Good Times

Ok, so I am about to write about what has probably been my favorite day in Egypt so far. I just hope I can do it justice.
So, about a week ago, I called this girl who I had met while I was eating lunch by myself next to the Library of Alexandria. She's Egyptian, born and raised in Alexandria, so she had given me her number and offered to take me around Egypt. This may sound sketchy, but in the context of Egypt, not so much -- people here are really friendly and open. So when I called her, she didn't really understand me and I didn't really understand her. For some reason, phone conversations are much more difficult than face to face. But I had thought we were going to go to Manshia, the part of Alexandria where she lives, and walk around a bit.
So I met her by the library, and she was with her little cousin, who's 11 years old. She had to go to a meeting at the college (all the Egyptian students are on vacation, though), so I hung out with her cuz and these random Egyptian guys who worked in the administration, one of whom, in all serious, no joking at all, actual truth, wanted to marry me. Needless to say, I skipped out of there as quickly as I could. It was funny though, the guy never talked to me about marrying him, he just sort of talked over me to the other people in the office, so when I left with Nourhan (my friend)'s cousin, I was like, Was he talking about marrying me? And she was like, Uh-huh. Blurgh.
But the day only got better after that. Nourhan had told me we were going to go watch some fellaheen (kind of hard to translate -- basically, people who live in the countryside, are involved with agriculture, and are generally more traditional, which does not mean more conservative or reserved, but like, their dress and homes are generally more old style) make bread. And I was like, ok, cool. She neglected to mention that said fellaheen were her family and that they owned a farm and lived in the countryside. SO COOL.
So we took about forty five minutes' worth of mini buses out of the city, and finally exited into a little village named Turih. We first went to her uncle's farm (which had been her grandfather's) and walked around there. It was a guava farm, so we walked through the trees. It's winter now, so obviously there were no guavas. And then we did in fact watch her grandmother and aunt make bread in an outdoor oven. People here, by the way, are so nice. Like, there's stuff they just say like it's nothing, that would be a huge compliment in America. And they mean it too. Like, Nourhan's aunt had a baby who was maybe 1 and a half or so, and she said she hoped her baby would grow up to be like me. Her baby was a boy, so there could be a few problems there, but eh, not the point.
Then I went to Nourhan's family's second apartment (which they keep for vacations and stuff, like now) and ate eggs and french fries and hung out with her and her little cousin, and her other older cousin. Nourhan's mom and dad were so nice. Then we went back to the farm for a bit, and drank tea and hung out with her uncle's family. Then we all went to her grandmother's apartment, and ate a very traditional dinner together -- like pillows on the floor, a little low table in the middle of the room, and one bowl we all ate from, using bread, not forks and knives. And I was just welcomed by the family, like it was no big deal, even though I couldn't really say much at all just because I didn't know enough arabic. And everyone from Nourhan's aunt to her grandmother invited me to sleep over in the village, and like, I really did want to, but I had to come back and study. Poo. But point being, people here are so generous. It really blows my mind. And then we went back to Nourhan's family's apartment for a bit and I got to know her two brothers, and then I had to go back. But like. I can't describe how nice and fun and amazing people are here. Like, her two brothers were so funny -- when I said bye I had to do the whole shake everyone's hand, kiss the women on each cheek thing, and like when I shook nourhan's younger brother's hand his mouth was full of food and his hand was covered in flour and he just made this face like, oh geez, sorry.
And then her dad gave me a ride back into the city. She's staying out in the countryside for the next week or so, and I'm like, going to Cairo and stuff, so I won't be around either. But I think we agreed to have lunch on saturday. If I understood the Arabic correctly.
But yeah. The people here are so cool. Like, there's a lot of things I could dislike about being here, but I'm not in America, and if I expect America, I just won't be happy. Plus there's so much cool stuff here. Like for example, I am now drinking strawberry "juice," which is actually much more like a smoothie, made by my host mom. um. YUM. Strawberries are so common here. And cheap. Apples are expensive (and gross) and strawberries cost less than a US dollar per kilo. So basically, opposite of the US.
But yes, all summed up, I am really happy and doing very well here now.
bye. much love to all.
<3 e.