August 25

After waking, Syd and I ventured downstairs to find our breakfast. After some confusion in Arabic-English translation, we figured out we would be having loads of honey and yogurt.
After getting ready to go we used the internet while it was open. We tried to ask the guard at the gate to the seminary to call a taxi for us, but eventually we realized we needed only to walk to the street and hail any taxi that passed by. The $2 taxi took us to a central location in downtown and we walked to Cafe Riche, a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. We droved in around 1 pm while the men in the city left their work place and headed for carpets outside to pray. Apparently that only happens on Friday, other times you can hear the prayers from speakers piped out, but no one really seems to pay attention.
From there we walked to the Egyptian Museum. Our 3 blocks walk was our first experience out alone on Cairene streets. I was wearing my head wrap, but Sydney wasn't and sure enough a persistent Egyptian guy kept trying to talk to her. I couldn't help giggling which didn't help the situation or Sydney's annoyance. The Egyptian Museum was huge and unorganized- just like Cairo- but it houses hundreds, maybe thousands, of incredible artifacts.
From there we walked next door to the Nile Hilton to cool down (the museum isn't airconditioned and it is sweltering hot here). The heat made it hard for us to walk around, so we took another $2 taxi to another street downtown where we were able to walk around and see thousands of cheap displayed goods. We stopped along the way and had tea at an outdoor cafe where all the men stared at us because typically only men sit there and smoke the sheesha (water pipe)- but it is okay for western women. We went to some fruit stands and juice bars, but when it turned to dusk Syd had had it with all the stares and "welcome to Cairo" from the men, so we took a taxi back to the campus. I honestly didn't mind the attention (but that probably doesn't speak highly of me), although I agree the crowds were thick and the heat only makes that worse. I really enjoyed walking down the street, soaking up the atmosphere- I've never been somewhere that I stand out so much (you can't really hide blue eyes and pale skin- well, I guess I could have, but I didn't go to that extreme). Although some of the Egyptian men and boys were too pushy, I thought many were just genuinely friendly, when they would tell us "welcome to Cairo"and move on (you just don't know if smiling and saying "thank you" will encourage them negatively). I didn't feel at all unsafe, just that we totally stand out.