It's been a crazy past two weeks! My Mom came to visit and in between class and my new internship I've been showing her around Alexandria, the North Coast and al-Alamen, and Cairo. My Mom arrived late on a Sunday night and I tried to slowly get her adjusted to Egypt in the next couple of days. We went grocery shopping and took the tram around a little bit, which is always an
d experience. I cooked for her and took her to some nearby restaurants. On Wednesday March 17, we celebrated St. Patrick's day at a party at a local restaurant sponsored by the American Center. There was actually Sam Adams and Budweiser! Needless to say, after being in Egypt for 10 months and only having the option of drinking Stella, Sakkara, or Heiniken, American beer was a welcome taste of home! Then the first weekend, we rented a car and my Mom, Robert, and I drove up
to the North Coast and spent the night in a hotel on the beach. Getting out of Alexandria was interesting, the main highways to the North Coast was closed for repairs in the direction we were going, so when we stopped to ask the traffic police guarding the roadblock for directions, they ended up having us follow a generous Egyptian citizen who agreed to lead these crazy foreigners in the right direction. Eventually after driving through the western most part of the city by the port and through Agamy, we met back up with the highway and were on our way! The North Coast along the Mediterranean in Egypt is beautiful! 
You would hardly believe from the pictures that we were still in Egypt! With the gorgeous sandy beach and the blue water, it looks like we were somewhere down in Mexico or the Carribean. The weather was a little windy and cold and it is still the low season up there, so we mostly had the hotel to ourselves. The water was a little chilly, but we went swimming anyway.After spending the afternoon 
on the beach, on our way back to Alexandria we stopped at the monuments at al-Alamen, the site of a large WWII battle were the allies stopped German and Italian forces from advancing in North Africa and taking control of the Suez canal. Looking at a guest book at the Italian monument, we were surprised at how many visitors had made it to this remote location in the past month. There is also apparently a big problem of unexploded land mines in the area and locals are often injured when walking around (including children out playing) the desert in the surrounding area. We also stopped and took pictures of some camels being herded around near the highway. We arrived back in Alexandria safely thanks to Robert's expert driving.
on the beach, on our way back to Alexandria we stopped at the monuments at al-Alamen, the site of a large WWII battle were the allies stopped German and Italian forces from advancing in North Africa and taking control of the Suez canal. Looking at a guest book at the Italian monument, we were surprised at how many visitors had made it to this remote location in the past month. There is also apparently a big problem of unexploded land mines in the area and locals are often injured when walking around (including children out playing) the desert in the surrounding area. We also stopped and took pictures of some camels being herded around near the highway. We arrived back in Alexandria safely thanks to Robert's expert driving.
The next day my Mom accompanied me on a class trip to two monestaries in Wadi Natrun. We walked around the monestaries and listened to a monk giving us a tour. B
ecause it was a program event, everything was in Arabic, so I tried to translate for my Mom. It was the first time I had tried my hand at simultaneous translating, which was really difficult. A few of the other students ended up helping me because I was unable, to listen, translate, and speak all at the same time. The monestaries were gorgeous. It is hard to believe they have been around for so long. Both of the monestaries had beautiful gardens.
ecause it was a program event, everything was in Arabic, so I tried to translate for my Mom. It was the first time I had tried my hand at simultaneous translating, which was really difficult. A few of the other students ended up helping me because I was unable, to listen, translate, and speak all at the same time. The monestaries were gorgeous. It is hard to believe they have been around for so long. Both of the monestaries had beautiful gardens. 
My Mom relaxed for the rest of the week while I was in class and we were busy in the evening. We met with my language partner 
from last semester, Rina and also had a birthday party of Nour, one of the girls in our program. On Wednesday my Mom accompanied my class in a trip to a local mosque as we had a discussion with the Imam there. It was her first time inside a mosque and her first time wearing a head scarf. We ended up taking a microbus to and from the mosque, which is also an interesting experience. They are small vans that you flag down and pack people in. The drivers are a little eratic and ours was driving, collecting fares, and passing change out of his window to a fellow microbus all at the same time!
from last semester, Rina and also had a birthday party of Nour, one of the girls in our program. On Wednesday my Mom accompanied my class in a trip to a local mosque as we had a discussion with the Imam there. It was her first time inside a mosque and her first time wearing a head scarf. We ended up taking a microbus to and from the mosque, which is also an interesting experience. They are small vans that you flag down and pack people in. The drivers are a little eratic and ours was driving, collecting fares, and passing change out of his window to a fellow microbus all at the same time! 
On Thursday, March 25, My Mom and I spent the day seeing the sights of Alexandria. We started off at the Citadel and moved to the Roman ruins by the train station at the center of town before stopping for dessert at a sweets shop. We order Um Ali and Kunafa, two traditional Egyptian desserts. Then we visited the Alexandria library and stopped in Ebrihimiya for some scarf shopping. After that there was a brief visit to the train station to buy our tickets to Cairo the next morning. The last stop of the day was Stanley bridge for a couple of nice sunset pictures by the sea.
Later that night, my friend Laura arrived at the Alexandria airport and I picked her up and the next day we all departed for a whirlwind tour of Cairo. That story is to be continued in the next post.
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