30 July 2006

Arrival in Cairo!!!

I'm finally in Cairo. It took about 17 hours door-to-door, but I made it here and I'm severely jet-lagged. I flew Lufthansa, which was generally a good airline, but my one big complaint is that they don't have personal TV's for every seat. How can a transcontinental trip not have personal TVs?!?! It's like the only European Carrier that doesn't have them.

It took 7 hours to fly to Frankfurt, 2 hours in Frankfurt and then another 4 hours to Cairo. Arrival in Cairo was crazy. We were over the Mediterranean for a bit and then a big land mass suddenly appears and we started our decent. As we entered, you could see desert as far as possible in all directions except for the gigantic city of Cairo. Cairo, looked amazing from above. All the buildlings look very similar and they are the same color, the organization of the city is very chaotic.

When I got off the plane, I felt the heat almost immediately. It didn't help that I am carrying around a big-ass backpack as well. Luckily, I had purchased a transfer to my hotel, so the guy from my tour company shoved me in front of people through customs to get out of the airport quickly.

Cairo is crazy! I heard the driving here is insane, but this is nuts. Drivers will drive straight into a crowd of people as they scatter and miraculously miss killing anyone. Every time I cross the street, I feel like I'm playing a game of frogger, drivers don't stop!!! When you're in a car, there are guys on the street who are pushing their business (much like the guys in NYC), but instead of trying to hand you a flyer, they fling their business cards into the open windows!!!!

Currently, we are staying in the Dokkai section of Cairo, it seems to be a posher neighborhood since all the embassies are here. We even have a cute balcony overlooking the city. The Nile is about a 10 minute walk from the hotel, and it's absolutely amazing to see it. But, before I get the grand tour of Cairo, I will first head to the beaches of Sinai. Tomorrow, we are off to Mt. Sinai to see the suppossed birthplace of the 10 Commandments!!

Syria Cancelled!!!!

Hey Everyone from Cairo. Pictures will be up soon.

The bar exam is now over, however I may have to take it again in February :(
The night before the NJ Bar exam, I found out that my tour in Syria was cancelled due to the war. Unfortuantely, this severely hindered the general plan for the trip. So, now, I'm just winging it. Preliminary plans include Egypt and Jordan, flying to Turkey and then I have a month unplanned. I'm thinking about doing a lot of Turkey. I'm also thinking about adding Greece and maybe Romania (I kinda wanna see Transylvania). Has anyone been to these locales and could give me advice?

13 July 2006

Egyptian Visa!!! and Middle East Worries

I got my Egyptian Visa yesterday. It was a really easy process. You head over to the Consulate, give them the form and your passport and the next day they give you back the passport with your visa in it.

The consulate wasn't as luxurious as I had expected. It was in a cramped tiny office on 2nd Ave.

I'm worried about the Israel-Lebanon situation. I've decided NOT to go to Lebanon. :( I called the State Department and my Insurance Company and both recommended not to go, my insurance company even stated that they woudln't pay for anything that happens in Lebanon, even an evacuation. This would qualify as an act of war, rather than an act of terrorism and therefore would not be covered.

Oh well..... I guess I won't be able to see the Paris of the Middle East (this time).

01 July 2006

Syrian Visa!!!!

The Syrian Embassy finally sent my passport back, and they granted me a visa!! (yay!) They asked for 2 photographs of me, what the hell did they need them for? I was expecting my picture to be on the visa. Anyway, the next stop for my passport is the Egyptian Consulate, where I hear the visa process only takes a day or so.



A little off topic (maybe), but for those of you taking the NY Bar exam anytime in the near future, here's a picture of what to expect:


Yes, thousands upon thousands of people in a sea of desks. They say they're going to wall off big areas and make rooms so it's not going to be quite as daunting, but ugh! Just going to the bathroom became a huge hassle. Oh well, 2 days after the real exam, I'm off to Africa!!!