elmasriaAlexander Elmasri

Alexander, a junior, is double majoring in Sociology and International Relations. He is very excited to study in Cairo and learn more about the culture and language.

All articles by elmasria

 

One Month Back

Now that I have been back in the United States for a month I have had more than enough time to reflect on my experience in Cairo as well as readjust back to life in upstate New York. Coming back felt a little weird at first, like I was not gone for too long and
Continue reading...  

Y3llla boi boi

Well, four and a half months later its back to New York. It really has not felt like I have been in Cairo all that long, but a whole semester has passed and its already late December. I think part of it is the fact that the weather does not seem to change much, it
Continue reading...  

Constitution

As my time in Cairo is winding down to its last week, the political turmoil which is engulfing the country seems to be increasing day by day. With everything that has happened this semester in Cairo and Egypt I realized that no matter how angry people are or how bad the politics and economy gets,
Continue reading...  

Dahab

While I am  writing this blog post anti-Morse protests are being held outside his presidential palace as well as in Tahrir which involve tens of thousands of demonstrators. As of now the Egyptian people will hold a national referendum on the constitution on December fifteenth. However, many secularists, liberals and leftists oppose the constitution saying
Continue reading...  

Protests (2)

As Egyptians fill Tahrir Square demanding a true democracy the leader of the country once again stands defiant to the outrage of the general public. President Morsi or “Pharaoh” Morsi as some have now called him, issued a decree on Thursday granting himself broad powers above any courts and labeled himself as the guardian of
Continue reading...  

The City of Cairo

After attending a lecture by Mohamed Elshahed on the condition of the city of Cairo, its infrastructure, architecture and how both the government’s social and economical policies effect all peoples and the actual city itself, I realized I had not yet blogged about the city or its history. Ignoring that would be a fatal mistake
Continue reading...  

Abu Simbol

On our last day in Luxor we woke up very early and took a three and a half hour drive south to Aswan. We had a two hour wait in Aswan before we could catch the caravan to Abu Simbol. During these two hours we walked around, drank coffee and went on the long hard
Continue reading...  

Luxor

Traveling within Egypt is quite an adventure, partially because of the language barrier, partially because of the culture barrier and partially because it is just Egypt. However, it is amazing. I am going to split the weeks travels into two posts because there is a lot to write, and so I have something to post
Continue reading...  

Eid Al-Adha

For the past couple of weeks I have mostly stuck to the greater Cairo area. It has been nice exploring the city more and more and getting to finely feel comfortable with some of the streets of Cairo. Of course their is something unexpected around every turn, but over all I am definitely starting to
Continue reading...  

Alexandria

Going to Alexandria was a nice break from the crowded smoggy streets of Cairo. Being Egypt’s second largest city, Alexandria certainly has a different feel to it than Cairo. Right away you can tell it is a Mediterranean city, with the constant breeze filling the streets and the colorful buildings lining the streets. Being one
Continue reading...  

Well after a week and a half of no classes, things are supposed to resume to normal as of Wednesday. The student body has finally reached an agreement with the administration over tuition prices and has worked out other demands which both sides were proposing. After the initial student strike and the closing of the
Continue reading...  

These are the picture to my last post.
Continue reading...  

It was too good to be true to be able to come to Cairo and not have some stomach trouble. Unfortunately it all hit me at once and I had to spend the weekend recovering . However, while I was lying in the clinic all day on Thursday, outside student protesters locked all the gates
Continue reading...  

Protests

I am safe. With tear gas being thrown about downtown Cairo our biggest concern here seems to be planning what we are doing for the night and where we should go out. As I watch the protests and anti-American/Western demonstrations unfold in the Middle East and Asia it is also interesting to watch the media’s
Continue reading...  

Settling In

Now that I am experiencing my first full week of classes I have finally begun to get into a rhythm and things seem to be settling down. Up until last week everything seemed surreal and I almost felt as if I was in some sort of weird limbo. Now things definitely feel more settled in
Continue reading...  

Waking up at 530 in the morning is quite early, but it’s alright when you know within six hours you will be swimming in the calm Red Sea. However, it does get a little frustrating when the bus you are supposed to take does not arrive until nine, when it was supposed to get there
Continue reading...  

Hello Cairo

As I looked out the window of the car while the taxi driver brought us to the edge of the city, the pyramids towered over the ramshackle dusty buildings like mountains overlooking a village. On our first day in Cairo we rode horses through the rundown city of Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, and
Continue reading...  

All Ready(I Hope)

              Well here we go, the time has actually come. All summer I have been waiting somewhat anxiously to finally get on the plane and go. Finally now the time has come. Everything seems to be all packed up and all the paperwork is hopefully done, all that needs to happen is the actual
Continue reading...