In Dire Need of Fresh Air

so I am taking off to Alexandria for the weekend. I have a noon train (9 dollars... gotta love Egypt) for the 3 hour ride. Will try and post when I get there, but my intention is to relax in a cafe, enjoy the breeze of the Med and maybe find a beach or two to do some reading. Hopefully I can recharge my batteries after the insanity of Cairo and before the likely greater insanity of Mumbai in the monsoon. My hotel is a bit of a shot in the dark, but I have my own sheets/pillowcase if necessary. It can't be worse than my ant filled freshmen year dorm right?

Today was a great day of sightseeing. Downtown Cairo verges on tolerable on Friday mornings because everyone is at Mosque. They even roll green carpets into the streets so the overflow worshipers can still pray. My friend Will and I ventured down to Islamic Cairo, the oldest part of the city, and proceeded to wander the streets looking at the different mosques. This was definitely the "real" Cairo. There were herds of goats, 10 year olds using a blowtorch at a chop shop, and a serious accident between a bus and and a car around which a crowd of angry Egyptians had gathered (we walked quickly through, though I don't think anyone even noticed us). We even found a local "guide" to show us around the mosques and palaces that aren't usually open to tourists. If I've learned anything in this city, it is that a little backsheesh (tip/bribe) really opens doors, both literal and metaphorical. I'll post some more pictures later, but we saw some awesome stuff.

After that we unwound in Cairo's jewel of urban planning, El Azhar Park. Talk about an urban oasis. This place was stunning. We sat at a cafe and sipped fresh lemon juice with mint while watching the Egyptian families picnic and the sun sink behind the Cairo skyline. After that, it was dinner at Cairo's finest Egyptian restaurant. It was a bit of a splurge, but absolutely worth it. All in all, a very "authentic" day, which was a nice contrast to the amazing, but very Americanized felucca ride of last night. I'll detail more on that later, but needless to say, 60 American students on a felucca listening to 50 cent is not true to the spirit of the Egyptian felucca. Alas.

Day 18/82
Distance from New York: same as last
Current Mood: excited for Alexandria and striking out on my own.
Current Music: None, I know boring.