iHtifaalaat - Celebrations

This post risks making it sound like it's all fun and games in Egypt. Which I suppoooose 
it sort of is, aside from class. Life is fun here, amid the stress and annoyance, and for that, 
I'm grateful. (Example, while dead stuck in traffic today, when the taxi driver was eerily 
silent, I started counting the number of bumper stickers that made me laugh. 4 out of 
the next 5 I saw were pretty great. My favorites: "NO FRIENDS!" Also, "WOMEN!
 Up the power TIME!" I don't know what either mean.)

However, the daily routine of nescafé, homework, friends, Arabic practice, nescafé, 
repeat has been broken up more often than usual with parties and fun things this 
past month.

December and January, as they seem to be in so many places across the globe, are full
 of celebrations in Egypt. I was given the privilege to participate as a bridesmaid in 
Ghada's engagement party (congratulations Ghada and Gamal!) on December 10th. 
I hung out with her family for nearly the entire day, rode in the zefa (parade) of cars 
that swerves and speeds up and down the Corniche, honking all the while, and 
applauded with the hundreds of guests as the couple arrived to the historic venue in 
a boat. I'm afraid there might be a video somewhere of me as the only foreigner 
attempting Egyptian dance in the middle of the sparkly dance floor. 

There was also Christmas (duh), New Year's (duh) and not to mention my own 
personal freak-out moment/celebration in seat 5C of an Olympic airlines flight to 
Athens from Cairo, just before Christmas. On the way to a Christmas break trip
 shared between myself and five other American friends, I might have squealed, 
a little bit, when the plane took off. 

I enjoy Egypt, I really do. But like a difficult friend whom you still love, a little 
break from the pollution, the noise, the staring, the harassment, and the homework
 was much needed. Almost all the students in my program did, in fact, or at least
 took the opportunity to travel. The whole lot of Americans, all accustomed to 
long, American University-style Christmas breaks, grew notably restless as late
 December approached. As I stepped onto a bus from Alex to the Cairo airport,
 early in the morning, snagging my last cheap snacks (ain't gonna find no 30 
cent water bottles and 15 cent cookies in the crumbling European Union), 
I'll never forget the intense excitement I felt just to, well, LEAVE. 

Greece surpassed our expectations, and when some guests in our hostel 
lamented the dirtiness of the streets and the poor state of the economy,
 my travelling crew and I just nodded politely and listened, unimpressed. 
Coming from the often dirty streets of Egypt, and the often less-developed
 areas of Alexandria that we've grown fond of and used to, Athens was a 
shiny sort of wonderland. Greeks were exceedingly friendly, their food was 
simple and expertly done (grilled calamari, roasted pork, eggplant in myriad 
different ways, stuffed zucchini, spinach pies, beautiful salads, and warm 
red wine, among other tasty things).

My American sense of entitlement got a good shake to it when the Parthenon 
was closed on Christmas Eve, due to a strike. I had a 30-second moment of 
indignation and then we proceeded to have an incredible day, exploring an
 offbeat district called Gazi, descending a random staircase into an underground 
taverna, and spending two hours drinking good Greek wine and listening to 
good music. Roasted chestnuts, conversations in the street with Egyptians 
long-settled in Greece, tea and hypothetical questions during our freezing 
hostel evenings, metro rides in giddy moods, and shoe shopping on Ermou 
street are all things I'll never forget from that Christmas Eve. Christmas 
morning we exchanged white elephant gifts and my loot consisted of warm 
socks (NEEDED) and Greek dark chocolates (needed?) and a Christmas 
evening we hiked to the highest hill in Athens (actually NOT the Acropolis, 
weird, right?) to warm ourselves up.

All that said, I am finally truly glad to be back, though I was digging my 
heels on the way. Watching the sun set over the fields (cotton? wheat? 
watermelon? no idea) on the train from Cairo to Alex a week ago, drinking 
hot tea offered to me from a genial man with a drink cart (affordable drinks 
in every possible locale, i MISSED you), my heart felt full. Greece satisfied 
some of that ever present longing for something different; a new place. 
I have some energy to devote to Arabic again. I missed my neighborhood. 
I missed my classmates. Celebrating the New Year the following day with 
Egyptian and Flagship friends, I felt complete. It's weird that Egypt is home, but it is. 

 For New Year's in Egypt, people toss jars, bottles, and bags full of water 
or God knows what else out windows. Lord help those down below in 
the street, but it makes for a fun show if you're on a balcony. Not to mention 
the full-size fireworks lit from balconies and curbs all over the city. I've never 
seen such a panoramic fireworks show in my life. Sometimes, I adore places 
without intense American safety rules.

A final celebration of the past several weeks was my roommate Kelsey's
 24th birthday yesterday! Several of us put together a little surprise party 
for her and by God it  WORKED. She was actually surprised, it seems. 
Since when do surprise parties actually work?  Our director gave her a
 gag gift of a terribly scented perfume, which is indicative of how great 
our director is (truly) and the Greek café we tricked her into entering 
dated from 1900 and was  a dusty testament to the grandeur that was once 
more prevalent in old Alexandria.

Finally, last night, a small group of us went to a Coptic Christmas Eve 
service in Saint Mark's Cathedral. (Coptic service but in a Catholic cathedral? 
Can an Egyptian please explain that to me?) Imagine Gregorian chants in 
Arabic, in a cathedral that rivals anything you've seen in Europe, with near 
white walls. Gorgeous. Today is Christmas for the Copts, so really it's been 
just an extended Christmas season for us here. As they say, kull sina wa-intu tayyibeen!

This month holds a new lot of internship work, final exams and projects,
 a visit from my older SISTER (!!!) in two days, and at the end of the
 month a trip to Luxor and Aswan with the whole crew. I'll try to post once 
more before that trip! 

I hope all your own celebrations this past month were blessed and full and sweet.


No inset photos! Because I'm lazy! But here's a link to nearly 100 photos of our Greece trip: