Year in Egypt

Here are some photos:

Resort where Fulbright retreat took place in Za'afarana

Pool at Resort

Our room at the resort

Lobby of Resort

November 5

Arab Film Festival

Tonight at AUC campus, I went to the Lebanese film “XXXXX”. It was all in Arabic, with English subtitles. It was about a woman who loved the music of Um Kalthum, the great Egyptian singer, and as anti-American sentiment grew with the Iraqi war, her family became more and more suspicious of [...]

Last Week, Egypt played 2 soccer matches with Algeria to qualify for the World Cup in 2010.

Here are some pictures:

Taxis driving around with Egyptian Flag

Nov. 15–Egyptians happy they beat Algeria 2-0 to force a playoff on Wed in Sudan

More celebrating on the "Lion Bridge" between Zamelak and Downtown

Celebrating ON the Lion [...]

While in Alexandria a few weeks back, we also visited the modern Alexandrian Library. It is an amazing structure.

Here are some pictures:

Inside the Alex Library

Vast Reading Room of the Alex Library

Meeting Room in Alex Library

Bust of Alexander the Great in front of Planetarium at Alex Library

Outside of Alex Library with [...]

October 23-24

Alexandria Trip—Fulbright

Fulbright sponsored a trip to Alexandria this weekend. We took a bus from the Fulbright office in Dokki to Alexandria. I did some reading for lectures, and talked with Zohair and Scott about teaching social science in Egyptian universities.

We stayed at the Sofitel Hotel in Saad Zagloul Square on the Cornish. Very nice [...]

Pyramid Visit—with an Egyptologist!

Today, Glen Williams (AUC finance) and Scott Hibbert (AUC Poly Sci) and I went to the pyramids in Giza. We took along with us Valentina (I never have learned her last name), one of Glen’s many girlfriends since moving to Cairo. She is an Italien Egyptologist, and very knowledgeable about Pyramids and [...]

On Saturday, Oct. 10 the Fulbrighters met at Cairo University, at the Metro stop gate, to get a tour of Cairo University library and learn about its scholarly facilities. I rode up on the Metro with Scott and Sussan. We waited for Noha El-Gindi who works at the Fulbright office to help us get into [...]

On Friday, Oct. 9 (mom’s birthday!) I went to church. I took the subway to Mar Girgis train stop and went to Coptic church services at the Hanging Church. Hend at the Fulbright Office said that on Friday, services run from about 8am to noon. I went about 9am and stayed until 11am. It was [...]

Sherif’s Family Wedding

On Sept 18, I went to an Iftar with Sherif’s family. We had a wonderful meal, and then were sitting around looking at an Obama speech on the internet when Sherif’s father came out all dressed up, and then Sherif went to don a suite and tie. He said that they had to [...]