Got lost recently while walking near Al Azhar mosque. I went right instead of left, and ended up walking down the kind of winding roads you might imagine an old middle eastern city to have. Usually I sit in a coffee shop and watch the people walk by, but this time I decided to sit in one on a thoroughly normal everyday street. I sat right outside the shop, smoking sheesha ma'asl, a dank mess of black tobacco and honey. Across from me a man sat in a chair making cheap jewelry boxes for sale in the khan. In fact, every shop seemed to be a factory of men making something for the khan - boxes, silver, copper, beads. Horses, donkeys, bikers, mopeds, and cars tried negotiating the narrow street, while kids played ball and walked about. Two guys sat next to me, and began asking me questions. Where do you live, where are you from, why are you here, are you muslim? I replied that I lived in Dokki, was a Christian, here studying arabic, and born in new york--at least half true. They were very happy to learn that I voted for Kerry, and wanted to know why Bush was starting wars. mish-aarif, I don't know. The shop closed for fifteen minutes during the call for prayer, no one prayed, and then opened back up. No one spoke English, and my broken Arabic didn't facilitate too much conversation, but there were lots of smiles and nods and slaps on the back. Then I think they invited me to a wedding, who knows.