So I have been a pretty bad blogger over the past two weeks, but I have been busy with final exams, papers and presentations, as well as packing. We had a four-day weekend, and spent Tuesday sleeping and recovering from the week. Wednesday I went into full on study mode for my exams, and then took a break to see a movie with Andi. We had wanted to see “Easy A” but unfortunately it was no longer showing, so we saw “Due Date”. It is a comedy with Zach Galifianakis and Robert Downey Jr. driving across country. The hit lots of bumps in the road (no pun intended), but in the end they make it through. It was ironic we were seeing it at the end of our semester in Egypt, as it seemed really allegorical. We had a bumpy ride, but we were almost at the end.
Andi and I went to Cairo on Thursday. We went to Khan al-Khalili for the last time and bought some souvenirs before meeting up with her friends Andrew and Cosette who graduated from Duke last year and are doing a year long program in Cairo. I had met them with her last time we came to Cairo, and it was really great to see them! We went to the Yemini restaurant again, and kept them laughing with some of our crazy stories from the semester. We finished our night at a rooftop bar near our hotel, and it was oddly peaceful. I say oddly because Cairo is really the city that never sleeps. I have never really been a huge fan of Cairo, but I realized that the cool (seventy degree) December weather makes the craziness totally bearable, and that it is actually a really amazing place. Andi was even talking about coming back to do another summer program there! Because we have spent a lot of time in Alex, feeling trapped, we can appreciate the opportunities of Cairo, and are able to look past a lot of its shortcomings.
Friday we met up with Seif, who I was put in contact with through a family friend. He lives in Cairo, but has worked abroad, and is about ten years older than us. He took us to the garden at the Marriot, and yet again showed us that Cairo can be fun and beautiful. He couldn’t believe how tough our experience had been, but helped us see how unique it was. He also kept saying, “You girls are toughies,” and was really impressed with the amount of Egyptian Arabic we could speak. Andi and I both agreed that we definitely liked Cairo this time around, and felt ready and refreshed for exams.
Saturday brought the biggest storm Alexandria has seen in twenty years (great timing…just as we are leaving). It lasted two days with high winds, hail and rain. Buildings all over the city were destroyed, there were several deaths, and most of the city was under water due to the poor drainage system. I waded my way to class and exams, and it didn’t really faze me cause we were so close to the end.
Sunday and Monday were basically a blur, as all of my tests were those two days. Considering the fact that my classes and teachers were my absolute favorite part of the experience, I can definitely say it was bittersweet.
Tuesday was the official final day of the program. My one class had been canceled, so I spent the day packing. That evening we went to a group dinner at the boys’ dorm (which was a PALACE compared to the girls’ dorm). All of our teachers and Egyptian roommates came, and there was a talent show after dinner, including a few skits on daily life in Egypt, hilarious imitations and moving poetry readings. After the talent show, Nehad thanked everyone for the semester, and FINALLY announced that the pledge was over! We all said our goodbyes, and went back to the dorm.
My plane to Turkey is at 7 AM on Thursday, so I spent today relaxing, and making sure I was all packed. I am so excited to go to Turkey, and then home. I am absolutely ready to get out of Egypt; however there will be things I will miss. I will miss the temperate weather, running along the Mediterranean Sea, drinking tea at any time of day, everything being insanely inexpensive, using random Arabic phrases and having everyone understand and I am sure there are a million other things that will come to mind sporadically as I go through my daily life at Penn next semester.
I have had a very different abroad experience than most American students who choose to spend a semester in another country. I have been exposed to the evils and the beauty of this country, one of the oldest in the world. I have proved to myself that I am stronger than I ever anticipated, and learned first had that good things never come easily. I have met people and seen things that have changed my life. Robert Frost said it best in his poem “The Road Not Taken”:
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
I want to thank everyone who has followed this blog, as well as all of my friends and family for all of their love and support throughout the semester. To all of you who were here with me in Egypt, we wouldn’t have made it without each other, and I thank you for always lending an ear even when you had a hard day. Thanks to the girls who hosted me in Europe, and everyone who checked in on me every once in a while, and a special thanks to those few who sent me encouraging emails/texts/Skype chats/gchats on a daily basis making sure I was doing alright. As well as a special thank you to my wonderful parents, who endured many tearful Skype calls, as well as flew half way across the world to see me. Sometimes I feel like you went through all of my trial and tribulations with me from thousands of miles away. I will not be posting in Turkey, as I am not sure about my Internet situation there, so this will be my last post! Hope you have all enjoyed the blog, and I will see you State side.
Me eating my fool sandwich in front of the Sofitel on the Corniche
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Ten Days!
I have had a pretty busy week, and have not had a chance to update. Friday, I spent the day studying, and then went to Liz’s apartment for our program’s Thanksgiving celebration. Everyone pitched in and brought something to the meal, I brought plates and utensils, and it was a success! I was so impressed with the boys, and they did most of the cooking, including the best sweet potatoes I have EVER had, and some pretty awesome cornbread. All of us were so happy to be eating traditional Thanksgiving food in Liz’s beautiful apartment. A lot of the Egyptians came to the dinner, but none of them tried any of the food. Almost everything was Halal, and there hadn’t been any dinner in the dorm that day, so I was confused as to why they weren’t partaking in the feast! I asked someone if he had tried the food, and he gave me a look and said, “No, it looks strange.” I wanted to say, “We eat YOUR weird looking food everyday,” but I refrained. I was really surprised, and for some reason kind of hurt, we have been living in this country for almost four months, taking in the culture as best as we can, and are often criticized for our lack of open-mindedness, yet they couldn’t even try some food?!
I mentioned Liz’s apartment being quite nice. It is spacious with a full kitchen, living room, dining room and bedrooms, and fully furnished. I think that if I had the opportunity to live an apartment in Egypt, the experience would have been different, and probably a lot easier. This is simply because we really have no chance to escape from the culture, or just hang out, and an apartment would fulfill both of those need. Alas, that was not possible, as it is mandatory to live in the student dorms, and students staying a full year can move into an apartment after the first semester.
Saturday was my final class on Christianity in Egypt, and I had to do a fifteen minute presentation. I am thrilled to be coming to the end of the program, but it was bittersweet finishing my class with Ustez Emad, as I thoroughly enjoyed it. The rest of the school week was pretty uneventful, and I spent Wednesday working on a video for my Egyptian Colloquial class. The video is supposed to be on the “Dos and Don’ts of Egypt” for the incoming students. There were a few road blocks, as it is against Islam to be in films, except for official purposes, and most people were not willing to be filmed. We found a group of middle school boys who were willing to be in the video and harass us, so as to show how to handle harassment. They were hilarious, and sort of nervous about the whole thing, thinking it was going to be on American television, but we explained to them that it was just for a class, and then even more agreed to participate. We went all over the city, pointing out the best spots to visit, and the best things to do.
Wednesday night was the first night of Hannukkah, as well as the beginning of December! It was sad to not be home for Hannukkah, and not even be at school with my friends, but Andi, Tik and I went to Harry Potter, which was a nice break from Arabic. Tik was surprised at the amount of harassment we got when leaving the movie theater. When he expressed this, Andi promptly replied, “Welcome to my life.”
I spent Thursday doing work. Andi and I went to a café to get a change of scenery. We tried to get a cab or tram or bus to the café, and it took us over half hour. We asked the driver what the issue was, and he reminded us of the soccer match that was occurring in Alex at that exact time. Nobody was working, as they were ALL at the soccer match. No, this was not a special match, or a final of any sort, it was just a normal soccer match, and all public transportation pretty much shuts down.
Friday I went to a Coptic mass with Jessie, and my teacher Ustez Emad, and his family. The entire service was in Modern Standard Arabic, except for some bits in Coptic, which is pretty much a dead language. A lot of the prayers are extremely similar to those in a Jewish Shabbat service, which was really surprising! My teacher had mentioned that he had the same experience when he went to a synagogue in the States, and that there is a strong bond between Judaism and Coptic Christianity. We had lunch with his family after the service and then I went back to the dorm to do more work. I lit the Hannukkah candles with Ariana and Brianna, and it nice but made me a little homesick!
Today I had my final exam for Islam in Egypt, as well as the speaking part of my final in Modern Standard Arabic. I am totally finished with my one on one class, and my other classes are coming to a close. I went running after my exam, and I thought about how beautiful the sky here is. You can’t see all the pollution and the sad state of the buildings if you are just looking up. The sun was setting over the Mediterranean, and it was pretty magical. I have trained myself to look down at the ground or at a random spot in the sky, so as not to make eye contact with anyone and get any unwanted attention. I was running and minding my own business, when a random teenage boy attempted to punch me in the face. I ducked and he ran after me and hit me in the back of the head. I was really upset, but finished my run and realized that there is absolutely nothing I could do about this, except to stop running, which I do not want to do. Instead I chose to just get over it, and think about the run itself. That’s what Egypt has taught me to do. I am now able to recover from small traumas, by dealing with them quickly and internally so I can move on. Ten more days until the end of the program!
I mentioned Liz’s apartment being quite nice. It is spacious with a full kitchen, living room, dining room and bedrooms, and fully furnished. I think that if I had the opportunity to live an apartment in Egypt, the experience would have been different, and probably a lot easier. This is simply because we really have no chance to escape from the culture, or just hang out, and an apartment would fulfill both of those need. Alas, that was not possible, as it is mandatory to live in the student dorms, and students staying a full year can move into an apartment after the first semester.
Saturday was my final class on Christianity in Egypt, and I had to do a fifteen minute presentation. I am thrilled to be coming to the end of the program, but it was bittersweet finishing my class with Ustez Emad, as I thoroughly enjoyed it. The rest of the school week was pretty uneventful, and I spent Wednesday working on a video for my Egyptian Colloquial class. The video is supposed to be on the “Dos and Don’ts of Egypt” for the incoming students. There were a few road blocks, as it is against Islam to be in films, except for official purposes, and most people were not willing to be filmed. We found a group of middle school boys who were willing to be in the video and harass us, so as to show how to handle harassment. They were hilarious, and sort of nervous about the whole thing, thinking it was going to be on American television, but we explained to them that it was just for a class, and then even more agreed to participate. We went all over the city, pointing out the best spots to visit, and the best things to do.
Wednesday night was the first night of Hannukkah, as well as the beginning of December! It was sad to not be home for Hannukkah, and not even be at school with my friends, but Andi, Tik and I went to Harry Potter, which was a nice break from Arabic. Tik was surprised at the amount of harassment we got when leaving the movie theater. When he expressed this, Andi promptly replied, “Welcome to my life.”
I spent Thursday doing work. Andi and I went to a café to get a change of scenery. We tried to get a cab or tram or bus to the café, and it took us over half hour. We asked the driver what the issue was, and he reminded us of the soccer match that was occurring in Alex at that exact time. Nobody was working, as they were ALL at the soccer match. No, this was not a special match, or a final of any sort, it was just a normal soccer match, and all public transportation pretty much shuts down.
Friday I went to a Coptic mass with Jessie, and my teacher Ustez Emad, and his family. The entire service was in Modern Standard Arabic, except for some bits in Coptic, which is pretty much a dead language. A lot of the prayers are extremely similar to those in a Jewish Shabbat service, which was really surprising! My teacher had mentioned that he had the same experience when he went to a synagogue in the States, and that there is a strong bond between Judaism and Coptic Christianity. We had lunch with his family after the service and then I went back to the dorm to do more work. I lit the Hannukkah candles with Ariana and Brianna, and it nice but made me a little homesick!
Today I had my final exam for Islam in Egypt, as well as the speaking part of my final in Modern Standard Arabic. I am totally finished with my one on one class, and my other classes are coming to a close. I went running after my exam, and I thought about how beautiful the sky here is. You can’t see all the pollution and the sad state of the buildings if you are just looking up. The sun was setting over the Mediterranean, and it was pretty magical. I have trained myself to look down at the ground or at a random spot in the sky, so as not to make eye contact with anyone and get any unwanted attention. I was running and minding my own business, when a random teenage boy attempted to punch me in the face. I ducked and he ran after me and hit me in the back of the head. I was really upset, but finished my run and realized that there is absolutely nothing I could do about this, except to stop running, which I do not want to do. Instead I chose to just get over it, and think about the run itself. That’s what Egypt has taught me to do. I am now able to recover from small traumas, by dealing with them quickly and internally so I can move on. Ten more days until the end of the program!
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