3…2…1…Liftoff!

Today, my journey begins.  I am sitting in Philadelphia Airport after a relatively uneventful plane ride from Albany airport.  The gentleman I sat next to was a jovial, rosy-checked, rotund man (think North Pole).  He had a deep hearty laugh and we chatted for most of the ride.  Victor was a kind man from Wisconsin on his way back home after working on some water treatment plants in Cobleskill, NY (the town I basically grew up in). 

 

There was one small issue before I boarded the plan:  I was never issued a ticket, only a boarding pass.  Luckily, everything was cleared up, a few people given coupons for free flights, and we were off in the tiniest, most crowded plane I’ve been on! 

 

Later…

I had a few hours to kill in Philadelphia airport, so I walked around the airport a bit.  Considered buying something to eat, but decided against it.  I wasn’t hungry anyway, and there would be food on the plane.  Time seemed to creep slowly by, but the flight was announced and I got in line to board.  I started tearing up a little, knowing this would be the last time I would be in the U.S. until I came back.  Adventure!  Let’s go!

 

The flight to Frankfort was about 7 hours, but I had longer rides than this in a car.  I watched the movie “Date Night.”  The lights remained on for about four hours as the flight attendants moved up and down the aisles first giving a snack, then a drink, then dinner, then a drink, and this and that.  They didn’t seem to stop until they had delivered all the promised goods.  I was thankful when they did stop.  I wanted to sleep!  I slept in fits for the remaining of the flight.  Thankfully, the plane was relatively empty and I had two seats to myself.

 

I arrived in Frankfurt at 9AM and the screen at the gate stated my next flight took of in 25 minutes.  I rushed to get to the correct concourse.  In the Philadelphia airport and the Frankfurt airport, people were transported between concourses on buses that ran along the tarmac.   I had never experienced this before.  So I arrived at the correct concourse to discover my plane did not leave until 10AM as it had stated on my ticket.  So I sat and waited a little bit before boarding. 

 

I sat next to a nice Egyptian man, but we did not talk at all.  I just wanted to sleep!  Before I knew it we were preparing to land in Cairo.  I looked out the window and saw the dessert below, jagged with buildings rising from the ground.  There was the Nile River, flowing and bending between buildings and sand.  There were patches of green, fields of crops, but so few.

 

I am here!  In Cairo!  I’m excited for a grand adventure. 

Class Schedule!

I had received my class schedule many weeks ago, but I have failed to share with everyone which classes I am taking. I am happy to say my earliest class is at 10 AM! I am a complete night owl, so it is necessary to have my morning beauty sleep.

The following is the list of the classes I am taking:

Elementary Arabic
Understanding Arab Music
Intro to Photography
Mass Communication Research (the class which will substitute for my senior capstone)

I have wanted to take a photography course for a very long time, but it had been one of my last choices for studying at AUC. Originally, I had signed up for a Middle Eastern Studies course, but they replaced that with the photography course. I suppose my studies will be less taxing by taking photography instead of another writing-intensive course. No matter what classes I take, I know I will be very busy!

All the courses which would substitute for my senior capstone had a prerequisite, so I am quite relieved to find I have been added to one of them. The class I am in was not the one I preferred, but at least it is something! My first choice was "Research for Journalists," but I will take what I can get.

I feel like a freshman again with all my classes being chosen for me; but I am happy to be studying in another country!

Bon Voyage! Soon.

Still working on preparation for Cairo...more or less. I'm also relaxing as much as possible. Returning home means the return of household responsibilities as a member of the family unit. Sometimes it's strange and hard to re-adapt to the lifestyle I once knew. Coming home has a familiar feeling, but there is a strange newness as well.

The other day my family had a picnic-- a kind of bon voyage party. Surprisingly, the state park where we held the picnic also had their own party, too. There was a DJ at the pool, ice cream, and a cute set up for drenching your friends and loved ones (for $1 you get three throws at a target which will release a spout of ice cold water). Of course I was the subject of the brutal torture! We all had a grand ol' time...quite fun!

My aunt had requested a song for me, which I have posted below for you to enjoy (see link). I've never had a song played for me before! I should travel more often.

In a few words, my bon voyage picnic turned into an event to remember.

Walk Like an Egyptian

In New York

I am back home in New York State. It feels good to be reunited with family, but I dearly miss my friends back in Kentucky!

It seems my weekends are going to be busy as each one has some event planned:
The weekend of the 7th: camping in the Adirondacks and hiking Mount Marcy-- tallest mountain in New York.

August 14: a big party and picnic at a childhood hangout to celebrate my trip and to reconnect friends and family for a day.

August 21: Surprisingly, nothing is planned at the home-front, but I may have plans of my own depending on a dear friend of mine.

There are other plans mixed in throughout the month including shopping for appropriate clothing to wear in Cairo markets. We are also planning a trip to NYC to see the body exhibit and perhaps for a hair appointment at Bumble and Bumble (a highly sought hair salon and academy).

I am working on learning a little Arabic by using flashcards I have found online called Quizlet. Use the links on the left side of the page to find Arabic or any other subject to study. I am also using an interactive learning tool I found called Byki 4 Express. I also ordered a set of CDs to listen to and learn some extra vocabulary.

You would think I wouldn't need the Arabic course I am taking this fall! But I am far from prepared. One can have all the tools to learn a language, but dedication and perseverance are the keys to learning.

In the Middle

I wrote this while I was still in Kentucky, but I never had a chance to post it.

So life has become a little more difficult now that I do not have internet at home. Nor am I allowed to go on the internet for personal reasons while I’m at work. I have so much to do that requires internet access! I still need to find a storage shed and I’d like to do more research about Egypt.

I “started” packing today…meaning I started to pack up the clothes I haven’t been using this summer. But then I realized I was planning on taking all my clothes home and going through them carefully and deciding what to bring. I think it would be easier this way. I remember Austria was awful because I had packed my bag thinking I was completely prepared, but then I realized “it would be nice to bring this, and to have that, too.” I made a mess of my neatly packed storage bins and my suitcase before I was completely ready. Sooo…I’m keeping everything open until D-day. I’m beginning to realize this is the last week that I will be able to see anyone I know for about ½ a year. Ok, 5 months, but it isn’t much different. During the spring semester this sounded like an excellent idea because I really needed a break from everything and everyone. I just wanted to get away and hide for a while. What better way to do so than to take off for a semester! Well, it is actually the last motive for going, but it seemed like an extra perk to the trip.

Now that I have had a chance to relax and enjoy just sitting around doing practically nothing for hours on end, I’m not so sure taking off is such a great idea anymore. But I think my fears are getting the best of me. This happened a couple years ago when I went to Austria, but I also had friends who were going along. Now, I’m going solo. Scary! Luckily, I have a couple friends who are familiar with Egypt and the Arab world.

The other day I met a Syrian man who helped me realize I had formed at least one fallacy, even though I thought I was conducting legitimate research. I had watched a few clips online about the increase of head coverings in Egypt. It seemed young, Muslim Egyptian women were returning to wearing scarves. I also saw in the same clips crowded streets in Cairo where the majority of women were wearing head coverings. However, the Syrian I spoke with told me most Egyptian women do not wear Hijab. I had planned on wearing a head covering every time I went out to avoid unwanted attention. Long, curly blonde hair generally isn’t the norm in Egypt. The Syrian advised I should dress normally and that if I was going to be attending the American University, I would already be more conservative than the majority of students there. I was wearing a long shirt that buttoned high on the chest and was loose fitting…generally not my normal choice of costume. I still plan to dress conservatively whenever I am going outside of the university. I want to blend as much as possible.