First week of classes was interesting. Technically it was the second week, but in MIU almost no one attends the first week. I chose all my courses beforehand, but of course, four out of the six classes I wanted to take are lectured in Arabic. Hence, I now have a random selection of courses including some sociology, political science, Arab societies and literature. So yeah, different.

The classes remind me of secondary school humanities. The teach.. ahem, doctors expect participation and discussion in class. You don't just come and go. Attendance is mandatory too, of course. Did I say different already?

We have huge gaps between classes and since the campus is in the middle of nowhere, there's nothing else to do than hang out either outside, the library (boring) or computer lab (Facebook blocked, boring). At least  they sell some decent coffee. 

Our appartment has had these minor problems, like my bedroom heater/AC breaking down, which they tried to fix twice, and a water pipe cracking in the toilet. Not exactly enjoyable. 

Egyptians are really not very organized. Schedules or plans don't mean the same thing here than in the Western world. Also, if there's a problem or you need something fixed, they just usually go bukra, inshallah. Tomorrow.

There's this old district of Heliopolis, Korba. Nice cafes, shops, restaurants etc. It's pretty.

Starbucks!

Pyramids and camels then, finally.
MIU arranged this trip for us and we had the most amazing tour guide. The wind on the desert was brutal though and there's sand in my ears.


Up we went. The inside of the Pyramid of Khufu was quite impressive actually.

The three pyramids for the Queens.

Hieroglyphs make boring pictures. Taken from the inside of a mastaba tomb.

The door between Life and Death.

 Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure.

Le me.

The obligatory camel ride. Fun, though.

The camel was called Charlie Brown.

The Sphinx, or Abu al Hul (the Terrifying One).

The weather really was rubbish, it was raining. Here's the Nile anyway.

Pics. We haven't actually done anything super special, so it's gonna be just streets and donkeys. We will get to the pyramids and camels some day, promise!

I guess I took this one on the first night, it's the view from my balcony.

The donkey really hated us and turned his arse to face the camera just after this.

We went to this mall in Heliopolis, called the City Star. It's big and rather upscale. Clothes, restaurants, movie theatres and the lot.

So, technically we live in Heliopolis, in the El Nozha district. Downtown Cairo ( Wust el-Balad )  is quite far away, apparently with the traffic it's "very far". We've been told the public transportation is rubbish, so practically it's either a taxi or someone driving, if you want to get somewhere. The distances are long. We went to central Heliopolis yesterday, I wish I had taken some pictures there. The smog in the air is thicker than I've seen anywhere before.

Home street here. A friend of my roommate was really surprised to hear we went walking yesterday. Egyptians don't walk or take the stairs. Ever.

The other day, there was a bit of traffic on the way to the mall. It's really impossible to capture it on the camera, the way people drive around here. It's pretty insane. The complete disregard of traffic rules, the honking and the chaos, the pedestrians dashing amongst the cars. Love it.

Today it's sunny, so I took another picture from the balcony. I should get some chairs outside, looks like there's a good chance for sunburn today. Google tells me it's +21 degrees, not bad at all.

I'd upload some pics but the computer says no.. I think I still can't be arsed to write about everything that's happened, so I'll just stick with my randomness.

Today we went to campus. The International Office coordinator was rather pissed off to see us show up two days early. Our orientation is on Tuesday and before that, we were just told not to worry. Gotta love that. Also, apparently me and my two roommates are the only international students there this semester. That's just insane.

I'm constantly amazed at how nice people are here. So incredibly helpful since the moment I arrived to the airport. It's been really great to see and go out with the locals, if it weren't for them we'd be pretty much stuck to our neighbourhood.

The noise from the street doesn't sound that unfamiliar anymore. The honking, the people, and the muezzin's call for prayer. There's this unique feeling in this city, and I can't even begin to describe it. Any of it.

I'll really try to get those pictures uploaded soon, this is bullshit.

I love those randomly memorable moments, like ogling out of the plane window (holy shit dude, I'm in Africa) and  catching a glimpse of the Sphinx and the Nile. Sitting in a car in the crazy traffic (can't believe they don't crash all the time) and a man riding his donkey carriage, on a road with a gazillion lanes.

Yeah, the quote above does wrap it up nicely. I'm overwhelmed and happy as a bug.

Hej.

Siivoilun ja muun hyödyllisen sijaan viimeinen päivä ennen matkaanlähtöä onkin hyvä käyttää blogin väsäämiseen! Huomenna lento Kairoon, tänään ehtii vielä viimeiseksi illaksi siskon luokse.

Suuresti epäilen, että blogin lukijakunta rajoittuu itseeni ja hyvänä päivänä perheenjäseniin, mutta kertauksena vielä (ette te kuitenkaan mitään muista), että olen lähdössä vaihtoreissulle kevätlukukaudeksi Egyptiin, Kairoon. Opinahjona on Misr International University ja koska oman alan opintoja ei ole tarjolla, menee kevät kieltä ja kulttuuria lueskellessa. Onkin epäselvää, miten selviän hengissä näkemättä ainuttakaan 3. asteen differentiaaliyhtälöä... Blogin pitäminen kuuluu diiliin oman koulun kanssa ja tarkoituksena on ilmeisesti keksiä tänne jotain edes leikisti mielenkiintoista aina välillä. Kameleita, ok? 

Koulu alkaa lauantaina. Siinä on pari päivää aikaa pyöriä ja miettiä, pitääkö blogin yläpalkkiin nappaamani horina paikkansa.