Medina Souq

Boston Time: 3:00 PM 30 May
Aleppo Time: 10:00 PM 30 May

An early evening in Aleppo brought Andrea, Stephanie, Christina and I to Medina Souq, where we traversed the winding alleys of the market looking for silver, scarves and soaps. The confused look in our American eyes sparked a young merchant to ask if we were tourists and to invite us to his shop for a look and some tea “for hospitality.”

Mahmoud makes Andrea custom pearl earings.

His small shop displayed silver bangles, beaded jewelry and silk scarves as we drank flower tea with sugar and he offered to make custom earrings and necklaces if we found none to our liking. After about an hour, he led us down a maze of streets to his uncle’s antique shop where Andrea and Christina were hoping to find a few small daggers. Waddah, Mahmoud’s uncle offered us tea,“for hospitality,” and ensured us the “student price” throughout his shop, a gallery of art-antiques, folklore and oriental souvenirs.

We sat drinking the tea with cinnamon on a small couch with two other tourists. Learning they were from France, I quickly pointed out Andrea, our French extraordinaire, in part to end the awkward silence separating our two groups. They have been on vacation for three years! Isabelle and Bruno have been riding their bikes all over Europe and the surrounding region and don’t plan on going home until they are “tired.” Bruno foresaw another 10 years of riding; 3 years in Asia and then they hope to see the Americas. I told them when they were in the states they should head to Harris Cyclery if they need any fixing and Andrea invited them to stay at her home in the Berkshires. They update pictures to their own blog every 15 days.

Mahmoud, Me, Isabelle, Waddah, Bruno, Christina, and Stephanie at Waddah's shop (l to r)

After a long while at Waddah’s, as he continued to attempt a sale with Andrea, as we attempted to leave. She was clear in her decision of “no” but eventually made the purchase, cracking under the pressure. Tired and spent (both literally and figuratively) we needed Mahmoud to lead us out of the market towards the direction of our hotel. As we walked, he was questioned by men in uniform—shop owners are not supposed to walk with tourists or shout at them, because the tourism police don’t want foreigners to feel harassed. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped to peak some famous Syrian soaps, made here in Aleppo of laurel and olive oil, and then in a small shop for some sweets.

Alexandria Holiday

Boston Time: 5:20 AM 16 May
Cairo Time: 12:20 PM 16 May

Thursday afternoon we took a “vacation” to Alexandria and a small group of us returned Friday evening.

Alexandria was not as youthful as Cairo and much more conservative. There were only a handful of non-tourist women without hijab and with their hair exposed. Many more women were wearing the full abeyya complete with the niqab face veil, some even covering their eyes—not the beach attire I am accustomed to.

We got a few rooms at the formerly quaint “bottom of the rung” Hotel Acropole which is located on the 4th floor of a back alley building which also hosts offices and a door-less elevator. While some students decided the accommodations were not to their liking and chose to find an alternative, the rest of us stayed, plotting out the details of our murders in the would-be fantastical horror flick that the Acropole inspired and we all expected. I chose not to participate and only to listen to this discussion which admittedly started to irk me after a few minutes. For some reason, I was chosen as the sole survivor, however I would forever be tormented by mental illness due to the scaring events I had witnessed. We all survived the night—a disappointment to some who were hoping for more excitement at the supposedly 15 LE/night hotel. In the end, it was still only 50 LE each (less than $10) and there were no serious bug bite incidents, even by those few who ventured into their sheets.

The Fish Market, “the most upmarket fish restaurant in Alexandria, with prime views over the Eastern Harbor and flashy silver service,” was in stark contrast to our sleeping arrangements. The fish was fresh on ice and sold by the kilo. After picking out your meal, requesting fried or grilled, you can sit and soak in the clean environment overlooking the harbor. I enjoyed grilled grouper, two giant shrimp and lovely warm, freshly baked brick-oven pita.

The sleep at the Acropole was not dreadful, and we awoke Friday morning for a trip to the beach. To get there, we had to drive through King Farouq’s Palace and pay another entrance fee to use the beach (and another for an umbrella.) When we arrived there were only local young men at the beach, who quickly began showing off and blatantly staring at us. Their peacocking was entertaining as they flexed, posed for pictures, and wrestled in the sand; I tried not to be too obvious watching them, hiding behind my giant hat and sunglasses—if they could look why couldn’t I? Eventually some women came to the beach too, although they certainly were not wearing bathing suits. Most of us girls kept our shirts on at all times, even when swimming, as it offered protection from both the sun and the unwelcome gazes of nearby men.

Emily, Stephanie, Christina, Andrea and I explored down the beach to a lighthouse and interacted with some small boys who were jumping off the stone bridge. Stephanie and Emily had fun with them, taking their pictures as they jumped into the water.

We headed back to the Hotel Acropole to change clothes and find a nice place to have a cheap lunch. Next, we slowly made our way to the Library and had pastries. After stowing our belongings in the van, Emily, Clarice, Christina and I took a taxi to the Citadel/Fort Qaitbey down al-Corniche. Though the merchants there were packing up for the day, Emily and Clarice found some lovely scarves and souvenirs. We attempted to find our way into the Fort but somehow we bought tickets for a tiny diorama museum of underwater scenes and a large whale skeleton.

We strolled leisurely back towards the square where we were to meet the rest of the group to re-disburse into the city for dinner or head back to Cairo on the vans. On the way, we discovered the local Friday evening hangout for families and young couples. Everyone seemed to be eating ice cream, so we dedicated ourselves to finding the dessert’s source. If everyone was enjoying the ice cream, it had to be safe to eat. We did find the small hole-in-the wall stand, their menus completely in Arabic (a promising sign for a genuine Alexandrian treat.) We awkwardly tried to order and it was delicious: milk flavor (essentially vanilla), strawberry, chocolate and cantaloupe! So delicious in fact that we didn’t think twice when told it would be 60 LE for the four of us. Amazingly, after a few more awkward transactions, we realized it was only 6 LE! Our ice cream dinner cost us 27 cents each (thanks, Christina!) There will most definitely be a return trip for more in a few weeks.

Check out my peers’ blogs via the main page “NU in the Middle East” for more insight onto the Alexandrian weekend.

Culture Wheel

Boston Time: 4:22 PM 12 May
Cairo Time: 11:22 PM 12 May

Tonight we ventured to the El Sawy Culture Wheel for the Cairo Flamenco Festival’s flamenco guitar recital and movie screening. It was impressive and beautiful music but AWFUL LONG! By the time the two hour movie had ended, only three people remained in the audience even though they said the sold about 70 tickets to the show. Andrea and I are attempting to write a review on the performance.

I cannot seem to force myself to relive the experience just yet, but check out Christina’s account, 3 Painful hours, on her blog.