Female Genital Cutting in Egypt

I recently read an article on msnbc.com that caught my eye for two reasons: 1) it was about Egypt, a country that I visited earlier this year, and 2) it was about female genital cutting (FGC), a topic about which I wrote a paper in my third year of law school.

The article is entitled, "Effort in Egypt fights against mutilating girls: Genitals cut on 96 percent of married Egyptian women; girls face same fate." Click HERE to access the article.

Now, before I go any further, I have to address the anticipated (properly or not) protest of one of my friends who often visits Egypt and is sometimes highly critical of his Egyptian friends for not being conformist enough to Egyptian (or more accurately, Islamic) practices. If my assumption -- that he supports, or at least condones, female genital cutting -- is incorrect, then I apologize.

If my assumption is correct, though, then consider this, kind reader: FGC is a cultural practice, not a religious (i.e., Muslim or Christian) practice. As the article indicates, both Muslim and Christian religious leaders have spoken out against FGC. Also, the fight against FGC in Egypt is being led by Egyptians: Egypt's parliament in June voted to ban female genital cutting as part of a law protecting children; and last year, the Egyptian Ministry of Health prohibited licensed medical professionals from performing FGC. These measures are not only laudable, but significant, when one considers that Egypt is the country where FGC is most prevalent.

Reading the article reminded me of a paper I wrote for my "Current Issues in Family Law" class in my third year of law school. My paper was more generally about the reluctance of U.S. asylum law to recognize, and thus grant, asylum on the basis of gender-based persecution. Here's an excerpt from a section entitled "Gender-Based Violence: History and Policy":

"Family violence has historically been perceived as a private matter. Considered as such, it was inappropriate for the state to get involved because of the doctrine of family privacy. Family violence was rarely conceived of as a social problem, or as having roots in women’s subordinated status in society.

The historical reality, however, is that violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women. Violence against women in general, and domestic violence in particular, serve as essential components in societies which oppress women, since violence against women not only derives from but also maintains the dominant gender stereotypes and is used to control women in the one area traditionally dominated by women, the home.

Victims of gender-related persecution have been largely unable to overcome the cultural stereotypes and gender inequities that pervade asylum law. Although women and children constitute 80% of the estimated twelve million refugees worldwide, the majority of applicants for asylum in the United States are men."

And from the section of the paper entitled "The History and Reality of Gender-Based Persecution" comes this excerpt, which mentions FGC:

"Perhaps the most pervasive forms of gender persecution are rape and other forms of sexual violence. There are, however, other forms of gender-specific persecution, including cultural and religious traditions inhibiting women’s right to life, liberty and security, such as female genital mutilation, honor killings, dowry deaths, and other traditional practices harmful to women’s and girls’ health. Included in this last category are forced abortion, compulsory sterilization, and forced pregnancy."

The bottom line here is that I support efforts to overcome the mystique surrounding certain entrenched cultural practices by exposing their basis in unequal and discriminatory cultural assumptions, as well as exposing the very real harm -- bodily and psychological -- that they pose to its unwilling victims. And so I support these efforts by the Egyptian government -- and the supporting voices of religious leaders -- to end female genital cutting among all Egyptians, Christians and Muslims alike.

Boring....or the prevalence of sand in my life

Here's what today was: sleeping, eating, laying down on couch, television, 3 loads of laundry, food-shopping, cooking, and now blogging. Well, I guess it was Sunday, my I-don't-have-to-run-day. But that's not such a great citation since it wasn't my fun-day, as the song lyrics indicate.

So what the hell else shall I write about? Lucky for you, I've been thinking about that question for a lil' while. And I have an answer: the prevalence of sand in my life. To illustrate:

Just last Thursday I finished the book "Dune" by Frank Herbert. In case you're not a sci-fi geek, Dune is a landmark science fiction novel. It's about a boy named Paul Atreides who grows up to be the leader of Arrakis, which is a desert planet. Ahhh (light bulb shines brightly over your head): a planet of sand AND thus tied to the theme which I have already noted. Although not of the highest literary value in terms of writing technique or style, it is still no doubt a very entertaining novel, and one which does a good job of raising several broader issues within the context of the sci-fi plot. These broader issues include the environmental (e.g., how a planet can manage, and even positively exploit, its limited natural resources), political (e.g., the necessities of power politics and the tactics necessary to gain and maintain political power), religious (e.g., the commonalities between various religions and the effect that space travel may one day have on religion and religious beliefs), and others.

Because of the readability of this book and the way that Herbert ties in some interesting issues that certainly remain pertinent today (especially environmental concerns), I do recommend this book.

While reading the book (and still right now), I set the desktop background of both my work computer and home computer to desert images: "Wind" and "Red moon desert" respectively.

In the book it was interesting to hear descriptions of how the Fremen, or desert-dwellers of Arrakis, developed technology to cope and adapt to the harsh conditions of the desert. For example, "still-suits" which helped to retain the body's moisture and recycle it through mouthtubes.

The imagery that Herbert used also brought me back to my experiences in Egypt earlier this year (see my earlier posts by clicking on "March" under the "2008" tab in the Blog Archives to the left of your screen, and scroll down to the posts between the 5th and 24th of that month).

It's really difficult to put into words the thoughts and feelings, and inner reflections, that one has out in the Sahara. The vastness of the desert is overwhelming, and for that reason, quite humbling. But in its way, it is very beautiful. Its size and simplicity seem to send a clear message to humanity to respect God's power to create and destroy. Perhaps -- if I may speculate -- that is why Islam plays such a central and pervasive role in Arab culture and society: the ever-present reminder of Allah's power over planet Earth and humankind.

Leaving you to ponder these deeper questions of existence, I leave you some visual images of reference. And for me personally, some visual images of remembrance:

Regreso a la vida cotidiana

"From the latest hiatus, the greatest is back to grace this faceless case." -- me (referring to my return back to the job)

I went to the gym tonight for just the second time since I got back from my Egypt/Europe trip. Although I'm sure I lost a couple pounds during the trip -- due to not working out at all for two weeks and an inconsistent eating schedule on the road -- I felt surprisingly strong tonight. For my bench press (barbell, free weight), I was able to put up 185 pounds (about my own body weight) for 6 repetitions, 205 lbs. for 4 reps, 225 twice, and in my final set, I benched 245 pounds just short of 2 times (the guy spotting me had to give me just a little bit of help on the left-hand side of the bar). For the rest of my exercises, I was able to do my normal weight progression with little difficulty at all. It felt really good.

Earlier tonight, while lounging on my couch and watching the Louisville-Tennessee men's basketball game on television, the Baby fell asleep on my stomach. I kept rubbing her tummy while she alternately stretched then retracted her claws. She kept purring the whole time; it was really nice.

Bueno, manana es viernes, y por eso como siempre me hace sentir muy feliz. En este momento no tengo grandes planes para el fin de semana, pero tengo ganas de salir o por lo menos hacer algo fuera de mi apartamento. Estoy pensando de jugar basketball el sabado en la tarde. Es posible que voy a trabajar unas horas extras tambien. Y en la noche unos traguitos no me matarian tampoco.

Espero que todos tengan un buen fin de semana. Desde la ciudad de amor fraternal: Philadelphia!

Extrapyramidal Symptoms

Here are some pics from the Pyramids of Giza:

With the Great Sphinx of Giza:

Here you can get an idea of the immense size of the Great Pyramid, especially in perspective with the camel at the bottom of the pic:

Note the city of Cairo in the right background of this photo:

Thanks for checking out my pics! If you haven't done so already, check out the pics that I retroactively included in the appropriate posts below (there should be four additional photos in the various posts below). Ch-ch-ch-check it out!

Random observations

Yesterday I saw a guy whose one leg was shorter than the other. The rubber sole of his short-legged shoe was about 5 inches thick.

While riding the 7 bus yesterday a decrepit (though not old) man got off at 22nd and Washington. Right after stepping off the bus, he began dumping his trash -- what appeared to be candy wrappers -- into the gutter.

In Egypt a lot of the men have marks or bruises on their foreheads. They're there from hitting their head on the floor so much during prayers.

Philly seemed a bit quiet last night; must have been because it was the night before Easter.

I got all my photos developed. I'll upload a few more to this site some time later this afternoon. So be sure to check back, a'ight?

Welcome back!

It's hard to believe that I'm back in my apartment here in Philly. Perhaps it's even harder to believe that I actually went to work today. And maybe it's even harder yet for you to believe that you exist.

So the question that everyone is asking is as follows: what will this guy write about now that he's back? Well, let's see, should I tell you what I eat for lunch every day, or how many paces it takes to walk from my apartment to work, or the definition of shart? Ladies and gentlemen, the official party line is at this point -- on the initial question that is -- I don't know.

But I will give you this tidbit of information, which I have no doubt will excite you to no end: I have several (and by "several" I mean many) photos of my time in Egypt and Germany; a select few of these photos will be uploaded to this fine website in order to spice up the monotony of my endless blabbering (which for some reason you continue to read => LMA-OH!).

Anyway, to all those whom I saw today, thanks so much for so warmly welcoming me back. It really does feel good to be back. It's like they (?) say: there's no place like home!

Go Temple in the A-10!

Alright homies! How you doin'? For all y'all that ain't keepin' up, Temple is in the A-10 final in a rematch tonight against who else but our cross-town rivals, St. Joe's. And if you've really been out of the loop click here for my run-down of the last game between the two, when Temple edged out St. Joe's in a one-point thriller at the Palestra. Temple's got strong support over here across the big pond, and we'll all be happy when they claim the A-10 title and thus secure a bid to the big dance. Go Temple!

In other news, there are riots in Tibet. And in other news, I am in Essen, Germany now, after a four and a half hour flight from Cairo to Cologne, then a two hour plus train ride on the slow, local "S" train from Cologne to Essen. But here I am, stinking it up after playing basketball and then soccer (do I have to say football?) here in the neighborhood. The shower is calling me, but I figured I'd stop in for a quick cameo.

The only final update to my time in Egypt was my visit yesterday evening at the Khan El-Khalili bazaar. As soon as I got out of the cab I was approached by a guy who told me to call him "Bob", I laughed at that one, but told him that I would play along.

Anyway the rest of that story is pretty good, but I'll have to fill it out later, since I have to hurry now if I want to go to a European football match. I hope the weather is getting nicer now in Philly. And without further ado, I'm off for a much-needed shower.

I'll leave you simply with a photo of me in Cairo's nicest and by far largest shopping mall, City Stars, in front of one of its most recognizable tenants; as one of the last photos taken before we went to the airport just a couple hours later, you would say it's a bit paradoxical, wouldn't you?

Walking (a lot) like an Egyptian

Good afternoon! It's Friday, 3:30pm, here in Cairo. Because I'm waiting to hear from my friend, and he could call at any minute, I have to keep this short and clinical, as much as anything to refresh my memory at a later time, and at that point to then fill in the details. So let's go chronological.

Yesterday, instead of going to the Pyramids as I had planned (and as I told you in the last post), I slept in, and then spent the entire day walking, walking, walking, in circles and down the same streets here in DownTown over and over again. The initial objective was simply to find an HSBC automatic teller machine that I had spotted the other night; as it turned out, it may have been easier to find a needle in a haystack. After walking for two hours straight, a new objective materialized: to keep walking as a way to get to know the city, its character, its people, its pulse, and in doing so, to become comfortable with my place, ever so brief yet ever so important, in the city. I stopped at fruit juice stands to drink orange juice or a cocktail mix (basically a fruit punch). I went into local dive restaurants to eat ful, or falafel tamia, or koshary. Towards evening I spent an hour at a local tea bar (although that sounds way too fancy for what it really is: a place for men to hang out and observe the streetscape and its goings-on); there I casually drank four chai (hot tea, of course), while playing my role in observing the city life and then taking some time to read the first part of the first chapter of The Trial by Franz Kafka (hilarious in its absurdity, I couldn't help laughing out loud several times). At some point in the day -- how can I remember when? -- I found the ATM, which at that point had become a mere pitstop in my minor hajj.

During my meanderings a mid-20-something guy came up to me and began speaking to me in English. I told him that I was hungry and if he could suggest a good place for koshary; he escorted me and we began talking of course. He then invited me to his business, a perfume shop, so that I could sit down and enjoy my food. Then he brought me up to the second floor of the shop to talk to me confidentially about my energy, which he said was essentially positive, but showed a little bit of stress, which conveniently enough (as I came to realize) he would be able to help me relieve, for a price not named or mentioned until I was totally roped in. Looking back I now know that the Cairo salesman is very subtle in his techniques, befriending you at first, then appearing to do you a favor in your own self-interest, then only at the very end bringing up the issue of price; which, to a freshman like me, was totally unexpected. Having to suddenly bargain for a product which I didn't know that I was going to buy is a bit disconcerting, but then you've gotta do what you've gotta do to protect yourself from being suckered. In the end I bought a bottle of perfume, supposedly tailored for my specific needs, at a third of the price that he wanted me to pay; and even still, from what others have told me, I probably paid a bit too much. Oh well, so it goes.

In the late evening, I came back to my hostel to hang out in the lobby with an Australian girl, a U.S. guy from Seattle, and a U.S. guy from Baltimore. It was a good conversation; all I'll say now is that the girl was talking mostly about relationships between Egyptians and foreigners, and their gender-specific permutations. This was going on when all of a sudden Roland steps off the lift, sees me, and says let's go. Totally reflexively I grabbed my bag, shook hands and left.

The night was really good. Roland, an Egyptian girl named Ruby and her brother Karim, and I went to a very fancy bar/lounge called Cairo Jazz Club. A live band, named Screwdriver, played really great music, from The Beatles to Bon Jovi. This was also one of the rare places that serves alcohol in Egypt, so I had my chance to try a Stella and a Sakkara, two of Egypt's three domestic beers. Apparently the crowd represented the young high society of Cairo, as well as some foreigners too.

This morning, knowing that it is my last day in Cairo, I got myself going early to the Pyramids. I took the microbus from Tahrir to Haram, not too far from the Pyramids, and walked the rest of the way there. Once there, I rode a camel, went through a very narrow and claustrophobic passageway underneath the big Second Pyramid, then rode a horse with a nice Egyptian named Sayid in order to take some nice photos of all the Pyramids at once.

Sayid explained to me the four types of Egyptians: Bedouin, Arab, Western-style city-dwellers, and Nubians. He also told me that very few Americans go to the Pyramids; nearly all the tourists there are Europeans. He didn't like the fact that the Americans that do go there are all there in packaged tours, and that this means that these tourists only contact with Egyptians is with their tour guide and bus driver. Sayid said that he really appreciated that I, as an American, took the time to talk with him and he was happy to hear that I was riding public transportation on my own in his country. I told him that I definitely agreed with him, and that tourists who only want to see the Pyramids without experiencing authentic Egyptian culture should just look them up in an encyclopedia.

As an aside here, though, I realize that many of the American tourists are seniors, so for them it might be advisable if not necessary to travel in an organized tour. Otherwise, I really feel like it is a form of (unintentionally? ego- & ethno-centric) cultural arrogance to visit foreign tourist sites without any other intercultural exchange.

Back to the story, though, Sayid's horse that I rode was named Aziza; it was awesome. I also took some photos of the Sphinx (I solved the riddle) before leaving. From there I walked for a couple of kilometers, then caught a public bus from there to Giza Square, where I got out and caught the Metro back to Tahrir. All along the way, I asked people where to go, and everyone was friendly and helpful, even if they spoke little or no English. I'm telling you, it IS possible to travel in countries where you don't speak the language, as long as you're willing to put yourself out there and dive in headfirst. The bus and the metro cost a total of 1.5 Egyptian pounds, or about a quarter in the U.S.; not bad, and to travel and be with the people on top of it, excellent!

So this is longer than I thought, and I'm sure I can fill in more details later. For now I have to go to see if I can contact Roland. Although he has to go to an Egyptian wedding tonight, and I can attend, I think I'll respectfully decline due to the fact that I have no professional -- or even clean -- clothing with me, and I would really like to go to the bazaar to get a few things before our 2:25am (yes: am) flight later tonight. Thus, my next post will probably be from somewhere in Germany.

I hope all is well with you back home, and I pray that everyone is happy and healthy. With that, I'll sign off from Cairo, Egypt. Check it, check it out!

Hi-Yo from Cairo

Tomorrow morning I'll get up first thing in the morning to visit the Pyramids. It's now 9:45pm here, and the city of Cairo is as awake as ever, but this is my last task before returning to my hostel (Sara Inn) to shower up and hit the sack.

We arrived in Cairo around 8:30am, after we caught a 10pm bus out of Siwa to Alexandria, then made the quick decision in Alexandria to just continue on immediately to Cairo. Although I slept on both buses, even to the point of drooling on the Arab scarf that I was wearing around my neck, my weariness is now catching up to me.

Cairo is one of the largest cities in the world. Due to a population explosion in recent decades, the city's infrastructure has not kept up with the number of inhabitants. And so the streets here are jam-packed with cars and with people. In addition there are very, very few traffic lights; I've been told that there are only two in the whole city, and that may be the truth.

As long as we're on this topic, let me relate an interesting adventure I had earlier this evening. I had to catch a microbus from the wealthy neighborhood of Nasr City (near the airport, and where Roland is staying with friends for the night) to the downtown area, in order to return to the hostel where I am staying for the next two nights. While I was catching the microbus, Karim (Roland's friend) was yelling at me to push my way into the microbus; I ended up squeezing my body facing backward while the sliding side-door to the van (i.e., the microbus) was still open while we were moving. At the next stop someone got off and I was able to replace their spot. The ride lasted for nearly 45 minutes through typical Cairo traffic; it's like the Daytona 500, there are no lanes, and every vehicle is constantly jockeying for position and weaving in and out of the other cars. Looking out the window of the van, I observed how much the city reminds me of the boroughs in New York, as there were lots of well-lit commercial establishments all over the place, with tons of people walking around. When I finally reached the last stop I got out and had to find my way on my own back to the hostel, with only a small map on the hostel's business card to guide me. Of course this meant crossing several major roads and intersections, which as I said earlier none of which have stop lights. This part of my trip reminded of the game Frogger, because I literally had to time my jumps from lane to so-called lane to avoid being hit by a car (earlier today while walking with Roland a car tried to turn where I was walking, and it's right front tire literally rolled over my foot before I hit the car with my hand and the driver stopped). As is common among pedestrians here, there were times while crossing the road that I had to wait, between lanes as cars passed by me, until I could proceed across another lane on the road. It was an exhilirating experience, although one that requires total attention.

Earlier today I visited the Egyptian Museum. Although I really like museums, they invariably make me tired and sleepy. But since I was alone I simply took my time and took plenty of rests. The best part of the Egyptian Museum was the exhibit of the Royal Mummies, for which I had to pay an additional entrance fee. This exhibit featured the mummies of such pharoahs as Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis. It was really cool and really surreal.

After my visit to the museum, I had to get lunch. I walked into a local restaurant, ordered two "ful" (bean-filled pita) and sat down to eat. Two men at the next table started talking to me. They asked me where I was from; of course I told them the USA. They asked me my opinion of Bush and I indicated with a hand-motion so-so; they immediately put their thumbs down. They asked me if Barack Obama was Muslim; I told them that he isn't but his father was a Muslim from Kenya; they hadn't known that. They asked me if I was Christian and I said yes; so I asked them if they were Muslim and they said yes; I told them that I love everybody as long as they're nice to me, they gave me a thumbs up. As it turned out, one was a legal advisor and the other was a lawyer. I asked them what they were eating, they told me it was "kofta" and asked if I would like to have one, I said sure; at the end, despite my attempt to pay for it, they insisted that they treat me to the kofta. It was really nice of them, and it was the type of direct personal interaction between people of different countries and cultures that I so enjoy.

Well, that's about all for now. I will fill in more details and clean up my writing on these posts once I get home. So please bear with me for now. Just know that I am thinking about all of you, yes you! And so you can be sure that a part of you is with me here in northeastern Africa.

Finally I'll say that contrary to what you may think the weather here has been relatively cool. This morning when we came into Cairo on the bus I was wearing a t-shirt, a long-sleeve button-down shirt, and a sweater, and I still felt a bit cool. Throughout the rest of the day, although I rolled up the sleeves, I continued to wear the long-sleeve shirt.

Anyway, a part of me is beginning to miss home now. But I know that I have two more days here in Egypt, then three more days in Europe to let it all out before returning to the grind. Feel free to leave a comment or to send me an email, as I am checking every day and would very much love to get a little transatlantic love from my homies. Peace out, y'all! Keep feeling alive in the 2-1-5!

Sahara

Sahara means desert in Arabic, so to say Sahara Desert is redundant. It's late morning on Tuesday right now, and this will be my last day in Siwa before moving on; more on this later.

Yesterday we spent the whole day out in the Sahara. For 100 Egyptian pounds (about US$20), we joined a tour out to the desert. Our ride was a 4-wheel drive GMC Scottsdale, probably early 1980s model; our company was an English man, his Greek wife, and their one and a half year old son named Rowan, along with our Norwegian friend Sven, and our driver named Hassan.

After a half-hour ride out, our first stop was at the top of a pretty tall sand dune. This was the group's first opportunity to take photos of the arid expanse, and Roland's and my first opportunity to break out the sandboard. Roland waxed it up for me and then I shimmied my barefeet into the cloth straps, while I told the group watching me to prepare for a royal wipe-out, which did in fact happen after I surfed down the dune for a pretty good distance. Roland and I took turns and even had Sven give it a try too. It was a lot of fun.

Our next stop, after our driver entertained us by driving very fast up and down the sand dunes, was a very small oasis tucked away in a topographical depression. There was a small round pool there lined with a short stone wall, the diameter must not have been more than about 6 meters at most. After breaking down to my swimsuit, I dipped into the pool and discovered that this was a hot spring, a very hot spring in fact. It took a few minutes to acclimate to the temperature, but once achieved, the effect was absolutely relaxing. We stayed there for over an hour, just taking it easy at this unlikely refuge in the middle of the Sahara.

And this was something not lost upon me throughout the afternoon: that I was spending the day in the middle of the world's largest desert, and not very far from the Libyan border. I couldn't help thinking what everyone back stateside was doing at that very instant. I thanked God for the opportunity to be here and to be blessed with such special experiences.

We continued on not too far to a lake that we had been able to see from the little oasis. Surrounding the deep blue lake was a lot of plants very similar to those up in the Meadowlands of northern New Jersey ("let me just make this statement loud and clear, Jersey's here!"). While all the other tourists, including those from two other trucks were milling around, staring at the lake, Roland and I had broken down to our swimsuits; on the count of 3 we ran full-sprint toward the lake and dove in boldly. I kid you not when I say that the water was very cold, as implausible as it may seem being in the middle of the desert; perhaps it was the depth of the lake as well as the fact that it is still only spring, not yet summer, even here in Egypt.

The other highlights from the rest of the afternoon were visiting a field of seashells, testament to the fact that much of this land used to be underwater in prehistoric times; the driver taking us over steep sand dunes so that we felt like the car was going to tip over headlong into the sand; and a final stop atop a sand dune to watch the sun set gently into the desert.

Returning to town, not having eaten anything since around 11am -- when, after taking off our shoes to enter the restaurant, we ate bread dipped into a squash-type soup and drank hot mint tea while sitting on the floor -- we looked forward to a solid dinner. We went to the East-West restaurant, where I ate couscous with chicken and tahina with pita bread. After this I was so tired from the long day that I went to the roof of our hotel to chill out while listening to music, and then went to bed early around 10pm.

I woke up today around 7am, returned by myself to the roof to enjoy the cool morning air while I finished reading my book. Roland and I went back to East-West, where I ate falafel tamia for breakfast. I took a nice long warm shower, and now I am here.

Tonight we will try to catch a 10pm bus for Alexandria, which will take around 7 hours. From there we will then go back to Cairo. As far as today I hope to visit the Oracle and then watch the sun set at Fatnas island.

Thanks again for keeping up with my travels, and believe me when I say that you are here with me. Salaam aleikum!

Oasis = Water + Life

Today we swam in the Kleopatra spring, located within the Siwa Oasis. Although the air was a bit cool due to a steady wind coming out of the desert, the water of the spring was warm and refreshing. We dove in from the ledge of the stone wall surrounding the spring.

In order to arrive here, we caught a bus at 7:30am in Marsa Matruh, and rode 4 hours through the desert. For miles and miles, there is nothing but rocky desert on either side of the road. If it were not for the road, the surface of the earth to the horizon in any direction appears as the surface of Mars. The only break came halfway through the trip at a small cement structure, which housed a kitchen and some plastic tables. There I ate two soft breadsticks filled with some kind of red sauce.

Siwa is an interesting place. It is literally an oasis in the middle of the Sahara desert. Roland and I climbed a tall rock structure this afternoon, easily one of the tallest in all the oasis, from which we gained an amazing vista of the surrounding area. In one direction we could see the salt lake. Below us was the small town of Siwa, its central plaza and the streets radiating outward. All the buildings appear to be made out of mortar and limestone, to a great extent they resemble the adobe buildings of the American southwest. Surrounding the human settlements are hundreds and hundreds of palm trees. But then not too far out in the distance, one can clearly see the desert; all of a sudden the palm trees end and there is only sand and rocks stretching off towards the horizon. The sight is really amazing.

After checking into the Yousef Hotel right in the center of town, we decided that the best way to quickly explore the town and find the spring would be to rent bicycles. We did so and then did our best to avoid the young boys driving donkey-pulled, two-wheeled carts around town. The main streets in the middle of town are paved, but one doesn't have to go far until they turn into packed sand. Everywhere we rode (or later walked), little children would wave at us and say "hello!", it was truly wonderful. Some of the friendly adults would say "welcome to Egypt." The feeling here in Siwa has been so amazingly warm and welcoming.

Because we were simply riding our bikes with only the goal of eventually reaching a spring, we unintentionally took the long way to our destination, thereby traveling through some of the very poor outlying areas of town. But even in those areas the children were genuinely happy to see us and any time we asked adults for directions they were quite willing and ready to help point us in the right direction.

So we finally got to the Kleopatra spring, where there was a very chill juice bar and treehouse built around the large palm trees already growing there. The owner was a cool Egyptian guy who spoke English very well and loved using the word "wicked" to come off as being really hip to the game. There were also a handful of other tourists there, including a family from the south of Germany, a couple young guys from Hamburg, and later we had a reunion with Sven, a Norwegian backpacker whom we had met on the bus from Matruh to Siwa.

While Roland was speaking German with the guys from his country, I went up to the treehouse, which was really the roof of the juice bar, covered above with dried palm leaves to provide shade from the sun, and covered below with authentic Egyptian rugs on the floor, and pillows colored either turquoise, purple, or orange, lining the two-foot walls around the perimeter of the roof. I leaned back against a few of these pillows and listened to the chill music that was playing from below, some Marley, chill West African music, jazz, and other cool stuff. It was very relaxing, and it was exactly what I was looking for.

Earlier this evening, while Roland showered and then went to prayers at a local mosque, I hung out on the roof of our hotel, where we had a view of the illuminated rock dwellings of the ancient people of Siwa. The sight really cannot be described in words; to be sitting alone, listening to my music through my headphones, while sitting under a starlit sky and looking directly at illuminated ancient dwellings and the quiet expanse of the desert beyond, was absolutely mystifying. All of this in addition to the calls for and recitation of prayers over the loudspeakers of the several local mosques. After absorbing the sentiment of my existential surroundings, I finally attended to a more practical matter: my first shower in Egypt. There are few things more pleasant than a warm shower to wash away the dust, sweat, and grime of three days' travel, even if the showerhead was positioned directly over the toilet.

Tomorrow we will stay in Siwa for some more fun. We hope to go sandboarding as well as visit the Oracle here in the oasis. After this we have no plan, other than to take it one step at a time. Thanks for checking in, and I will try to write again tomorrow.

A Salaam Aleikum

I have made it to Egypt. We arrived on time at 1:25 in the morning yesterday. Flying into Cairo was interesting. The city lights were so expansive, the closest thing it reminded me of was Los Angeles. But of course a big difference was observing the bright green lights: these marked wherever there was a mosque, and there were hundreds.

Karim, Roland's friend, met us at the airport. We drove directly to an outdoor restaurant or food shop to drink assab, which is pressed sugar cane juice, it was very refreshing. We also drank a glass of mango juice. Then we went somewhere else to eat some fitir, roughly described as a pizza-like food filled with the ingredients of your choice; I ate mine with sausage.

Because our bus to the east did not leave until 6am, we spent the rest of the night driving around Cairo. We drove by President Mubarak's residence, a section of the city called Heliopolis, which was very beautiful, Nasr City, where we ate our food, and other areas too.

Later after we caught our bus and were leaving the city, and the sun had risen, I saw other areas of the city. The buildings in these other areas appeared as if they had been bombed. There were donkeys on the streets. There were already lots of cars on the streets at 7am. And although there are 20 million people in Cairo, it doesn't necessarily seem that much because everything is spread out. Nevertheless, I only saw this at 7am.

As the bus left the edge of the city, we passed right by the pyramids. It was amazing to see of course. But it was also amazing to realize that they are located right on the edge of the city.

Then came miles and miles and miles of nothing but desert on either side of the highway. The driver was going very fast and weaving from side to side, so it made it nearly impossible to sleep, as much as I desperately needed to sleep.

We arrived in Marsa Matruh at 1:30pm. We checked into a hotel for about $4 per night for both, so about $2 per night per person, and that was about right. Here I finally had a chance to use a toilet (since there are almost never any restrooms in public). I decided not to use the bidet, which nearly touched me when I sat down.

After checking in, we went out for a walk through town and to the Mediterranean coast, only about 6 or 7 blocks from our hotel. The water was a very light blue, reminiscent of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, the air temperature was cool, due to the wind coming off the sea, and the water was too cool as well. So we just walked on to a pier, laid down and slept for a little while. I was awakened later by the calls to prayer from the mosque right on the sea, and by a group of young boys who approached us to say "welcome" and "hello."

We are trying to decide what to do tomorrow. We may take the 5 hour bus ride to Siwa, in the south, to go sandboarding and camping in the desert. But it all depends on it not being too cold at nighttime. If not, then we may head back east to either Alexandria or back to Cairo. We shall see....