3amar ya masr

during this week i have seen
1- a long bearded mullah type in gallabeya riding a harley davidson
2- a taxi sporting a single ostrich plume in its baggage holder - a la cyrano de bergerac
3- a fellow on scooter with one shib-shibed foot apparently holding down the boot of a white ford fiesta , he looked very curiously like a dog peeing against a tree
4- in the middle of gameat el dowal street a donkey half keeled over , peeing while the fellow riding the caretta blithely examines his nails
5-el amn el markazy (the egyptian version of S.W.A.T) surrounding cairo university despite the lack of a demonstration

life is so sweetly surreal

the gam3eet el qahira exberience

you know your'e in cairo university when :

1- you decide to go for an aimless amble , promptly get lost and navigate your way back to your modarag by trying to keep the infamous dome of the main building . its basically the lodestar of the entire university

2- the farash is your best friend . if there are books to be brought , burecratic procedures you can't be arsed to do or you have a terrible hankering for tea , he's the guy to go to. however make sure "te3ayedi 3ali" every once in a while , sweetening him up with cleopatra ciggies also does wonders

3- its probably the only university in the world with shoe shine chaps at every corner

4-your dining choices are somewhat limited . its either; koshary , foul (faculty of science), very dubious kebda and panee sandwhiches (law) or crepes (tegara)

5- beware of obese toothless men who offer to stand in line and pay your fees for you

6- the only protests are held by the muslim brotherhood

7- you get kicks by sneaking into other peoples lectures , causing a ruckus and getting kicked out by irate proffessors

8- you have to mentally prepare yourself for any burecratic procedures/paperwork at least a week in advance , also get the numbers of a psychiatrist and a decent masseuse . your going to need them pretty badly after getting it done

9- you realize that the cairo university employees are somewhat like the vogons in"the hitchikers guide to the galaxy" I find this to be a very apt description of them:
"They wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public enquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters."

to be continued.......

quote of the day

If i killed myself out of sheer despair she'd come in the room and say "tsk tsk el karawata deh do it again "
- my sister R on my perfectionist mother