Ma hiya al-Akhbar?

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Tensions were high and tempers flared as angry looks spread around the room.

“Two weeks?” objected the girl to my left. “That’s ridiculous. How are we supposed to last that long?”

“You’d think they’d be able to do something about it faster,” came an indignant addendum from somewhere in back. Conspiracy theories and pleas for the US Embassy to get involved were tossed into the pool of conversation and fueled the already mounting distress.

For those of you who don’t know, Egypt and much of the Middle East are bereft of external internet connection due to a cut cable in the Mediterranean. I’ve heard more reasons and stories than I care to recount, though I, too, am inclined to gab because I haven’t been able to gain access to any major news site, even al-Jezeera, to ascertain exactly what happened.

The dilemma started last night with a complete inability to access non-Egyptian websites. For example, Google and www.auceygpt.eduwithout delay. Other American favorites like Facebook, MySpace, and CNN were inaccessible. My roommate and I passed the time watching movies and getting to know one another. Frankly, despite the nervousness of being all but cut off from communication with the States, it undoubtedly better and more valuable than mindless web-surfing.

 How did we lose internet, and what does it mean? The way the internet works is that computers communicate with each other through a physical connection to an internet service provider (ISP). Various local connections flow into a pool of modems which then ascend upward in an ever increasing hierarchy of regional networks, Network Service Providers, and Network Access Points (NAPs)/Metropolitan Area Exchanges (MAEs). Packets of information are delivered from computer to computer by a router through this system.

The issue here, if my information is correct and not just one of Egypt’s many rumors, then the traffic normally routed by ISPs through these cables can no longer travel through these Internet Exchange Points, thus preventing Egypt, India, and much of the Middle East to experience either a crawl or all out stop, like here in Cairo. A similar situation was experienced in East Asia following earthquakes in Taiwan. Word on the street is that we’ll be fully functioning again in about 2 weeks.

Obviously it’s no longer that serious, as you’re reading this missive. I can happily report that AIM and Skype are functioning semi-normally (couldn’t log on yesterday), and my email is mostly reliable. I’m going slightly stir crazy without news, especially my daily dose of Arabic happenings, but Egyptians love to talk and always seem to know what’s going on, so I’ll be content to sift through gossip for now.

A follow up to my previous entry:

Taxi cabs are a reality and a necessity in Cairo. While a shuttle runs from my dorm to campus, and I can usually catch it to and from class, there are times when cabs are not only most convenient, they are the only option. Negotiating price is an art and the way things work. You haggle for basically everything here, unless you’re given a set price on a menu. If I name a price and the driver disagrees, I wave him on and wait for the next option. The price for a taxi ride to Zamalek from AUC should ostensibly cost anywhere from 5 to 10 LE, with the upper limit being acceptable only if the traffic is uncommonly dense. What happened in the cab was not dangerous, just awkward and it was a very sharp cultural disconnect. I never take a cab alone, and I asked an Egyptian friend how best to debate the price with a driver politely and adamantly. Lesson learned.

In short, cabs are fine if you’re savvy and let them know you’ve got their number.

Plus, when CNN.com fails, the cab’s my number one source for news.

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