Alexandria Part 2 of 3

Hala and I leave for Cairo tomorrow but here is my travel journal entries for the past few days.

August 28 2007:

Saturday was supposed to be very busy. Finally Mustafa, Nader, and the cousins were all available, and we discussed hwo to juggle seeing everyone.

Instead, in the early afternoon the cousins said they had no plans for the day and to plan on hanging out the next. This seeming contradiction was cleared up when Hala explained that their father probably prevented them from seeing us.

At the same time Mustafa's availability seemed doubtful and we still couldn't reach Nader by phone. We know he sleeps in very late and so at 4pm, Hala texted Mustafa about Nader's lack of answering his phone. Mustafa called Nader's grandmother who woke him up and he called saying he was still at his beach how but would be back in town by 8 or 9.

Nader being out only plan, we got a light snack and waited for him. At 9:30pm we caleld again and introduced him to the English slang of being a "flake." He said he was still coming, but would meet us at 11pm.

Hala and I sat for a sheesha and ice cream at a cafe on the harbor. At 11:30pm, when the smoke and constant watching for Nader's car on the busy highway in front of us finally became unbearbale we called again.

He said he had to pick up Mustafa but they were on their way and would be meeting us in a half hour at midnight. At this point we were very annoyed not only because we were kept waiting but they never bothered to let us know they would be later than said. I realized we were holding them to an American standard of punctuality- which I would never do in India- but I was unaware that Egyptians also had a sense of time different from my own.

At 12:30 am we had waited long enough and were headed up to our hotel room from the cafe below. A few minutes after, and only a few before 1am we got a call, they were finally downstairs.

They had brought two ars -probably another stop which had to be made - and after a few minutes of chatting with Mustafa and his wife, Umnea, we were left with Nader who wanted to cruise in his car. We ate some more fuul and falafels at about 2 am and drove around the city. Alexandria never sleeps. Something is always open and people are always about socializing and having fun all hours of the day.


When I first met Mustafa, he seemed very jovial. About 6'2'' and now probably around 280 lbs, he played basketball competitively for a long time, but ahd to cut back during Medical school. At 26 years old he is now in his residency and married to another doctor and working on getting their apartment together before they can move in. His wife is shot with a huge smile which she shows often because Mustafa is very funny. She doesn't wear a head scarf, which is up to the woman, although 95% of the women choose to wear one after hitting puberty. Secretly, I like the fact she doesnt wear one because the modesty which the scarf symbolizes would make it difficult for me to converse openly and joke with her. I am very used to being unable to socialize with young women as this was teh case throughout India and for the most part I feel it applies also here in Egypt.

Mustafa contrasts with his cousin, Nader, in some ways. Although both live modernly and their families are well off- if not locally famous- doctors and engineers, Mustafa speaks boistrously while Nader speaks very slowly and quietly although not as if lacking confidence. I have realized that Nader is very deliberate in everything he does but were I to meet him in America I would guess he was a stoner, his demeanor is so relaxed.

Before Mustafa and his wife left us on Saturday night, we discussed the things which we had done in Alexandria already and those we wished to do. A list was made and Mustafa said we could check all the boxes the next day, although I had my doubts due to their problems with punctuality we witnessed that day.

However the next afternoon at 3pm the trio arrived at our hotel and whisked us south first to Pompey's pillar- a large Roman column on the site of Alexandria's first settlement and that of one of the two original famous libraries. The site is under rennovation but we walked around teh debris and through some tunnels where were ancient hallways formerly full of nearly a million papyrus scrolls, available for all to read.

As we were entering the gate my appearance as the only white guy turned some heads and warranted a few questions from the guards and ticket takers. "How do you know him?" "Where is he from?" etc. Apparently I look very dangerous. The questioning ended abruptly when they asked to see Mustafa's ID, saw his last name, Hisab, and asked if he was a member of that family which apparently owns or operates a famous hospital which does very well by the community. Of course he was a member of that family.

Our next stop was a complex of Roman catacombs nearby the pillar and we rushed through the impressive site which was discovered in 1900 when a donkey fell through the ground, because they were closing. Out hosts had not been to either site before and I think sincerely enjoyed themselves.

For lunch we had some options. I had treid most of the local staples except one- liver. (I also found out that they eat cow brains but we decided I'd save my brain eating for Vietnam). Umnea was afraid for our health and wouldn't let Mustafa take us to what she thought was a dirty establishment, although it was Mustafa's first choice. After a short drive we dined in teh car on liver sandwiches - pretty tasty actually. A short stop for juice- mango, date, and other nameless concoctions- and we were off again.

We stopped briefly at the largest mosque in the city which is actually a complex of 5 mosques. Nader took me through one quickly while Mustafa waited with the women who had not dressed appropriately enough to enter. There were a few men inside praying but hte architecture and decorations were really beautiful. Just like the great churches in Europe, I feel I could spend a lot of time enjoying myself tranquilly in a giant mosque.

Down the street is the fort on the site of the famous lighthouse which is the main sight from our hotel balcony. The area around the fort is a popular spot to hang out as its a beautiful location out on a spit of land in the middle of the sea. We walked around a bit and hung out before deciding to see a movie on the other side of town.

A quick race amond traffic saw us reach the theater 10 minutes too late for the 7pm show. No matter, to kill time before the 10pm show, we hung out in a Costa's coffee shop (around the corner from Starbucks) across teh mall from the theater.

Mustafa asked us poignent questions about our travels- a very rare occurence- and was not satisfied in our brief answers forcing us to really thing and reflect on our time. This memory of him alone is enough to make him stand out as someone special.

We shared our views on who was REALLY responsible for 9/11 (Mustafa= Russians, and Umnea= the US gov, Nader was too relaxed to participate). To them Arabs couldn't have done it, not because they wouldn't do such a barbaric thing but because they are too unorginized. RACISTS!

We had many laughs- maybe too many at Hala's expense- and enjoyed ourselves until it was ready to start the movei. Everyone really like The Bourne Ultimatum and on they way back to our hotel, now after midnight, we were invited to Umnea's family's beach house which is out on the North Coast near the other two we never got to. We graciously accepted the offer and [at the time of writing in my journal] are awaiting word on when we leave. Although Hala's family might not accept me, her friend's- despite a few setbacks with timekeeping- are making our trip to Egypt an immense success.




I finished writing that yesterday and the spent all day and into the next morning at the beach house. It was an incredible time and I will be able to report back on it soon. Today we should be meeting Nader for another trip to his beach bungalo and then are setting off for the insanity of Cairo tomorrow. I'm going to see the freaking Pyramids of Egypt! I miss and love you all.