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)