Updated Pictures of Zamalek

So I was waiting for a really good aerial picture of Zamalek to help you guys further understand where I live in Cairo. Cairo is a huge city! I'll be living in Cairo for two years, and can definitely say I won't have the chance to see it all. Here's an amazing picture of Zamalek (Thanks Carly!):



So this is the island I live on. This is the place I call home. This is the island that I run on a couple of times a week. The southern part of island is dominated by the Cairo Opera House and the Gezira Sports Club. When I first started the blog I did a quick post on my dorms, but never put an actual picture of the outside of the AUC dorms.




Zamalek is a very nice part of Cairo. The streets are full of diversified food options (with menus in English and Arabic), embassies, schools, and clothing shops.
 

Running in Zamalek

If you know me, you know that running is a huge part of my life. It's something I do for myself, and always will. I started running when I went to school at GWU in Washington, DC. and really became a serious runner in Gainesville, FL. So naturally it's in my plan to run where ever I live, but Cairo has presented a challenging situation. While the majority of runners who move to Cairo may choose the treadmill over the street, this girl won't. I started the outside running process with hesitation. I was told "don't run without a guy" or "you're crazy". 

I'm a little over a month into my move to Cairo, and I have to say I couldn't be happier with my current running situation. Don't get me wrong, it's THE hardest place I have ever ran! People in Cairo don't really do the running outside thing, but the runs are only getting better. I'm starting to recongize the normal people on the street (shop keepers, security guards, police). I'm really learning how to navigate around the island, and it's super empowering. 

Just imagine two American girls running through the streets of Zamalek at 10pm. Sometimes I think we're crazy, but then I realize it's really not for everyone. We get to see such a diverse crowd of people: the couples on the banks of the Nile, the taxi drivers taking a break outside of their cars to talk, or the security guards outside the embassies. 

The pollution, people, cars, cats, smoke, and uneven pavement are all some of the daily obstacles I face while running, but I know these obstacles will make me a better runner. If you can run in Cairo, then you can run anywhere.

"There are clubs you can't belong to, neighborhoods you can't live in, schools you can't get into, but the roads are always open." - Nike

The Actual Protests at the American Embassy

Let me begin this post by saying I sometimes don't follow rules.I've already blogged about the protests and let everyone know everything here is great. So here's the story about how I actually saw the protests. Three of us began our adventure downtown. We didn't plan on just strolling into the protest. We wanted to see at what safe distance could we actually witness history happening. Trust, it was a planned approach.

Our original plan was to go to the roof of the Ramses Hilton, a couple of blocks away from Tahrir Square, to see if we could see the protests. The rooftop restaurant on the top floor didn't open for a couple hours, so we decided to just walk around and see what we could find. As we were walking towards the Egyptian Museum, I could see a large crowd of protesters waving flags. We decided to walk around the museum and change our course around the square towards the Nile. As we were turning the corner, a guy stopped us and asked if we spoke English. He basically explained the safe places to walk around and gave us a stopping point where we shouldn't walk past.

 While we were walking towards the crowds of people, there were some people leaving the protest. Some of the men had surgical masks on to shield themselves from tear gas. It was very intimidating to know that a couple hundred feet away people were protesting the American Embassy. So we were walking towards the protest, when we were stopped by a group of men. They signaled to us to turn around. With a wave of a hand and a shake of the head, we knew we had to listen. It really meant a lot to me that these people wanted to prevent us from walking into an unsafe situation.

I wrote the previous blog post on the protests the night I went downtown.I didn't want my father hearing about my little adventure on my blog, so this post had to wait until after that skype conversation. I could blog about the protests, but I had only seen what everyone in America had seen on television. I wasn't trying to get hurt, but I wanted to witness history from a reasonable distant. There were students who voluntarily went to the protests and students who had the misfortune in getting caught in the protests on the first day. I spoke with some of the students who got stuck in the protest, and they said some people said some mean things to them. That was it. No one was hurt. Those guys who warned us on the street didn't want to see us get hurt. The people of Cairo have really impressed me with their kindness and hospitality. I never expected anything less, but people are people.

After we were advised to turn around, we walked to one of the bridges over the Nile to get back to Zamalek. Everything was fine. I never felt unsafe the entire time I was downtown. I had to witness my first protest in Egypt. Egyptians loved to protest. I've see three protests since I've been here: a football(soccer) protest for Ahly vs. Zamalek, the protest at the Embassy, and a protest at my school. I'll explain about the football protest and the school protest another day.

Cairo Opera House

Some of us decided to go to the opening opera for the  new season at the Cairo Opera House on the island of Zamalek(where I live). Great decision. Now I have never been to an opera, ballet, or anything of that caliber. I've been to my share of concerts, but never to watch an orchestra preform Beethoven's 9th Symphony. It was amazing. The cello was my favorite part of course.




The opera house is located on the southern part of Zamalek, and it feels like you're in a different world the moment you enter into the gates surrounding it. I think they have the greenest grass I've seen since moving to Cairo two weeks ago. The air smells different, it smells cleaner. The whole set up is very different from the sprawling city and honking horns of Cairo.


We decided to go to the opera the moment we found out it was the opening show for the season. None of us had ever been to an opera or ballet before, so we had nothing to compare it to. It was well worth the cost of admission(which was so cheap I won't even disclose the price).



The entire thing was amazing. It was an amazing experience to see people with that much talent making such beautiful music. I've never really gave ballet or opera a try and I'm glad I did. I've always loved classical music, and it was really an awe-inspiring thing to see live. The opera singing itself really isn't my cup of tea, but it was alright. After the opera, we hung out on one of the six bridges over the Nile to get onto Zamalek.

Running in Cairo

I went on my first run today since I've arrived in Egypt. Wow was it difficult. It wasn't the heat or the lack of even pavement to run on. It was the air. A lot of people smoke in Egypt. My run was a constant weave of street to sidewalk at night, while people were smoking all around us (oh ya I ran with a guy from California).

Our dorm has a gym, but I don't run on treadmills. They hurt my body and these ones in particular are old as hell. My mind and body were needing a run. So I decided to go to the computer lab at the dorm and print a sheet of paper that had my number looking for someone also interested in running on the street.

As I was walking into the gym, I saw this guy who I met earlier and he was going for a run at the time. I ran upstairs, put on some workout clothes, and grabbed my Ipod. Next thing I know I was running on a sidewalk next to the Nile. We both looked at each other at different times and said "I can't believe we're running in Egypt". A lot of people starred and some even made noises or said things to us. Some guards outside an embassy even pretended to run near us. I guess running on the street isn't very common in Cairo. We'll too bad, Cairo is going to get used to this white girl running around their neighborhoods.

Imagine running in a city with horns honking, people smoking, and pollution that's so bad people say its like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Ya I struggled, but was awesome. It's going to take some getting used to. I just hope I don't get lung cancer in the process (just joking well not really).

Zamalek Dorms

So I decided to live in the dorms for my first semester in Cairo. I hope it's going to be the easiest way to transition into living in Egypt. I plan on getting an apartment after this semester, because I can't do the whole "there are rules here" sort of thing. I did get to visit a new friends apartment with a group of people I met, and I'm super jealous of their living situation. Not going to lie, it makes me wish I didn't do the whole dorm thing.

The dorm really isn't that bad though. The dorm is located on an island in the Nile. It's also in one of the better areas of Cairo, and there are a lot of embassies here on the island. I have a roommate, but she hasn't shown up yet. Here are some pics of the room...

 




Here are some pictures of the view outside my window..




The picture above is a church right across the street.  Tonight here there was a very loud, very awesome wedding! The RA for our floor and I made a promise to crash the next wedding that happens there.

The picture below is the view immediately out of my window. It's a playground or a daycare. I haven't found out which one yet.




This a building on our block. I just thought it looked awesome. I love when plants grow on buildings!

 

So far I'm really loving Cairo. I think the city would have really been harder to adapt to if I hadn't lived in China. Today was our first day of orientation at AUC so I didn't get to do much, except for fall asleep during the orientation. Straight up.. it was boring and I was jet lagged.