Alexandria, Egypt

**Note: Post date is July 30, 2009**

Last night I stayed up with Erik and Ben until 4:00am awaiting the shores of Africa. And this morning I awoke at the north crest of the enormous continent. I’m still in shock and not sure I can verbalize what being in Egypt and being in Africa actually feels like. It is certainly a foreign feeling but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Semester at Sea was smart to properly prepare us for this unique, yet unfortunate nation. The streets are in horrible conditions overwhelmed with dirt, garbage, population, traffic and overall an immense amount of pollution. Amidst this poor society it made me question why American citizens have such an issue with American pollution when they have yet to discover the worst of it. It lies in these poor countries with large populations and merely no resources to endorse and support a clean and healthy environment. We as a nation seem to be quick to assist or react to the violation of human rights, political issues and poverty, but I think it is due time that we address our global role in advancing alternative resources and recycling in these poorer nations that don’t have the time or tools to do so. It won’t only be of benefit to them, but to the entire world.

The A.B.A crew is all spread out in Egypt. The positive thing is we all work well together as one big group, but we work just as well in groups of two of three.  Rachel, Becca, Kevin, Nico and Nicole are all on extended trips throughout different areas of Egypt for the next five days. This afternoon Erika boarded a city orientation, while Bo, Kate, Kristin (Kate’s friend) and myself put on our brave hats and set out to explore the unknown territory of Alexandria, Egypt. It was not so pleasant and our bravery levels decreased with each step we took. The advice given was to not resist the culture. The more resistance the more the tangle: like a Chinese finger trap. But with all the insincere approaches from the locals in pursuit of money combined with the uncomfortable and un-navigatable conditions, resistance was our default and we decided to retreat back to the boat.

It was unfortunate that we had to retract our brave steps and so we decided ourselves to seek out a city orientation that would give us a taste of the intimidating depths of Alexandria without having to endure its pressures all on our own. It fact it was quite relaxing. We had an air-conditioned bus, a tour guide, fellow SAS-ers and an armed body guard as a bonus. I kid. In fact, due to terrorists and pirate attacks on tourists, Egypt has dedicated themselves to ensuring the protection and safety to their beloved and affluent tourists such as ourselves. I was lucky enough to sit right next to the armed Egyptian. He could of given me a little more room to sit, but nevertheless I felt protected.

The tour took us the distance and back. We drove alongside the coast of Alexandria to see beaches upon beaches upon beaches, packed full of people. I’ve never seen so many people at one beach and there were many of them. You can definitely feel the effects of over population here. As I look out the window I am in awe and confusion of people that can exist in such hard conditions. Yet they seem to still smile, they seem to still be having fun. Does it come with a cost?  I complain about working all the time and yet my conditions are royal compared to the Egyptian people. What motivates them? What makes them want to wake up in the morning? The pollution? The overcrowded streets? What is it? I ask these questions because I have much to compare it to. I’m guessing they haven’t seen many other conditions than their own let alone ever been out of Africa. We have much to compare our lifestyle to, so how do we still find the room to complain? I understand relativity, but my heart stings to think of the lives these people lead.

In the Muslim culture and Islamic religion to be specific women are supposed to be conservatively dressed with large garments and head pieces. Women must even where such dressings while swimming, which I could imagine being quite the nuisance. Nevertheless, our tour guide explained that wearing such clothing is nothing more than the Christian tradition of attending church on Sundays. It is not frowned upon if a woman should decide not to wear the traditional clothing. The Muslim people strongly believe and understand that one’s character comes from within not by religious practice. However it is in fact illegal for any woman to swim at the public beaches without conservative wear. So women, you should be counting your blessings that you’re able to wear a bikini, whether you think you look good in it or not.

 Alexandria is named after Alexander the Great. He never got to see Alexandria for he died soon after he envisioned its creation.  But he had already order it, and thus its existence. This is only some of the intriguing history that lays behind these ancient people and their civilization.

Fun Fact: Did you know that there were in fact 7 Cleopatras, not only the one we know with Marc Antony.

We made a visit to the Alexandria Bibliotheca, in other words the library. It was nothing more than a library however the architecture was neat and the museums were satisfactory. We have yet to see anything of true impressive Egyptian culture besides the actual interactions and daily life of the people themselves. We did visit the site of a once Ancient Wonder of the World: a 400 ft. lighthouse, yet it no longer exists since it was destroyed and left to disintegrate in the Mediterranean Sea. Disappointing is an understatement. But how fortunate of Egypt to have two of the seven Ancient wonders of the world, one in which I actually get to see.

After a busy day exploring the lengths of the city we came back to the ship to join up with Erik, who had gotten sick earlier on, along with Lauren, Bo, Morgan and the one and only Erika. And now that our nerves had been calmed we were no longer intimidated and ready to do something for the evening. Bravely we bartered our taxi fare to a nearby mall complex named Carfoure. The taxi driver was beyond trustworthy. He not only offered a reasonable and flexible price but he drove us all the way to the mall, said he would wait for us there until we were finished and we hadn’t even paid him a dime, or Pound rather. He took our word that we would use his service for the drive back and that we would pay him then. This kind of trust is unheard of in America. And for someone, who I’m sure deeply is in need of money, it was strange to me that he would take such a risk. But he believed in humanity and from that we were able to trust him just the same. I’m grateful for that.

Carfoure was the first substantial sight of civilization and it was comforting to be within its four walls left to shop, eat and maybe catch a movie. Due to time we didn’t end up seeing a movie, but we did clean out some aisles of the humongous grocery store very similar to a WalMart Super Center, except cheaper if that is fathomable. When with Erika, Starbucks is of course an included stop, along with some ice cream to top it off. I, Myself, saw the Cinnabon and fell weak in the knees. The 1,000 calorie treat was just what I needed. Gooey, warm, and delicious! Bo and Morgan has a lovely dinner, alone, along the way and Erik was on a shopping binge as Lauren tries to reel him in from his unhealthy obsession. We had low key night and it was what we needed considering the travels that lay ahead.

As we walk through our port, which is ironically the nicest port we’ve had, a small fireworks display goes off in the distance. It was a good night.  I don’t know what we are going to do the other nights though.

Today’s Expense’s

………………......Egyptian Pounds…………Dollars
Ice Cream………3.00.……………………......0.54
Taxi……………...25.00.…………………......4.46
Groceries…………9.00.…………………......1.61
Food……………...15.00.…………………......2.68
Shopping…………82.50.……………….......14.73

Total…………….134.50.……………….......24.02

Explore. Dream. Discover.

~Michael-Anthony

P.S. No, I did not see the pyramids yet.