How is it all ending so quickly?!

Sorry I haven't written an update in awhile -- the past two weeks have simply been a whirlwind of classes, trips, meetings, dinners, and, of course, last minute sight-seeing and shopping, which has been both incredible and exhausting. It's hard to believe we will all be leaving so soon (and Hiba's already left us as of early yesterday morning -- so sad!). I know I will definitely need a couple weeks back home to process everything we have seen and experienced while here -- Cairo has been an INCREDIBLE experience.

The good news is that I have been picking up a lot of interesting leads for potential future LE projects over the past week. I finally got in touch with the AMIDEAST program in Dokki, and Sharon and I went down to their office to meet the Country Director and Training Unit Director on Wednesday afternoon. Overall, the meeting went very well, and we found their office very welcoming, organized, and eager to host young, native English speakers from LE as volunteer teachers beginning next summer (I sent more details to Ahmed via email). On Wednesday evening, I also met a friend of Jon's (Herb Williamson) who is a contractor for USAID, and works with a school for Sudanese refugees in Maadi called the African Hope Learning Center (www.ahlc.info). In addition to putting me in touch with the school's director, Lineke (who is really interested in hosting LE volunteers to teach some of their high school students next summer), Herb also put me in touch with a pastor from his church in Maadi (Paul-Gordon Chandler) who works with a lot of interfaith initiatives and educational programs in Muslim communities, Mohsen Abu Seif from USAID, who is going to help us explore getting involved in public schools in Cairo, and another friend of his named Nasser from Assiut (in Upper Egypt), who will help us explore sending volunteers to some of the public schools in that city. I will be meeting with Paul-Gordon and Mohsen on Tuesday afternoon (Sharon will probably come along to both meetings, as well), and am excited that we could finally get the ball rolling on some interesting initiatives that would expand LE Egypt's network of service to new communities, and new parts of the country. I will write more detailed email updates/summaries and pass along contact information after we hold the meetings.

I am giving my final exam to all 3 of my classes tomorrow evening, and am honestly really sad to be leaving the LAMB center. I have come to really appreciate and enjoy my students, and despite certain frustrations working with the center (i.e. a final, all-program dinner we were hoping to do for the LE teachers and students fell through due to the office manager not getting things organized in time), I have found it a wonderful place to volunteer and wish I could stay longer. Who knows though -- I have become A LOT more interested in the Middle East since coming here (and to echo Hiba and Sharon's postings, absolutely ABSORBED with studying the Arab-Israeli conflict after visiting Palestine), so maybe I will be back in the region to visit within the next few years, insha'allah, depending on where my graduate studies take me.

I hope everyone reading this at home/in the States is well. I don't want to leave!

Rachel