The city opens up . . .

It's amazing what a few words can do. Several days ago I was subjected to a point and pantomine to order what I want. That same day a counter man at a falafel (tamaaayah in Egpyt) asked for 50 piasters (cents), and instead I gave him fifty Egyptian pounds. It was easy to do - the two bills are a similar size and color. But I couldn't even understand that I had grossly overpaid him, and in the end he had to point and pantomine as well. How can it be that the curse of Babel makes humans act more like apes than the supposedly intelligent creatures we are?

Now, after four days of four-hour classes, I know some Egyptian Arabic. Not a lot, mind you, but enough to get around, order food, ask people to breakfast (neftar in Egyptian) and make a more-fluent fool out of myself.

Suddenly the pollution-packed streets of Cairo seem a bit brighter, friendlier. Now I can laugh over my stumbling words with Hazzem, the friendly waiter who brings me roast pigeon stuffed with rice. And my taxi driver and I can gleefully compare the Arabic and English words for mosque and church as we whiz over the Kasr-El-Nil bridge to Zamalek. I slap the seat in joy and he chuckles with pride as he says how much of a new language he has also learned in such a short time.

"After only two months!" He crows.
"Kwyis owi (very good)," I reply.

And so it is.

In Cairo

Here I am, in the city called the Mother of the World.

Al Qahira, "the Victorious," is an amazing vibrant city with alleys filled to the roofs with people, people and more people. I hadn't posted yet, simply because I haven't known what to say about this place. Descriptions about this place by my fellow study abroad students vary as much as each corner does. Sanan, my Turkish roommate, calls it a "crappy Paris." Andreea, from Romania, says compared to her third-world country, Cairo is eight- or ninth-world.

I haven't been to Paris, or Romania for that matter. But I can tell you this place reaks in history, spices and bright dreams, yet is still probably Mr. Clean's nightmare incarnate. Maybe if he and the Brawny guy got together?

But I digress.

It's hot, but not stifling so - and this is still the warm time of year. basically you sweat, but not so much that you wish you were dead. The people are, well, people. Rich and poor, well-dressed and simple. At one corner, small children beg for "baksheesh," and on the next corner a man walks by you, wearing the latest fashions.

That's what's so amazing about this place - the sheer contrast brought about by those packed in this relatively small place. Cairo is known partially because there are so many people per square foot, and that claim isn't threatened by my experiences. From what I've seen, that means the rich and poor have at least one foot in each other's houses.

I have two main regrets. One, that what I've already seen can't be summed up in a short phrase. Two: that I don't know the language. It is so frustrating to explore this city without the most basic grasp of Arabic. I just finished my first day of survival Arabic, however, so I can limp through some basic conversations.

Ana isme Jeremy. Ana taleb fee Gama'a Amreeka fee Al Qahira. Eziyak? Ana tahbain.
(My name is Jeremy. I'm a student at the American Univesity in Cairo. How are you? I'm tired."

More tomorrow.

Where have all the [Egyptian writers] gone?

One would think a vivid locale would demand some vivid prose. And Cairo/Egpyt authors tend to deliver - in their own unique Anglo-Saxon ways. That's not to knock some the the brilliant writing that has emanated from the confluence of wordsmiths and the Nile. But it's troubling that all of the non-fiction writing about Cairo/Egypt I can find is authored by foreign correspondents and Western experts.

It could be that authors with Arabic as a mother tongue write about their homeland in, well, Arabic. It could also be that I haven't done enough research. Either way, it's still odd.

Are Egypt's times a changin'?

Asharq Al-Awsat correspondent Mona Eltahawy says, in a WaPo column, that despite the practically guaranteed success of Pres. Hosni Mubarak at the polls Sept. 7, democracy is on the march in Egypt. But it might not succeed if the USA doesn't keep its promise to promote change.

"The U.S. administration must not take its eyes off Egypt. It has exerted unprecedented pressure on the Mubarak regime, but everyone I spoke to in Cairo wondered just how serious the Bush administration was when it said that it would no longer follow a decades-old policy that favored stability and the support of dictators at the expense of democracy."

Read the rest of it here.

Paki Prez- "Ha! This time it's not our fault!"

Pakistani President (the general who led the coup but now wears a suit) Pervez Musharraf says the London Bombings were "homegrown," and at the most, the bombers only got some "tips" in Pakistan. It's an interesting PR push for the Pakis, who tend to get blamed (quite rightly) for fomenting chaos by supporting Islamic fundamentalist extremist groups.

The background: Pakistan used to be part of India. It's not anymore, but some disputed border regions continue to be the fly in the Indo-Paki peace ointment. When the Taliban swept through Afghanistan, Pakistan was more than willing to ferry fervant fighters to the front to raise some deniable hell - supported by Paki's intel service, the ISI. Also PM hoped support for the Taliban would secure the Western border and reduce the number of Afghan refugees. It didn't go as well as he'd hoped.

With 9/11, Prez. PM seized cooperation as his best chance to gain US support and stop a situation he wasn't too keen about anymore anyway. Goodbye military outfits and support for the Talibanese - hello suits, ties and "War on Terror." Despite the new attitude, there is still a great deal of support for fundamentalists in both the streets and the ISI. A fact that hobbles PM's Mr. Clean image. That's why it's so hiliarious when he gets a chance to say Pakistan ain't got nuttin' to do wit it.

"Radicalisation took place back at home, wherever they live, in whatever condition and whoever they've been meeting and interacting with." - Prez. PM

But not in Pakistan! Thank goodness for that! Does he want a cookie?

"Not-it," he says, smoothing his suit. "And no tag-backs."

Back in Blog - Part Deux

So, I really mean it this time.
I'm furiously buying things, trying on clothes and trying to get over homesickness early. I'm not really succeeding with any of it. But Aug. 25 (fly-out date) is quickly arriving, and ready or not Cairo, here I come.

I'm ordering books I may or may not want to bring with me across the pond. Either way, they'll be read. And - I have two of them, simply because I needed to spend $25 for the free SUPER shipping. OK, I wanted to read the both, as well.

One is by Max Rodenbeck, the current Economist correspondent in Cairo. While disparaged by some critics for a far-too-broad overview of Cairo history (oh, tut-tut [natch]), I can't doubt that Rodenbeck has a superb understanding of Cairo as it is now. And, since that's where I'm going, I care-and shall therefore read.