Masa al-kheer!

Masa al-kheer (good evening)!

 Today, I had a few people ask me how my trip was going and I didn’t really know how to answer them. I could give you the superficial I’m-fine-how-are-you answer and just say, “Everything’s going great! Thanks for asking!” but that wouldn’t really be fair. Don’t get me wrong, this has thus far been an amazing experience and opportunity and I wouldn’t trade it. However, coming into such surroundings with stark differences between my culture and here, it is a much deeper feeling than just excitement.

Fantastic. Hectic. HOT. Informative. Confusing. Frustrating. Beautiful. Thought provoking. Comforting. Surprising. Chaotic. Noisy. Alarming. Relief. Terrifying. Enlightening. 

All completely valid words to describe the last week. I’m not going to try and pretend that I can talk about everything in one blog post (or probably not even in a hundred) but here are a few notes:

In my short two week preparation for arriving here I thought about many things. I thought about being in a new country with new foods and customs. I thought about being prepared to hit the books and really study hard. I thought about living in an Islamic country and how I need to alter some habits in order to be respectful of the culture I am visiting. The one thing I did forget to think about and prepare for was coming to a big city. Metros filled beyond capacity, the never ceasing chorus of honking horns, the sheer amount of beggars, the crowds of people to navigate through, the vastness of the city and the time it takes to get from point A to point B were all things that I wasn’t adequately prepared for. It’s been a culture shock for sure but also exciting to experience.

Crossing the road is a bit like playing Frogger. In a land of no crosswalks, very few traffic lights, and sidewalks that are only existent for about 100 feet at a time, getting from one side of the street to another can be a bit challenging.

I’m starting to break out of my English bubble and use Arabic more and more. More vocab is coming back to me and I’m learning many new ones each day. It helps to have an hour and a half class on Masri (the Egyptian dialect) five days a week.

Our 16th floor balcony has become a sort of oasis in this chaos. The honking horn chorus isn’t as loud up there and there is a gentle cross breeze and a beautiful view. I have had some wonderful discussions on that balcony already and some refreshing naps there as well.

 Everyone knows Egypt is hot and everyone knows I much prefer hot weather to cold weather. But it is HOT here. This is the kind of climate where one goes out and about in the morning, returns home around lunch in order to cool down, take a cool shower, and recoup. Then one returns out and about into the city after the hottest part of the day has past. I don’t think that this is the schedule most Egyptians are on, but it seems to be the preferred method among the some girls in our house, myself included. I also am drinking so much water here it is ridiculous. A 1.5 liter bottle of water costs about 50 cents and I go through about two of those everyday.

 Because the holy day in Islam falls on Friday, our work weeks are Sunday through Thursday. The result of this is that I have no idea what day it is 99% of the time. I only know how many more days we have until the weekend. :P

 Matthew, our program director, is teaching some of our Community Based Learning classes which looks at current social issues in Egypt. Each class or discussion has been more intriguing and enlightening than the previous. We are studying the current NGO draft law looking to pass soon, how NGOs are reacting to it, individualism (USA) vs. collectivism (Egypt), monochronic vs. polychronic mentality, looking at a culture deeper than the surface and trying to figure out why things are different instead of just accepting them. Fascinating. As Americans, we have many stereotypes about many different cultures. Many of the ones of the Middle East can be intimidating and confusing.

From growing up in America I can easily see how these stereotypes have come about and why they are still so prevalent today. But I can also see that these are stereotypes and that you have to look past these if you are to ever really appreciate the beauty of the culture. Even in one week I have seen how things that confuse us as Americans make perfect logical sense when living here. For example, I am extremely grateful for the woman-only cars on the metro, wearing long sleeves and pants makes it a lot easier to escape damage from the sun, and it is very easy for Egyptians to get the wrong impression of us when all they see is what comes out of Hollywood. People go with the flow here which is very apparent with the traffic. Think of intersections working like sand falling through an hourglass. The hijab (the veil Muslim women wear) is very stylish as well as a religious symbol. I am constantly admiring the different patterns and the many ways they can wear them. It will be exciting to keep discovering these phenomenons in the upcoming weeks.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summers! Best wishes :)
Masalama (good-bye),
 Meg