for those of you who don't find a newspaper to be of use, things are happening here in the mideast. hezbollah is none too pleased with the way proceedings regarding the 2005 assassination of former lebanese PM hariri have been going. many ministers in the party simultaneously resigned, essentially causing the government to collapse. all this doesn't bode too well for travelers like my dad and i, and at the advice of my friend kevin (who goes to mac and is 1/2 lebanese), we have decided to change our travel plans.
so no more beirut (SAD), but amman tomorrow (GLAD!!!!!!!!!!)
i am excited to finally be close to my study abroad destination, and to get acquainted to the city. i am also excited to see what the political climate is like there in reaction to the wave of protests in the arab world. there was a massive peaceful demonstration the other day in jordan, as people grow increasingly frustrated with a poor economic climate (i'm sensing a theme here...) and some absolute powers that the king enjoys. king abdullah II is responding, calling meetings with representatives of varying viewpoints and reaching out to the public. i am glad this is the case, but i wonder if this will be enough for the jordanian people.
also, i have to say that i won't be too sad to leave cairo (where i sit writing this!). i'm finding it to be really inaccessible and pretty intimidating as a city. it is ginormous (20+ million, and growing by a million every year, which excites the geographer in me) and busy all the time. there is an unrelentless cacophony of car horns (being in a car in cairo is an experience that i don't wish to repeat) and frankly it is terrifying to cross to street. but the nile is really beautiful (also it's the NILE. i am in EGYPT. i am in AFRICA. how cool is that?!?) and the people that i've met are really nice and honest.
we went to giza, and i have to say, well done hollywood! i feel duped. all the movies portray the pyramids as being totally isolated in the desert. not so! you can see the city of giza (which is a BIG city) very well from the pyramids. pyramids had to be constructed right at the edge of the desert where it meets up with the floodplain; they needed to be on solid ground where they wouldn't be damaged by floods, but also as close to the river as possible because that's how they transported all the stone (sup, geography!). i actually liked that you could see the city; in a way it grounded these almost mythical and magical structures in reality. i actually found myself taking more pictures of the city than the pyramids.
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