Settling In

A completely candid shot of Matt and John studying.

So we've been in Cairo for just short of one month... holy crap! The first week went by ridiculously slowly for me as I was experiencing the whole culture shock and everything. But the last three weeks (ever since classes started) have gone by so fast. We still haven't done many touristy things except for the Pyramids, but between settling in and keeping up with courses, we've been pretty busy.

View from our window.

Signing up for classes was stressful. As everyone warned us, AUC, while terrific in most areas, sometimes lacks organization. My roommate, Phil, put it really well in a blog entry of his. But after being shuffled from one department to the next (and then back again), and after numerous frantic emails, I think everything worked out for the best. My classes have been great. I'm taking four engineering classes and an Arab Music Class. I've been surprised at how well their engineering program matches ours. I had a bit of a scare on my first day of classes after quite an "I'm from America" moment (one of many). My professor was showing us the textbooks for the course, and to my horror he raised one written entirely in Arabic. He asked if there was anyone in the class who couldn't read Arabic, and as I slowly raised my hand and every head in the room turned towards me, it occurred to me that international students don't typically come over for engineering. My professor was really good about it and is helping me through. All of my professors are great and incredibly helpful.

Double parking has a new meaning here.

I've been slowly getting to know some of my classmates, and they've all been really nice and have helped me with translations and the like. OH! I'm also taking a course in Arab music. Part of it is a mix of music theory and history while the other part is a music ensemble. I'm playing the piano in the group and am having so much fun. I have to say, though, we're pretty terrible. It's a small group and most people are just learning their instruments / I'm terrible at sight-reading. Regardless, it's a really really fun group. I've met some really cool people, and it's just so great to be playing and getting exposed to such different and interesting music.

By this point the culture shock has pretty much warn off, although I do still giggle a little when I see armed, uniformed guards walking down the street hand-in-hand and swinging their arms playfully. Many people I talked to before coming to Egypt had ideas of the people here being

We tried pigeon, a delicacy here. Tastes like chicken, but it's a lot smaller.

very unfriendly towards Americans. As far as I've seen, that thought couldn't be further from the truth. I'm sure that there are people who don't like America much, and I've probably inadvertently offended a person or two here and there (I certainly seemed to do it easily enough in the U.S.), but for the most part I've been amazed at how friendly and helpful people are - and I've been to Canada like five or six times!

The language barrier has been much less of an issue than I expected. I came here not knowing a lick of Arabic save for shukran, or "thank you," which I would proudly say to waiters after my friends ordered food for me. After taking the Survival Arabic course offered by AUC, I still know next to no Arabic, but I know enough to get by okay. I was feeling really proud of myself when I started ordering things and discussing prices in stores entirely in Arabic. I was put back in my place, however, when I tried to have a real conversation with someone who didn't speak English. Enough people in downtown Cairo (particularly in restaurants and stores) speak some English anyway, and if they don't, it can be fun trying to communicate.

Downtown.

On the night Egypt won the Africa Cup, amidst the wild celebrations, I talked for about ten minutes with two guys my age who spoke almost as little English as I did Arabic. We didn't get terribly far or deep with the conversation, but we all had a lot of fun trying. That's the most encouraging part - if you're having trouble with the language here, people aren't rude about it like one might expect. Instead most people I meet like to help out.

Well that's all for now. Sorry we went so long without writing. Here's a video John and I took to show what crossing the streets is like in Cairo. And before any of our parents write back at how dangerous it is, save your breath - it's just the way things are here.

Egyptian Frogger.