Rain, Bombs, and Beer Pong! Oh my!

Sooo, this has been quite an interested past few days. While I was at work yesterday, we were looking outside and the only thing I was thinking was ‘OMG PLEASE RAIN!” There were thick, gray clouds I hadn’t seen in 2 months that just screamed rain. And then it finally happened; it rained in the desert. And it was glorious. As most of you all know, there was a terrorist bombing targeting tourists in one of Cairo’s most famous and largest markets, Khan el Khalili this past Sunday evening. I was just at Khan Khalili a few weeks ago with some other AIESEC interns along with some Egyptian @ers and it is a really historic and busy marketplace. You can find all kinds of souvenirs, jewelry, scarves, cafes, shisha, and tons more. It's really a shame that such an event would happen here. Anyways, upon hearing this news, I could hardly believe it because for some reason it just doesn’t seem like it would’ve happen here in Cairo. But it did, and it definitely freaked me out to an extent, and then I realized that I couldn’t just walk around this amazing city scared and anxious that something like this could happen again. So I put it behind me and I’ll just keep it movin! If you want to read more about the event, click here
And the beer pong, this requires a bit of story behind it. My roommate and I were meant to be at her boyfriend’s cousin’s wedding on Thursday night. We got all ready to go in our ‘conservative’ dresses to party the night away at our first Egyptian wedding, and then the military stepped in. The last night of the wedding was held in a military area for some odd reason and foreigners are strictly not allowed in these areas, so we had to take our dolled-up selves and head on home. ☹ Well I was NOT going to let some lame Egyptian Soldier ruin my night! So We hopped in a cab over to Maddie’s in Zamelek, which is a pretty island in the middle of the Nile. And what do I see the second I walk in the door of her party…BEER PONG! It was like someone just plucked me out of Cairo and dropped me in the middle of Georgia Tech’s fraternities. Of course I had to play and introduce my British roomie to this great American Pastime, and of course I won. To make things even more bizarre, my opponent is also a Georgia Tech student studying in the American University in Cairo (AUC)! Weird, I know. Hopefully the next few days will calm down some, however I will be at an Akon concert on Thursday so maybe not!!

15 things

In the spirit of Facebook, that sounds all wrong, I decided to dedicate a post to all the notes titled ’15 random facts about me’. Instead of writing about myself, I believe writing about Cairo would be far more relevant.

15 Things that Cairo Needs (in my opinion of course)

1. A proper waste or disposal system for trash for the entire city of Cairo, not just selected areas.
2. Parking lots and Parking decks. In a city of over 8 million people with cars, parking lots would be optimal.
3. Along with parking issues, public transportation would be very helpful. If MARTA puts Cairo’s public transportation system to shame, there is definitely a problem.
4. Mexican Food. On the border does not count
5. Blockbuster or Netflix
6. Computers in Governmental buildings. I think I’m still bitter about waiting 5 hours for my visa.
7. A national campaign to reduce smoking.
8. American made Twinkies
9. Ice cream truck, I think the heat and high number of children would bring an ice cream man great profit.
10. Crosswalks, I’ve almost lost my life numerous times
11. More internet cafes
12. Lean Pockets…. Hot Pockets would suffice
13. FRESH AIR
14. Target
15. Popeye’s’ Biscuits and Dirty Rice
16. Smart Cars (15 was not enough)

Valentine's....in Cairo?

Oh Valentine’s Day, a special day dedicated for lovers to express their love for each other. Valentine’s cards, flowers, big red teddy bears with ‘I love you’ printed all over them are just a few examples of the traditional gifts given on Valentine’s. Apparently 1 billion Valentine’s cards are sent each year all over the world…. more than those sent during Christmas.
Having said this, I find that Valentine’s Day is surprisingly more popular in Cairo than in Atlanta. As I’m sitting here on Starbucks’ balcony, watching the busy city pass me by, I can’t help but notice everyone wearing red and happily celebrating Valentine’s. It seems as though the people of Cairo enjoy Valentine’s Day more than Americans as they are carrying their oversized gifts and walking hand in hand with their ‘special someone’. I am wondering if this is due to the enormous number of people here who are either in relationships or married.
I am somewhat shocked to see how certain aspects of the Western culture have found their way into Cairo, such as this holiday. In a place where so many ideals are criticized from our side of the world, signs of love and therefore its holiday appear to be universal and welcomed here. It’s actually quite nice when I stop to think about it, that no matter where you go or whom you meet, the ways we as people express our love to one another are the same. Maybe we’re not as different as we would like to think.

ANYWAYS.... I have been here for almost one month and still am having apartment issues, sorry to vent about this but it must be done! I have no hot water, heat, washing machine, the list goes on. I knew living here would be a change from some of the comforts of home, but I never imagined sacrificing warm showers. Enough of that, my new roomie Anna will be coming to work with me tomorrow yay! They are offering her a full time job there as my bossman's assistant. Hopefully she will accept, it's a pretty sweet deal with all the traveling involved. Hopefully I will be able to get in on some of it. They are going to Morocco in April for two weeks and I may be accompanying them because they MIGHT run into some Spanish speakers.
Well Happy Valentine's Day and just remember that lovers all over the world are celebrating along with you :)

My first Blogger Post WOOT!

Well i FINALLY have a blog going! after some nomad issues ;)
It would take me almost a month to get a blog, in true Denise fashion of course!
Anyways, I'm not sure where to start but i suppose I will begin with this country is boss! My initial impression was nothing short of wonderful even though we had serious car trouble coming from the airport when I arrived. We had to pull over in the middle of Cairo traffic....no bueno if you have ever seen how crazy traffic gets here! The friendly and interesting people I have met in the past few weeks have defenitley helped me adjust to this fast paced city and foreign culture. All I really have to say is thank goodness for AIESEC in Egypt, if I didn't have friends here, I would have had a really rough time finding a place to stay for the first couple weeks. Since there was a mix up with the apartment I was supposed to be staying in, a friend I made at the MENA conference, Hend, gladly let me stay with her for three weeks. I owe her and her family so so much for all their hospitality. I have found this kind of generosity here to be quite commonplace, so many Egyptians genuinely want to help those who need it...except taxi drivers.
And to answer just about everyone's question: Yes, i have gone to see the pyramids (obviously). They were absolutely breathtaking, this makes it my 3rd wonder of the world that I have seen:). They really are massive, and seeing them on the back of a camel or horse makes it so much more exciting! Sadly we did get ripped off as usual tourists, and our tour guide knew absolutley nada about the pyramids. He took us to go see "Cleopatra's Tomb" which was definitely not her tomb, it didn't take long for us to figure that one out!

My @ internship is with a Strategic Business Development firm called Platinum Partners located in the Heliopolis area of Cairo. Unfortunately there is not much to do in this part of town besides shop...which i have no money for anyhow lol. I actually just finished my first BIG assignment as their marketing intern and technical writer. I had to write a business plan for a new company that was 24 pages long, not intimidading right?! But it turned out well and I received great reviews from my boss and it will be going to the CEO of the company this week! Below is a picture of me at the company whose business plan I wrote.Modern Bulk Systems

I just got back from my very first @ Egypt National Conference, MOMENTUM 09! It was such an interesting conference to be at as a trainee. There was no track for interns so I was really in the mix talking and learning about how to improve @Egypt from exchange to raising money, something @ will always seem to struggle with ha! There was also another trainee from none other than @US in Wisconsin! So AIESEC US was well represented all the way here in Egypt. It was such a great opportunity to meet so many of the @ers in Egypt and have those good conversations about life and experiences. My new LC @AUC could not have been more welcoming! I have such a great group of people who welcomed me with open arms :)
And I think you all should be happy to know that I had the entire conference do a couple rounds of "GT, GT, GT is OK"

That's all for now, I miss you all! Peace out