Friday, I got to sleep until 9:30 (which is quite the treat when you're used to waking up around 7:30 during the week for class). Around noon, a group of six of us went to Tabasco for lunch. They have traditional Egyptian food, like shawarma platters, and some more American food too. I ended up getting ravioli in cream sauce, which was amazing. It was a much-welcome taste of home. I have been somewhat experimental with the food here - I even tried pigeon at a restaurant we went to last week! But there have been plenty of times when all I really want is my delicious American food back. After getting lunch, Tim and I went downtown for a while. We were only there for about a half an hour, but we got some interesting photos and met some interesting people too. Apparently, people love Americans here - yet another guy started a conversation with the two of us, told us about his restaurant/bar down the street, and told us the first round would be on him, which we politely declined.
Saturday, we went on our tour of Islamic Cairo. We stopped at the mosque of Ibn Tulun and the mosque of Sultan Hassan, and after we walked through the khan (the market) and saw a few sites there. The mosque of Ibn Tulun is one of the oldest in the world and the first mosque built in Africa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosque_of_Ibn_Tulun). The mosque of Sultan Hassan has its own history as well, and underwent a number of restorations when President Obama visited in June of 2009 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosque-Madrassa_of_Sultan_Hassan). Fun fact: the mosque of Ibn Tulun is featured on the 5LE note, and that of Sultan Hassan is featured on the Egyptian 100LE note. Who knew?
That night, we went to Al-Azhar Park. I was expecting more sand and little vegetation, but the park was absolutely gorgeous. There was plenty of grass, lots of trees, and even fountains. There was a path that lead to the top of the park, which overlooked all of Cairo. We got to the park just as the sun was going down, and we got to watch the sun set over Cairo. Just as it was almost out of view, the call to prayer started. As I'd mentioned before, there is a call to prayer five times a day, which they chant and play from speakers all over the city (they do this in Aswan and Luxor too, not just Cairo). From our spot overlooking the city, you could hear multiple calls at once, all at different parts of the prayer, and it was difficult to hear any one specific chant. I wouldn't consider myself a spiritual person by any means, but something about watching the sun go down over the city as the call to prayer rang out made me feel so calm. I felt at peace with things and at peace with myself, which is something I can't say I've felt in a very long time. The moon was out even before the sun had gone down, and you could see a few stars on the horizon even as the sun was still visible. I want to go back at some point before this trip is over, but I know how I felt that night isn't something I could ever replicate.
This morning, we visited the Arab League. We had a panel discussion for about an hour and a half, which was surprisingly engaging. When we went to the U.S. Embassy, the man speaking with us beat around the bush quite a bit and seemed to have a somewhat lackluster personality, making for a somewhat dull visit. The man we spoke with at the Arab League, however, was extremely forthcoming and engaging. He was extremely insightful and poised, and he had facts to back everything up. My high school government teacher, Mr. Benson, would have loved him.
Afterwards, while the fluid mechanics kids had class, we went to the Giza zoo. Anyone who knows me knows I love zoos, but this was a far cry from an American zoo. The animals were kept in pretty small cages, and they were surrounded by visitors (mostly kids, who wanted to feed the animals). Most of the zookeepers had long wooden sticks they would stick vegetables on and hand to the kids, which the kids would then feed the animals with. There was little monitoring of the animals though - at one point, we watched as a boy handed a bottle of coke through the bars to a chimpanzee. The lions were probably in the worst shape though - we saw two that were not open to the public, kept in a cage no more than a few hundred square feet big, hopefully only being kept there temporarily. We all got pictures in front of the cage, and I was only inches away from a live, roaring, extremely large lion. After that, I had my picture taken with one of the cubs - I was squatting beside it as the man snapped the picture. For only 20LE (about $4) and a little bit of baksheesh (the word for tip money, which used by Americans to exploit just about any official), I got a picture beside the cub. The camera he used was at least 40 years old and the print came out a little washed out, but overall, it was worth the little bit of money I spent. I felt so bad for the lion cub, which was completely drugged out. It was bigger than I was expecting - about the size of a large dog - and it was more soft and cuddly than I would have thought (again, probably because it was so heavily sedated).
Tomorrow, we're spending some time downtown, and I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to post then too. For now, here are some pictures from the past few days.
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