216 CultureShock! Egypt
one burned) is truly the National Cultural Center, with good
acoustics and several venues for enjoying the arts. As such, it
has a full calendar of international and national events, both
from local artistes as well as visiting companies from Europe
and the United States. To view the calendar of events, see:
http://www.cairoopera.org/ecalendar/index.aspx
One of the Opera House’s regular acts is the Cairo
Symphony Orchestra which performs from September
through June. Their Christmas concerts are fantastic! To
find out more about the orchestra and their performance
schedule, visit:
http://www.cairo-symphony.com/Cultural Centres
Foreign and local cultural centres also offer a variety of activities
such as language classes, fi lms, exhibits and recitals. In Cairo,
some of the more active are the British Council, the Goethe
Institute, and the American, Austrian, Canadian, French, Italian,
Japanese and Spanish cultural centres. In Alexandria, check out
the American, British, French, German, Italian, Russian, and
Spanish cultural centres.Among the other options in Cairo are the Archaeology
Club of the American Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE),
which offers field trips and a series of lectures. You can find
information about an ARCE chapter near you at:
http://www.arce.org/
The Egypt Exploration Society in Agouza organises a
programme of lectures on a wide variety of topics, given
by prominent Egyptologists from all over the world. These
are held in London, Manchester and Cairo. Membership
costs to both archaeological societies is reasonable. You
can find information about the Egypt Exploration Society in
Agouza at:
http://www.ees.ac.uk/join/index.html
If you are interested in drama, the Maadi Community
Players is an option. Several Christian churches and
religious groups around Cairo offer religious and social