In Egypt!

Hey everybody! I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long, but there is no internet for me out in Wadi al-Natrun. Just lots of sand and mosquitoes! I arrived in Cairo roughly on time, then spent about half an hour figuring out how to buy a visa and get through the passport line. From the moment I claimed my bag to the time I reached my advisor Steve, who was waiting for me across the room, I was accosted by three or four touts trying to ask me if I needed a cab, or if I needed hotel reservations, or if I had booked a tour and could they perhaps suggest something more appealing? It was pretty intense.

I spent my first night in the seminary where Steve used to teach, and I roomed with Eden, another of the novice archaeologists on my dig. Steve and Dar, the professors who picked us up at the airport, took us out for kushari, which is possibly the most delicious and cheap street food of all time. I got maybe two ramen cups worth of this stuff for less than a dollar:


Mmm... macaroni, spaghetti, lentils, dried onions, and tomato sauce.

The seminary is on the same block as the police academy, so you can hear their dogs barking at each other all night. The room was very simple, but it had amazing air conditioning, and once I managed to fall asleep I slept very well. The next day, Eden and I went on an enormous adventure -- we walked up and down the block until we found a convenience store, managed to cross the street, and purchased bottles of water from a guy who spoke no English at all. Believe me when I tell you this was a challenge -- the traffic in Cairo is absolute insanity. Nobody signals, there are barely any streetlights, and everyone essentially has to become a professional jaywalker. And yet it all seems to work! Around one a van showed up, along with the rest of the newbie archaeologists, to take us to Anafora, the Christian retreat where we are staying during the excavation. The monks and the women who work there are so, so nice, even though I cannot talk to them. And my room is gorgeous:


The mosquito netting, by the way, is an absolute must. The bugs around here are plentiful, to say the very least. When I turned the lights on our first morning, there was a roach on the wall that you could put a leash on. Bug spray, while bad for the environment, is an absolute must -- between getting out of the shower and reapplying tons of deet, multiple mosquitoes buzz around me looking for a tasty landing place. But the food is amazing, with tons of delicious rice, home-cooked vegetables, bread, and fresh white cheese. And the yogurt in Egypt tastes a lot better than yogurt at home. One of the less pleasant aspects of staying at Anafora, however, is that the plumbing cannot handle toilet paper, so instead of flushing we have to throw it away. But the general awesomeness of the place makes up for minor discomfort. Check out the view from my window (through the screen, of course, because NO WAY was I letting more flies and mosquitoes in):


Better post, have to run to dinner. Will say more soon.