The Beach

We hit the beach today. The beach was a little different than the beaches in California: no waves, extremely salty water, people smoking Shisha, women in full clothes in the water, and odd people who just go in the water and kind of bob up and down (I actually saw "bobbers" in Santa Cruz this summer, so I guess my last observation is not too far off from some Californian beaches).

Some New Vocabulary

The road along the Mediterranean is called the Corniche. Cars go around 45 mph and like all of Alexandria drivers leave a space cushion of 1/5 a car length (I guess they just inverted the American rule... clearly I have an American bias here). 

Today on the Corniche, my taxi driver had a 30 second conversation with the taxi driver in the lane next to us. This guy took us on some out of the way route and then started yelling after we paid him the normal amount (I never can understand what they're yelling... I know the word for thank you and that's not it). 

Unlike the taxi drivers, most people are really nice. Yesterday, we had a soccer match 5v5 Americans vs. Egyptians. Needless to say, we lost. After the game, everyone shook hands and said (literally translated) "good luck." I learned more names and room numbers than I can possibly remember... everyone wanted to play playstation.

At the gym, all the employees are too nice. One of the personal trainers taught us a bunch of body parts in Arabic (bi, tri, trapezus, buton - abs, and sudir - pecs) and another guy got offended when we told him we didn't want to use the sauna. 

My Name

In Arabic, Matt "مات" means he died. Normally, talking about death isn't the first thing I do when meeting new people, but introducing myself as Matt turns a commonly taboo topic into a joke.

I sometimes introduce myself as Matthew and that gets a funny response too. Egyptian colloquial doesn't have a th sound, so a lot of people keep repeating my name back to me and call me Mattchu or Mattoo.

Crazy Taxi Drivers

Around 10:30 p.m, I got in a taxi with 3 friends. Like most taxis in Alexandria, the handles to roll down the windows were missing, there was no meter, and three guys in the back seat meant we are basically sitting on each others' laps. But, every taxi is a little different; this one had a fur lining on the dashboard.  Anyways, driving in Alexandria is absurd. There are no formal rules of the road. Cars straddle the lanes, drive the opposite direction on one way streets, and everyone is constantly laying on the horn and even yelling at other cars (they all have turn signals, but they never use them).

Most of the drivers are aggressive, but that's common for any city taxi. This guy was simply mad. In the first five minutes, we nearly get in a couple accidents and then ten minutes into the ride, the driver slams on the brakes so hard that Adrian (the guy in the front seat) slams his head into the windshield (not hard, but it still hits). At the end of the twenty five minute taxi ride, we got out of the taxi (you always get out before paying), and offered him 7 pounds (10 would've been fair if he hadn't almost killed us). He started yelling at us and said we owed more, but we told him he almost got us in an accident and just walked away. He stayed parked in his car for 15 seconds and then just drove off. So, we saved 40 cents.*

*If you don't like that ending, here's a typically acceptable ending: And, then we found $20 dollars.

Just Arrived

The rules of life are completely different in Egypt. Cross walks and street lights exist, but they are completely ignored. People go two ways on one way streets and motorcycles often drive on the wrong side of the road. Cats are everywhere. Some are pretty cute and really tiny, but I’ve been warned that if you pet them you’ll get more diseases than you can name. And best of all, the Egyptians don’t use toilet paper… and here's where the story begins.

The toilets in my dorm don’t have anything that resemble any flusher I’ve seen before. There are a couple knobs that look like they might do the trick. I’d put pictures to explain, but I feel like starting off my blog with pictures of toilets is a step in the wrong direction (this is supposed to be good for Grandma too... Nana, I know you'd find it funny, but we need to be reasonable). Anyways, I tried to turn one knob (the one in the most accessible position that I assumed would probably flush the toilet), but that one wouldn’t budge. I was afraid that I might break the piping system if I pushed any harder, so I didn’t try to force it. The next knob is basically on the ground and kind of behind the toilet. It looks like a regular sink handle, but it seemed strange to me that a flusher would be in such an inconspicuous position. But, I figured you could reach it while sitting down, so that must be it. Well, I turned it and water just started shooting up at me (at a high pressure!). My shorts got completely soaked and I would say I looked like I had been a little too well hydrated. 

At this point, I had to ask how to flush the toilet, but of course, the only other person that speaks English is asleep, and I have no idea how to say "flush" in Arabic, so I approach one of the Egyptians in the dorm and I say the closest thing to asking how to flush… “I don’t know how to use the bathroom.” The guy gets this huge grin on his face and he tells me that the first knob I tried to turn was the correct knob all along. I just had to turn it really hard.

After recounting my story to another guy on my trip, I learned that Egyptians spray themselves with water after going to the bathroom (they just don't usually stand up with their clothes on before turning the switch).  Maybe I should bring this idea back to Middlebury... we might reach carbon neutrality even quicker.