Amsterdam
I left Minneapolis Friday night at 7:45 and fly to Amsterdam. Leaving my mom, dad and sister honestly was really bitter sweet. The flight was long and I didn't sleep. I do have to say though that the movie selection was really good and Matt Damon's "The Informant" is hilarious if you like dry humor. I had a window seat and I was really lucky because the seat next to me was empty so I could stretch out a little more. Once we got out over the Atlantic most people where sleeping and the cabin lights where off. I was able to look out the window and see the stars from a whole new perspective. That was very very cool. I got to Amsterdam at 11am local time and had a 10 hour layover there.
My plan for Amsterdam was to take the train out of the city and take a boat tour and fun stuff like that. That was only a plan though. Unfortunately I really didn't know where I was going or what I was doing. I did manage to get a train ticket (thank you Megan for telling me what to get) however I couldn't understand what I bought or where to go because it printed in Dutch. So basically I just picked a random platform, got on the train and road it till I thought the word on the screen sounded kinda like the name of the place I thought I was going. Long story short I got lost in Amsterdam for a couple hours, got on the wrong train twice but eventually (and luckily) got back to the airport. I did manage to find a large our door mall thing with tons of people- see pictures.
Cairo
I got to Cairo this morning at 2:45 am local time. Driving in Cairo is ridiculous. We litterally almost got into 3 accidents on the way to the dorm. After check-in and security ( the res hall has baggage check and a metal detector-the metal detector doesn't work- to get into the dorm) I was in my dorm room and in bed about 5am. I woke up this morning at 7:30 am when one of my two roommates arrived. (the other roommate Jason was already here).
The day has been packed. I went to breakfast with Jason and another girl we met at a deli a few blocks down the street. Jason and I spent a little over an hour walking around the island of zamalek taking pictures, getting to know each other and attempting not to get hit by speeding cars or micro-buses. The only traffic law that applies on the roads here is the horn. It is the request to cross, the blinker, the confirmation of a taxi pick-up and naturally the get the f&@K out of my way.
later that Afternoon we where able to ride the bus out to the university campus and explore it for a while. The bus was 1.5 hours (which sucks) but it was nice to have the time to talk to the other students. It was pretty funny because as you head towards the New Cairo district the buildings go from moderate to nice, to really shitty, to not finished skeletons, to really nice again. I got my student ID while out there (which now makes this trip legit) and got my taste of the falafel and koshery. Both where pretty good although.
We hurried to catch the bus back to Zamalek for the student meeting and following that was just a large gathering with everyone. Tomorrow a large group is going to go explore old town Cairo. Hopefully the bus will be big enough for everyone to fit. We walked around some market and shops tonight and bought some personal goods, had street corner made swarmas for dinner and the ress hall staff told us where to go to get our cell phones and how to do so. Everyone here has the same kind of phone, a super cheep and very basic little cell phone and everyone has a pay as you go plan. Its should work pretty well.
I hope that this is enough for everyone for a start. I am going on about 3 hours of sleep since Friday morning so I am going to call it a night. I will post the pictures I have taken so far on the face book group.
If you have any questions or comments write them on the wall for the group!
Shokrun and massalaima (thank you and goodbye)
-Phil
No comments:
Post a Comment