Zagazig!

I'm going to try to offer bits from my first six weeks in Egypt over the course of several entries.

First off, I'm thrilled to say that I survived intensive Arabic, moved to site, found an apartment, and this/next week should begin teaching. My site is a delightful town with incredibly friendly people. By far the smallest of the sites to receive Fulbrighters, Zagazig has a certain charm that was lacking in Cairo. No, we don't have the options for entertainment we had in Cairo - symphony concerts, amazing museums, the pyramids and the Sphinx were wonderful diversions - but after two short weeks here I already feel surrounded by a community of teachers and neighbors that have made us feel incredibly welcome.

My sitemate, Nick, is a native of Ohio who graduated from Case Western. His Arabic skills far surpass mine. We found a roomy three bedroom, 1.5 bath near the Center for English where we work. There's plenty of places to host passers-through!

A couple highlights friends in Zagazig have introduced us to:
- bumper cars - the kind that haven't been maintenanced since the last time I rode bumper cars, at least a decade ago. It adds to the fun, I promise.
- Basaam bakery. Sorry RIM, we have chocolate on this end of the Sahara. Good chocolate. I didn't taste chocolate this good during my entire stay in Cairo. Allah knows I looked.
- hot dog crepes. animal parts and gobs of cheese (yes RIM, we have cheese on this end of the Sahara, too) are slathered into a crepe that, for $2 apiece, is going to be a cheap way to pack on pounds this year. There's a stand across the street from our apartment building. Ugh. I still haven't found a gym.
- Haysim. An entire entry will be devoted to this man soon. He has shown us true Egyptian hospitality, given us a crash course in every insult the local dialect has to offer, and introduced us to new people every night. I'm confident that this man is the reason Nick and I are having such an amazing time - especially when I speak with other Fulbrighters in other sites (larger cities) who are struggling to make friends. Thanks Haysim.

We're six weeks in. This is supposed to be the low point on the "culture shock" timeline. I'm still having a blast.

This is going to be a great year.