University Class

Today was the first day of my university class (as in a class full of Egyptian students!). My course is a fourth year course on Maritime Archaeology, and although it's only the first day, I really think I'm going to enjoy it. It only meets one day a week for two hours, which is perfect, because I don't have much spare time as it is. My professor is Dr. Emad Khalil, who is also my boss at my internship, and I've already mentioned how great of a guy he is. The first half of the class was just a discussion of what we would be covering in the course, and a review of materials from previous courses. I am quite pleased to say I understood the entire lecture, and even knew the answers to some of the questions before the other students did (although I was way too scared to actually raise my hand and give the answer in front of the whole class). My goal for the semester is to be able to answer a question or participate in a discussion in class without embarrassing myself. Anyway, then the second half of the class we watched a film/documentary about an underwater excavation...which was in English and of very bad sound quality. At the end of the video, the professor asked the class if anyone understood anything that was said, and no one else did whatsoever. I know I shouldn't have been as happy about this as I was, but I felt a great deal of satisfaction in this. In a society and culture where nothing comes easy to me and I get stared at and made fun of a lot, at least whenever we watch poor-quality English films I'll be the only one who can answer the professor's questions. Ha. Take that, Egypt.

For this class I have an academic partner, who will attend the class with me and meet with me at least two hours a week outside of class to discuss the material. I met her for the first time today and I really like her! Her name is Rawan and she's in her second year of school studying archaeology. She's very friendly, talkative, and helpful, without being annoying or overbearing (which is rare among Egyptian personalities). All in all, it was a great first day as an Egyptian student!

Back from the hiatus

I spent a wonderful month-long break scuba diving and relaxing in Dahab. I even ended up working at a dive shop to get free accommodations and free dives...which was awesome!

Now I'm back in Alex and our Flagship classes began last Sunday. We don't know when the university classes will begin, because they still haven't figured out their schedule of classes. Anyway, my Flagship classes seem wonderful so far! I am taking Modern Standard Arabic, Colloquial Egyptian Arabic, a translation class, and an Arabic media class. My MSA, translation, and media teachers are all amazing. They are smart, nice, no-nonsense kind of people, which means lots of tough homework (which has already begun) but also a great improvement in my Arabic (which I am already beginning to see just after a few classes) by the end of the semester. My colloquial Arabic teacher is...less than satisfactory. She talks to us like we are kindergarteners, gave us a packet of course work on the first day that is way below our level, and smiles in a sickly-sweet kind of way. Not a good combination. Anyway, that is by far my worst class, but I'm sure I'll survive it.

I also started my internship today. It's with the Center for Maritime Archaeology at the University of Alexandria, and it seems really great so far. My boss, Dr. Emad Khalil, is a really nice guy, and really smart. The other students working there seem nice, but leave me alone for the most part, and I cannot tell you how refreshing that is. Today my task was to set up a cataloging system for the center's library, create a database of the books, tag all the books, and order them on the shelves. I spent over five hours working on this today, and will hopefully finish tomorrow. It's a lot nicer than it sounds. I got to sit by myself in a library all day looking at books about scuba diving, archaeology, and history. It was fabulous. Once this is done, Dr. Khalil said I'll get to start doing some translation work and grant proposal-writing, both in Arabic and in English.

In other news, my home-stay is going great. I love my host mom (whom I call Mama Hoda). She is a little pushy but a real sweetheart. Her daughter, Eman, is great as well. She's about my age and in her last year of studying to be a doctor. She is very, very smart, motivated, fluent in several languages...and all she and her mom ever talk about is who she is going to marry. It's hilarious. She'll come over and tell her mom about some new guy she met at the hospital or at school, show him to her on Facebook, and they will discuss the only two important factors involved in the decision: how rich he is and how handsome he is. Oh, and of course, he has to be an engineer, one of the only two respectable professions in Egypt (the other being a doctor, but Eman doesn't want her husband to do the same thing she does). They are both very picky though, so the right guy hasn't come along yet. Soon hopefully, insha'allah (G-d willing).

What is also funny about living with Mama Hoda is her neighbors. I've met only one of them, but everyone in the neighborhood already seems to know who I am, since gossiping is national past time of old Egyptian women. For example, I went into the drug across the street from the apartment for the first time today, and the lady working there enthusiastically greeted me, saying in Arabic: "Hi! You're Jennifer's sister, aren't you? You and Jennifer look SO much alike, and you speak the same way, too, and have the same mannerisms! It's nice to finally meet you!" Explanation: there was a girl living with Mama Hoda last year through the Flagship program as well, named Jennifer. Mama Hoda is telling everyone that I am Jennifer's sister, because, according to her, "it's just easier that way." I can't blame her (home-stays are a very foreign idea to Egyptians), but it still catches me a bit off guard.

Last thing. A confirmed case of swine flu has broken out in the university dormitories (thanks to one of the Flagship boys), so they are all being quarantined for at least a week, if not longer. The other study-abroad programs have canceled their classes since almost all of their students are in the dorms. But not us, since only half of Flagship students live in the dorms (all the Flagship boys are in the dorms and all the girls moved into apartments or home-stays). So, Flagship is still having classes with only the eight girls it has.

Also, a colony of ants has moved into my computer.

Cairo!

So last weekend we all went to Cairo, and it was definitely a whirlwind trip! We were there for three days and two nights, which is of course not enough time to explore even a tenth of what the city has to offer.

We of course saw the pyramids, which were nice. I have to admit that I was not as impressed as I thought I would be. My favorite part was seeing Saqqara, which is filled with ancient royal tombs. We got to go inside one of these tombs and I almost died for being too excited! Djoser's step pyramid is also at Saqqara. The pyramid itself wasn't too interesting to me, but the area surrounding it was fabulous, because it included several complexes including the ruins of a heb-sed court and a palace.

We also saw a citadel-turned-mosque, which was beautiful, and an area of Cairo called Khan al-Khalili, which is famous for it's souks, or markets.

On Saturday we went to the Coptic area to see a church and a synagogue. Of course the synagogue was closed because it was shabbat, but the Egyptian coordinators of our tour could not understand why in the world something would be closed on a Saturday, and yelled at the guard there for about 15 minutes! The church, which apparently dates back to the third century CE, was gorgeous. I just really wish I could have seen the synagogue.

Food in Alex

Now that I can't eat any food outside the dorms, I think I should mention how amazing the cuisine is here in Alex.  

Best falafel and fool place: Mohammed Ahmed.  A sandwich there costs the equivalent of twenty-five cents, and it is amazing!  If you ever come visit me we will have to come here.

Helwiyat Misr: The best Egyptian desserts in the city!  Not only do they have traditional Middle Eastern sweets, but they also have the best ice cream, hot chocolate, and milk shakes I've ever had!  Another must.

Koshary, a noodle, lentil, vegetable, stir-fry type dish is very common in Egypt and very delicious as well.

Fiteer is very similar to a pizza, except without sauce.  The bread is different, more flaky, like pastry dough, and you can put cheese, vegetables, meat, or even honey and sugar on it.  Very filling and very tasty.  

Now you all have some things to look forward to when you come visit me!  Trust me, you haven't lived until you've tried the food here!

Getting sick in Alex...

I've been pretty sick for the past two days with severe stomach pains.  At points it was so bad I couldn't even get out of bed.  So last night I called the director of the program and she in turn called the nurse at the dorms and they decided to call a doctor in to see me.  

It ended up taking the doctor over an hour and a half to get here, partially because everything in Egypt runs slower, and partially because they had to inform ALL the girls in the dorms that a man was coming so they could either stay in their rooms or put on their hijab.  In the mean time, all the women at the dorms are bursting into my room every five minutes to ask me the same questions over and over, because they are convinced I must have swine flu and just not telling them all my symptoms.  Anyway, when the doctor is finally about to arrive, the women have a panic moment because of how messy my room is!  I had just done laundry and because there are no dryers here and only a couple drying racks I had to hang my clothes around my room to dry them.  They found this entirely unacceptable, so as I was writhing in pain in bed, they told me I must clean my room and make it and myself presentable because "the doctor is a man and he is very handsome."  Then once the doctor got here, he spent about five or ten minutes just having a conversation with me and my roommates -  what our names our, where we are from, what famous people have the same names as us, what we are studying, everything.  I was not amused by this gesture because I really just wanted him to diagnose me and give me medicine.  It turned out I just had colitis (similar to food poisoning I think) and he prescribed me a medication that worked instantly.  It will be a few weeks before I'm fully recovered, but as long as I stay on the meds it's not too painful.  

Egyptian hospitality

Egyptians are the nicest, kindest, most caring people I've ever come in contact with in the world.  Any one you meet will go above and beyond to make sure you are happy and comfortable.  At first I thought this was just because we are foreigners, but they behave this way to everyone.  For example:

On my way home from the university last week I witnessed an accident between two buses.  Immediately, about one hundred people ran to the accident site to help everyone get out of the vehicles, make sure no one was hurt, and call 991.  

Egypt, like the rest of the Middle East, has a huge stray cat problem.  Cats are to the Middle East as squirrels are to the UMD campus.  In most countries though, they treat the cats absolutely horribly.  Here, however, the people treat the cats with great love and care.  Every day I see shopkeepers putting out little bowls of water for cats in the area or giving them extra scraps of food.  A week ago I saw a group of about a dozen men rescuing a family of kittens from a building that was close to collapse.  It's really very touching to see how much they care. 

Even on just a daily basis, people will go out of their way to make sure you are happy and have everything you want.  Every conversation begins with asking the other person how they are doing five times.   If you go visit a friend, they won't let you leave without giving you a gift of some kind (often food or at least tea).  

I'm not sure what it is about Egypt that makes them so caring, but whatever it is it's great.  You definitely don't see that in most places in the world!

Driving

Trying to cross the streets in Egypt are some of the most terrifying experiences of my life.  Cars do not stop for pedestrians, and traffic is usually so heavy you have to weave between the cars to get where you are trying to go.  Not only do drivers not stop for pedestrians, but they seem to speed up when they see you trying to cross!  I don't know if they think it's amusing to see us freak out and run faster, or whether it's just a normal power struggle for the use of the road.  Either way, it's very scary!

Even when you are in a car, you are no better off.  Lanes don't exist in Egypt.  The little lines on the road seem to just be decoration for them.  You can have three lanes painted on a street, and there will be five or six uneven and unorganized rows of cars trying to get by.  You can drive on the shoulder, in between lanes, or anywhere.  More often than not taxi drivers, instead of waiting for the car in front of them to move slightly, will squeeze past them and end up just barely avoiding scratching their car in the process.  It's amazing how people can drive here, I could never get used to the constant honking and unruliness.  

Iskandariya!

After a very long two days of traveling - from a late night flight out of Dulles to a nine-hour layover in Frankfurt and an early morning arrival in Egypt - we are finally here!  Most of use took the opportunity to leave the Frankfurt airport and explore the city, which was fun despite the cold and rainy weather.

Despite the tedious flights and layovers, we arrived at 2:00 am this morning in Alexandria, Egypt, and of course the adventures began right away.  It took a couple hours to get through customs because order doesn't really exist in Egypt, just a practical chaos that gets the job done in its own time.  Almost all the workers at the airport were wearing masks for fear of contracting the swine flu and each of us had to have our temperatures taken to make sure we don't have the illness.  

The best part of the evening was meeting all the Egyptian students who would be living in the dorms with us and helping us throughout our summer and year here in Alex.  Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful - I don't think I can even begin to explain how welcomed and at home I felt.  They all helped us with our bags, conversed and joked with us in Arabic, and introduced us to the dorms.  My favorite part of the evening (morning?) was making sure the Egyptians could never forget me: as I was loading one of my suitcases onto bottom of the bus, I bumped my head on the cabin door.  It didn't hurt at all, so I kept walking until everyone starting yelling around me and I felt blood gushing down my face.  Apparently I hit my head right on a major vein and punctured it fairly badly.  All I could do was try to keep the blood from getting in my eyes, nose, and mouth while everyone around me tried to clean me up.  My shirt was almost completely soaked in blood, as were much of my jeans and much of the clothing of the half-dozen Egyptians helping to clean up all the blood.  Since they don't have alcohol swabs one of the girls sprayed her perfume on the wound to disinfect it!  Anyway, I'm fine now, and they decided it was not worth a hospital visit, but it was a very interesting way to begin my stay in Egypt!

The dorm itself is quite nice, and as I said everyone in the program - both Americans and Egyptians - are very friendly.  I'll have to figure out if I want to post picture here or on a separate site, but either way pictures will be coming soon!  I miss you all terribly but I hope you are having as much fun in the States as I am here!

Blogger?

So this blog is just to keep my family and friends updated on my life abroad and all my travel adventures!  Blogging is quite foreign to me so we'll see if I actually stick with this.  I'll begin posting things once I am actually over there.  =)