Alexandria feat. Fairouz

Hello hello. Welcome back to my blog. I'm taking a break to tell you guys about my trip to Alexandria. After Fai got back from the States, we went to Alexandria with our parents. 

The view from the balcony. 

Sunday

We drove to Alexandria. Once we got there we drove around and found an apartment to rent for the two nights we stayed there. 

The sky was pretty. 

We broke fast at a restaurant called Balbaa. I finally ate pigeon. It was stuffed with "freek" aka grits. It was delicious. 

Pigeon, rice, goulash, mahshy. 

Then we went to the Stanley bridge. It's really famous and I couldn't figure out why. As far as bridges go I gave it a Sea plus (C+). Just kidding, it was a nice bridge. 

I checked another thing off my to do list which was eat corn from the street. It was... fine. I guess. 

Corn grilled on the side of the road. 

Monday

We explored the things. First we went to the Alexandria Library. It was really big. We watched a science movie called "Oasis in Space". It was kinda lame. 

The Alexandria Library

What heaven looks like. 

"You were in the perfect spot"

Then we went to Qaitbay Castle. It's a Citadel military castle building. It was build on the sea to protect Egypt from intruders. 

I've been fasting during Ramadan, but after walking around in the sun a lot, I got very dehydrated. I couldn't walk anymore so I drank. 

After, we went to an aquarium. The fish were really pretty. 

We broke fast that day with rice and fish. Before Egypt, I didn't like fish. But now, I really like it and the fish from Alexandria was really good. 

We also went out for ice cream and bought a kite. 

Tuesday 

After we woke up, we pack our things to leave. Before heading back to Cairo, we went to Qasr Montaza. Montaza Palace is the king's "summer home". We hung out by the sea and flew the kite we bought the day before. 

After we went home. 

It was a really quick trip but I'm really glad I finally got to go to Alexandria. 

I'm also really glad I get to spend time with my sister, Fairouz (aka Roza aka Fai aka Pepsi aka Fairoyz). 

Thanks for reading. I have to get back to packing now.

Learn something today. 

Byeeeeee

Corie. 

Celebrating Change And One Year Of Blogging

Guess what today is. Saturday? Yes, but no. 20 June? Yes, but no. It's the 1st anniversary of my blog! Woo! 

From thoughtsandpavement.com

One year ago on 20 June 2014, I uploaded my first ever post entitled "The Beginning". Now, I have people I've never met reading my blog. More importantly, I still love it. 

To celebrate I'd like to take a walk down memory lane. Shall we? 

8 September 2014, I went to City Stars for the first time. I took this picture. 

20 June 2014, I went to City Stars not for the last time. I took this picture.

There are several obvious differences. I'm a lot thinner, the lighting is brighter, my hair is longer, there are Ramadan decorations up. 

The difference between the girl in the first picture and the girl in the second picture is far deeper than physical things. 

While the girl in the first picture was smart and adventurous and brave and open-minded, she was also quiet and self-conscious and scared and kind of naive. The girl in the second picture is still smart, adventurous, and brave but she's more open-minded, confident, more outgoing, and less naive. 

This year, no doubt, has changed me. I've grown up a bit, I've gained more perspective and had more experiences. But it's important remember that I'm still Corie. I still like books and chocolate. I'm still goofy and have my dumb moments. 

You can change and change but there will always be constants. Things that can't change; things that won't change.

Change is scary, but inevitable. Sometimes business shut down, buildings go up, people are born, people die, and sometimes your family moves houses while you're living in Egypt. 

No one loves change, but we all deal with it. It's no secret that I'm scared of going back to the states. It'll be a change. 

I was talking to my friend the other day and she asked if I was excited to come back and I said "kinda". She was confused, then I told her that I thought everything had changed. I can't remember her exact response but it was something along the lines of: yes, a lot has changed, but you'll grow from it the way you grew from going to Egypt. You're strong and you'll get through it. 

The first time I read this, it intimidated me. Someone telling me I would need strength to get through going back home isn't exactly what you want to hear. But I needed to hear it. 

Change isn't always fun, but it's good for us. Living the same way your whole life would be boring. You wouldn't develop. Good stories involve good character development. Characters can't develop without conflict and change. 

Change broadens your horizons. It changes your outlook. And you know me I'm a big fan of a broad outlook. 

Thank you all for a great first year. Whether you've been here for a year or a day, thanks for sticking with me. 

I can't wait for another year of blogging and seeing what changes occur in the years to come. 

Thank you for reading and as always, learn something today. 

Byeeee 

Corie. 

Ramadan Kareem

Happy Ramadan. كل سنة و انتم طيبين. رمضان كريم. 

The first day of Ramadan is tomorrow. Ramadan is a month in the Islamic calendar. This is the month where Muslims fast for 30 days. It's also believed that the Quran was revealed in the last 10 days of Ramadan. 

I will try to fast for a week. I will be here for 8 days of Ramadan (day eight I leave at like 10 am). It will be hard, but it's one of those things that it will be good to experience, especially in a Muslim country. 

Rules (from what I understand):

1. From dawn until sunset no food or drink. 

2. If you are sick, work physical labor, have heat stroke/dehydration, and/or are on your period you don't have to fast. 

3. If, for whatever reason, you don't fast certain days in Ramadan, you should fast throughout the year to "make it up". 

4. Be nice. Don't gossip, think bad things, or otherwise be a jerk. 

5. Help the poor. Volunteer your time. Be generous. 

6. Don't freak out if you mess up. Everyone is human. 

Since I am in a Muslim country, Ramadan is kind of a big deal. Companies start selling Ramadan themed products, stores deck out in Ramadan style decor, even fashion designers start making Ramadan clothing lines. 

Ramadan decorations in the Lebanese restaurant I ate at today. 

Ramadan Kareem is the greeting you give during Ramadan (along with the standard "kol sana wentom tayibeen"). It literally translates to "Ramadan is generous", but you say it as "happy Ramadan". 

Ramadan is the time when Muslims try and put themselves in poor people's shoes. By not eating and drinking, they will know what it's like to be poor and hungry. Also during this time, Muslims help the poor. They give the poor food, volunteer with charities, etc. By saying "Ramadan is generous" it's kind of reminding them of why they do it. (I think). 

Small Fanoos and other decorations. 

My favorite part, so far, is the decorations. They are really colorful and very... Ramadan-y. They also put out lanterns that are specifically for Ramadan, called fanoos. Some of them play music and they play during the sunset letting everyone know it's time to break the fast. 

My friend's Fanoos. (Thanks, Farrah for the pictures). 

That's a quick background of Ramadan. I'm sure once I actually experience it I'll have much more to say. 

That's all I have today. Thank you for reading. 

Learn something today. 

Byeeee

Corie. 

Miscellaneous Pictures Of Life Abroad

As most exchange students do, I take a lot of pictures. I decided to post a blog post containing just a bunch of random pictures I've taken over the past couple weeks of just chilling in Egypt. These are pictures that didn't need a whole blog post but I wanted to share them so here we go. 

This is a picture of donuts. Donuts aren't super common here and my friends and I went to a really nice bakery and we ate these beauties. 

Karim, a very good friend of mine, and me in the bakery. 

(L to R) Monica, Maria, me, Maria at the bakery. 

Maria left on 10 June to travel so this was the last time I saw her. I absolutely adore her and already miss her very much. 

This is Roanoke a stuffed animal (kind of) my friend gave me. 

A movie channel played a different Harry Potter movie everyday for a week and I LOVED it. 

I got ice cream with friends. So in Egypt the portion sizes for ice cream are super small and the same as American prices which sucks. But this place makes big portions for like $2. They do vanilla ice cream with ANY adding you want. This is M&Ms. 

Amira and me trying on hats at H&M. 

Boosy made me a shirt at the T-Shirt Factory. This is the machine. 

This is the shirt. 

This is a lot in Tahrir. Under this is an underground parking garage. 

This is from the top of Cairo Tower. You can see all of Cairo from here. 

The pose. 

The selfie

The top. 

The pyramids (if you can see them). The tower was awesome. One of my favorite places. I definitely recommend it. You can see the Citadel then walk to the other side of the tower and see the pyramids. It was so great. Plus it's windy which makes it great if you're trying to beat the heat. 

The Auntie Anne's Pretzel and me at the mall yesterday. 

This picture came from the Goodreads email newsletter. It's now the wallpaper on my phone; it makes me really happy. 

That's all I have for today. My sister was promoted from middle school to high school. Fairouz is coming in a few days. I am in the process of wrapping everything up. 

Thank you for reading. 

Learn something today. 

Byeeeee

Corie. 

Koshary, the National Dish of Egypt

Koshary is delicious. It will forever be one of my favorite things about Egypt. It's not just the actual dish, but the whole experience of a koshary shop. 

First things first, seating. There is no host or hostess, you seat yourself. Unfortunately, since koshary is both cheap and Egyptian, shops are often crowded and it can be hard to find seating. If people leave and the table still needs to be bussed, sit down anyway, someone will come and clean the table. 

What take-out Koshary looks like

After you sit, there's no menu. The only options are koshary (small, medium, large), roz belaban (aka rice with milk aka rice pudding aka rice, sugar, vanilla, and milk), and bread. The best way to describe it is oiled pita, baked until crunchy, then salted and peppered. It's good. 

Blurry selfie of some of my favorite people in a Koshary shop. 

Koshary is really simple. It's rice, spaghetti, macaroni, lentils, chickpeas, tomato sauce, and fried onions. You can then add a garlic sauce and/or hot sauce. Warning: the hot sauce is VERY spicy. Koshary is good. It's also began which means it's healthy. 

The kitchen area has big containers of each container. The cooks then scoop it all into one bowl, really quickly. 

Koshary and Corie posing for #nationalbestfriendday

At the table, there are the garlic sauce and hot sauce. There is also normally a pitcher of water and cups. Note that the cups are communal and the pitcher is filled with tap water so I don't suggest you drink from it. That said, you can order soft drinks and water with your meal. 

After you eat, you pay and leave. It's that simple. 

Picture of my actual best friends. (We aren't in a Koshary shop but I love them)

Koshary is the national dish of Egypt and I suggest everyone try it. Not eating koshary in Egypt is like not having pizza in Italy, sushi in Japan, escargot in France, etc etc. 

Koshary is part of the Egyptian experience like the call to prayer, the traffic, and the people selling travel packs of tissues on the side of the road. 

So freaking delicious. 

Thank you so much for reading. I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend. I'll post again soon. 

Learn something today. 

Byeeeee

Corie.