gun museums and *blank* stores

Okay, this is going to be a long post, because I actually went somewhere and did something today. Surprise!
Three friends and I headed downtown with the intention of visiting a few places that we hadn't been yet. Our cab ride from Zamalek was pretty interesting, because as our cab driver informed us, President Mubarak himself was downtown today. Doing what, we don't know, but the streets were covered with soldiers wearing uniforms with shiny shiny buttons and belt buckles, looking bored and not very protective, but threatening nonetheless. So that slowed down our drive a bit, but it was still really interesting to see.
The first place we walked to was the Abdeen Palace Museum. Basically it's a presidential residence, part of which is now a museum for awesome things that Egypt owns. The best part of this was the knife and gun collection, which was massively ridiculous. Ridiculous in that it included things like a pistol with four barrels and guns disguised as swords disguised as walking sticks and a jewelry box with doors that swing open to reveal guns in case of thieves. I simply cannot describe the amazing ridiculousity of this museum, so I'm not even going to try any more. I wish I could show you pictures, but no cameras were allowed inside.
Other rooms in the museum were filled with shiny things given to President Mubarak including a solid gold palm tree and a fighter jet pilot's helmet. On our walk through the museum grounds, we saw some Daleks, which was surprisingly freaky. Again, no pictures, but I swear. Daleks. (A gift from Davros and Skaro to President Mubarak, I presumed.)
After we left the museum, we headed by cab to a supposedly pretty garden, which turned out to be not very pretty at all, so we decided to skip it and get lunch. We went to Gad, a big Egyptian fast food place, where the food was cheap and good, but definitely not fast. Then we tried to visit a synagogue, but it was closed and the guards kind of laughed at us.
Then it was time to head to Khan el-Khalili to get some Christmas shopping done. First we went to a *blank* workshop, where we learned how to tell real *blanks* from fake *blanks*. I bought a *blank*.
Then we wandered for a long time, getting hassled and trying to make good bargains with not much success. It was fun, even though my feet hurt. (They didn't hurt as much as my friend's who had just climbed Mt. Sinai, though, so I'm grateful for that!)
After we had bought everything in the market proper that we wanted, we went to another *different blank* shop. The store owner was very nice and gave us good prices for two *blanks*. They were awesome.
It was about dinner time, so we walked a ways to find a famous sausage restaurant we'd heard about. It was called Zizzo, and the food was delicious and the service was great. For dessert we had some bread and cream and honey thing that was amazingly good. The best part of the night was learning that the gentleman we'd been sitting near was Mr. Zizzo himself. He was very nice and we complimented his food extensively. He liked that we were Americans, because I don't think he gets many foreign customers at his restaurant since it's a bit out of the way.
We took a cab back to Zamalek after getting some after-dinner juice, and went our separate ways. It was a really really fun and productive day, but I'm completely tired out, and my lungs kinda hurt from breathing in downtown air all day. It's totally worth it though: I bought some really neat *blanks*.
p.s. And I was also stampeded by cats in Khan el-Khalili. True story.

it's like this, cat

Congratulations to me, I woke up on time today! I ate my breakfast, caught my bus, and even had time to get coffee and print out my essay in the library before heading up to the third floor for work. I was right on time, but my boss was running a little late, so I hung out in the reading room in the archives and learned about papyri. It was pretty cool. Then I finally got to work for the first time, editing the catalogue list of documents owned by Hasan Fathy but not written by him. He was a famous Egyptian architect, you can read more about him here. The catalogue was legible, but inconsistently formatted and with a lot of mistakes made by the person who wrote it out, who definitely wasn't a native speaker of English and had probably never heard of MLA format. I basically have to work through the whole thing (twelve boxes of documents) and double check all the information between the catalogue, the folder labels, and the documents themselves, then fix all the mistakes in some consistent way. Should be fun. And for two dollars an hour, the Rare Books and Archives department is certainly getting their money's worth.

On my way to the bus this morning, I ran into a car and hurt my hand, scraping a bunch of skin off. Ouch. It'll probably be an impressive blue or purple tomorrow. I hope so, at least. Bruises aren't any fun if no one else knows they're there.

poor hand

My worst class (Egyptian Lit) was actually moderately interesting today. I don't know what made it that way, other than the fact that we were discussing the most hilariously negative pieces of literature I've ever read. Apparently, when things went wrong in ancient Egypt, they went really wrong. The lamentations we read included mentions of crocodiles eating women and children, all the stored grain being stolen from the tax collectors, and the Asiatics from the east invading and killing all the good Egyptians. Tough luck, huh? A lot of what we read was allegorical, but it was still really interesting to see what the Egyptians viewed as the world turned upside down.
Maggie and I ate dinner in the cafeteria tonight, and met a new friend. Yay.

courtyard cat decided to join us (no, i didn't give him that food)

The cat from the courtyard (at least I think it's the same one) somehow managed to get inside the cafeteria and was stalking its way between all the tables meowing incessantly and stretching out its claws. It was really freaky, and I didn't want it anywhere near me.* Unfortunately, the cat seemed convinced that I would give it food, and it stayed pretty close.

going to stalk someone else for scraps

Eventually, he lost interest in me, and moved on to other tables to beg. At one of those tables, he actually got food, and the girl sitting there even started petting him. Ew, ew, ew, ew. I can't really imagine anything more gross to do in Egypt than petting a street cat, except for maybe gargling with Nile water or licking the street. Did she want to get fleas or rabies or goodness knows what else? Did she have a death wish? I'll never know. Eeeeeewww.

That was pretty much my whole day. Fun fun fun all around. On the other hand, after tomorrow, I get a whole day off, with no essay to work on or anything! As long as I never see that damn cat again.

*You know that kid's book It's Like This, Cat? My version goes It's Like This, Cat: Get Away From Me And I Won't Call Security to Kick Your Kitty Butt Out of the Dorms For Good. Pretty catchy, huh?

cinnabon and feral cats

Okay, I admit it. I gave in. I ate at Cinnabon on campus today. It just smelled so good, and it wasn't that expensive, and there wasn't a line, and I did it. And it was delicious. I couldn't find a knife and fork, so the entire affair was a bit messy. I don't regret it one bit, but I won't be doing it again for a while!

That was my only adventure on campus today. Just to keep it interesting, though, here are some photos of AUC from the past week:

the view from the library's second floor

science and engineering building

the library's outside wall

library stairs

omar sharif supports reading and i support omar sharif

plaza, complete with fountains

Also today, we explored the area of Zamalek around our dorms a little bit more. We talked to some soldiers with AK-47s ("no pictures, no pictures!") and then we met some feral cats. These cats are everywhere in Cairo. They eat whatever they can find, and are always around. Some are huge and scary, and others are really tiny and pathetic. Some of my friends think they're cute, but I tend to think they're a little icky. Who knows where they've been? The one below was just chilling on the steps of the dorm when we got home tonight, cool as a cucumber. It skedaddled when the camera flashed, though, thankfully away from the open door to the residences!

who knows where this cat has been??