...go places...

Even though Caitlin's and my exploration of the city of Alexandria has been fairly limited, we are still creating a sort of personal map of important places. Our first important place is of course our home in Mouharram Bey.

We live right along the yellow tram line and within very close walking distance of two mosques and one absolutely beautiful Orthodox Church. At the end of our street is Fathalla, the local supermarket where we do most of our grocery shopping (and where we have to avoid 'the pepsi boy', a 13 to 15 year old kid who tries to simultaneously chat us up, hit on us, practice his english, and sell us pepsi...multitasking is definitely not an american invention). There are tons of small shops and cafes and carts (fruits, meats, baked sweet potatoes) on our street and just off of it. One of the first turns as we are walking toward Fathalla leads straight into a fish market. The ground there is always wet.

The next important place--by default, not through affection--is the TAFL center at the University of Alexandria's Faculty of Liberal Arts. We started walking to and from the center recently...it's about a 25 minute walk...in order to get more acquainted with our surroundings, and also to avoid using all our change on taxis (you constantly, constantly need small change here, and for some reason Caitlin and I have a lot of trouble getting it...sometimes our plans will actually revolve around how much change we have and ways to get it when we don't). On the way we pass the Alexandria Stadium, the Ibrahim Mosque (I'm not sure if that's the full name...I'll check and correct later), a park and remnant of the old Islamic wall, the Shalalat gardens, and a very old and beautiful Coptic church with a huge cemetary. The center itself is right across the street from the infamous Alexandria Library.

Ah, the Alexandria Library. I call it infamous, because it was one of the places I was most excited about seeing when I got to Alexandria. And indeed, seeing the Alexandria Library--inside and outside--is amaxing. It's a beautiful facility, and the tour left all of us feeling very impressed. They also have some very interesting exhibits inside. Sadly, that is where the love stops. When I tried to actually study in the Alexandria Library (okay, so I was really just trying to use their internet, but still!) this is what happened: (excerpted from a very disorganized email to my brother)

First the guy at the ticket window insisted on speaking English to me, then he kept telling me to "take the ticket!" when he hadn't given me one. I just stared at him until he (grumpily) gave me my ticket. Then I tried to enter the library, at which point the guard ( a really tall guy with freckles) kindly informed me (again in English) that I couldn't enter the library with my bags. I explained that my bag had my laptop in it, and I needed it to study. Then he told me that I could register my laptop and bring it in, but I couldn't bring in my other bag. I tried to protest, but he said that purses weren't allowed in the library. When I looked at him strangely, he said that I could put my pens, wallet, and cellphone in my laptop bag but I had to put my purse in the locker room. Then I went back to the locker room to leave my purse there, and when I got there one of the employees started following me all over the place (at that point I gave up speaking in Arabic...what was the point...I was already being treated like a lost, mute, foreigner anyway) in order to help me. He 'helped' me register my laptop (which was actually necessary...I had to go in this back door, it's totally not marked as a place that library visitors would need to go), and then took me into the main entrance. After they looked through my bag, and finally told me I could go in, I was so disoriented and desperate to get away from the (very polite, very friendly, but annoying and stress-inducing!) guy that I walked straight into the glass door (I think the Biblioteca is the cleanest thing in Alexandria). Embarrassing! Then annoying guy felt like he was really necessary "Be careful, why didn't you wait for me?"

Finally I went through security and left annoying guy behind (maybe I should have given him a tip, but I don't know if this is one of the places where they're banned, and honestly I really didn't want to) and found a desk and sat down. It's a really beautiful library, lit almost completely by natural light (the ceiling is one huge, tilted, window)...but I'm not enjoying it right away like I thought I would. I keep being afraid that annoying guy will come over and ask me if I need help with something else, like plugging in my computer, or registering my sketchbook or something weird like that.

When Caitlin tried to go there the next day, they didn't even allow her to bring in her notebooks. What is the point of a library where the staff is paranoid that you will try to 'steal' a book (so you obviously can't take any of them out), and you also can't take a notebook with you in order to take notes on the books you are reading? I may still try to go back there (their internet is faster than our connection at home, and it is still a very nice place once you actually get inside), but I guess I'll have to throw another temper tantrum and get an overly nice staff person to follow me if I want to bring in anything other than my laptop.

In order to end on a happy note, I have saved the best for last: the most wonderful place in Alexandria, if not the world, is Mohammed Ahmed, a foul and falafel/fast (Egyptian) food restaurant. Their food is delicious and they have the best falafel in the city according to many (and me, though I don't really count), but they are also the most efficiently-run organization I have ever encountered in my life. Literally the second we walk in the door, someone comes to hurry us to a table. As soon as we get a table we get a menu. Almost as soon as we order, the food is served. The check is always brought promptly, we can always get change, and we always, always, always leave happy, garlicky, and full.