The Cult of the Personality

President Bashar Al Assad of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Everywhere we go, this man is watching us. His portrait is plastered on billboards, buildings, in classrooms, and even on the entire back windows of cars. This lows my mind for several reasons, including:
1. Does he hang them up or do people hang them up on their own accord? I am guessing it is some sort of mandate since it is a consistent image and size and is everywhere?
2. Why didn’t they photoshop out his stubble? It also seems as though he should have more forehead wrinkles considering all the worrying I assume a president would do.
3. The American Embassy in Egypt only had an 8 x 10 of Pres. Obama and Hillary and a pixelated computer print out of Biden in their entrance hall above their security check-in.

A few students are doing a photo-essay of the Pres’ portrait so look for that soon on the main blog.

New Friends

Boston Time: 1:29 PM 24 May
Damascus Time: 8:29 PM 24 May

“Don’t touch each other, it’s just not part of the culture.”
-Prof. Carlene

On our first night in Damascus I finally was able to put into words something that has been pestering me for a short while: “I miss hugs.” The hand holding and hugging of every day, the resting of one’s tired head on a friend’s shoulder has been absent. Not having had human contact for the last several weeks has yielded a strange emotional effect. It takes time to learn new people’s boundaries and how slowly or quickly they advance from acquaintance to friend and it seems as though many of us truly making that transition. Everyone one on the trip is nice and sociable for the most part, but realizing that these are not just other students to befriend for survival while abroad, but genuine individuals with whom I can share experiences even after our travels have concluded in June. Though we aren’t able to have contact of even the friendliest gestures while in public spaces, my new friends have made it clear that their arms and hearts are open.

Cairo Zoo

A tiger protects her meal at the Cairo Zoo.

A camel plans his escape as the guard sleeps.

The experience at the zoo yesterday was not unexpected considering what the rest Cairo’s appearances. The zoo, which cost only 1 LE, was a definite hang out for young children and their families. Many women in hijab and niqab balanced their children and the heat, setting up blankets on the walkways and grass wherever they could find a piece of shade.

It was hard to look at the animals, not only because their artificial habitats, but because it was so amazingly hot out. None were incredibly active and they seemed to also just be searching for the coolest shade they could find. The lions, were especially lethargic. It soon became apparent that, at least some of them, were, in some capacity, sedated.

When two members of the zoo staff beckoned us to a large gate with the possibility of holding the lion cubs, it was hard to say no. They invited us behind the grown lion cages and opened the cage in which two 5 month old cubs were sleeping. Considering all the horror stories that regularly air on Animal Planet, I was a alarmed by the prospect of entering their home. Stupidly, I trusted the supposed animal handlers with whom I shared no language. The two lions were sleeping and not at all aggressive, which I attributed to the extremely warm weather and their weak, fur coated bodies. For 10 LE we all took turns holding one of the cubs (even though our taxi driver on our ride over had told us not to touch any of the animals.)

The 2 month old cub they showed us next was in very different spirits, my main reason for believing the larger cats to be drugged. In his small cage, he was making chirping sounds and moving about his tiny wooden cage. I conceded to also taking a turn holding him, but he was soon taken away because he was getting rambunctious and threatened to scratch or bite. As we left, the zoo handlers followed up relentlessly, asking for more baksheesh.

A turtle munches on his hot lunch.

El Ahly vs. Angola

Boston Time: 12:18 PM 17 May
Cairo Time: 7:18 PM 17 May

Sitting in the van, Carlene observed how strange and unbelievable our situation often is here in Egypt. At that moment we were American students going to a soccer match in Africa. I was unsure about this experience having only played one season of soccer in 5th grade. Soon after, I quit the sport once shown the larger fields that the 6th graders used, and being frustrated not knowing the rules or positions—a major theme in the sports history of my life. That being said, going into the football pitch (vocab!) I had no idea if it would be a fun experience since I would have no earthly idea what was going on for the ninety-minute match. This felt like a very long time. One can feed off of their environment’s energy for only so long before they actually require intellectual stimulus.

So much fun! Of course I didn’t know what was going on other than which direction each color team was supposed to kick the ball. The super fans on the other end of the stadium were quit intense, and while I wish we could have been seated with them and worked off of their amazing amount of energy, it would never have happened. Entering the stadium we literally got the celebrity treatment in terms of security. We couldn’t leave our vans until our tickets had been checked, confirmed and rechecked. Then, we were driven all the way up the exclusive entrance and escorted into to our fabulous bleacher seats. The stadium seats were lined all the way around with military/police in riot gear and our section, as well as the section reserved for fans of the opposing team (Angola), had extra security up both sides. Then we were on tv! Abduh called Carlene and said he saw us so whenever the camera crew pointed our way we stood and cheered extra loud, just like when our home El Ahly scored. They won 3:0. Most everyone celebrated, and attempted to blend into the crowd, with face paint and other fan gear such as flags, scarves and hats.

Definitely an invaluable part of our cultural immersion here in the Middle East. Tomorrow evening we will be playing in our own games against local men and women (separate games for the girls and boys, of course.) Us women will be playing Egypt International Women’s team. Yes, a professional team…