After arriving at the hotel and hanging around for 2 hours, Sarah (my roommate) and I headed downstairs for the "you don't wanna miss this!" breakfast, and Dr. Hamad was right, I didn't want to miss that. Although I have not been hungry once since boarding the plane in Chicago, I just can't pass up all the delicious food! They feed us like kings and it doesn't stop. (We've been told that we will come home very well fed). Breakfast consisted of pastries, fresh fruit, omelets, meets and cheeses, and lots of native Egyptian foods. The juice/tea they have here is so so good because it's made with real fresh fruit.
Breakfast led us into another food coma so Sarah and I decided to "go to bed" at 7 a.m. and wake up around noon. Around one we had a meeting and mingled, then we had lunch which consisted of more Egyptian dishes. I have no clue what the names of these but here is a picture!
There were some crab rangoon type things (one with cheese, one with beef), lots of meat dishes (but no pork. Pork is not eaten here) some deep fried things, and a lot veggies including peppers, tomatoes and eggplant. There were also rice dishes wrapped in different leaf-type things. Very hard to explain, but overall a great experience to try so many different foods.
Lunch was followed by lounging at the pool and water polo. It got pretty aggressive, and I discovered I am no good at water sports whatsoever. We showered off and headed to the Club Lounge for a lecture on Micro Finance Services in Egypt. Our speaker was Ms. Shymaa Bedaiwe Allam.
View what I wrote up about Micro Finance Here!
Alright, so I lied, this is going to be long...
To wrap up the day, after we enjoyed the lecture, Dr. Hamad had a surprise in store. He had cakes made and decorated for some birthdays!
Cody, another student, had a birthday yesterday.
All of the cakes were very rich but oh so wonderful. While we were celebrating, there was a wedding taking place around the hotel pool! It was awesome to see the traditions that took place for the wedding reception (we were creeping out the window). Shymaa explained the different traditions, most of them are very similar to our traditions, and she also said that they would have no problem at all if we went down to dance and talk to the bride. One thing that has definitely struck me this trip is that the people of Egypt are so kind, helpful, and welcoming. They are easy going and just want every one to enjoy themselves and be comfortable. A lot of my views of the country and the Middle East, especially cultural traditions, have really been broadened, and I am so happy to have been able to experience such an amazing place.
Here are some miscellaneous pictures..
Sarah and I at the pool! It's beautiful!
Cheers to turning 21 and getting to drink diet coke out of wine glasses!
Cody and I -- Birthday folk! (Sorry about the sun blurb... I mean, it is pretty sunny in Egypt!)
Here is my first sighting of the pyramids from one of the hotel windows! It is REALLY hard to see, but if you look really closely they are very faint between the yellow roof/roller coaster loop and the very tall half-red, half-yellow tower. Let me know if you can spot the two pyramids!
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