By NEJUDE AL-IBRAHIM
As all students at AUC got back from the Eid Holiday, they thought food would be a crisis in campus since the food outlets are few. They saw how crowded Cilantro, Jared's Bagle's and Cinnabon were in Ramadan. But it turned out not to be a food crisis, but a line crisis.
"I don't think it was crowded in Ramadan, if you want to know what crowded means go now and see!" says Aya el Sherbiny, a mass communication student.
Students who did not like waiting in lines decided to get their own food. "It would take me forever to stand in Bagel's line. I could say the line could go down to Tahrir Square" says Shady Khalid, a political science student.
"After waiting in the line for more than 15 minutes, I would need to go down to options I didn't consider at all" shares Aya.
Accordingly, SU Service Committee did not like what was going on. A table in the middle of the shaded area with variety of food on it was under the umbrella of SU. McDonald's sandwiches, water, chocolates and other snacks are what they offer. They "get stuff and sell them for reasonable prices" said Muhammad Khadr, a construction engineer student. "I thought by doing this we would make students stay in campus more comfortable" he adds.
Students are not satisfied with the food prices. They started comparing the prices of the food they buy to cafes and supermarkets outside campus "I am annoyed" Nada Helmy, a political Science Student. " I cannot believe what I heard until I went there and bought myself…a bottle of water for 7 pounds and a cheese sandwich for 12 pounds! " says Aya.
The university has been trying to solve the problem. "Something nice happened few days ago. They opened 24 which sells food for reasonable prices.. I bought a Pepsi can for 2.5 pound! " says Batool Hany, a junior student.
Cilantro is not as crowded as it was a few days ago. "Food was a crisis but now I think it’s a line crisis" as Batool describes it. "We are getting more food and we will open new branches soon " assures Ihab Muhammad , an assistant manager in Cilantro. Muhammad Khadr elaborates "I think there was a food crisis, but it decreased a lot since each shop is getting more food".
The food court dream has overwhelmed AUC students. "I thought the food court would be something so fancy and ready for all of us. Not only that but I thought I would just get bored from the variety of food not knowing what to choose" states Aya. While her friend Hany says "I just don't want a food court now, I want the cafeteria we had in the old campus!"
The new campus has four food outlets which are supposed to serve more than 7000 thousands students. Based on the lines students suffer from, some students have come up with ideas that would solve the problem until the food court is ready. Spreading vending machines around the campus was one of the ideas." I think vending machines would make it easier for all of us "says Aya."There is only one and I am sure not all of us know where it is… right beside Gared's Bagel's " she adds. Another solution was getting more booths who sell just water and juice. Hind says "most of my friends look for water, not food."
"Listening to what students might have in mind, might solve lots of problems" says Shady Khalid. "But would the university listen?" he adds.
