My first day of orientation was today! I was pretty excited! The bus stop is only a 10-15 minute walk away (and the walk is right along the Nile so it is definitely a scenic route :P ). The bus is only for AUC students and it has not only air conditioning but also wi-fi! That was pretty great (: Apparently in traffic in the afternoons/evening the bus can take up to 2 hours to return but, to me, that isn't even an issue if there's internet! I could skype or even do homework all on the way home! Haha. Luckily this morning the bus only took 45 minutes to get to campus (which is in New Cairo, a suburb outside of Cairo). Unfortunately I had to board the bus at 7:30...meaning I woke up at 6:30 :| My parents would be very surprised/pleased to know I not only woke up on time but was also able to get myself to the bus stop and not be late! For those of you who don't know... I definitely have a flexible understanding of the word "punctual." Though, I have been told this is a very Egyptian thing of me to do so at least I'm assimilating :P
Orientation was a typical school orientation. The registration process was long, tedious, disorganized, and required relocating to multiple buildings repeatedly in a nonsensical pattern. I was told by the returning international students and other Egyptian students that this is very typical of AUC and Egyptian culture. I guess I'm used to a lot more structure because every 15 minutes I could feel myself clucking (a weird habit I've picked up where I use my tongue to make a "cluck" - apparently a lot of Egyptians use it in colloquial to signify "no" or some other sign of displeasure) and then proceeding to think to myself, "This could be so much more efficient" (a habit I definitely picked up from Graham). Inefficiency aside, the long lines and ceaseless walking facilitated meetings lots of people! It was really exciting meeting so many people again and realizing I didn't know a single person! It reminded me of my first day at Austin College....almost two years ago! The same exhilarating desire to meet everyone and ask for the standard: name, country of origin, length of stay, major, and where they're living. Although everyone made fast friends and I was really impressed with the diverse backgrounds and nationalities of the people I met. Plus, many of the students I met were evacuated during January due to restrictions imposed upon them by their home university or embassy. Yet these students all returned as soon as they could because learning and studying in Egypt mean that much to them! It was truly inspiring. I also met a really nice Swedish man who just finished doing research in Zimbabwe and was planning on writing his thesis while here in cairo; a Norwegian woman who was studying environmental biology; a Peruvian studying Islamic architecture, and so many more! There were definitely a lot of Americans but all of them (well, most of them.... okay, 40%) seemed like serious and really impressive students. I have already exchanged my information with a number of them who live nearby me in Zamalek who I hope to hang out with. It was pretty exciting also meeting fellow Arabic Language Institute (ALI) students because those are usually the most driven students since ALI is an intensive 40+ hour courseload. ALI-specific orientation isn't until Sunday so I have to satiate myself until then by meeting all the international students I can! I don't get to meet the Egyptian students until classes start on September 4th. I'm getting so excited!
OH and after registration ended for the day around 3PM they had a scheduled (and free!) excursion to celebrate iftar. We went to Islamic Cairo and visited some of the shops in a part of al muizz street near bab el fotouh where there were waterpipes, trinkets, blankets, and metalware everywhere! Beyond that we took a bus to the Citadel which was lit up at night. It was quite beautiful inside and it's one of the most famous mosques in Cairo.
As the sun went down we celebrated iftar with all the other international students. The food was amazing! I really loved it and the sweets were to die for :D I went back twice for extra sweets - it was that good. After the sweets there was a performance by the Whirling Dervishes, an order of Sufis based out of Turkey who "whirl" in remembrance of God, and it was amazing as well! They were able to light up their costumes and do some amazing things. I wish you could have seen it! Afterwards they brought out sheesha for everyone to smoke and had hot tea as well. I love how much hot tea is celebrated in Egyptian culture. Unfortunately it's not really high-quality tea (mostly Lipton, surprisingly) but I still love tea and it's very refreshing on after a stuffing dinner while smoking sheesha and overlooking all of Cairo while the sunsets. Tonight was such a fun and great night! I really enjoyed it (even though I had to suffer through orientation stressy-ness haha).
Looking forward to tomorrow (although not to the early morning!) :D
Orientation was a typical school orientation. The registration process was long, tedious, disorganized, and required relocating to multiple buildings repeatedly in a nonsensical pattern. I was told by the returning international students and other Egyptian students that this is very typical of AUC and Egyptian culture. I guess I'm used to a lot more structure because every 15 minutes I could feel myself clucking (a weird habit I've picked up where I use my tongue to make a "cluck" - apparently a lot of Egyptians use it in colloquial to signify "no" or some other sign of displeasure) and then proceeding to think to myself, "This could be so much more efficient" (a habit I definitely picked up from Graham). Inefficiency aside, the long lines and ceaseless walking facilitated meetings lots of people! It was really exciting meeting so many people again and realizing I didn't know a single person! It reminded me of my first day at Austin College....almost two years ago! The same exhilarating desire to meet everyone and ask for the standard: name, country of origin, length of stay, major, and where they're living. Although everyone made fast friends and I was really impressed with the diverse backgrounds and nationalities of the people I met. Plus, many of the students I met were evacuated during January due to restrictions imposed upon them by their home university or embassy. Yet these students all returned as soon as they could because learning and studying in Egypt mean that much to them! It was truly inspiring. I also met a really nice Swedish man who just finished doing research in Zimbabwe and was planning on writing his thesis while here in cairo; a Norwegian woman who was studying environmental biology; a Peruvian studying Islamic architecture, and so many more! There were definitely a lot of Americans but all of them (well, most of them.... okay, 40%) seemed like serious and really impressive students. I have already exchanged my information with a number of them who live nearby me in Zamalek who I hope to hang out with. It was pretty exciting also meeting fellow Arabic Language Institute (ALI) students because those are usually the most driven students since ALI is an intensive 40+ hour courseload. ALI-specific orientation isn't until Sunday so I have to satiate myself until then by meeting all the international students I can! I don't get to meet the Egyptian students until classes start on September 4th. I'm getting so excited!
OH and after registration ended for the day around 3PM they had a scheduled (and free!) excursion to celebrate iftar. We went to Islamic Cairo and visited some of the shops in a part of al muizz street near bab el fotouh where there were waterpipes, trinkets, blankets, and metalware everywhere! Beyond that we took a bus to the Citadel which was lit up at night. It was quite beautiful inside and it's one of the most famous mosques in Cairo.
As the sun went down we celebrated iftar with all the other international students. The food was amazing! I really loved it and the sweets were to die for :D I went back twice for extra sweets - it was that good. After the sweets there was a performance by the Whirling Dervishes, an order of Sufis based out of Turkey who "whirl" in remembrance of God, and it was amazing as well! They were able to light up their costumes and do some amazing things. I wish you could have seen it! Afterwards they brought out sheesha for everyone to smoke and had hot tea as well. I love how much hot tea is celebrated in Egyptian culture. Unfortunately it's not really high-quality tea (mostly Lipton, surprisingly) but I still love tea and it's very refreshing on after a stuffing dinner while smoking sheesha and overlooking all of Cairo while the sunsets. Tonight was such a fun and great night! I really enjoyed it (even though I had to suffer through orientation stressy-ness haha).
Looking forward to tomorrow (although not to the early morning!) :D
