Yellow Submarine

~~~~ Tired

Thursday - Wednesday night went off without any problems. Got Chanda and got back to the flat with plenty of time to sleep. Woke up and went to Historiography. I swear I say this every time but that class would be unbearable without Allison. Went to the library and churned out a five page Social Movements paper in one hour! Yes! :eek: Met up with Brian and filled out travel request forms for Jordan... I really want to go but I'm so apprehensive to spend money... I really should talk to my parents about that. Then went to the Rare Books Library and got information on the statue of Taweret I plan to write my paper on. Went to Egyptology class and then went right back to the flat. Picked up Chanda and we went for Koshari for lunch. Always a good choice. Showed her some of the city and went to get more coffee from my coffee bean shop. Came back to the apartment and met up with Katie and Allison to plan the night. Decided on the Hard Rock Cafe and our favorite outdoor coffee shop and called Brian to meet us. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe and watched our waiter dance to the YMCA and other crazy dance songs... hilarious. I had Mac & Cheese and Nachos for dinner :p Just some cravings I was having. Went back to the flat for more layers because it was cold out and then went for Sahlab at the cafe. Once more, got it with the nuts but without the fruit :@ we aren't very good at this.

Friday - After calling it an early night we got up early Friday for the pyramids. Allison came along with me and Chanda and we felt like pros heading to the metro and then confidently calling a cab in Giza to take us to the pyramids. We just went into Khafre's pyramid because Allison and I were unwilling to pay the money to go into both again. Wandered around the site... honestly? How could you get sick of that! Got Chanda's obligatory photos (kissing the sphinx, etc.) and then went to Pizza Hut for lunch. Chanda couldn't understand why we insisted on Pizza Hut then she saw the view and it all made perfect sense :) I had a toasted cheese sandwhich... yummy. Then we went for the camels! I RODE A CAMEL! And, of course, I got Ed, Dan's dysfunctional camel from the time before. It was an amazing experience, sitting on top of a camel, but, as Allison said, "Who the hell looked at one of these things and was like 'I'm gonna ride that'?" I can't see myself doing that again. Then we headed back home, took a shower, relaxed, and Chand and I headed back out for the CityStars mall. After a stressful cabride (citystars? citystars? OH! citystars!) and the cabbie trying to charge us 50 pounds for a 30 pound cabride, we found ourselves at the second largest mall in the world. We just kinda wandered. Looking in some shops and exploring. And then we got some dinner at Cilantro (I approve of pesto pasta and Cafe Nutella). Then we went back to the Virgin Megastore and I got another arabic CD and a RoughGuide to Athens (because, P.S. I'm going to Europe for spring break) and Chanda got herself an arabic CD. Then I needed to break my large bills for the cabride home so we bought gelato and Kinder eggs. I think I got Chanda hooked on Kinder eggs.

Saturday - We started out kinda slow because I think Chanda's really beginning to suffer from her jetlag. But me, Chanda, Dan, and Katie caught the Metro down to Coptic Cairo and looked at some churches. They were all pretty and I must say I like Coptic churches more then the medieval churches of Europe... I dunno, they just seemed more warm and welcoming. We then got lost in a Catholic cemetary until some stray dogs chased us out. You think I'm kidding, they really chased us out! Then we ran into some puppies I almost took home again. They were sooo cute :rolleyes: Stopped by a souviner shop for some postcards and Chanda picked up her first Egyptian lover. Walked back towards the metro and stumbled across some more churches, the catacombs of the holy family, and, just for Dan, a Jewish synagogue. Decided we had hit our church limit and headed back to Tahrir Sqaure. Got feteer and figs for lunch, did a little grocery shopping, and headed back to the flat to chill. Got some of my Taweret paper done and Allison helped push it into the 700 word range so I'm almost finished. Otlobed McDonalds for Chanda's experience (even though she was asleep through most of it hahaha), and then Chanda and I headed over to the boy's apartment in Zamalek to catch the sound and light show on their roof. Ended up that we couldn't see it... the sky was too hazy that night... but the view from their roof was astonishing nevertheless. Hung out with Brian and Duncan for a while (did you know you have to rotate your TV every once in a while! ;) ) and headed back home.

Sunday - Woke up bright and early and met Katie to catch a bus down to Fayoum. A crazy two hour busride later we were slightly lost in Fayoum City. We stopped to ask directions from some nice ladies and we were conversing in Arabic and understanding one another when some guy came by and ruioned it all. Sure, he spoke English, sure he got us in the right direction, but the ladies were helping too and they told him we were doing fine and that we could speak Arabic! :@ It was sad... we were doing so well. But we were pointed in the right direction and we were able to walk around the city and see the Obelisk of Senusert. Then we grabbed a cab back into town and wandered the Souq for a while. It wasn't what I was expecting but it was still a good experience. Then we got a cab out to Lake Qarun and ate lunch in this cute restaurant on the lake. I had tameya salad... but I didn't really like the salad so I just had tameya and bread but it was still really good :) Then we walked around the lake for a while but it was kinda sad becaue there were all these little kids begging and trying to sell seashell necklaces. It was sad. I wish I could tell their parents that maybe I'd buy things from them if they sent their kids to school instead of sending their kids out to tell tourists the money was going to school when we all knew it wasn't. Okay, I know that's not fair but that's my tangent and I'm sticking to it. After that we were pretty much warn out so we caught a cab back (our cab driver gave us his phone number and told us to call him and he'd come pick us up again!) and got a bus back to Cairo. 0% hassel-free and now we're safe at home. Except now Chanda's passed out ont he couch and I'm beginning to think that I'm hungry. What a long weekend! Tomorrow I have to go to Social Movements to turn in a paper and then we're heading over to Islamic Cairo. Tuesday is the Cairo Museum, Felucca Ride, and dinner at the revolving Hyatt. Wednesday potentially Alexandria... Brian wants to go to Jordan this weekend but I think I might need a vacation from Chanda's vacation!