Taking the Bad With the Good

So I have spent the past week chilling in Alexandria, getting to know the city. Our apartment seems to get crappier by the day. The “brand new washing machine” that was installed before we moved in was installed incorrectly. Now, when we attempt to use it, it dumps water all over the bathroom floor. So we have been hand washing our clothes, and then just tossing them in the washer for a spin cycle. Actually not bad. Some sort of green sludge water is leaking down into our bathroom window from the apartment above. Our refrigerator is located in the living room. Hot water, forget about it. We asked the doorman to get the water heater working for us. He tried unsuccessfully for about 5 minutes, and then was like, “oh its not a problem, its hot outside!” And he has a point. It is starting to get reaaallllyyy hot out. And the heat lasts for like 5 hours so you’re pretty much limited to sweating buckets or chilling inside for that time. But I have lived in my share of crappy apartments so it’s not that big of a deal. And our third roommate, Kim (who was also studying abroad in Morocco with me) arrived today. So happy to see her again! Now we are one big happy family crammed into an apartment more suited for a single bachelor! (One without a very hopping social life)

And the area our apartment is in is verryyy conservative. And guys harass girls a lot. They are essentially harmless but annoying as all hell. Yes, I speak English. No, I do not want to talk to you or give you my phone number. And it’s funny, if you actually respond to their catcalls and speak with them, they get kinda freaked out and run away. They want to talk AT you, not WITH you. The sexism here seems more extreme than Cairo. Just about ever woman wears a hijab. Maybe its because its on the Mediterranean (I think that’s where the harassment ideals come from, I know it happens in places like Italy as well) but worse than Cairo? And Cairo’s pretty bad. And the sad part is that it’s the women's fault as well. For example, the other day Shelbi and I returned home from a dinner with our professor (I will tell you more about her and spending time with her in Egypt in my next blog) pretty late. We walked into our “driveway” and noticed a woman who lives on the 2^nd floor outside with some people. Apparently, a group of boys had followed us into the “driveway” area. Followed us as in were walking behind us, not stalking us. I think they were looking for something. Well, the woman was afraid that they would follow us into the building and made a complaint to the doorman, who came to speak to us the next day. We talked to him for like an hour trying to translate what he was saying before we finally figured it out. He asked us to come in earlier at night, and to stay in and “play cards.” Wtf? Then, we met the annoying woman on the stairs! She is scary. She asked us, “takalameen arabi?” (do u speak Arabic?) to which we replied, “aywa” (“yes”-a quick lesson for ya). Then she went off on us in rapid fire Arabic telling us she was up “shaking” all night because she was scared the boys would follow us into the building. As girls, we need to come home sooner, and not be out by ourselves, and stay in and do dishes. And find husbands. And study cooking, not literature. Ok, those last two things I exaggerated. But I am annoyed! For those of you who know my personality, you know that I do not like being told what to do. Especially not by strangers who know nothing about me. Let me point out the flaws in her arguments-

1)     We pay rent and live here and can do whatever we want. Mind your own business.

2)     We have a key. We close the door behind us. No one follows us in.

3)     Shelbi and I are not in the habit of wandering around by ourselves at night. Our professor and her husband dropped us off right in front of the apartment gate.

4)     Alexandrians stay up crazy hours. Outside our apartment and along the sea are throngs of people (men, women, children, families, grandparents, everyone) until about 3 AM. This is the time when people go out.

5)     The door is open all day. If someone wanted to come into the building, then that would be the opportune time to do it.

6)     Don’t tell me your up all night “shaking” because of a pack of boys. Judging by her size and character, I can assure you they would be more afraid of her.

Sorry for that, I needed to get it off my chest. **I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO KNOW THAT SHELBI AND I ARE VERY SAFE AND CAUTIOUS.  AS MENTIONED, WE DO NOT WANDER AROUND AT NIGHT.  OUR TEACHER DROPPED US OFF RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR COMPOUND.  SAFETY IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO ME, AND I AM VIGILANT.  SLEEP WELL, DAD.**  But besides my rambling complaints about…everything that is annoying me right now, all is actually really well in Egypt land. There is a reception at the school on Sunday, and then classes start on Monday. Yaay! Supervised learning! I have my school supplies ready and have been brushing up on my Arabic verbs.  I am prepared!

I also would like to note the fact that I currently have an amazing tan. Yay African sun! Well…not really. Even the beach in Egypt is conservative. Therefore, I have to wear a one piece bathing suit (or shirt) with shorts. My stomach and upper thighs are still very white. In reality, it is some farmer’s tan (a really strange farmer) the likes of which I hope to never see again. But at least my face and arms look like those of an aborigine!