despite my careful examinations of a detailed map and the explicitly written out directions that I gleaned from said map, we were wondering in circles down sketchy side streets filled with innumerbale coffee and shisha cafes. Plenty of bottom feeders, just not the kind we were looking for. Eventually I took the guidebook's advice and asked a kindly looking old woman sitting in front of her kiosk. Sure enough, at the first mention of the word Gondol she proceeded to point straight in front of her, down an unmarked alley that at first glance looked merely like another home for the thousands of stray cats that wonder the streets of Egyptian cities. We had passed it at least twice already. Commenting on the fact that neither of us would have ever found it without her help, my friend and I proceeded down the most unpromising of the paths we had yet taken to discover this scene:

Huge platters of clams and grilled prawns and the hot peppers they use as garnish

Fried fish, friend calamari, and shrimp kofta

It was a seafood lovers paradise. We were greeted almost immediately by a worker who spoke good English and was clearly excited by the new, foreign faces at this obviously local dive. He hurriedly gave us samples of the calamari and shrimp kofta, assuring us we would love everything. We did. After trying to communicate what we wanted, we finally understood what that oddly incomplete sentence in the middle of the Lonely Planet description was saying. A massive plate of mixed seafood, including prawns, calamari, spicy clams and fried fish. This is what you are served here. A gigantic combo platter.

Grilled and fried fish, prawns, shrimp kofta, fried calamari and grilled potatoes

Up close and personal

Oh yeah, did I mention the HUGE bowl of spicy clams that accompanied those gigantic plates?

At this point I shouldn't need to mention it, but in case anyone is just joining us, we were also served aish and tahina. And a massive plate of rice each.

As our server had informed me when I tried to order just grilled fish and calamari: The Egyptians eat a lot!

Everything was delicious, but there was so much of it! Served steaming hot and fresh off the grill or fryer, it was everything Lonely Planet had promised and more. Although not "ridiculously" cheap by Egyptian standards, it was about $6 each, so no one was breaking the bank.

I think our expressions say it all!

Last night we went shopping with one of the girls in the dorm who is from Palestine. Her name is Danya and she is the sweetest. After a disappointing trip to the mall, she offered to take us to "the best" fish restaurant in Alex, a place called Qadoura (or 'adora, since the Egyptians don't say the kaff sound in Arabic), which is also mentioned in the Lonely Planet. Up until now, mostly for the sake of my mother's health, I have told you little of the traffic and taxi experience you hear so much about from all the guide books and every tourist who has ever been to this country. But last night's taxi ride to the restaurant was just too epic and hilariously frightening to leave out. 

Mom, you can skip to the next paragraph if you want. We were a group of six girls, so we took two taxis to the restaurant. We had our Arabic speaking friend instruct both drivers as to where we were going and how to get there and she got in the second one to be sure that the driver would follow the first. The first thing I noticed as I climbed into the first cab was that the driver was holding a very full, very hot cup of tea in his left hand. Given the sudden stopping and starting of Egyptian traffic I felt this was an unwise idea, but it didn't concern me much because he still had his right hand free to operate the steering wheel. About two minutes into the ride however, I noticed that he was slowing down and trying to pull up beside the cab that our other friends were in. Again, this did not concern me very much as the taxi drivers here are known to have entire conversations with other taxi drivers as they drive side by side down treacherously congested roads. It is just how things are done here. I did however, begin to feel some alarm as he moved closer and closer to the other taxi which was now directly alongside us in the left lane. Yelling in slang arabic that I had no hope of understanding he proceeded to reach out his window towards the other taxi, at which point the other taxi driver leaned over and handed off a cigarette through the window to our driver. Mind you this is all while going about 50 miles an hour. Down an extremely crowded street in which no one was driving in the lanes or following any logical traffic rules. Needless to say, it was harrowing. And the rest of the ride was not much better as our driver now had a scalding cup of tea in his left hand and a lit cigarette in his right. I have never been so anxious to get out of a car in my life. The site of the restaurant pulling into view was possibly one of the most beautiful things I have seen here yet. Including the pyramids and the Mediterranean sea. It was just that bad.

The restaurant was a similar style to the one we went to in Cairo, you first chose the fish you want from a huge display and then it is served to you, head still attached, freshly grilled with an assortment of delicious appetizers. This restaurant had a greater variety than the one in Cairo and we followed the advice of the waiter as to which fish was best grilled (as opposed to fried or baked), so I don't even know the name of the fish I ate. What I do know was that it was completely delicious and I ate every bite of it, including the meat from the cheeks (as I was instructed to do by one of the girls from the program). It was a sweet, mellow fish with relatively easy to remove bones and a good amount of meat on them. Cooked to perfection and served with a classic brown rice dish, it was another meal fit for the gods. Thus far, Alexandria has delivered on its promise of excellent fresh seafood. 

The Lonely Planet link at the beginning of the post should take you to the page of Alexandria restaurants and while I am of course going to try to visit as many as possible, I will take reader suggestions very seriously. If you want to see a post about a specific place, let me know and I will do my best to make it happen!

When in Egypt...

Eat as the Egyptians do! I'm going to preface this post by telling you that I don't remember the name of either of the restaurants that I am going to be writing about. But I will try to find out and add them to the post if/when I do. The first restaurant was in the heart of Khan Al-Khalili, a tourist trap of a bazaar in Cairo which specializes in towering water pipes, blown glass perfume bottles, shimmering belly dancing costumes, and colorful hijabs, all made in China. There is more kitsch here than a precious moments catalogue. But if make your way through the narrow streets lined with stands and kiosks displaying these cheap goods and if you manage to escape the aggressive clutches of the hawkers you will come to a wonderful little restaurant in the heart of the bazaar. I have come to realize that every meal in Egypt is prefaced by the arrival of a huge basket of Aish (bread) and hummus, tahina, or lebnah, or all three.

Lebnah

Tahina

Aish

Good Aish is served warm and so puffy that with one poke it deflates like a popped balloon. It's a rich, floury bread that seems to go well with every dish served in Egypt.

Beautifully made Aish

Time to puff up!

These dishes are not even considered appetizers here. This beautiful bread and the accompanying smooth dips seem to be the equivalent of the boring bread basket served at higher class American restaurants. I don't know about you, but I'd take this stuff any day.

The real appetizers here are meals unto themselves. Vegetables stuffed to the seams with rice and spices, warm stuffed vine leaves (below left) and savory bulgar wheat deep friend around a steaming center of minced meat (below right). Sometimes plates arrive full of food and half is a mystery dish even after you eat it. The other day at a restaurant here in Alexandria a plate of appetizers arrived brimming with intriguing and colorful delicacies. Not until most of the plate had been devoured did one of our Egyptian guides inform us that the round, deep reddish brown bites we had all partaken in was sheep's stomach. Probably better we didn't know first though, because it was delicious!

Kibbeh

Warak Einab

But the real gems in this restaurant in the Khan Al-Khalili market were their main courses. Their specialties are classic Egyptian dishes like kushari, grilled meats, and pigeon. Yup, pigeon. Apparently considered a delicacy in this part of the world, we were told that if we wanted to try it, this was the place to do so. I think you can see where this is going:

My pair of stuffed pigeons

Fit to burst!

Now, as you can maybe imagine, I am not an expert on eating pigeon. It is a very small animal with limited meat on its bones and there is a definite technique and finesse required to properly dismember and devour these birds. Luckily, we had an experienced pigeoneur in our group who graciously instructed me:

Mr. Momdua, my pigeon coach

Proper form

Practice makes perfect!

I think my plate speaks for itself:

After a fantastic Egyptian dinner, the only proper ending was a steaming cup of sweet turkish coffee, stewed beside the table, served black as the night:

Turkish coffee is prepared with unfiltered grinds, which leave a thick, gooey substance at the bottom of the cup. It has a foul taste and leaves your teeth covered in a black soot if you drink it, but it does have one good purpose:

Reading your fortune in the grinds!

One of the girls in the program is from Turkey and her grandmother taught her to read the grinds. To prepare the cup, you place the small plate on top, swirl it lightly a few times, and quickly flip the cup upside down while still holding the plate to the top. Then you let it rest until the cup is cool. Your fate can be predicted by the patterns made in the inside of the cup and by the way the goo runs off the plate back into the cup when you pour it. My cup predicted many difficult decisions ahead of me and one path that would lead me back to where I started. But my plate assured that when I made the right decisions there would be a clear path and a good outcome. Insha'allah.

I think that white streak in the middle is my clear path

The second culinary adventure I want to tell you about was a less extravagant, less expensive meal, but it was equally delicious. The office of my study abroad program is located in the quiet(er) Cairo neighborhood of Dokki, near Giza. It is on the same street that I will be living on when I move to Cairo in the spring and I am sure this restaurant will be seeing much more of me come next semester. Just around the corner and down the block is this wonderful fish restaurant. When you walk in the door, the waiters immediately bring you to the back of the restaurant, where you find this display:

Some of the selection included eel, snapper, prawns, and tilapia

From this tantalizing array you select not just the kind of fish, but the exact fish that you want to eat. The tilapia was plump and looked fresh so we ordered one each (four total). After selecting our meal we were seated at a table and served, you guessed it, aish and tahina. They also gave us a little plate of lemons for our fish and I loved the idea of serving them like this, so I took a picture. 

Egyptian lemons are small and have many seeds, so this cloth allows you to squeeze out the juice and not worry about the seeds getting into your food. The little bundles are so cute!

Our fish arrived, heads still attached, with some slices of potatoes. The potatoes were completely unnecessary; the fish was the real star. It was grilled to perfection, seasoned with just the right amount of salt and pepper, and tasted just that much better because we had picked them out ourselves. Oh yeah, also, our total was about $15, so each fish was less than $4 (still a pricey meal by Egyptian standards!). 

Delicious!

I haven't yet had a chance to explore the many possibilities of Alexandria's culinary offerings, partly because I am on a meal plan here. But I did go downtown yesterday to one of the most amazing pastry shops I have ever been in. No pictures at the moment, but you can be sure I will be back there again soon and this time I'll bring my camera! Also, Alexandria is known for its fantastic seafood (the Mediterranean coast seems to have that effect on places) and I can assure you I will take advantage of this. School has just begun and I anticipate a busy week, but I will do my best to post again ASAP. Keep the comments coming, it's nice to know people are reading!

As Promised

Ok, so this post was going supposed to go up a few days ago, but just as I was completing it, Blogger went all wacky and deleted it completely. So I got very discouraged. But I'm back now and have so much to show and tell! I've moved from Cairo to Alexandria, which is quite an adjustment. The cities are very different, as are the living conditions. Alexandria is much quieter, cleaner, slower and more relaxed. But the dorms here are pretty sparse. Like no hot water or toilet paper sparse. It will definitely take some getting used to, but it already seems better than it did when we first arrived.

Anyway, this post is actually about my last few days in Cairo. So much happened that I am going to do two separate posts, one for the things I did and saw and one for the things I ate. Trust me, that last category deserves a post of its own.

On Monday our group traveled to Sakkara and Giza to see Egypt's most popular tourist attraction; the pyramids. First stop: Sakkara, home of the Step Pyramid of King Djoser. It is easy to see where it got its name:

That is me in front of the step pyramid!

Sakkara is considered the "countryside" of Cairo. That is to say, there are still cars piled on top of each other, buildings lining the roads, and hawkers on the street trying to sell you goods. However, donkey carts can be seen next to the double and triple parked cars, the buildings probably don't have roofs or sometimes even four walls, and the vendors are more likely selling fruits and vegetables rather than hookahs and belly dancing outfits. There are also tons of carpet schools, but more on that later.

As you approach the pyramids of Sakkara, one of the most striking things you will notice is that on one side of the road is a deep, lush forest of date palms and on the other side of the road there is nothing but dessert and sand. The Nile has provided fertile soil for Egypt, but only in about 5% of the land. The other 95% is pretty much unlivable. Which is why 90% of the population of Egypt lives on only 5% of the land. The contrast between the land touched by the rich waters of the Nile and the land that is not is stark. That said, one of the things that I have been most surprised about since I arrived in Egypt is how green it is. Despite hearing constantly about the excessive urbanization of Cairo, palm trees line the streets and green parks can be found throughout the city. Outside the city, you can see scenes like this:

The dates will be ripest at the end of September!

Aside from the oldest pyramid in Egypt, Sakkara is known for its beautiful handmade carpets. The children in this area are sent to one of the many carpet schools to learn the trade and to bring in extra money for the family. Children as young as eleven can be found in basements of these schools, weaving intricate carpets from silk, wool, and the finest Egyptian cotton. Their labor in this field is highly valued (although I'm sure you wouldn't know it from their compensation) because their small fingers allow them to work very quickly. The speed and concentration with which these young kids work on such a tedious and intricate task is both impressive and difficult. On the one hand, these children should be out playing and learning math and history. On the other hand, it is a testament to the conditions of life in this country that this work is necessary for many families to survive.

This boy showed us how the knots were made and let me tie one on this carpet!

An example of the quantity and quality of the rugs being made

After Sakkara, we went to Giza to see the Great Pyramids. These are the pyramids we have grown up seeing pictures of in history books and on postcards. They seem so familiar and the frequency with which we see them is so great, that the images almost become mundane. Until you are there in person. Seeing these massive structures in real life is truly a unique experience. The sheer size of these awesome monuments is incomprehensible and inexplicable. The tallest is over 140 meters. There are over two million blocks in each pyramid, the smallest weighing 2 tons, the largest, 20. Just one of these pyramids clocks in at a whopping 16 million tons. Words cannot describe. Pictures cannot depict. That said, here are some photos I took:

See the black hole at the bottom? That is where I climbed to. It is higher than it looks and the furthest you are allowed to climb.

As promised.

I know it is cliche, but it was a lot of fun!

Again, I warned you this was coming!

On Tuesday, we went to visit the citadel and the mosque of Muhammad Ali (not the boxer). The citadel is an old fortress built by Saladin to protect Cairo from the crusaders. It was completed in 1184 AD.

The Saladin Citadel

In the same location is the mosque of the great ruler Muhammad Ali, considered to be the father of the modern Egyptian era (despite his not being Egyptian!). His story is an interesting one. Arriving in Egypt as an Algerian soldier of the Ottoman army, he succeeded in convincing the people of Egypt to support him as Governor. With the help of the Mamluks, he amassed an army and managed to drive the Ottomans out of Egypt, becoming the King. After using the Mamluks to defeat the Ottomans, Ali knew the only thing which could threaten his position of power was an uprising from the them. Therefore, he invited all the Mamluk leaders to a celebration at the citadel. When they arrived, they were locked in the fortress and massacred, thereby securing Ali's position as head of Egypt until his son took over due to his senility and failing health in old age. Although no longer used as a mosque today, it is still a popular attraction for both tourists and Egyptians alike.

Outside of Muhammad Ali Mosque

Inside of Muhammad Ali Mosque

Tomorrow I take a placement test to determine what level of Arabic I will be taking for the next 3 and a half months, so the rest of the night will probably be devoted to reviewing, but check back soon for a post about the amazing Arabian bites I had while experiencing these amazing Arabian sights!

First Impressions, Studio Misr, and Sequoia

Ok, I was all set to post last night, but when I went to upload the pictures I discovered that it took about 5 minutes for each one and I had quite a few, so this post is coming a day late.  Here is a picture I took from the window of the plane as we were approaching Cairo:

  

My first impressions of Cairo are actually kind of misleading I think, because we arrived on the first day of Eid, the big celebration at the end of Ramadan. I thought this meant that everything would be much crazier here, but in fact it is the opposite. A lot of people go out of town or stay in to celebrate with family, so the streets were actually pretty empty and the noise was minimal. Tonight is the last night of Eid and already I can feel the pace of life picking up. It now takes five minutes to cross the street instead of two. I anticipate that tomorrow that average will go up to ten or so. The traffic outside the hotel window has definitely increased a few decibels and almost all the stores had opened back up today. However, the holiday has not caused any major changes in the schedule and my experience here has certainly not suffered because of it.

On our first night here we had a welcome dinner at a restaurant called Studio Misr. It was on a boat. On the Nile. So cool.

This was the view from my seat at the dinner table. I mean, seriously:

The Nile

The food was excellent. When we arrived, this was waiting for us on the table:

This bread is called Aish, which translates to "life."

Mouthwatering, right? Our waitress soon came over to offer us our choice of chicken, tomato or lentil soup. This was the only thing we ordered all night, the rest of the meal had been pre-ordered by our program director. It being my first night in Egypt, I felt it was only appropriate to order the lentil. I was not disappointed. The texture was perfect, the flavor intense, and the temperature, to quote Goldilocks, was juuussst right. It was comforting and delicious.

It was a small bowl of soup, which was good, because this was the next thing placed in front of me:

Combo tray of hummus, tahina, babaghanouj, taboula, spicy sausage and a salad. The middle was Samboussek, one filled with meat, one with cheese, and one with spinach and what I think was a kobeiba. 

The yellow pool of liquid in the middle of the three dips is olive oil. This is the traditional way to serve these kinds of food, often with paprika or cayenne pepper, like in the right-most dish. It was all incredible and was devoured almost instantly. Good thing too, because the next thing to arrive on the table needed some serious space:

Delivered to the table on small golden grills, coals still burning, was the most delicious assortment of meats I have ever seen. Beef, chicken, and lamb all prepared multiple ways, with grilled tomatoes and green peppers, and stuffed flat bread. It was steaming hot, enticingly fragrant, and there was more than enough to go around:

So much food!

It was an incredible dinner and a great introduction to Cairo cuisine. Additionally, I was in no shape to peruse and properly assess a menu after the trials and tribulations of travel and was extremely grateful to have excellent food simply placed in front of me.

Since that first meal I have had several more wonderful culinary encounters, but none that I was able to properly document in picture form. My second night I had a chicken shwarma sandwich from a small local vendor (yes, I feel fine!) and tonight my friend who is in Cairo took me and some other people in the program to what he called "the nicest restaurant in Cairo," a place called Sequoia. Apparently it is frequented by Amr Daib, the superstar and heartthrob of Arab music and a national icon, whose picture can be seen all over the city. If you ever happen to be in Cairo and are wondering, he is the stud slathered in oil and looking seductively into the camera. You can't miss him.

The food was excellent and they had an incredible array of options (sushi, anyone?). The atmosphere was very upscale and luxurious and the shisha following the meal was so smooth! They also had any and every flavor you can imagine (Red Bull flavored shisha, anyone? I was not tempted.). But by far the highlight of the meal for me was the dessert. I ordered a sticky date and toffee pudding. The actual dish did not taste like dates or toffee, nor was it anything resembling a pudding, but it was FANTASTIC. Served with a scoop of simple vanilla ice cream, it was a kind of cake-like bread, served in a pool of caramel sauce. The flavor was indescribable and the texture, oh! So moist and melt-in-your-mouth, it was worthy of the pharaohs.

Speaking of which, tomorrow we visit Giza and Sakkara, so soon enough I will post the quintessential tourist pictures in front of the pyramids, the sphinx, and most likely on a camel. Cliche? Yes. But look, sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

En route

I'm writing to you all from the Frankfurt airport. Words are coming slowly and clumsily to my sleep deprived mind, but I'll try to make sense. The flight from Minneapolis left at 6:30 am, arrived at JFK at 10. The flight from JFK left at 4pm and arrived here in Frankfurt at midnight NY time and 6am German time. After our 5 hour layover here we will leave for Cairo, arriving around 3:30pm local time. The group consists of 18 students, 9 spending the semester in Cairo and 9 (including me) spending the semester in Alexandria. I considered taking a photo of my airplane meals for the blog, but I am not sure that can be considered "food" so I decided against it. I do have some photos, but nothing too interesting yet, so I'll hold off. Also, not sure how much time left I have of this 8-euro (!) hour of internet, so I should probably cut this short before tmobile does it for me. We are staying in Cairo for a week for orientation and I have no idea what the internet situation will be like in the hotel we are staying out, so I will write again when I can. Thanks for comments, keep 'em comin'! It's nice to know people are reading :)

T- 2 days

And so begins my attempt to document the next 9 months I will be spending in Egypt, particularly the culinary adventures that will (insha'allah) be had. I should probably start out by telling the story of this study abroad trip, a tale mired in drama and strife. Just kidding. Sort of.

To start out with, I am a Middle Eastern Studies major (Mount Holyoke College) who has never been to the Middle East. I think you can see how this might be viewed as a setback worth remedying. Enter junior year study abroad. My original plan was to travel to Lebanon for the year to attend the American University of Beirut. Imagine my joy when I received a scholarship to do so! For the purposes of this blog I will decline to mention the benefactors of this scholarship, but needless to say they have the authority to say where I can and cannot go. So, about two and a half months ago I received a call telling me that Lebanon was no longer an option. Citing "safety and security concerns" I was told to find a new program. For September. In June. Hundreds of calls, emails, forms, and, I admit, a few nervous breakdowns later, I am preparing to spend my fall semester in Alexandria and my spring semester in Cairo. And she lived happily ever after. Insha'allah.

In Alexandria I will be attending the University of Alexandria, the second largest university in Egypt, where I will be studying Arabic intensely (12 credit hours a week!). In January I will move to Cairo to attend Cairo University (not the American University of Cairo as I have been strongly cautioned against this particular school by several knowledgeable individuals), where I will study Political Economy.

There are two days left before my extremely early morning departure on Thursday September 9th and most of the big tasks are finished. Shopping has been done, luggage has been bought, and theoretically my visa will arrive in the next hour. I have or will have copies of all my important documents and I feel about as prepared as I can be to move to a new country with a completely different culture. Which is to say not very prepared at all.

Time permitting I will post again before my departure, but I make no promises. Here would be a good time to explain to anyone who doesn't know what insha'allah means. I have a feeling I will be using it a lot and I know for a fact that everyone in Egypt does. It translates to "God Willing" and acts as a sort of "get out of jail free" card for Egyptians. Instead of saying no (which apparently and somewhat ironically seems rude to them) they can say this handy little phrase and then if something doesn't happen as it is supposed to (they don't meet you at your scheduled time or aren't able to provide the service you requested), it is merely because God did not will it to be. Now, as an American, I am not at all unfamiliar with the practice of using God as excuse to justify just about anything. I have been told however, that the extent to which it is used in Egypt will become quite frustrating. So I'm getting used to using it now and undoubtedly you all will hear more about it in the coming months.

So, to wrap things up, I will just say that I will be posting on here again soon. Insha'allah.