The Adventures of Zoë

Harassment

It happens here. Most of the time it is easy to ignore it, but sometimes it gets to you. Most of the time it is just inane commentary from young guys, “Hello, welcome to Egypt. What is your name?” etc. But when it happens more than five times in an evening – enough already! I’m not really sure I understand why they are so persistent:

-       They aren’t winning any points, so if they are working towards – whatever – they are failing desperately

-       Is it just for fun – a way to pass time without any consequences?

But how would they react if they saw their sisters or girlfriends/wives receiving the same treatment from someone else. There is awareness – everyone knows that women deal with daily harassment. Why do the men tolerate it if they know their own family members experience it?

How do women react? Really, there are two options:

a)     React verbally and hope that they will stop (really, this is more likely to pique their interest and probably incite more from them)

b)    Ignore it and walk away (not a very vindictive approach, but at times it seems to be a better option than provoking them)

Perhaps the underlying problem is that it is tolerated within the culture here. Women can’t stop it just by yelling back as each instance occurs, and men don’t seem to harbor any sense of guilt or responsibility.

The Tram

That brings me to my next item – the tram. This part is kinda cool. So the tram here in Alex reserves the first car of each train for women (the metro in Cairo reserves the 4^th and 5^th cars) – it’s like a little piece of Smith College here in Egypt! Of course, women are welcome to use the other cars, though the large majority chooses the segregated (that seems like an awful word…) car.

The tram is awesome because it basically costs the equivalent of 5 cents per ride – YES! I ride it home after class almost every day and always take advantage of the women’s car because:

-       No harassment – Halleluiah!

-       Less chance of being pick pocketed

But, what is the intended reason for offering a women’s only car?

-       Recognition of harassment –> providing a harassment free environment? It’s a nice thought, but I think it is more likely that it is:

-       In-line with religious and cultural values in general (in terms of male/female interaction)? For instance, when I am on the tram, there are times when it is CROWDED. Sometimes everyone is squished together and everyone forgets their personal boundaries in order to make room for just one or two more people. So you have to wonder, could this system work in a male/female car? A woman in niqab potentially against men while traveling in an over-crowded car? Totz not. I think.

Meanwhile, The Veil vs. “Modern Society”…

-       France…yeah, that went smoothly…

-       While I was in Jordan the issue of niqab (full veil that reveals only the eyes – not burka) was raised in Parliament – I can’t remember if the petition was to ban them completely or just in governmental/educational institutions

-       Currently the issue of niqab is being raised in Egypt – according to BBC: Egypt’s highest Muslim authority, Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, has said he will issue an edict against the full women’s veils, known as the niqab

Here are the arguments I understand.

It should be banned because:

-       It’s a symbol of the social and political repression of women

-       It’s a radical misinterpretation of the Qur’an

-       It’s physically restricting (sight and smell) –> restricts activities such as driving

It should be left to personal preference (assuming no one is forced to wear it)

-       It’s haven from sexual harassment

-       The definition of freedom should not be limited Western standards

-       Some feel more religiously pious by wearing it

Tricky beans. Some women find comfort in the veil – whether a shield from harassment, a path to God, or both. Others are pressured or perhaps forced to wear the veil by family or local culture.

Should women who chose to wear the veil be punished in order to protect the women who may be wearing it against their will? Should women who chose to wear it stand in the way of what could potentially be a step forward in women’s rights?

Everyone else updates their blogs all the time! I feel like a bad traveler…

So:

Sept 4^th (Cairo interim between Amman and Alexandria!!)

So things are going really well here! Mohamed’s friend picked me up and even had flowers for me! She helped me get settled here at the hostel and then passed my name to one of her interns so I’ve spent some time with her and her sister (one just graduated and the other is in her second year of undergrad – they are both really really sweet and we’ve gone out a couple times!). In the meantime I met up with some Middlebury kids which has been really nice since I think I would have been a bit too overwhelmed if I were on my own (I met three girls – two are really uptight and not really that fun, *sigh*, but the other seems cool and one guy who seems to enjoy some degree of adventure as long as it is on the safe side – we’ll see!)

Egypt Day 1 – Sept 3rd

–> Jehan picked me up with flowers!

–> Hostel

–> Met up with Middlebury kids

–> Iftar at Gad (awesome low-budget restaurant)

–> Walked around Downtown

Taxied by myself successfully completely in Arabic in Egyptian dialect!!!

(Slight bummer = overpaid for taxi)

Egypt Day 2 – Sept 4th

–> Met up with Middlebury kids again

–> Walked all over! (Khan al-Khalili)

–> Talked to a little kid in amiyya for a while

–> Dinner at the Nile Hilton via the whining and manipulation from some of the girls in our group. Pretty expensive compared to regular restaurants on the street as is expected.

–> Walked along the Nile!! The Nile!!!

–> Back to the hostel just in time – the two girls I met through Mohamed’s friend were waiting for me! Need a new Egyptian SIM card…

–> Café (sheesha at last! + fresh mango juice + “hummus” drink)

Day 3 – Sept 5th

–> Hunt for cell phone credit

–> The Citadel (Mohamed Ali Mosque + Palace + Military Museum)

–> Mosque of Sultan Hassan

–> Siesta!

–> Iftar = first time at Hardee’s (not my first choice…)

–> Oud concert in Gamialat – turns out that the oud player (Iraqi) is really famous and hardly ever perfomrs live!

This is really corny but I feel like I am definitely becoming more and more independent with each step of the way. Small scale example: on my way to Washington D.C. for orientation for CLS all I could focus on was, “omg, how am I going to find a cab to get from the airport to the hotel?” – now directing cab drivers in a foreign language isn’t a stretch by any means!

Pre-departure (Jordan –> Egypt) = practically took care of everything myself!

–> Tickets/Hostel with some logistical help (selecting a hostel and getting my money back after the airline charged me twice for my ticket to Egypt)

–> Self check-in at the airline office (with directions on how to get there, of course)

Trip:

–> Bus

–> Amman Airport

–> Cairo Airport

In Cairo:

–> Taxis in new city

–> Asking directions to specific locations

–> Meeting up with students in the program

What’s Left?

–> Navigating Campus in Alex

–> Mini Bus route

–> Class Schedule

–> Work (?) in sha’allah

Sept 29^th

So after about three weeks in Egypt here’s what I’ve been doing!!!

Host Family

So originally I wanted a host family with kids since I heard that young kids are brutally honest when it comes to correcting grammar mistakes and I hoped that kids my own age would be good potential buddies to hang out with in general. I was matched with a family that had a daughter about one year younger than me and two boys (11 and 6) so it seemed perfect! Except after I arrived in Alex they kept putting off picking me up and seemed really hesitant and after 3 or 4 days of hanging out in the girls’ dorm in lack-of-host-family-limbo they backed out entirely. Plan B: Madam Fatima. She is entirely awesome and living with her is a fun experience! Madam Fatima is very religious though she is also divorced and very liberal (not your typical scenario here). For instance, she smokes and stays out late socializing with friends, many of whom are male, and holds no double standards concerning my social agenda – which is fabulous since one of the major concerns I had about a host family were early curfews and rules about going out at night! She also has a ton of friends in high places – practically all of her friends are the managers of major hotels or clubs (like country clubs but bigger part of the culture here and much more accessible). Therefore, during Ramadan we ate out at restaurants in these hotels and clubs every night for free (to Mom: I maintain that the use of “for free” is grammatically correct [at least in spoken American English] and to everyone else: yes, FREE). Local hotels, The Hilton, etc. One night Madam Fatima was invited to the Four Seasons Hotel but I was not so conveniently on a trip to Sinai (the trip to Sinai was worth it…). Yeah. She’s pretty cool.

Kids on the Program

I enjoy hanging out with a few kids on the program but I don’t really spend a lot of time with the majority of them. Many of them pursue activities that I’m not particularly interested in here (clubbing and going to bars). As far as I’m concerned, when in Rome, do as the Romans do! Of course, every now and then it is fun to go out dancing in a club but for the most part, I am interested in doing what Egyptians do – going to cafes, etc. In general, a lot of the kids on the program are keeping an American profile and my goal is to work my way into the local culture as much as possible! A couple of the kids share my mentality, and I think it will be much better as I spend more time with Egyptian kids around my age.

Classes

-Fusha (Modern Standard Arabic)

-Amiyya (Colloquial)

-Islamic Politics

-Media

-1-on-1 Conversation on Egyptology

So far I’m enjoying all my classes, especially Islamic Politics and 1-on-1! All classes are held completely in Arabic, which is no problem thanks to my classes from the summer

Also, the language pledge So, so far so good! We are all being pretty good about it and speak to each other in Arabic as much as possible (sometimes we fill in vocab-gaps with an English word when its too hard to explain around it in Arabic). Talking to other kids in the program is always amusing since we all mesh Fusha and Amiyya together into a strange hybrid language since we’re not fluent in either of them! This odd form of code switching is effective within our group since we can follow each other though it’s not so helpful when talking to Egyptians haha…

Alexandria

The Mediterranean is gorgeous. My morning commute to class goes right along the beach – excellent way to start the morning. Compared to Amman, Alexandria, and Egypt in general, looks more like the Middle East portrayed in the movies etc. The streets are all stacked with buildings and the streets are full of cars (most of them older models). The traffic here is something else! Of course it is worse in Cairo, but in general everything that people say about Egyptian driving is 100% accurate! It’s kinda fun though…I just hope it doesn’t stick when I come home since that might not be good! Still have to do some basic sight-seeing here in Alex. Have not been to the citadel or to the Roman theater yet! But I have been to all sorts of places around the city with Madam Fatima, which is really cool since I wouldn’t know about them otherwise!

Trip to Sinai – Too fabulous!

Left Alex at 10 pm –> bus for 12 hours 12 hours 12 hours!!!

Day 1: got to Dahab (little tourist-centered town on Red Sea coast of Sinai) at about noon –> went swimming right away! The water was amazing – perfect temperature (maybe a little warm for me and Paden – haha), crystal clear (you could see down past your toes), fish everywhere (not just by the reefs), sooo blue! Also we could see Saudi Arabia from where we were, which is pretty cool!

Day 2: Jeep “safari” to White Canyon, Colored Canyon, Wadi Ghazala, and “Green Eye” Oasis. It started out like the Jeep tour of Wadi Rum in Jordan but here we did a lot of hiking too, which was really fun! The Jeeps drove through the desert for a while and then we started our hike through a canon in the middle of it! Parts of the climb were pretty intense – one part was so steep that we had to use a rope for extra support while we climbed down a steep face! It was pretty hot in the mid-day sun (especially since I was still fasting for Ramadan [though I DID have water]) so it was an incredible feeling when we saw the oasis at the end of our hike! Lunch was served at a Bedouin camp in the oasis and even though I didn’t eat, the rest in the shade was excellent! Afterwards we saw the main water source in the oasis (a kind of natural well inside a small cave – awesome!) and then drove out of the desert in the jeeps. Good day.

Day 3: Snorkeling at Ras Mohamed near Sham al-Sheikh = the best snorkeling EVER. It was seriously like being inside the discovery channel only better!!! The reef was so beautiful and the variety of fish was insane! They were so colorful – two words come to mind: Lisa Frank. Seriously! That night I went to a bizarre restaurant near our hotel with some other kids. The name of the restaurant was “Friends, ” the menu was printed in English and Russian, the food was fairly continental, and all the music playing was Bob Marley. It was delicious but also an atypical dining experience!

Day 4: Free day – totally hung out in the café attached to our hotel all day long! The café was right on the water and was totally open with a roof so the breeze was delightful! I read, did a little homework, a lot of daydreaming, and some doodling. It was sooo relaxing! We left in the bus at 10 pm to Mount Musa/Mount Sinai!

Day 5: started our hike up Mount Sinai at 1am (yes.). The hike was sooo intense! Really long and really steep but so worth it!! We reached the summit by around 3:30 or so – with plenty of time so see the sunrise from the top of the mountain. Seriously sooo beautiful! All I could think of as the sun came over the tops of the surrounding mountains and hills was Vergil’s line about the “rosey-fingered dawn” rising over the horizon. His words were never so clear to me! I am such a nerd.

Then another 12 hours in the bus back to Alex.

Meanwhile

Madam Fatima is trying to set me up with a med student that she knows. Not really sure how to think of this. Though I have come to realize that the easiest way to make local friends (at least in Jordan and I assume here) is through mutual friends so maybe this is a good opportunity to make a platonic buddy? Especially since hardly any of the Middlebury kids like hookah!

Also, I have acquired a new nick name: “Zizi”! In general, Egyptians have a hard time with “Zoe,” I guess something to do with the diphthong. Madam Fatima started calling me Zizi (common diminutive form in Egypt) and it kinda stuck It’s funny since one of my tutors in Jordan always called me “Zuzu” (common diminutive form in Jordan). Zuzu in Jordan, Zizi in Egypt, Zoe at Home…

Thursday 25^th – Sunday 28^th = Mini Trip to the South!!!

 

Class –> left for mini trip by early afternoon!!! The program offers this trip to both the advanced and beginning/intermediate groups but on separate weekends so there were just 15 of us.

 

First night we camped in the Dana nature reserve in semi-Bedouin style. The reserve is in a huge basin kinda like a mini grand canyon (kinda). When we first arrived at the gate at the top of the basin we had the option of riding down in a truck or walking so I walked down with a few other people (about 2k). When we all got to the bottom we hiked up a mini mountain – pretty intense – just in time to see the beginning of the sunset at the summit! So beautiful! There were other campers there and we all ate at a common dining area – the food was prepared by staff in buffet style and was sooo good! The best thing I remember was this cauliflower dish (I am not normally a huge fan) that was in a delicious creamy sauce! After dinner we all relaxed in a Bedouin tent (not really like a tent, though – shaped like an L with the roof and back covered with fabric but with the other side open + carpets on the ground + cushions lining the back with low tables) and drank really good tea.

 

The next morning we left after breakfast and headed to Petra. We stopped on the way at a castle that had been captured by Saladin during the Crusades – so cool!! We finally got to Petra and checked into our hotel – NICE hotel. Really nice hotel. We had a little free time = lunch at the buffet (intense dessert bar…) –> POOL!! Then we went to Little Petra as a group (Nabatean structures similar to Petra) and a Neolithic settlement nearby. For dinner we ate at another Bedouin camp – this one was much more legit! Same tent-structure and really really good food! They slow-cooked lamb and chicken in this large oven-thing all day. The door to the oven had been sealed shut and we got to watch them break it open! There was an oud player and some other musicians – too cool. And SOOO many stars!!! It made Brooklyn look like the center of light pollution!

 

The next day we got an early start and headed to Petra by 8am after a fabulous breakfast at the hotel! We spent all day at Petra. First there was a long walk through fabulous rock formations to the treasury. Then it was a bit further to the city center. We had a private tour with Chris (program coordinator for our program and conveniently an archeologist who is excavating at Petra and is a specialist in Nabytian history). After a long morning in the hot sun, we had lunch at a restaurant from about 1-2pm and then decided to take a long hike up to the monastery – sooooo worth it!! It was a long steep climb up and parts of the path were pretty treacherous! We had to scramble up some slopes and walk along narrow ledges but we made it to the top and it was so great! The scale of the monastery was more impressive than the treasury and a bit past the monastery up another hill was the most fabulous view of the surrounding mountains! There was a sign that pointed towards this little summit that said “View of the End of the World,” or something of that nature in English that was quite amusing. There was also a rest area near the monastery (constructed without a permit) that served coffee, tea, and cold beverages. I was happy it was there since it was about time to stock up on water! The hike down was much easier and we made it back to the hotel by just abut 6pm. It was a long day, but was so worth spending all that time in the heat! We also met ___, a woman who married a Bedouin man after backpacking through Jordan in the 70’s. She was selling copies of her memoirs at Petra and we chatted with her for a short time. That night we ate at a restaurant called Petra Kitchen where we all helped prepare the meal under the instruction of the chefs – really good! All sorts of appetizers, chicken and rice, dessert! After a couple of us went upstairs where the manager of the restaurant also runs a small gift store. All the merchandise is handcrafted in Jordan and is ridiculously expensive. The rest of the night we had off so I headed to the rooftop lounge of the hotel with a couple other people. The weather was beautiful and it was really relaxing.

 

On Sunday we headed to Wadi Ramm, the desert where they shot “Lawrence of Arabia,” the latest “Transformers,” and “Mars the Red Planet.” It was spectacular. The expanses of sand and rock were on a gargantuan scale and we sped through the desert in rented jeeps! The drivers were experts on driving through the sand and did all sorts of swerves like in the movies!! We stopped for lunch at another Bedouin camp (not sure if that’s where the drivers normally live) and then drove back through the desert to the bus. Then the long ride back to Amman (a good 4 hours or so).

 

Monday 29^th –> normal day of class, tutoring, etc

 

Tuesday, 30^th –> went out at night to a café with several other students and one of our tutors!

 

Wednesday, July 1^st (already??) à concert in downtown Amman at the Roman theater!!! Jordanian rock group (mediocre) + Palestinian hip-hop group (fantastic!!) à stopped at a juice stand on the way home for fresh melon juice – ah, too good…

 

Thursday, 2^nd –> our Friday!! (our weekend is Friday-Saturday). I had tutoring in the afternoon (my roommate and I coordinated our tutoring slots so we had a combined 2-hour session with the same tutor, who takes students out driving in his car). We drove to the outskirts of the city and then dropped off my roommate at a lecture. Then we picked up my tutors friend and the three of us had dinner at a Yemeni restaurant close to the hotel I am living in! The food was really good (all the food here is good!) and the restaurant was really low-key and casual. They dropped me off just in time for me to join a bunch of people who were heading to see Transformers at a theater in one of the larger malls in Amman. The mall was really nice, just like any large mall at home, and the theater was really nice too! The theater had assigned seating, which seemed a little funny to us, so we all bought our tickets together. The movie was pretty poor overall (I had very low expectations) but it was awesome because it featured shots of Petra and Wadi Ramm!!! The shots of Wadi Ramm were supposed to be in Egypt, but it was still so cool to see places we visited on screen!!! The audience clapped at the part in Petra – go Jordan!!!

 

Friday 3^rd –> some homework –> bazzar/market in Amman = fabulous! Everything is really cheap since it is all second hand. The market was huge and had mostly clothing items, but also some food and music/movies! Later is a 4^th of July BBQ for the program and later later a few of us are going out to another BBQ with our tutor!! Yay! It will be fun!! Tomorrow will be a homework day!

 

P.S. These entries are a little disjointed because I type them in Word in our hotel (no internet) and upload them in batches aka now Also. Any “a” with an accent mark is supposed to be an –> (doesn’t paste from Word). Later!!!

So I have arrived in Amman!!!

D.C.

Orientation in D.C. was great! Very humid but the city was fun t explore for a few days! Got to do a little sight-seeing/hanging out. The hotel was really nice! The flight from Providence was pretty uneventful and short – but it was kinda cool since we were on an express jet thing that probably had only about 20-30 people!

Traveling to Amman:

- Get to Dulles Airport outside of D.C. at about 3:00 pm on Sunday

–> was checking my bag when they tell me that the program never paid for my ticket = my reservation was cancelled = my seat had been sold to someone else + everything was booked = might not be able to leave on that day with the rest of the group

= bad

but, miraculously, one of the kids on the program had been late getting to the bus that took us to the airport = the program director had called his cell = he had a record of her number = I was able to call her

–> after waiting for the airport people to talk to the travel agent, everything was finally worked out (I got to fly on the same flight as the rest of the group) but I had to wait to get a seat assignment

–> got a seat in the very back of the plane (separated for basically everyone on the group = okay but a little lonely/isolated) left the airport at about 6:30 pm

–> Six hour flight (got to see The Reader and some of He’s Not That Into You)!!

–> Heathrow @ 6:00 am (with time zones)

–> 8.5 hour layover in the airport!! Got real fish and chips from England!!! Fabulous accents!

–> 5 hour flight to Amman

–> visas, bags, security

–> bus

–> The Bateel Hotel (with advanced level students) = fabulous!!! The owner’s little son greeted us at the door with roses and baklava!!! I share a nice apartment with 3 other girls including a Smithie (small world, right?)!!! (We are responsible for most of our own cooking and we have already started to stock up on pita and other fabulous items!!!)

–> mini orientation meeting at nearby facility where the other students are staying (two buildings up the hill)

–> Bed. Finally. At around midnight or 12:20!

First official day in Amman!!!

Lots of orientation

Some time to explore during the late afternoon!!

The weather is hot, but it is a dry heat and there is a near constant breeze so it is comfortable in the shade and not too bad in the sun ( I know it’s only June, but I remain optimistic that the weather won’t get too too bad!!!). The city has a lot of character! It is very hilly and there are tons of small little shops. There aren’t really sidewalks and there’s quite a bit of litter on the ground but it is really cool to be in a place that is so different from the US!

Sometimes I feel like I really stick out as a foreigner/American, but there’s not too much to do about it! It’s really awkward speaking to Jordanians since I don’t know any Jordanian dialect and have to rely on Modern Standard (which I’m not fluent in anyway!).

Day 2 (Happy 1/2 Birthday to me and Paden!!)

Today we had a placement test and afterward I went to a little restaurant for falafel with a couple other students. It was really good! It was funny since they make the sandwiches in a line that resembles Subway! I took a taxi (first time here) with a few people and we got dropped off near the hotel (taxi drivers operate via landmarks – not street addresses) and on the walk back to the hotel my roommate and I found some hangars on the ground – perfect since we had planned on buying some (I know this is probs a little sketchy BUT a) we needed them b) we washed them c) recycling, right?)!!!

More details to come later!!!