Corrugated Cardboard Citadel
Mosque of Muhammed Ali
After much labored debate as to whether I wanted to return to Khan al-Khalili, visit the Citadel, or sneak into the Marriott's pool, I finally elected to storm the fortress atop the city. And it was spectacular. For just 20LE with student ID, I had the grounds of the Citadel to myself on a quiet Saturday. In conjunction with the Muhammed Ali mosque, and that of Suleiman Pasha, I had access to a plethora of other mosques, as well as the Police Museum, and my favorite, the Egyptian Military Museum, which was worth the trip alone. Seeing that my adventures tomorrow will consist of a shuttle to classes and back, I will post the Military Museum photos tomorrow to distribute the intriguing elements of my life so we aren't stuck with another photo of a newspaper or the Nile.
Early this morning the dorm student supervisors held a breakfast cooking contest. An unusual approach in bonding and raising spirit or something or other I don't know. So, it was a bunch of students competing to see who could make the best pancakes and stuff. I don't know what the dorm leaders were thinking. There were however several interesting conversations I had as discourse within tables tumbled upon the gripes of people in the process of obtaining MAs or PhDs who fear after years of toil a cardboard box under a highway overpass awaits them. It was rather depressing. They'll complete their dissertation, obtain their diploma, and boom, the market for Coptic art historians isn't quite thriving and a life of the streets appears the obvious next step. If I sound like that when I am 24, somebody wake me up.
posted by Sasha @ 13:35
4 Comments:
Dad here. Your recognition of some of the drawbacks of a PhD in Coptic Art eases my deepest concerns for your future ;-)
BTW, tell them that if the cardboard box under the underpass thing doesn't work out, they will find fertile employment opportunities at Starbucks. Nothing like the 'Barista who knows he's smarter than you!
Ahuh. My PhD intentions revolve around Middle Eastern studies and politics--there should still be a market in ten years.
And Starbucks. I've always considered that the lowest fringe occupation of the highly educated and enlightened who are looking to save face somehow in the absence of employment and still make money. I actually pity most of the employees of Starbucks in Cohasset. I wonder how they ended up there. It's certainly better than Dunkin Donuts or waitressing. There's something different about Starbucks, aside from being on Fortune Magazine's top 100 places to work. We can only hope it's temporary work. I've shared many good words of advice and school papers with them late into winter evenings last year with my laptop in there, and they were pretty smart and helpful. A vanilla soy latte regular who makes it there most mornings or evenings has the opportunity to build a solid rapport. I can't go any further, vanilla soy latte sounds too good. This entire nation's caffeine buzz is being provided by little packets of cheap Nescafe. You'd think Turkish coffee and espresso left and right, but no. Maybe Syngress should hire them?
You're kidding about no real coffee, right? I mean I could live with all the other deprivations, but Nescafe!? Why not just get it over with and serve Sanka? Or Brim? or Folgers?
Seriously, Nescafe, everywhere. One must seek out a high-end coffee house like Cilantro already festering with Westerners otherwise. Or, seek out a gawah in Islamic Cairo, a dying breed in which only men are socially accepted patrons. And even more unfortunate, all of the tea, which is consumed in vast quantities at all times of the day--is in fact "Lipton Yellow Label Tea." YES, Lipton. Walk into a supermarket, and there are entire aisles of yellow for the stuff. And Nescafe in these tiny red tubes.
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