An imam, a rabbi and a priest walk into Old Cairo…

So yesterday after the pyramids I saw what was probably my favorite thing in Egypt so far: the 2005 horror film Boo (rated R), which was just released here April 30th of this year. Brilliant can't even begin to describe it. An example of the masterpiece is the following quote, powerfully delivered by the thespian Dig Wayne:

You shoot me in the face, I'll kick your ass!

Okay, so it wasn't actually any good. In fact, it was near par with such spectacles as Fear Dot Com and The Carrot Monster from Mars (alright, so I don't actually remember the name of that last one, but it was on the Sci Fi Channel at around midnight, so you get the gist).

But it was quite the experience to go to a movie in Egypt. Someone brought her baby to the movie, and it cried and screamed a lot of the time; several people answered their cell phones and held conversations during the movie; and there was even a 5-minute intermission (right in the middle of a high-tension scene)! Tickets were $3, so it was still worth it. In fact, parts of it were so funny/awful that I was crying.

Alright, so onward to the photos and the more serious stuff:


We had dinner last night at Gad, a restaurant just a few blocks away from our hostel. This was our dessert (Egyptian pancakes with honey, nuts and whipped cream). My entire meal cost under $3.


Then today we went first to the Saladin Citadel, where there is the above building: the Mosque of Muhammad Ali.


Vera and Alex had to wear green robes in the mosque because their arms weren't covered.


inside the Mosque


Two men get a panoramic view from the citadel looking out over Cairo.


the citadel walls

Then we went to Coptic Cairo, part of the Old City. Here we visited a Coptic Christian church and a synagogue. This area was really cool and extremely old!


The streets in Coptic Cairo were loaded with shops containing (presumably) antiques.

Alex and Vera then went to the Egyptian Museum, but Sara and I just mulled around the streets. I bought 1001 Nights and Sindbad at a book shop. We went to Felfela, an Egyptian fast-food place recommended to me by Chris Hanley (who studied here first semester), and grabbed lunch - a shawarma sandwich (like a gyro sub) and a taamiya (like a pita-pocket with a falafel inside). It was extremely good and also very cheap - around $2.


And again following Chris's recommendations, we went next door to a juice shop. I had a mixed fruit and ice cream drink, which was very nice after a day in the sun!

Then tomorrow we're off to Luxor!