Day Five

January 25th

So today we went down to Old Cairo. Old Cairo is, as you could guess from the name, the oldest part of Cairo. The Babylon fortress at the center of Old Cairo dates back to the Sixth Century B.C. Old Cairo is also known as Coptic Cairo as it is the center of Coptic Christianity for Cairo. Old Cairo is also the site of the only Synagogue in Cairo. The Ben Ezra Synagogue is also the site where the Pharaoh Rameses II found baby Moses. So that's was pretty cool to see. Also apparently at the Coptic Church St. George's, the Holy Family, JMJ, stopped at the church. It was interesting to be in such a religious place but I wish A. I knew more about it before I went, B. new more about Christianity and then maybe it might have been more special. The area was full of gardens, trees and birds, and the sun was shinning so it was really kind of nice. I could see myself staying there for awhile. Sadly it is pretty far away from my Dorm and AUC. First of since today is Friday and nothing is open, the Bus from my dorm to AUC didn't run. So we had to options: A Each pay the equivalent of 50 cents or walk for about 45 minutes to AUC. Obviously we walked. I am cheap and I wanted to see the Island. However, there isn't any real good way to get to AUC. So we had to walk the 6th of October Bridge, which is actually a highway. They don't really have sidewalks on this highway, but we were able to walk down the median or the side for the distance. This was quite some distance and we only had about 2 feet of concrete, but it was fun. I think somebody else took pictures, I was too busy making sure cars didn't hit me.
The next part of the trip required us taking the subway. The subway wasn't as crowded, but at one point everybody starting yelling and running off the train. Turns out the train just stopped at this station and we had to switch to the next train. But for a minute when everybody was running, I had no idea what was going on. It was kind of scary, but we just followed everybody onto the other train and it all worked out.
We ate lunch at this American place where you didn't actually have to pay the 12% service charge that is just an added tax. Its not a tip as you have to give something extra for the waiters. So not having to pay it was nice and actually having American food at a reasonable price also was also a nice treat. I walked into the McDonald's before the American Restaurant and apparently McDonald's is the place wear Children go for birthday parties and special occasions. There were a bunch of little arab kids running around in poncho's and sombero hats that were really quite amusing.
Another story just came to my attention. At the Synagogue, where there was a well where Jesus was found. Well to look down the well you have to jump this little fence. One guy said it was okay. So we climbed it and then this guard came up to us and said he needed money because apparently it was illegal. (basically he was asking for a bribe) . So JP paid him as he was the only one that spoke ameea and understood what he saying. I was hanging out with some one else at the time and when I walked up to the same guard I guess he said the same thing to me. But since I didn't have any clue what he said, I just thanked him in Arabic and walked by him. Sometimes its pays to not know what is going on in the third world.
We also walked back from the Metro Station. By the end of it my feet hurt a lot. But I got some sweet pictures of the Cairo Tower. Okay, that about does it for now.

Glen