Monday, November 16, 2009
Pictures from Syria
and the reason why there is a picture of a guy's face (Brian) is because I swear he looks like my dad a few years back....take a look.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Dumbfounded
Sorry for the silence on Israel/Palestine. I keep waiting for a good time to write, when I feel inspired and witty, but it hasn't come yet and I dont think it is around the corner, so all I can do is relate what is real.
Things here are so different than anywhere else in the world. Last summer in Bethlehem was difficult even though I had learned and studied a lot before I went. It is even more difficult this time around. I know more, am aware of contextual issues and regional complexities, and I am also really attached to the people here because of last summer. It has been a whirlwind of emotions. I have very much appreciated getting the Israeli side of the issue (through very key speakers and Synagogue and Shabat dinner with an Orthodox Israeli family) but it has not enabled me to see the justice in Palestine. My sympathy for Israelis is real, but in light of what is on the other side of the wall, I really have a hard time spending emotional energy on their plight. I am trying to fix it, I promise. My emotions have been a story unto themselves. Right now, this issue is the only thing that gets me fired up.
Yesterday I got to make the grand and triumphant return to Bethlehem and Beit Sahour. I got to see some of the people I worked with last summer and I got to hang out with my host brother, Iyad. It was really good to see everyone and catch up, remember why I love Palestine so much. But the day was long and trying. The wall is a reality that will never be anything less than shocking and devastating. 8meter high walls surrounded and cutting into the little town of Bethlehem is too much to handle. We met with a leader of Fatah, th much criticized (perhaps rightly so) leadership of the West Bank. We moved on to an appointment at Badil, a legal center for refugee rights. The meeting was overwhelming, so much information, many ugly realities and a sense of impossibility prevailed. Next, we moved to a refugee camp to hear more about the plight of Palestinian refugees. My heart is very heavy after all of this. I have invested so much time, energy, tuition money, and emotion in this cause, but still, it is shocking, upsetting, and mostly pisses me off. Yikes.
On the other hand, emotions aside, I am fighting with myself about the role of the U.S. in all of this. It really is my primary interest area, and what keeps me at least a little sane in this situation. Tomorrow, the whole group meets with an Israeli foreign service officer and then a political analyst from the U.S. Embassy...a very foreign policy oriented day. I am really looking forward to ditching the emotions and hashing out the facts, the necessary changes, and the nitty gritty of hard questions.
Overall, being here has been really great. I am happy and mostly healthy. I don't love it any less than the last time and I am learning so much that I am having a hard time processing it all. Life is good; difficult but good. It leaves me confused in that way: happy to be here, deflated by the realities of it all.
Things here are so different than anywhere else in the world. Last summer in Bethlehem was difficult even though I had learned and studied a lot before I went. It is even more difficult this time around. I know more, am aware of contextual issues and regional complexities, and I am also really attached to the people here because of last summer. It has been a whirlwind of emotions. I have very much appreciated getting the Israeli side of the issue (through very key speakers and Synagogue and Shabat dinner with an Orthodox Israeli family) but it has not enabled me to see the justice in Palestine. My sympathy for Israelis is real, but in light of what is on the other side of the wall, I really have a hard time spending emotional energy on their plight. I am trying to fix it, I promise. My emotions have been a story unto themselves. Right now, this issue is the only thing that gets me fired up.
Yesterday I got to make the grand and triumphant return to Bethlehem and Beit Sahour. I got to see some of the people I worked with last summer and I got to hang out with my host brother, Iyad. It was really good to see everyone and catch up, remember why I love Palestine so much. But the day was long and trying. The wall is a reality that will never be anything less than shocking and devastating. 8meter high walls surrounded and cutting into the little town of Bethlehem is too much to handle. We met with a leader of Fatah, th much criticized (perhaps rightly so) leadership of the West Bank. We moved on to an appointment at Badil, a legal center for refugee rights. The meeting was overwhelming, so much information, many ugly realities and a sense of impossibility prevailed. Next, we moved to a refugee camp to hear more about the plight of Palestinian refugees. My heart is very heavy after all of this. I have invested so much time, energy, tuition money, and emotion in this cause, but still, it is shocking, upsetting, and mostly pisses me off. Yikes.
On the other hand, emotions aside, I am fighting with myself about the role of the U.S. in all of this. It really is my primary interest area, and what keeps me at least a little sane in this situation. Tomorrow, the whole group meets with an Israeli foreign service officer and then a political analyst from the U.S. Embassy...a very foreign policy oriented day. I am really looking forward to ditching the emotions and hashing out the facts, the necessary changes, and the nitty gritty of hard questions.
Overall, being here has been really great. I am happy and mostly healthy. I don't love it any less than the last time and I am learning so much that I am having a hard time processing it all. Life is good; difficult but good. It leaves me confused in that way: happy to be here, deflated by the realities of it all.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Whirlwind Times
I made it safely to Jerusalem yesterday. Things got kicked off quickly here with a tour of the Old City, and a night spent wandering around the shops and tourist attractions. Today we spoke to a pastor at Christ Church about the Jewish roots of Christian faith and then spoke with a representative of B'Tselem, the leading Israeli human rights organization. Both were very powerful and I am happy to be back in Israel/Palestine. My heart is so joyful, overwhelmed, saddened by the reality here, and excited to learn more. I know I need to update everyone on the previous two countries of residence, so here it goes:
1. Syria: My Syria experience has really convinced me that I will live there one day. It is a fantastic country with fantastic people, and most importantly fantastic prices. I bought some DVDs for about .75 cents, so good. Don't get too excited, friends, they are all Disney movies in Arabic to help me practice. the biggest problem in Syria is that no one is allowed to talk about politics out of fear of the secret police, called the Mukhabarat. They are not good news, and everyone is hush hush about criticizing the President/King man. It is really problematic for my love of debating politics and pissing people off. But what Syria lacked in politics it made up for in food. This is a food journal...
It started at a little place I like to call the Krak de Chevalier: the coolest crusader castle of all time. We explored for a long time, which included going into dark secret tunnels, spitting down the cracks over doorways, which the crusdaders typically used to pour hot oil on the people storming the castle, and then of course, I mumbled about a few of the castle walls and towers. After that I was sufficiently hungry. The restaurant at the Krak is inconceivable. First, the very Syrian own is very gay, complete with French tipped nails and overly sculpted eyebrows. But the man really knows his chicken. But before that, we all enjoyed a large amount of random "salads" which are appetizers that require pita to eat. All delicious, but OH THE CHICKEN. Barbequed, then smothered in butter garlic sauce. Nothing like it.
After that the grou loaded the bus and headed to Maloula, a small Syrian town which speaks perfect Aramaic, the language of Jesus. We saw a few holy sites and heard the Lord's prayer in Aramaic (really beautiful), and then headed to Damascus for three nights. Damascus rocks. The old city is beautiful and clean, it is easy to navigate and full of little treasures. I want to live there and make friends with the great shopkeepers. I could survive off of lemon ice drinks and cheap chicken sandwiches. Life would be perfect. Then came the lecture at the U.S. embassy in Syria. This only reconfirmed my need to Syrian-ness. The man who spoke to us was intelligent, well informed, fairly critical of the U.S., and his breadth of Middle East experience had me salivating. I will definitely pursue this path further. We additionally met with a couple working with the Mennonite Central community and ate our way through the city. Syria has fantastic ice cream: a prefer the "Best Ice cream" shop to the "Oldest ice cream" shop. Definitely. There are also very fresh chocolate croissants and delicious amounts of freshly squeezed juice. I left Syria unwillingly, but I was excited to move on to:
2. Jordan: Not the best country in the world, but it featured some great things. A very briwf visit of two nights left us a little confused about Jordanian food (we actually got lunch from Safeway-the real thing- twice and ate breakfast and dinner at the hotel). But we did hear from a professor about trends in Jordanian society, which turned out to be the typical "it all comes down to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict" speech. But it was insightful. The best part was that I got to hook up with an old friend I spent some time with in Palestine last summer, Julia. She came with the group to the Dead Sea for the rest of the day, and we got to spend time catching up and encouraging one another. LOVE HER. It was good to get some new energy and find equal amounts of passion in someone. We left Jordan for the border the next morning...
Now I am sitting in the Austrian Hospice in the Old City, on the path of the Via Dolorosa. What can be better??????
1. Syria: My Syria experience has really convinced me that I will live there one day. It is a fantastic country with fantastic people, and most importantly fantastic prices. I bought some DVDs for about .75 cents, so good. Don't get too excited, friends, they are all Disney movies in Arabic to help me practice. the biggest problem in Syria is that no one is allowed to talk about politics out of fear of the secret police, called the Mukhabarat. They are not good news, and everyone is hush hush about criticizing the President/King man. It is really problematic for my love of debating politics and pissing people off. But what Syria lacked in politics it made up for in food. This is a food journal...
It started at a little place I like to call the Krak de Chevalier: the coolest crusader castle of all time. We explored for a long time, which included going into dark secret tunnels, spitting down the cracks over doorways, which the crusdaders typically used to pour hot oil on the people storming the castle, and then of course, I mumbled about a few of the castle walls and towers. After that I was sufficiently hungry. The restaurant at the Krak is inconceivable. First, the very Syrian own is very gay, complete with French tipped nails and overly sculpted eyebrows. But the man really knows his chicken. But before that, we all enjoyed a large amount of random "salads" which are appetizers that require pita to eat. All delicious, but OH THE CHICKEN. Barbequed, then smothered in butter garlic sauce. Nothing like it.
After that the grou loaded the bus and headed to Maloula, a small Syrian town which speaks perfect Aramaic, the language of Jesus. We saw a few holy sites and heard the Lord's prayer in Aramaic (really beautiful), and then headed to Damascus for three nights. Damascus rocks. The old city is beautiful and clean, it is easy to navigate and full of little treasures. I want to live there and make friends with the great shopkeepers. I could survive off of lemon ice drinks and cheap chicken sandwiches. Life would be perfect. Then came the lecture at the U.S. embassy in Syria. This only reconfirmed my need to Syrian-ness. The man who spoke to us was intelligent, well informed, fairly critical of the U.S., and his breadth of Middle East experience had me salivating. I will definitely pursue this path further. We additionally met with a couple working with the Mennonite Central community and ate our way through the city. Syria has fantastic ice cream: a prefer the "Best Ice cream" shop to the "Oldest ice cream" shop. Definitely. There are also very fresh chocolate croissants and delicious amounts of freshly squeezed juice. I left Syria unwillingly, but I was excited to move on to:
2. Jordan: Not the best country in the world, but it featured some great things. A very briwf visit of two nights left us a little confused about Jordanian food (we actually got lunch from Safeway-the real thing- twice and ate breakfast and dinner at the hotel). But we did hear from a professor about trends in Jordanian society, which turned out to be the typical "it all comes down to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict" speech. But it was insightful. The best part was that I got to hook up with an old friend I spent some time with in Palestine last summer, Julia. She came with the group to the Dead Sea for the rest of the day, and we got to spend time catching up and encouraging one another. LOVE HER. It was good to get some new energy and find equal amounts of passion in someone. We left Jordan for the border the next morning...
Now I am sitting in the Austrian Hospice in the Old City, on the path of the Via Dolorosa. What can be better??????
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Road to Damascus
I leave for Syria tonight (a plane ride to the Turkey-Syria border and then a long bus ride over the border)...but Syria has little to no internet access...only through internet cafes, so it is unlikely that I will post much for the next week. I wanted to leave an overview of what is upcoming in my life:
As I said earlier, I leave for Syria soon. Tonight the group will arrive in Hama, the third largest Syrian city pre-1982. In that year a huge fight broke out between the central government in Damascus and the local Muslim Brotherhood members who were fighting against the corruption and opression. So the president, Assad, decided to deploy the military to Hama and eventually, the whole entire town was leveled. Not one building escaped unscathed. So, we are staying one night in Hama, and then moving on to a crusader castle which is known to fulfill every little girl's fairytale fantasy....I am pretty pumped, it is called the Krak de Chevaliers. That is on the road to Damascus, where we will be staying for three more nights, exploring the Old City, going to a traditional bath house, and enjoying the Syrian culture. Our main events are a visit to the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, and a lecture from an American couple who have lived in Syria for five years. They are alums of the program I am on, and they are working with the Mennonite Central Committee. Syria is a little bit lighter on the "work" side of life, but that is highly refelctive of the fact that people there are not allowed to talk about government and/or politics. The government is authoritarian and controversial. All that means is that we will be doing a lot of reading about Syria.
After that, I hope to have a little more internet usage, because we leave for Jordan sometime in the latter part of next week (dates are hazy at this point)...but that is a rough overview of the next week...reflections will come later (insha'allah)...peace and love.
1 country down, 3 to go.
As I said earlier, I leave for Syria soon. Tonight the group will arrive in Hama, the third largest Syrian city pre-1982. In that year a huge fight broke out between the central government in Damascus and the local Muslim Brotherhood members who were fighting against the corruption and opression. So the president, Assad, decided to deploy the military to Hama and eventually, the whole entire town was leveled. Not one building escaped unscathed. So, we are staying one night in Hama, and then moving on to a crusader castle which is known to fulfill every little girl's fairytale fantasy....I am pretty pumped, it is called the Krak de Chevaliers. That is on the road to Damascus, where we will be staying for three more nights, exploring the Old City, going to a traditional bath house, and enjoying the Syrian culture. Our main events are a visit to the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, and a lecture from an American couple who have lived in Syria for five years. They are alums of the program I am on, and they are working with the Mennonite Central Committee. Syria is a little bit lighter on the "work" side of life, but that is highly refelctive of the fact that people there are not allowed to talk about government and/or politics. The government is authoritarian and controversial. All that means is that we will be doing a lot of reading about Syria.
After that, I hope to have a little more internet usage, because we leave for Jordan sometime in the latter part of next week (dates are hazy at this point)...but that is a rough overview of the next week...reflections will come later (insha'allah)...peace and love.
1 country down, 3 to go.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Europe to Asia and Back Again. and there again
Istanbul continues to win my heart. Meeting with the US Consulate was spectacular, and really reaffirmed the fact that I want to work for the government and be intensely involved in Middle Eastern policy. Yesterday we toured the AyaSofya, which is absolutely magnificent, and then went to the Blue Mosque, then the Grand Bazaar (google image all of these, so you can know just how impressive it all is!). Additionally, the weather was terrible. It was raining hard all day long, but we walked all day and got soaked. Definitely did not bring enough warm gear with me. We had a free day today, so I went to a ex-pat church in the morning and then took a ferry with three friends to the Asian side of Istanbul. It was really great to cruise across the Bosporus and then explore on foot an new town. We walked around, got some great food, and had a blast looking at everything around us....Istanbul is beautiful!
Well, the post is going to be short because there are 202 pictures in the slideshow below....sorry, but I didn't have time to edit them down or add captions. But Istanbul photographs well, so have a look.
Tomorrow we go to a university to meet students and attend class, then it is on to Ankara; the Turkish capital and site of a huge shrine to Ataturk. Only 5 days left in Turkey!
Well, the post is going to be short because there are 202 pictures in the slideshow below....sorry, but I didn't have time to edit them down or add captions. But Istanbul photographs well, so have a look.
Tomorrow we go to a university to meet students and attend class, then it is on to Ankara; the Turkish capital and site of a huge shrine to Ataturk. Only 5 days left in Turkey!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Istanbul My Heart
Besides conquering 3 continents in 1 day (Africa, Europe, Asia)…I would say these past two days have been the best of my life.
We arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday morning, drove straight to the Bosporus Straits and took a boat cruise, with Europe on the left and Asia on the right. Taking in the sights of Istanbul is really exhilarating. It is so different from Cairo, a completely different culture…it feels extremely European. So far, we have taken a cruise, frolicked around downtown, consumed authentic Turkish food, apple tea, Turkish delights, the heartiest sweet potato stuffed full of stuff ever in the world, played backgammon at a street café, went to an Ottoman palace next to the Haggia Sofia (which we will go to on Saturday), and walked over the Bosporus Bridge. Not to mention, this morning we met with a Turkish international journalist who is a self proclaimed “elite.” Didn’t learn much we already didn’t know…Turkey’s politics are fascinating, confusing, etc. etc. [on this note: I feel like I haven’t been clear about this ‘travel component’. we aren’t sightseeing the whole time, the purpose is to meet with important figures in each country to understand internal and regional politics better] Tomorrow, we meet with the AK Party, the political party of the President and Prime Minister, and then we go to the US Embassy to meet with a diplomat.
My first two days here have enlightened me to my NEED (and new number one priority) to marry a Turk! Here’s why:
1. They are really really good looking. (had to get that out of the way first)
2. Turkey is the most B.A. country…half European, half Middle Eastern. It is “pivot”-al. bahaha
3. The waterfront of the Sea of Marmara is something worth investing in.
4. The future of world domination is in the hands of Turkey (if only they can figure out the human rights thing, as well as a couple other topics….there is a lot that could go here).
5. Turkey is close to Greece. honeymoon?
6. Istanbul has more history than anywhere I have been….Byzantine Empire, then Ottomans. I have decided that I, on the behalf of America, would accept a couple centuries of Byzantium rule in the US for all of the awesome buildings it will leave behind.
7. Turkish delights are the best nightcap anyone could hope for.
8. Additionally, I spent $1.25 on a fantastic meal today…cheap food is a big incentive.
9. Istanbul is a “walkable” city….everything is close and there is always a waterfront close by. You can never walk to long without passing a mosque that will take your breath away, cobble stone streets, anyone? It took us an hour to walk from the Palace that both the Byzantines and the Ottomans used back to our hotel. On the way we passed the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Market, a bridge, and a university.
10. Turkey might be joining the E.U. and that would make European travel really cheap and convenient.
11. Plus, who wouldn’t want to reproduce with what could be the relative on Geghis Khan?
So, tomorrow I will not only meet with some politicians but I also hope to score a date or two (gotta keep my options open)
All this to say the I LOVE TURKEY. more to come.
We arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday morning, drove straight to the Bosporus Straits and took a boat cruise, with Europe on the left and Asia on the right. Taking in the sights of Istanbul is really exhilarating. It is so different from Cairo, a completely different culture…it feels extremely European. So far, we have taken a cruise, frolicked around downtown, consumed authentic Turkish food, apple tea, Turkish delights, the heartiest sweet potato stuffed full of stuff ever in the world, played backgammon at a street café, went to an Ottoman palace next to the Haggia Sofia (which we will go to on Saturday), and walked over the Bosporus Bridge. Not to mention, this morning we met with a Turkish international journalist who is a self proclaimed “elite.” Didn’t learn much we already didn’t know…Turkey’s politics are fascinating, confusing, etc. etc. [on this note: I feel like I haven’t been clear about this ‘travel component’. we aren’t sightseeing the whole time, the purpose is to meet with important figures in each country to understand internal and regional politics better] Tomorrow, we meet with the AK Party, the political party of the President and Prime Minister, and then we go to the US Embassy to meet with a diplomat.
My first two days here have enlightened me to my NEED (and new number one priority) to marry a Turk! Here’s why:
1. They are really really good looking. (had to get that out of the way first)
2. Turkey is the most B.A. country…half European, half Middle Eastern. It is “pivot”-al. bahaha
3. The waterfront of the Sea of Marmara is something worth investing in.
4. The future of world domination is in the hands of Turkey (if only they can figure out the human rights thing, as well as a couple other topics….there is a lot that could go here).
5. Turkey is close to Greece. honeymoon?
6. Istanbul has more history than anywhere I have been….Byzantine Empire, then Ottomans. I have decided that I, on the behalf of America, would accept a couple centuries of Byzantium rule in the US for all of the awesome buildings it will leave behind.
7. Turkish delights are the best nightcap anyone could hope for.
8. Additionally, I spent $1.25 on a fantastic meal today…cheap food is a big incentive.
9. Istanbul is a “walkable” city….everything is close and there is always a waterfront close by. You can never walk to long without passing a mosque that will take your breath away, cobble stone streets, anyone? It took us an hour to walk from the Palace that both the Byzantines and the Ottomans used back to our hotel. On the way we passed the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Market, a bridge, and a university.
10. Turkey might be joining the E.U. and that would make European travel really cheap and convenient.
11. Plus, who wouldn’t want to reproduce with what could be the relative on Geghis Khan?
So, tomorrow I will not only meet with some politicians but I also hope to score a date or two (gotta keep my options open)
All this to say the I LOVE TURKEY. more to come.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
I've Gone Rogue in the Nile Delta....
So, I promise I haven’t died….just been really busy writing essays!! Anyways, there have been a few things of note other than boring essays.
I went the ALEXANDRIA last weekend! It was pretty OK is how I would rate it. Alexandria is a worn down European port city that is rich in history and not much else. I got to see the Library, but wait, the library that was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world burnt down quite a while ago. The library I went to opened in 2002…it is really impressive (something like 8million books in it) but other than that it was truly just another library. It is on par with the Seattle Library, but nothing to write home about (I way that aware of the irony).
I also went to the Cairo Museum and saw more “things” than I care to ever ever again. The museum is really madness…very hasty curator skills on the part of the Egyptian government. I swear it was an effort to stuff as much crap in one building as possible. BUT, the KING TUT stuff was amazing…really beyond words. The guy was buried in 3 sarcophaguses and had a face mask of pure gold. It was incredible. The whole thing was laid out separately but there are pictures of what it looked like when the tomb was first discovered. The King Tut portion of the museum is everything that you dream of….I spent most of my time being hypnotized by the headdress….pure gold, shiny, and beautiful.
Today, three friends and I went to the Citadel (and if any of you play video games, this is the Citadel from Call of Duty, I think)…So the Citadel is really sweet. Beyond the fact that our taxi driver to the place was the best EVER because he insisted that we only speak Arabic…the Citadel has two amazing mosques, one of which has a bunch of aluminum covered domes. The palace sits on a high hill overlooking Cairo (which was so evidently polluted this morning that it was nearly invisible), but the views are incredible. The mosques inside were cool for all the obvious reasons: carvings, paintings, chandeliers, inscriptions, domed roofs, etc. At this point, however, I am SO over being around tourists, I am practically local ;). kidding, I am not yet that full of myself.
Back to essays, in case you are interested. Half of the semesters work is due before we leave for Turkey (which is TUESDAY!!!!). These are all debate topics where I have to take one side or the other. So, I am arguing 1. Imperialism is not the biggest obstacle for social, political, and economic development in the Middle East. Instead I am showing how totalitarianism, religion, and demographics are the most challenging problems in the Middle East. 2. I am arguing the religion is NOT the cause of unequal rights in the Middle East, but it what is the cause is political corruption, nationalism, and indigenous culture. 3. (This one is actually an engagement essay, so I don’t take a clear side of any argument, more express the competing arguments in my brain) I am arguing that there are two reasons why Christians and Muslims conflict in the Middle East. First, historical causation is to blame: history made it this way. Second, I explore briefly the possibility that religions really aren’t meant to coexist. These are all due Monday morning, and I am trying to get the Imperialism paper finished still….
I LEAVE FOR TURKEY ON TUESDAY. for real. hooray :)
I went the ALEXANDRIA last weekend! It was pretty OK is how I would rate it. Alexandria is a worn down European port city that is rich in history and not much else. I got to see the Library, but wait, the library that was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world burnt down quite a while ago. The library I went to opened in 2002…it is really impressive (something like 8million books in it) but other than that it was truly just another library. It is on par with the Seattle Library, but nothing to write home about (I way that aware of the irony).
I also went to the Cairo Museum and saw more “things” than I care to ever ever again. The museum is really madness…very hasty curator skills on the part of the Egyptian government. I swear it was an effort to stuff as much crap in one building as possible. BUT, the KING TUT stuff was amazing…really beyond words. The guy was buried in 3 sarcophaguses and had a face mask of pure gold. It was incredible. The whole thing was laid out separately but there are pictures of what it looked like when the tomb was first discovered. The King Tut portion of the museum is everything that you dream of….I spent most of my time being hypnotized by the headdress….pure gold, shiny, and beautiful.
Today, three friends and I went to the Citadel (and if any of you play video games, this is the Citadel from Call of Duty, I think)…So the Citadel is really sweet. Beyond the fact that our taxi driver to the place was the best EVER because he insisted that we only speak Arabic…the Citadel has two amazing mosques, one of which has a bunch of aluminum covered domes. The palace sits on a high hill overlooking Cairo (which was so evidently polluted this morning that it was nearly invisible), but the views are incredible. The mosques inside were cool for all the obvious reasons: carvings, paintings, chandeliers, inscriptions, domed roofs, etc. At this point, however, I am SO over being around tourists, I am practically local ;). kidding, I am not yet that full of myself.
Back to essays, in case you are interested. Half of the semesters work is due before we leave for Turkey (which is TUESDAY!!!!). These are all debate topics where I have to take one side or the other. So, I am arguing 1. Imperialism is not the biggest obstacle for social, political, and economic development in the Middle East. Instead I am showing how totalitarianism, religion, and demographics are the most challenging problems in the Middle East. 2. I am arguing the religion is NOT the cause of unequal rights in the Middle East, but it what is the cause is political corruption, nationalism, and indigenous culture. 3. (This one is actually an engagement essay, so I don’t take a clear side of any argument, more express the competing arguments in my brain) I am arguing that there are two reasons why Christians and Muslims conflict in the Middle East. First, historical causation is to blame: history made it this way. Second, I explore briefly the possibility that religions really aren’t meant to coexist. These are all due Monday morning, and I am trying to get the Imperialism paper finished still….
I LEAVE FOR TURKEY ON TUESDAY. for real. hooray :)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Siwa: Desert Oasis
Once again, the crew headed out for a weekend in a new Egyptian city. But that is actually incorrect; we went to Siwa this past weekend, a little village very close to the Libyan border, but the people who live there are not Egyptian at all. They are Siwi, they speak Siwi and they have very Siwan traditions. The story goes that the Siwans were returning to Morocco after completing the Hajj to Mecca, but when they happened upon Siwa they decided to forgo the brutality of the desert for the sanctuary of the Siwa oasis. My thoughts: good call. Siwa Is spectacular.
The thing about Siwa that might trip the typical tourist up is that it truly is not this posh oasis resort (although Prince Charles took his new wife Camilla to Siwa)…it is an impoverished little town with not much economy besides dates, minimal tourism, natural springs, a salt lake, and the supposed cure for rheumatoid arthritis. For those who are curious, really rich and sick people come out to Siwa to be buried in the Saharan desert for 10 minutes every day for two weeks, it supposedly cures arthritis. Sounds painful to me because it is HOT…we are talking about the Sahara here.
But our group fell in love with Siwa for a few very charming reasons. First, Cairo is a polluted, large, busy, loud, and rather obnoxious city. Siwa is its antithesis. We rented bikes for $2 and rode around town the whole day. First we visited a traditional Siwan family’s home. We talked to a young Siwan man about the history of the oasis and cultural quirks. In Siwa the woman wear the burka, aren’t let out of the house without permission, engaged at a young age (7 for example) and married at 16. It is really strange, I must admit, but the girls got to hang out at the house after all the men left and chat with unveiled Siwan women about life. Every question we could through at them in the most “not wanting to be the pretentious westerners” that we are way, was answered with a very simple “that is normal for us.” The woman are not angry about being married so young, not leaving the house, having to wear the Burka, etc. They actually want all their children to carry on the same exact culture, because the Siwan culture is dying.
After Henna with the ladies, we set out on our bikes for a natural cold spring (Cleopatra). It was about a half hour bike ride through small neighborhoods and such, but the spring is literally a very large pool. It was amazing, to say the least. But it was topped by our next adventure. After the cold springs we biked out to the great Siwan salt lake. The lake is so salty you float; but danger (!) for any of you who are thinking, jeez I am going to go to Siwa next time I drop by Egypt. There were a great many of us (myself included) that took home some unwanted souveniers from the salt lake in the form of deep cuts, salt splinters, and rashes. The whole lake is very shallow (4 ft?) and therefore gave me a brutal cut on my hand and foot. Ouch! After watching a gorgeous sunset at the salty lake we naturally had to go to a natural spring to get all the salt off.
The next day we stuffed ourselves full of the most delicious dates on the planet and then set out in jeeps for a desert SAFARI. Sooooooo cool. Best part: the jeeps let some air out of their tires to conquer the desert, so we basically were driving like wild banchees through the Sahara. We went sand boarding, skinny dippying in the most stereotypical desert oasis that you can fathom, bathing in a hot spring, and then climbed a sand dune to watch not just another gorgeous sunset but THE MOST gorgeous sunset I have ever seen. The sun setting on the desrt horizon is not something that can be put into words. I am not even going to try.
After sunset we wound up in a Bedouin camp for the night. We ravenously ate dinner and then spent a long ole time lying underneath the millions of stars that are clearly visible from the desert. A Siwan band came to play for us, so we got to listen to traditional music in a new unfarmiliar language, and dance with strange, and incredibly drunk, Siwan men. Apparently if you let dates ferment you have yourself some date-wine. Sounds good, but we aren’t allowed to try it…but alas, I settled for sleeping outside underneath the stars. We left for Cairo the next morning, but I will never ever forget this one.
Life is good, and I continue to thank God for this incredible life I am living. I am a lucky girl.
The thing about Siwa that might trip the typical tourist up is that it truly is not this posh oasis resort (although Prince Charles took his new wife Camilla to Siwa)…it is an impoverished little town with not much economy besides dates, minimal tourism, natural springs, a salt lake, and the supposed cure for rheumatoid arthritis. For those who are curious, really rich and sick people come out to Siwa to be buried in the Saharan desert for 10 minutes every day for two weeks, it supposedly cures arthritis. Sounds painful to me because it is HOT…we are talking about the Sahara here.
But our group fell in love with Siwa for a few very charming reasons. First, Cairo is a polluted, large, busy, loud, and rather obnoxious city. Siwa is its antithesis. We rented bikes for $2 and rode around town the whole day. First we visited a traditional Siwan family’s home. We talked to a young Siwan man about the history of the oasis and cultural quirks. In Siwa the woman wear the burka, aren’t let out of the house without permission, engaged at a young age (7 for example) and married at 16. It is really strange, I must admit, but the girls got to hang out at the house after all the men left and chat with unveiled Siwan women about life. Every question we could through at them in the most “not wanting to be the pretentious westerners” that we are way, was answered with a very simple “that is normal for us.” The woman are not angry about being married so young, not leaving the house, having to wear the Burka, etc. They actually want all their children to carry on the same exact culture, because the Siwan culture is dying.
After Henna with the ladies, we set out on our bikes for a natural cold spring (Cleopatra). It was about a half hour bike ride through small neighborhoods and such, but the spring is literally a very large pool. It was amazing, to say the least. But it was topped by our next adventure. After the cold springs we biked out to the great Siwan salt lake. The lake is so salty you float; but danger (!) for any of you who are thinking, jeez I am going to go to Siwa next time I drop by Egypt. There were a great many of us (myself included) that took home some unwanted souveniers from the salt lake in the form of deep cuts, salt splinters, and rashes. The whole lake is very shallow (4 ft?) and therefore gave me a brutal cut on my hand and foot. Ouch! After watching a gorgeous sunset at the salty lake we naturally had to go to a natural spring to get all the salt off.
The next day we stuffed ourselves full of the most delicious dates on the planet and then set out in jeeps for a desert SAFARI. Sooooooo cool. Best part: the jeeps let some air out of their tires to conquer the desert, so we basically were driving like wild banchees through the Sahara. We went sand boarding, skinny dippying in the most stereotypical desert oasis that you can fathom, bathing in a hot spring, and then climbed a sand dune to watch not just another gorgeous sunset but THE MOST gorgeous sunset I have ever seen. The sun setting on the desrt horizon is not something that can be put into words. I am not even going to try.
After sunset we wound up in a Bedouin camp for the night. We ravenously ate dinner and then spent a long ole time lying underneath the millions of stars that are clearly visible from the desert. A Siwan band came to play for us, so we got to listen to traditional music in a new unfarmiliar language, and dance with strange, and incredibly drunk, Siwan men. Apparently if you let dates ferment you have yourself some date-wine. Sounds good, but we aren’t allowed to try it…but alas, I settled for sleeping outside underneath the stars. We left for Cairo the next morning, but I will never ever forget this one.
Life is good, and I continue to thank God for this incredible life I am living. I am a lucky girl.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Pictures!
These are first pictures from my homestay (the apartment, crazy kids, makeup, and threading) and also from the Arab League (I am so cool) .... Enjoy!
Mail Me Something!
I would love to get a letter or something...
Kristin McCarthy
Middle East Studies Program
P.O. Box 213
Zamalek
Cairo, EGYPT
Kristin McCarthy
Middle East Studies Program
P.O. Box 213
Zamalek
Cairo, EGYPT
Saturday, October 3, 2009
My Mom Wears the Nikab: Chronicles of an Egyptian Homestay
This past week I lived with an Egyptian family in a part of town called Boulak al-Dokror. I would liken this part of town to the state of New Jersey: nobody really wants to go there. For instance, I could hardly find a taxi driver to take me there from school. It is pretty poor, way overcrowded and it’s economy survives off of Tuc-Tucs (known in other countries as Rickshaws, basically a sketchy, very small three wheeled car). I personally never felt all that unsafe….but the extent of my time in Boulak al-Doukror was spent in a Taxi, walking 200 yrds from the street to the apartment, and in the apartment all night and morning.
My family consisted of Mama, Shaimay-23 (Shy-may), Sara-22 and engaged, Eyya-20, and Ahmed-17…. My “host dad” was absentee, he has been in Saudi Arabia for three years on a work contract. All of my sisters were incredibly gracious and quickly adopted me into the family, forcing me to eat my weight in food every meal and really never giving me a second alone. One night I woke up to my sister Eyya (whom I shared a bed with) sitting crossed legged, watching me sleep, but also tugging my shirt down to cover the ½ inch of stomach that was showing. On that note, we were told to be fully covered the whole time, so I was wearing sweatpants and a long sleeved tshirt in a room with no air conditioner or ventilation….not good. Ahmed was a doll, he wanted to talk about Eminem, the rapper, all the time.
The house was an interesting matter….The apartment was itty, bitty, and filthy. The kitchen was the size of maybe a handicapped bathroom stall, and there was no table, but we ate on the floor of a bedroom in between two beds with the tv always on. Most of my time in the house was spent in this room eating, or watching tv, or talking to my sisters and mama about all sorts of things. One of the strangest parts of this whole experience for me was the schedule of Egyptian families. We would eat dinner around 10, 11,12 (and my first night 1am) and then I would convince them I needed to sleep. I would try to fall asleep in my sauna, and everyone else literally stayed awake until I got up at 7am to leave for school….They would sleep all day, wake up when I got back (5pm) and start making dinner….and this was repeated every day. Very strange….
In the house, Muslim girls are not required to wear the veil (hijab) so they pranced around in track suits (which they wore every day, all day I was there). Mama wore a simple nightgown all the time, so I was really surprised to see her in a full out Nikab (the all black, completely covering ensemble that looks like Ninja suit in my mind, with only slits for eyes)… I had no idea she wore the Nikab until about my 3rd day with the family. I didn’t really get to the bottom of why she wore the Nikab (more on language barriers later) but here daughters only wore the hijab. But, mama going out meant the Nikab made an appearance, and an opportunity for me to wear the Nikab, which I did (although not in its full glory)…I got to put the face piece on, and felt so hidden and anonymous, although my sisters said that I was obviously not Muslim because of my bright green eyes). My sisters also had me put the veil on on three separate occasions, one for a photo shoot, and two for going outside. My feelings on the veil are so hard to pin down: It is clear to me that in most cases the veil is not something at all detested by Muslim girls. A lot of Muslims think that to be a real Muslim you have to wear the veil. Liberal Islamic girls and guys do not think that the veil is required, and some choose not to wear it. For example, My Islam teacher does not sport the veil, but she has been severely persecuted because of it. I told my host family that my Islam teacher does not wear the veil and they were very concerned, told me she wasn’t a good Muslim, and made me promise to tell her that she needs to be veiled. There is definitely social pressure to wear the veil, I would say about 90% of Muslim girls in Egypt do, but it is not this horrible, backwards practice like Western media shows. The veil doesn’t take anything away from girls, it is meant to protect them, and temper gender issues that are prevalent in every cultural. But when I wore the veil I couldn’t help but feel that it is wrong. I didn’t like it, but did appreciate the experience. There is much to be said on this matter (email for more).
So, most of you know that I studied some Arabic in the States…well that was formal Arabic, now I am trying to adapt to a colloquial, slang Arabic called Ammeyya. The transition has been very frustrating, but the homestay was so incredibly helpful for my Arabic. I regained some confidence that I had lost. Only one sister was able to speak English, and it was pretty broken English. We primarily communicated in Arabic, and I LOVED IT!! I love love love Arabic. It was so reqrding when they told me that I speak beautiful Arabic, and they laugh at the funny accent I have, and of course the formal Arabic that creeps in every so often (pretty much like what Old English is to us….imagine a foreigner coming up to you and saying “how dost thou do on this day?”). I have been laughed at a lot, but I am trying to have a good attitude about it!
Anyways, I got to have some really great conversations with my sisters about engagement, which looks different in Egypt than in the states. Being engaged basically means that you are dating. Two fo my three sisters had been previously engaged but broken it off, which isn’t odd or taboo. One sister is currently engaged and hoping to get married in a year. My mom talked to me about Islam (she studied the Quran), and helped me memorize a Sura from the Quran. She was telling me all of Islam is about how God is one…when I told here that is the same as Christianity she said absolutely not, Christians believe in three gods, and that is haram (shameful, sinful) and Christians are takfir (apostates), she knew full well I was Christians. Mama tried to get me to be Muslim when I told her that I like Egyptian boys I met a relative of my family whose husband has two wives. I discovered this in the middle of a conversation with some women about how in Islam men can have up to four wives. We had all agreed that it is not preferable that men marry more than once, but then this woman piped up to say her husband had recently married again. Typically men marry more than once if there is something wrong with the firs wife (namely that she can’t bear him children). But this case was different. From what I gathered (remember, this is in a combination of Arabic and a little broken English) her husband’s friend, or Sheikh advised him to marry this woman, against his will, because she had three little kids and their father had either died or ran off…so she was left with no money and no job. So he did it as an act of charity. If that doesn’t stop and make you think, then you are not reading closely enough this far in…I personally had to do a little re-evaluation after this one.
On a lighter note, I would say that I got a lot closer to Egyptian-girl culture. First step: remove hair from face. Literally. My host sisters “threaded” my whole face, save the eyebrows. My upper lip was the first victim, them my forehead, cheeks, chin, and unibrow-area. It was terribly painful on the cheeks and upper lip, other than that it was awesome. Step two: Makeup in large quantities. I am not really a make-up type of girl, but I thought I would give it a try. My sisters proceeded to cake on foundation, blue eyeliner, and hot pink + bright green eye shadow. Mascara and pink lip gloss finished me off. I couldn’t look in the mirror all night. Step three: Belly dancing. I am terrible at belly dancing but nonetheless Eyya tried to show me some great moves for the lucky guy I marry… it was a blast although unsuccessful. Step four: Cooking. For a big meal I stuffed cow intestine with a mixture of rice, tomatoes, basil, onions, and other spices. This was then fried in oil and consumed. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as disgusting as I thought I was going to be…il humdulilah. Step 5: Motherhood. While lounging and talking to the women, I got full view of overweight Egyptian boobs and nipples in abundance. The youngest child was 2 yrs and nursing. Enough said. Step 6: Live in pajamas. My sisters picked me up on a Saturday night, and didn’t leave the house until the following Friday. They wore the same pajamas the whole entire time, never once changed. Kinda of strange to me…I hate being dirty. Step 7: TV. Very important to Egyptian life…the girls always watched TV, even when they were asleep the tv remained on. Best show: Deal or No Deal, Egyptian style. It is a very dramatic show, actually, everything in Egyptian culture is dramatic. The show has music from Schidler’s List playing when the guy picked a bad box. People were openly teary eyed when he lost. I mean, really people. Also, we watched Biggest Loser Middle-Eastern style which is basically lots of overweight people, speaking in Arabic which left a lot to the imagination. One more: National Geographic Abu Dhabi. There was a show about Dingos in Australia, and when the dingo attacked a human my sisters screamed bloody murder, had to turn away from the tc and be consoled by mama. I was laughing and they hated me for it Step 8: be obsessed with computer games. I played about 4 games with my sisters and then tapped out…they played for hours and hours and hours. We listened to a lot of music on the computer and watched the worst movie ever made (it was their fav), Krishna. Yikes, scary bad acting in that…
When it is all said and done, living with an Egyptian family was an amazing experience. I would be lying to say that I am not relieved for it to be over, but I gained priceless insights, stories, and of course pictures from my time with the Abdul- Aziz family. Pictures, and perhaps videos, to come.
Peace and Love.
My family consisted of Mama, Shaimay-23 (Shy-may), Sara-22 and engaged, Eyya-20, and Ahmed-17…. My “host dad” was absentee, he has been in Saudi Arabia for three years on a work contract. All of my sisters were incredibly gracious and quickly adopted me into the family, forcing me to eat my weight in food every meal and really never giving me a second alone. One night I woke up to my sister Eyya (whom I shared a bed with) sitting crossed legged, watching me sleep, but also tugging my shirt down to cover the ½ inch of stomach that was showing. On that note, we were told to be fully covered the whole time, so I was wearing sweatpants and a long sleeved tshirt in a room with no air conditioner or ventilation….not good. Ahmed was a doll, he wanted to talk about Eminem, the rapper, all the time.
The house was an interesting matter….The apartment was itty, bitty, and filthy. The kitchen was the size of maybe a handicapped bathroom stall, and there was no table, but we ate on the floor of a bedroom in between two beds with the tv always on. Most of my time in the house was spent in this room eating, or watching tv, or talking to my sisters and mama about all sorts of things. One of the strangest parts of this whole experience for me was the schedule of Egyptian families. We would eat dinner around 10, 11,12 (and my first night 1am) and then I would convince them I needed to sleep. I would try to fall asleep in my sauna, and everyone else literally stayed awake until I got up at 7am to leave for school….They would sleep all day, wake up when I got back (5pm) and start making dinner….and this was repeated every day. Very strange….
In the house, Muslim girls are not required to wear the veil (hijab) so they pranced around in track suits (which they wore every day, all day I was there). Mama wore a simple nightgown all the time, so I was really surprised to see her in a full out Nikab (the all black, completely covering ensemble that looks like Ninja suit in my mind, with only slits for eyes)… I had no idea she wore the Nikab until about my 3rd day with the family. I didn’t really get to the bottom of why she wore the Nikab (more on language barriers later) but here daughters only wore the hijab. But, mama going out meant the Nikab made an appearance, and an opportunity for me to wear the Nikab, which I did (although not in its full glory)…I got to put the face piece on, and felt so hidden and anonymous, although my sisters said that I was obviously not Muslim because of my bright green eyes). My sisters also had me put the veil on on three separate occasions, one for a photo shoot, and two for going outside. My feelings on the veil are so hard to pin down: It is clear to me that in most cases the veil is not something at all detested by Muslim girls. A lot of Muslims think that to be a real Muslim you have to wear the veil. Liberal Islamic girls and guys do not think that the veil is required, and some choose not to wear it. For example, My Islam teacher does not sport the veil, but she has been severely persecuted because of it. I told my host family that my Islam teacher does not wear the veil and they were very concerned, told me she wasn’t a good Muslim, and made me promise to tell her that she needs to be veiled. There is definitely social pressure to wear the veil, I would say about 90% of Muslim girls in Egypt do, but it is not this horrible, backwards practice like Western media shows. The veil doesn’t take anything away from girls, it is meant to protect them, and temper gender issues that are prevalent in every cultural. But when I wore the veil I couldn’t help but feel that it is wrong. I didn’t like it, but did appreciate the experience. There is much to be said on this matter (email for more).
So, most of you know that I studied some Arabic in the States…well that was formal Arabic, now I am trying to adapt to a colloquial, slang Arabic called Ammeyya. The transition has been very frustrating, but the homestay was so incredibly helpful for my Arabic. I regained some confidence that I had lost. Only one sister was able to speak English, and it was pretty broken English. We primarily communicated in Arabic, and I LOVED IT!! I love love love Arabic. It was so reqrding when they told me that I speak beautiful Arabic, and they laugh at the funny accent I have, and of course the formal Arabic that creeps in every so often (pretty much like what Old English is to us….imagine a foreigner coming up to you and saying “how dost thou do on this day?”). I have been laughed at a lot, but I am trying to have a good attitude about it!
Anyways, I got to have some really great conversations with my sisters about engagement, which looks different in Egypt than in the states. Being engaged basically means that you are dating. Two fo my three sisters had been previously engaged but broken it off, which isn’t odd or taboo. One sister is currently engaged and hoping to get married in a year. My mom talked to me about Islam (she studied the Quran), and helped me memorize a Sura from the Quran. She was telling me all of Islam is about how God is one…when I told here that is the same as Christianity she said absolutely not, Christians believe in three gods, and that is haram (shameful, sinful) and Christians are takfir (apostates), she knew full well I was Christians. Mama tried to get me to be Muslim when I told her that I like Egyptian boys I met a relative of my family whose husband has two wives. I discovered this in the middle of a conversation with some women about how in Islam men can have up to four wives. We had all agreed that it is not preferable that men marry more than once, but then this woman piped up to say her husband had recently married again. Typically men marry more than once if there is something wrong with the firs wife (namely that she can’t bear him children). But this case was different. From what I gathered (remember, this is in a combination of Arabic and a little broken English) her husband’s friend, or Sheikh advised him to marry this woman, against his will, because she had three little kids and their father had either died or ran off…so she was left with no money and no job. So he did it as an act of charity. If that doesn’t stop and make you think, then you are not reading closely enough this far in…I personally had to do a little re-evaluation after this one.
On a lighter note, I would say that I got a lot closer to Egyptian-girl culture. First step: remove hair from face. Literally. My host sisters “threaded” my whole face, save the eyebrows. My upper lip was the first victim, them my forehead, cheeks, chin, and unibrow-area. It was terribly painful on the cheeks and upper lip, other than that it was awesome. Step two: Makeup in large quantities. I am not really a make-up type of girl, but I thought I would give it a try. My sisters proceeded to cake on foundation, blue eyeliner, and hot pink + bright green eye shadow. Mascara and pink lip gloss finished me off. I couldn’t look in the mirror all night. Step three: Belly dancing. I am terrible at belly dancing but nonetheless Eyya tried to show me some great moves for the lucky guy I marry… it was a blast although unsuccessful. Step four: Cooking. For a big meal I stuffed cow intestine with a mixture of rice, tomatoes, basil, onions, and other spices. This was then fried in oil and consumed. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as disgusting as I thought I was going to be…il humdulilah. Step 5: Motherhood. While lounging and talking to the women, I got full view of overweight Egyptian boobs and nipples in abundance. The youngest child was 2 yrs and nursing. Enough said. Step 6: Live in pajamas. My sisters picked me up on a Saturday night, and didn’t leave the house until the following Friday. They wore the same pajamas the whole entire time, never once changed. Kinda of strange to me…I hate being dirty. Step 7: TV. Very important to Egyptian life…the girls always watched TV, even when they were asleep the tv remained on. Best show: Deal or No Deal, Egyptian style. It is a very dramatic show, actually, everything in Egyptian culture is dramatic. The show has music from Schidler’s List playing when the guy picked a bad box. People were openly teary eyed when he lost. I mean, really people. Also, we watched Biggest Loser Middle-Eastern style which is basically lots of overweight people, speaking in Arabic which left a lot to the imagination. One more: National Geographic Abu Dhabi. There was a show about Dingos in Australia, and when the dingo attacked a human my sisters screamed bloody murder, had to turn away from the tc and be consoled by mama. I was laughing and they hated me for it Step 8: be obsessed with computer games. I played about 4 games with my sisters and then tapped out…they played for hours and hours and hours. We listened to a lot of music on the computer and watched the worst movie ever made (it was their fav), Krishna. Yikes, scary bad acting in that…
When it is all said and done, living with an Egyptian family was an amazing experience. I would be lying to say that I am not relieved for it to be over, but I gained priceless insights, stories, and of course pictures from my time with the Abdul- Aziz family. Pictures, and perhaps videos, to come.
Peace and Love.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Busy week
Hi again :) This past week has been such a whirlwind....I don't know if I can remember everything we have done...
Mostly, guest speakers have been coming and going like a revolving door. First, an Episcopal pastor, then a group from Islam Online. IT has been a heavy week...
The Pastor was really transformational for all of the group: we talked about Islam and Christianity, and how the two interact. It was powerful to see this man who has been living in Egypt for ages argue that Islam is not the enemy, nor something to be looked down upon: Muslims are following Christ in their own way, so our mission is not to convert them but to love them the best we know how. I love this so much!
Then we went to Anafora, a desert sanctuary and a place I never wanted to leave. Why did we go there? I am glad you asked. The 30 Americans in my group got together with 30 Coptic young adults. Coptic Christianity is the indigenous faith of Egypt. Copticism traces it roots all the way back to St. Mark, but was accused of heresy, falsely, sometime before the great schism. This trip was planned for us to see the issues of religious freedom in Egypt. The Copts are a persecuted group (they are about 3-10% of Egypt depending on who you are talking to). Egypt has professed Islam as the religion of the state. Every person has their religion marked on their id card, and this has serious implications on life. Christians face systematic and individual discrimination: They are not allowed to build churches and are the sometimes denied employment based on religion. There has been a lot of conflict between Christians and Mulsims which peaked a few years back with a Christian man being accused and convicted of murdering two Muslim men for which he was sentenced to death. The man was innocent, the murderer was in fact someone else, but religious tension made him an easy pawn. There has also been violence in the streets periodically.
The Copts we met were young and jaded. They felt the system was against them, always has been, always will be. But they were the persecution with pride because that has always been the story of their church. I, however, am left fully grateful for religious freedom in American and a relatively secular society. There are so many more things going through my mind on this topic...
But, for shortness' sake I will have to say that one day with the Copts turned into one day with young Muslim believers. A couple employees from Islam Online (a Muslim living website) came and held discussions with us about a wide range of topics: veiling, marriages, jihad, US foreign policy, culture and society, etc. These people were so fascinating. Every question, and criticizim, about Islam was answered beautifully. A women in a full Nikab (the ninja-esque outfit) was with us to share why she wears it, a personal choice her family does not agree with, young men were there to answer why a women should be responsible for covering up, and journalists were there to explain why anti-American sentiment has developed and produced terrorism. I left our time with more information than ever before. I full reflection would take up pages and pages. Email about specific topics of interests.
This event lead to today's event with three Christians living in Egypt. Up until this point our group has been meeting with highly educated and therefore extremely moderate Muslims. We are being taught the redeeming qualities of Islam and how it is absolutely not what the TV shows it to be. But this group of people, who were born and raised around Islam absolutely ruined this pretty image I had been holding onto. They argued that Islam is a violent, and ugly religion. That the religion itself is the problem, and the people are the ones who were trying to make it softer and more reasonable. Wow! Before hand all anyone would say about this topic is that Islam preaches tolerance and peace, but a few radical preachers have hijacked it and interpreted the Quran in extreme, fundamental ways. My views are being shaken....but more to come.
So for now, I am packing my bags and moving in with a Muslim family for week. Should be interesting...I am a little nervous but mostly excited!
Peace and Love.
Mostly, guest speakers have been coming and going like a revolving door. First, an Episcopal pastor, then a group from Islam Online. IT has been a heavy week...
The Pastor was really transformational for all of the group: we talked about Islam and Christianity, and how the two interact. It was powerful to see this man who has been living in Egypt for ages argue that Islam is not the enemy, nor something to be looked down upon: Muslims are following Christ in their own way, so our mission is not to convert them but to love them the best we know how. I love this so much!
Then we went to Anafora, a desert sanctuary and a place I never wanted to leave. Why did we go there? I am glad you asked. The 30 Americans in my group got together with 30 Coptic young adults. Coptic Christianity is the indigenous faith of Egypt. Copticism traces it roots all the way back to St. Mark, but was accused of heresy, falsely, sometime before the great schism. This trip was planned for us to see the issues of religious freedom in Egypt. The Copts are a persecuted group (they are about 3-10% of Egypt depending on who you are talking to). Egypt has professed Islam as the religion of the state. Every person has their religion marked on their id card, and this has serious implications on life. Christians face systematic and individual discrimination: They are not allowed to build churches and are the sometimes denied employment based on religion. There has been a lot of conflict between Christians and Mulsims which peaked a few years back with a Christian man being accused and convicted of murdering two Muslim men for which he was sentenced to death. The man was innocent, the murderer was in fact someone else, but religious tension made him an easy pawn. There has also been violence in the streets periodically.
The Copts we met were young and jaded. They felt the system was against them, always has been, always will be. But they were the persecution with pride because that has always been the story of their church. I, however, am left fully grateful for religious freedom in American and a relatively secular society. There are so many more things going through my mind on this topic...
But, for shortness' sake I will have to say that one day with the Copts turned into one day with young Muslim believers. A couple employees from Islam Online (a Muslim living website) came and held discussions with us about a wide range of topics: veiling, marriages, jihad, US foreign policy, culture and society, etc. These people were so fascinating. Every question, and criticizim, about Islam was answered beautifully. A women in a full Nikab (the ninja-esque outfit) was with us to share why she wears it, a personal choice her family does not agree with, young men were there to answer why a women should be responsible for covering up, and journalists were there to explain why anti-American sentiment has developed and produced terrorism. I left our time with more information than ever before. I full reflection would take up pages and pages. Email about specific topics of interests.
This event lead to today's event with three Christians living in Egypt. Up until this point our group has been meeting with highly educated and therefore extremely moderate Muslims. We are being taught the redeeming qualities of Islam and how it is absolutely not what the TV shows it to be. But this group of people, who were born and raised around Islam absolutely ruined this pretty image I had been holding onto. They argued that Islam is a violent, and ugly religion. That the religion itself is the problem, and the people are the ones who were trying to make it softer and more reasonable. Wow! Before hand all anyone would say about this topic is that Islam preaches tolerance and peace, but a few radical preachers have hijacked it and interpreted the Quran in extreme, fundamental ways. My views are being shaken....but more to come.
So for now, I am packing my bags and moving in with a Muslim family for week. Should be interesting...I am a little nervous but mostly excited!
Peace and Love.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Pictures! 3
These are the last from now...and they are from the most recent adventure in Luxor. The Valley of the Kings did not allow any pictures to be taken, instead we have a lovely alabaster gift shop, the Habu Temple, the Karnak Temple, and the Luxor Temple. Plus, the view from our rooftop pool at the hotel, and a couple friends made along the way :)
Pictures! 2
These are pictures from climbing Mt. Sinai and then recovering at the most gorgeous beach (Dahab).... one of my favorite weekends! (double click slideshow for full screen)
Pictures!
Pictures from my first week....Pyramids, a feluca down the Nile, Shisha at the Khan il Khalili, and so much more. (Double click on the slideshow for full screen)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Luxor
This is a partial post due to the fact that I am only half way through my Luxor experience. But I figured I would grab the available internet by the horns.
The past week has been what I would term "normal" in the sense that class and a service project was all I did. But, it wasn't normal by most standards. A curious man named Ed White came to be our guest speaker. He works at the US Embassy in Cairo, and I think that he wished he never had left the Embassy. After giving a short talk on what he does, my class spent an hour or so roasting him on just about every Middle East topic there is. He was took the totally typical "government employee" line, which was frustrating but also insightful. Islamic Thought and Practice classes officially began, and that means even more reading and more homework. I was assigned a very curious research paper topic by the teacher- it wasn't in English so I am trying to figure out how to actually research it...mostly by hoping Arabic lessons will enlighten me sooner rather than later.
Our group took off on Thursday night and took a night train to Luxor (south)...Luxor is the sight of the most famous Ancient Egyptian monuments (save the Pyramids). After recooperating yesterday pool side on the hotel roof over looking the Luxor Temple, the team set out for the Valley of the Kings to tour 3 tombs and then went to the Habu Temple. All very impressive. It was really hot, but I got a lot of good pictures, that I promise I am trying to work out a better system for posting them. We are about to head the the Karnak (spl?) Temple....which is the biggest one around here...so I am pumped. And then we get back on a train tonight and head back to Cairo.
I am still in disbelief about the life I am living here....it is insane.
Oh yeah, RAMADAN IS OVER :)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sinai and Dahab
This week tops last week for sure. The Pyramids were great, but Dahab is the heaven I dream of. Let me start at the begining: After our second week of classes the group took off at 6pm Thursday, and got to the base of Mt. Sinai at about 2am. I know what you all are thinking, but we did not sleep one wink. At 2am the 30 of us hiked to the very top (mind, you Sinai is a beast of a mountain) to see the sunrise. It took 3 hrs, lots of switchbacks and the grand finale of 740ish stairs to get to the top. I thought I was going to die a lot, but I made it in spectacular fashion just in time to sit on the edge of the peak and watch the most majestic sunrise of my life. The moutains on the Sinai Peninsular are nothing like mountains we see in America, they are barren but extraordinary, pictures cannot do it justice. After hiking back down by 8am, we hung out out St. Catherine's monastary to regain strength from not sleeping and hiking lots. But then we drove another 2 hrs to Dahab, a hippie beach town on the Gulf of Aqaba, facing Saudi Arabia. When we got there, everyone was exhausted so we ate lunch, and spent the rest of the day on the beach, swimming in the Red Sea. Which, by the way, is so blue and so clean, and perfect, that I never ever wanted to leave Dahab. After a $5 dinner to rival Wolf Gang Puck at a sit on the floor resteraunt looking across at Saudi Arabia(which we could see clearly) everyone slept long and hard.
The next morning we took off for a place called the Blue Hole to snorkel. This place is supposedly the second best place in the world to snorkel after the Great Barrier Reef. Even though it was my first snor-killing experience, I would agree. Basically, you get a snokel, goggles, and flippers and walk down to a dock. The dock is a blue plastic thing that leads out over coral until the coral mysteriously drops hundreds and hundreds of feet. I saw more fish and coral and deep blue waters than I thought ever existed. I loved being there so much! After another day spent on the beach and at eating by the beach, we spent one last night in Dahab.
Yesterday, we left Dahab and returned to Cairo. I was sad to leave, but today I woke up and found myself sitting at the feet of Hossam Baghat for class today. Baghat is a well known and respected human rights lawyer in Egypt, and he offered the lot of us some of the smartest and evenhanded discourse we have had here. I slightly fell in love with this 30 yr old, well educated, highly accomplished man who is quoted in the Economist and created his own Human Rights organization after he was kicked out of Egypt's for defending gay rights. Humdulilah.
I have a few more days of class, but I leave on Thursday for Luxor to see all the Pharaohnic sites such as the Valley of the Kings. I am living the most amazing life :)
The next morning we took off for a place called the Blue Hole to snorkel. This place is supposedly the second best place in the world to snorkel after the Great Barrier Reef. Even though it was my first snor-killing experience, I would agree. Basically, you get a snokel, goggles, and flippers and walk down to a dock. The dock is a blue plastic thing that leads out over coral until the coral mysteriously drops hundreds and hundreds of feet. I saw more fish and coral and deep blue waters than I thought ever existed. I loved being there so much! After another day spent on the beach and at eating by the beach, we spent one last night in Dahab.
Yesterday, we left Dahab and returned to Cairo. I was sad to leave, but today I woke up and found myself sitting at the feet of Hossam Baghat for class today. Baghat is a well known and respected human rights lawyer in Egypt, and he offered the lot of us some of the smartest and evenhanded discourse we have had here. I slightly fell in love with this 30 yr old, well educated, highly accomplished man who is quoted in the Economist and created his own Human Rights organization after he was kicked out of Egypt's for defending gay rights. Humdulilah.
I have a few more days of class, but I leave on Thursday for Luxor to see all the Pharaohnic sites such as the Valley of the Kings. I am living the most amazing life :)
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Living It...
I am trying to make up for a couple things:1. That I have been horrible at posting, and 2. That I have not yet found the patience, nor the place, to upload pictures. But I am tryin to find somewhere that has decent internet because I really want to share a couple pictures! I am working on it.
A couple new happenings: So I thought it was going to be a normal day of class, and our first day of Islamic Thought and Practice. We were scheduled for an introductory course to Islam, and instead of going in the classroom we boarded the bus and went on a tour of 3 mosques in Cairo. The first is probably the oldest surviving original mosque in the world. It was built in in 879 AD, and has been realtively well preserved, to the point where it is still being used as a mosque. The second was built by the Abbassids in 1362, and the last was built by the Turks in 1869. They were all so gorgeous and breathtaking. But the whole time I could only think: wholly crap. I am in Cairo studying Islam, touring mosques. I am not just reading about it or looking at pictures, but I am living and breathing it. I continue to be amazed....
Last night we had our first Hafla, or party. The school I am with set up a cultural exchange program where each student is set up with a nice Egyptian friend. My friends name is Igny, and her sister is Rihab. We had so much fun getting to know eachother, and making fun of my Arabic (which, if I haven't mentionede it yet, has really gotten me into some trouble. Egyptian Arabic is very different from the Classical Arabic I studied. So I sound like I am speaking Shakespearean Arabic. Basically, I get laughed at A LOT). I already have duture plans with my assigned Egyptian friend and her sister. She promised to show me her favorite places in Cairo....which I am pumped for becuase I want to get an insiders view!
Well, not to brag, but I am headed to hte Red Sea tomorrow (Dahab...google it), so I should be getting to sleep!
Salaam.
A couple new happenings: So I thought it was going to be a normal day of class, and our first day of Islamic Thought and Practice. We were scheduled for an introductory course to Islam, and instead of going in the classroom we boarded the bus and went on a tour of 3 mosques in Cairo. The first is probably the oldest surviving original mosque in the world. It was built in in 879 AD, and has been realtively well preserved, to the point where it is still being used as a mosque. The second was built by the Abbassids in 1362, and the last was built by the Turks in 1869. They were all so gorgeous and breathtaking. But the whole time I could only think: wholly crap. I am in Cairo studying Islam, touring mosques. I am not just reading about it or looking at pictures, but I am living and breathing it. I continue to be amazed....
Last night we had our first Hafla, or party. The school I am with set up a cultural exchange program where each student is set up with a nice Egyptian friend. My friends name is Igny, and her sister is Rihab. We had so much fun getting to know eachother, and making fun of my Arabic (which, if I haven't mentionede it yet, has really gotten me into some trouble. Egyptian Arabic is very different from the Classical Arabic I studied. So I sound like I am speaking Shakespearean Arabic. Basically, I get laughed at A LOT). I already have duture plans with my assigned Egyptian friend and her sister. She promised to show me her favorite places in Cairo....which I am pumped for becuase I want to get an insiders view!
Well, not to brag, but I am headed to hte Red Sea tomorrow (Dahab...google it), so I should be getting to sleep!
Salaam.
The PYRAMID in my Backyard
I have been preparing to writed this post from the moment I signed up to go to Egypt. Al of this preparation has not enabled me to eloquently discuss just how insanel y cool the Pyramids are. It was just another Sunday, naturally, and a group decided to go on the long awaited adventure to the pyramids of Giza. It took about 30 minutes, or a $4 taxi ride) to get there, and we spent thw whole day walking and galloping areond 9 pyramids, a sphinx, countless tombs, and a museuem of a solar boat....more later.
My first impression of the Pyramids was this: Holy crap, they are not in the desert like I thought. They are literally in Cairo. The city butts right on up to them, challenging the ancient history of the site with rundown shacks and businesses. I lot of movies and postcards make them seem like they are way out in the middle of the desert, but I assure you they are not. The pyramids lom over all of Cairo and make the squallor in the city even more pitiable contrasted with the glory of Ancient Egypt.
The highlight of the trip was definitely riding a camel, named Michael Jordan, out a ways away from the city. It was about 1.2 hour ride to a spot where we could take the "classic" pyramid pictures...and the camels were so great! I loved galloping around with my bedouin guide singing Arabic songs into the wind.
We also went to a museum at the base of the biggest pyramid to see the "Solar Boat" which is an authentic reconstruction of the river boat the Pharaoh used to ride up and down the Nile. It was very impressive!
I absolutely loved the Pyramids and being a tourist for a day. It made me really miss my father who would have died of happiness, and I could have really used his narration of Egyptian history courtesy of devout History Channel viewing....muss him a lot a lot. And, my fair, white, Seattle skin got scorched out there. The sun is relentless even at 10am!
But I LOVE it here nonetheless :)
Miss everyone!
My first impression of the Pyramids was this: Holy crap, they are not in the desert like I thought. They are literally in Cairo. The city butts right on up to them, challenging the ancient history of the site with rundown shacks and businesses. I lot of movies and postcards make them seem like they are way out in the middle of the desert, but I assure you they are not. The pyramids lom over all of Cairo and make the squallor in the city even more pitiable contrasted with the glory of Ancient Egypt.
The highlight of the trip was definitely riding a camel, named Michael Jordan, out a ways away from the city. It was about 1.2 hour ride to a spot where we could take the "classic" pyramid pictures...and the camels were so great! I loved galloping around with my bedouin guide singing Arabic songs into the wind.
We also went to a museum at the base of the biggest pyramid to see the "Solar Boat" which is an authentic reconstruction of the river boat the Pharaoh used to ride up and down the Nile. It was very impressive!
I absolutely loved the Pyramids and being a tourist for a day. It made me really miss my father who would have died of happiness, and I could have really used his narration of Egyptian history courtesy of devout History Channel viewing....muss him a lot a lot. And, my fair, white, Seattle skin got scorched out there. The sun is relentless even at 10am!
But I LOVE it here nonetheless :)
Miss everyone!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
First Day of School
The boys showed up in ties and tucked in shirts to begin the long awaited "real life" portion of our semester abroad. Arabic class started out well. I already know some, but it will take a lot of time to adjust my classical Arabic to the colloquial, Egyptian dialect. And then the rain came. Not literally, but in the form of about 1 million pages of reading. I kid you not, we have 4 text books, and 3 hefty reading packets with a combined total of 883 pages (we counted). Yikes.
The good news is I am more than excited to read everything, however I am incredibly dubious about my ability to read all of this , write 7 papers, and research for 1 debate, while living in Cairo, traveling around the country and the whole Middle East. I am a little tired just thinking about it.
This coming Friday, Saturday is literally our only free weekend. So we all figured that it would be a good thing to go to the Pyramids, no big deal. I will report back and hopefully learn how to uploads some pix of that adventure.
Besides that I recently conquered Egyptian suprmarkets and predatory Egyptian taxi drivers. They think they can scam me, but I have their number now....this basically means that one driver got about 6 times as much as he should have, and I have learned my lesson. The supermarket was awesome. I shopped with three of my flatmates for 8 girls in our flat (we are communal creatures here). It was fun!
One last thing, just a minor note really. Everyone in the program gets to do a service project every Tuesday. Mine=teaching English to Sudanese refugees. I started yesterday and had a blast. The Sudanese are welcoming and so so lovely. A lot come from Darfur and are waiting for the UN to recognize them as refugees. The organization I work for is called "Refuge Egypt" and absolutely incredible Christian NGO in Cairo. Love them.
Until later, Salaam :)
The good news is I am more than excited to read everything, however I am incredibly dubious about my ability to read all of this , write 7 papers, and research for 1 debate, while living in Cairo, traveling around the country and the whole Middle East. I am a little tired just thinking about it.
This coming Friday, Saturday is literally our only free weekend. So we all figured that it would be a good thing to go to the Pyramids, no big deal. I will report back and hopefully learn how to uploads some pix of that adventure.
Besides that I recently conquered Egyptian suprmarkets and predatory Egyptian taxi drivers. They think they can scam me, but I have their number now....this basically means that one driver got about 6 times as much as he should have, and I have learned my lesson. The supermarket was awesome. I shopped with three of my flatmates for 8 girls in our flat (we are communal creatures here). It was fun!
One last thing, just a minor note really. Everyone in the program gets to do a service project every Tuesday. Mine=teaching English to Sudanese refugees. I started yesterday and had a blast. The Sudanese are welcoming and so so lovely. A lot come from Darfur and are waiting for the UN to recognize them as refugees. The organization I work for is called "Refuge Egypt" and absolutely incredible Christian NGO in Cairo. Love them.
Until later, Salaam :)
Friday, August 28, 2009
And in the Beginning....
Getting here was what I like to call "unfun" but being here is what I like to call FANtastic.
A brief run through: After some 38 hours or so of travel I, along with 26 others, made the trek to the Cairo Airport successfully and uneventfully. Although tired, no one was sick and no one lost luggage (a little bit of a lie because one guy lost a bag but got it the very next day). We met 3 other classmates at the airport along with our staff members. For the rest of the day we moved in to our awesome apartments and had a family dinner. There are 8 girls in my apartment, of which I room with 2 (Dana and Anna) who are great! The apartment definitely have its quirks, but overall it is very impressive with air conditioning, hot water, and lots of space.
The past couple days have been a lot of orientating events (a bus tour, a trip to the Mosque-during Ramadan, and lots of group time). We start classes next Wednesday...which I am so nerdily excited for!
Yes, I have seen the Pyramids because they are so surprisingly close, if not in the city itself, which I find bizarre...But we only drove by and did not stop. But for all those who begged post cards, they are not yet in the mail!
Cairo itself is insane. I knew it would be crowded and hot, but nothing really prepares you for the reality of a new and completely difference place. I live about 3 blocks from the Nile (crazy, I know) and so last night a few of us took a stroll along the river of legends just becuase we could. This, would be a perk of Cairo. But it is so darn populated that a lot of the city was not built with much forthought. Buildings are hastily built to accommodate the population explosion that continues on. Fertile land is covered with rickety 10 story apartment buidings that won't out last the Michael Jackson saga....which I approximate to be about a ten year ordeal. Neighborhoods vary widely, with a class system very much still in place. It is expected to drive from the posh neighborhoods to the really poor ones in a matter of minutes (but truthfully hours because Cairo traffic is litterally a parking lot). The neighborhood I am in is called Agouza, middle class and small. It is charming and definitely has the potential to feel like home really fast! It is nice that I live about 2 blocks from the Villa where we have meals, class, cultural activities, and hang out times. The internet cafe I am sitting at right now is only a couple blocks further than the Villa. I love the walking culture, the street life, and the quiet and altered season of Ramadan here in Egypt. People are easy going and love to hear my struggling Arabic.
I couldn't speak highly enough about the group of people I get to be with for the next 3 and 1/2 months. We are diverse, well educated, caring, friendly, ferociously funny and endearing in terms of our team dynamics. It has been a short 3 days but we are already going to deep places as a result of both going to a Mosque, and sharing past experiences. The Mosque lead us to a long and challenging talk about Islam and Christianity and what it all means. And hust starting to share my experience with Palestine with my new friends has lead to even more challenging conversations. I really loook forward to getting to know all of these people more and learning with them and from them.
You could say that I am happy, but it doesn't quiet do the job :)
Il la likah
A brief run through: After some 38 hours or so of travel I, along with 26 others, made the trek to the Cairo Airport successfully and uneventfully. Although tired, no one was sick and no one lost luggage (a little bit of a lie because one guy lost a bag but got it the very next day). We met 3 other classmates at the airport along with our staff members. For the rest of the day we moved in to our awesome apartments and had a family dinner. There are 8 girls in my apartment, of which I room with 2 (Dana and Anna) who are great! The apartment definitely have its quirks, but overall it is very impressive with air conditioning, hot water, and lots of space.
The past couple days have been a lot of orientating events (a bus tour, a trip to the Mosque-during Ramadan, and lots of group time). We start classes next Wednesday...which I am so nerdily excited for!
Yes, I have seen the Pyramids because they are so surprisingly close, if not in the city itself, which I find bizarre...But we only drove by and did not stop. But for all those who begged post cards, they are not yet in the mail!
Cairo itself is insane. I knew it would be crowded and hot, but nothing really prepares you for the reality of a new and completely difference place. I live about 3 blocks from the Nile (crazy, I know) and so last night a few of us took a stroll along the river of legends just becuase we could. This, would be a perk of Cairo. But it is so darn populated that a lot of the city was not built with much forthought. Buildings are hastily built to accommodate the population explosion that continues on. Fertile land is covered with rickety 10 story apartment buidings that won't out last the Michael Jackson saga....which I approximate to be about a ten year ordeal. Neighborhoods vary widely, with a class system very much still in place. It is expected to drive from the posh neighborhoods to the really poor ones in a matter of minutes (but truthfully hours because Cairo traffic is litterally a parking lot). The neighborhood I am in is called Agouza, middle class and small. It is charming and definitely has the potential to feel like home really fast! It is nice that I live about 2 blocks from the Villa where we have meals, class, cultural activities, and hang out times. The internet cafe I am sitting at right now is only a couple blocks further than the Villa. I love the walking culture, the street life, and the quiet and altered season of Ramadan here in Egypt. People are easy going and love to hear my struggling Arabic.
I couldn't speak highly enough about the group of people I get to be with for the next 3 and 1/2 months. We are diverse, well educated, caring, friendly, ferociously funny and endearing in terms of our team dynamics. It has been a short 3 days but we are already going to deep places as a result of both going to a Mosque, and sharing past experiences. The Mosque lead us to a long and challenging talk about Islam and Christianity and what it all means. And hust starting to share my experience with Palestine with my new friends has lead to even more challenging conversations. I really loook forward to getting to know all of these people more and learning with them and from them.
You could say that I am happy, but it doesn't quiet do the job :)
Il la likah
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The Dirty Details
I would really like to just skip posting an awkward introduction to a blog that I am still a little bit ashamed of creating….but, alas, it must be done. Leaving for over 3 months leaves much to be told about the time between my departure and return, and hopefully that story will be told here, on this blog.
3 months, you ask? Well, yes! I am studying abroad this fall in EGYPT! My love, passion, and semi-addiction to the Middle East has lured me back to my heartland. I will be studying with a group of 30 university students in Cairo with a teacher from the American University at Cairo. The program itself is a Middle Eastern Studies regime which features history, politics, culture, religion, and of course Arabic! Thankfully, the woeful Arabic that got me through Palestinian adventures has since bloomed into a more structured, proficient assortment of nouns and verbs thanks to my Yemeni Arabic teacher Khalid, whom I love. In fact, I spent an hour the other day on a bus ride alongside a diplomat from Burkina Faso who spoke fluent Arabic and I was able to hold a semi-coherent conversation with him! Amazing! So now I claim to be trilingual (wow, just kidding).
Back to the point, I will study and learn, play and volunteer. My semester abroad will mostly be spent in Cairo attending class and volunteering once a week at a location TBD. There is a weeklong home-stay, but I will be living primarily in a dorm/apartment situation (not sure on details quite yet). Undoubtedly I will see the Pyramids and send everyone who wants postcards (especially if you donate money to the cause). Embarking on adventures has become a part of my innermost character so I intend on seeing all of Egypt (Luxor, Aswan, Dahab, Sharm al-Sheik, Alexandria, King Tut's tomb to fulfill the 6th grade curiosities that still linger, etc.).
Egypt is just not enough though. One of the program’s best feature is a travel section where the whole group of students takes class on the go. We will visit Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Israel/Palestine (HOORAY)! I can hardly sit still just thinking about it!
Well, I leave in less than 2 weeks and really need to start preparing for all of this greatness. I am terribly excited for it all, and hope that you will come along with me. (Plus I dont want to suprise anyone when I marry an Egyptian camel trader instead of coming home in December)
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