8/7
Well, I made it to Cairo - safe and sound.

We arrived a couple of hours late at Cairo airport but my driver was waiting for me. My hotel is nice by Cairo standards - I have a clean bathroom and a bed, a tv and some basic amenities. No complaints and everyone has been super nice so far. It's been a blast to communicate with all these people - they are so happy and surprised when they hear me spitting out random Arabic words. I talked for a half an hour with a Coptic Christian bishop from Luxor as well as some random Egyptian dudes. They are just like the book said - very friendly, curious, talkative, and so far, pretty good with the English.

8/8
The city is pretty crazy - it shares some of the less-desirable qualities of Beijing, Buenos Aires, and El Salvador. It's stuffy and dirty...the roads are all messed up and it doesn't seem like anyone cleans much of anything. In that regard, it's actually quite nasty. Fortunately, I didn't come here under any illusions about the city's grandeur and I am going to get over it real fast. There are so many new things to learn and enjoy.

The people are really interesting and I am eager to learn more. They are all very nice and helpful. As we suspected, the security situation is quite simple. As far as I can tell, there is no threat. Hold your shock on that one. In fact, most foreigners that are here permanently say it's the safest city they've ever lived in. I have seen nothing to suggest otherwise. 

It is hot, but not unbearable. While stuffy, it is by no means excruciating and all the buildings have AC. Dan, my buddy from Austin College that helped me to get the Rotary Scholarship in the first place, has a huge apartment and I will be able to stay with him until I find an apartment - a task that should take no more than a few days. As I had hoped, he is full of ideas and is going to be a huge help to me - he plans to be here for many months too.

Dan has a friend visiting Cairo right now - her father is in the Romanian parliament, We picked her and her sister up from the Romanian embassay, where they are staying, and then went to a private club south of the city to swim and relax by a huge, exotic pool surrounded by palm trees and servants.

From the jaccuzzi - which could hold circa 50 people, I was able to watch people paddling up and down the Nile in their canoes and we were able to shower and eat in the giant, Arab-style clubhouse. We spent a few hours there and everything was free since my Romanian friends know the owner - he showed us around his home afterwards and then drove us back to the city. As is the case in many developing countries, the people get a real kick out of hanging out with foreigners and this will certainly not be the last time I enjoy such an experience.

8/9
There just isn't any drinking going on and the dancing is not really supposed to happen either. I imagine I will occasionally hang out with foreigners / egyptians at places like Dan's apartment. Nightlife is really just walking around the streets and talking - that sort of thing. 

My host family is incredibly nice. I spent the night with them last night - they picked me up, drove me home, fed me, took me back to school again, etc. We are already becoming good friends - Ghada says she wants to be like my mother. 
Well, I am still trying to get things squared away - apartment, understanding the city, etc, so things are pretty crazy all day. I hope to figure out how to get my scholarship money and how to use the phones today.
Women are treated just fine here and I have heard no complaints from any of the female students. 

8/10

Today has been good - I went straight from my classes at ILI over to the AUC to search for information on apartments. After that, I went straight to my sponsor's home for dinner and then over to Dan's to search for apartments again. This is a time-consuming process. Anyways, I am just about ready to be able to hit the sack - it's been a long day and I'm not feeling too too great. 
With all the new food and the water, etc, my body is a little unhappy with me so I've felt a little weak and I have spent some time in the bathroom. Oh well. Everything else is great - my family is very kind and easy to get along with. I've had some fascinating convos with them. Dan has tons of Egyptian friends so they are helping me with things like apartments, cell phones, etc. 
8/12
Ooh, I just found out last night that I will be going to Alexandria this weekend! The wonderful friend of Dan invited me - his name is Mohammed. Actually, he's a cardiologist - 28 years old - speaks English and lived in France, Romania, elsewhere for a while. All of Dan's friends are older, well-educated, and super nice. They are helpful and treat me like we've been friends forever. 
I will get into my new apartment this evening - Well, I meet the owner, Dr. Hasan, tonight and will probably move in when I get back into Cairo on Monday. I'm really excited about this trip - hanging out with mostly Egyptians and the Romanians. It should be a good time - I'm really enjoying the Egyptian guys because they can teach me all the things that I came to learn about - the region, the culture, the cultural clashes, etc. 
8/14
I had a wonderful weekend - We were in an exclusive beach town with good people. I layed on the beach, danced, and just relaxed the entire time.  The place where we were was amazing but off the map.  My friend Medhi, the guy who found my apartment for me, took Dan and me - as well as his sister and Dan's Romanian friends. The beach town is an old money place where everyone has a private membership. That's only because it's for the ultra rich - except for a couple of bold Americans that drop $5 in cash.  There is also a really nice dance club with cool Arabic music there and I made pretty good friends with the owner of it. He took me riding on the beach on his 4-wheeler several times in the early morning and we spent time in an old, majestic islamic style villa with he and his friend. 
Medhi also took us to the place where his family comes on weekends - an apartment that was given to his granfather by King Farouk. It on the beach that was on the King's palace grounds!  So, we swam in another private beach and feasted on real Egyptian food. I am really so excited that the Egyptian people have an incredible zest for generosity. It seems that everyone wants to become our friend and they all want to make our life better. 
This reminds me of something very funny. Chips, when translated into Arabic, sounds something like 'chipsy' and so now there is a brand in Egypt that is actually spelled 'chipsy' on the packages. I think that's quite funny. 
The music here is just like we talked about and another of my friends is making a compilation cd for me and I think you will enjoy this very much. The amazing thing here is that if you go somewhere, you can make friends with almost every person there. Then, all you have to do is discern how many of those friends you want to keep and maintain a relationship with because they are all there and seeking your friendship. It's just the way they are and it positively impacts everything I do here. 
The safety thing is becoming increasingly laughable because I would feel comfortable walking down any street or alley at any time, day or night.  In fact, I'd even do it with a group of schoolchildren.  These people simply do not have a penchant for theft or assault.  That notion does not exist and it creates a wonderful climate for exploration.  
Girls aren't required to wear the facial coverings and all that jazz either; they can wear jeans and a t-shirt every day if they want - so long as the shirt has some sort of shoulder sleeves. The less revealing the clothing is, the better. I say that because the guys stare and make comments all the time. The romanian girls like the attention and so they will go out wearing a tube top or something and it is a funny experience but for me, it is an offensive lack of respect for their culture to behave in this way and it creates a marginally uncomfortable situation for them because guys will be all googly-eyed and following them.  Their intentions don't create a physical threat but it's not necessary to provoke them.  
For a girl to wear a bikini in the streets here would be like walking entirely naked through a shopping mall in the states. Everyone stares, makes comments, even take pictures. The guys here see women dressed in full robes every day - and some girls in as little as pants and a mid-sleeved shirt. They are so blatantly horny and unconcerned with being respectful with their comments that this is the issue - not the safety because in Egypt, everything is safe. By wearing just normal - not swanky clubbing clothes - girls can circumnavigate all that negative attention and have an amazing time. 
I now have the keys to my apartment!  I will be pretty tuned into getting moved in - working out internet connections, cleaning, the normal housewarming types of things. 
8/19
Well, I had another great day today. The school is just amazing because of all the fascinating people in it. Today we talked about why each student is taking Arabic and it was so fun to hear everyone's stories. 
The Hungarian is in the government and will take a post in the embassy here, the Palestinian girl is an opera singer and wants to understand the standard Arabic lyrics, the Italian is working for Fiat and will be selling trucks in the Middle East. The Japanese girl is studying just because she's curious, and the Spaniard is an actor that wants to broaden his skill set. The two Danish guys are in a Middle East program like mine, the Korean girl is just curious, as is the Swiss girl. The American guy wants to work in the CIA and the American girl was born in Belgium and likes to talk a lot.  I wasn't listening when she gave her explanation. 
After class, I went with my Italian friend Emanuelle to what we now refer to as Mangolia, his favorite Mango juice shop. A note about this guy - he's 28 and looks a lot like me, just with some extra Italian flavor, like a red watch with big numbers and thick brown glasses. Anyway, he's about the funniest guy I've ever hung out with, he LOVES to talk, and we have fantastically colorful conversations because I speak Spanish/English (70/30) with him and he speaks Spatalian/English (80/20) and we have zero difficulty communicating at whatever level we choose. If we did have a problem, we'd just chat in French, which we both speak just fine. It's great fun - laughing and telling stories all the time. His facial expressions alone are worth the price of admission. 
Then we headed off to old, Coptic Cairo, a place that is amazing for many reasons. It is the first place I've ever been to that has Christian churches, a Muslim mosque and a Jewish synagogue within 1 sq km. It's also amazing because it's the location where Moses was yanked out of the Nile by the Pharoah's daughter, it's where the Holy Family stayed after fleeing into Egypt from the Romans and it's the site of Egypt's first Mosque. It's also a 'quiet' area within Cairo with little cobblestone streets and 2K year old buildings.