Today AMIDEAST organized a race for the students and set us all out in groups on different missions. My group's first mission was to go to the Giza Zoo. However, our Arabic was a major fail because our taxi driver drove us all the way out to the Pyramids of Giza instead, and suddenly we were standing right next to one of the world's most amazing wonders. Best mistake ever. This was me trying to translate 'zoo' into Arabic for the driver.
After we made it to the zoo and took a look around (the most exciting animal there was a camel, so not too exciting), we headed to the Ramses train station (our second mission) but failed miserably at that too. Our taxi driver dropped us off a mile out from the station and we got so tired of looking that we just headed to Tahrir Square, our third mission. It's in the center of Cairo and is full of small shops and restaurants. There we went to Koshary-al-Tahrir, which apparently serves some of the best koshary in the area. After having it once the other day, I keep craving it now. We did some more walking, hopped on the Metro, were showed how papyrus is made, and by the time the missions were over, we were all exhausted. And no, we didn't win, but everyone got a t-shirt for a prize anyway.
Tomorrow we finally have a day off with no orientations or classes, so I can't wait to sleep in. I love the city of Cairo and am really adjusting to the lifestyle here, but most of the students in the program are younger than me and some of the girls seem pretty cliquey. But my roommates are cool and I usually prefer to do things on my own anyway. I hope I meet some locals too, because I've learned that no experience is enjoyable unless you like the people you spend it with. I wish I knew at least one person here; it would be really nice to have a familiar face here right now. But I guess I knew that coming in. This is just me being homesick, or as AMIDEAST calls it, my "hostile phase."
Anyway, Saturday AMIDEAST is taking us to the pyramids (for real this time) so that should be pretty awesome. And then on Sunday, the semester finally begins.
