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

Pictures!

Per Ahmed's request, here are public links to my Facebook albums containing pictures of our group's time here in Egypt/the Middle East:

Dahab: http://stanford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2081992&l=8a302&id=202962
Palestine: http://stanford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2081625&l=c5b31&id=202962
Jerusalem: http://stanford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2081619&l=b799e&id=202962
Mt. Sinai: http://stanford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2080028&l=5e45d&id=202962
Alexandria: http://stanford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2080020&l=49776&id=202962
Cairo/Giza: http://stanford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2078029&l=fc6a1&id=202962

I will add more as we finish out our time here in Cairo!

Rachel

An Ode to Omar, Palestine, Dahab, and kittens...

In no particular order -
This poem is for the Doorman (Bowwab in Arabic), Omar the great.

Omar oh Omar
the best Bowwab we'll ever know
you push the cars
you wash the windows
with your Bowwab power

You help everyone on Sharia Mohammad Mazhur
A Bowwab like no other
And although you think my name is Miriam
And Sharon's name is Habibti
We still Ahibbik you

Everytime we leave
You think we are going to Alexandria
On Thursday, you will realize
I will tell you, in broken Arabic, that I'm leaving forever
Parting is such sweet sorrow... but don't worry Omar,
we will meet again Inshallah

-------
In other news, we have been partaking in a lot of adventures,
From Taba to Eilat to Jerusalem to the West Bank...
back to Cairo, then to Dahab, and now we are back in Cairo.
I am off in a couple of days to go back to Washington DC
And I'm a little overwhelmed with how much is still left to do here,
so I'm just trying to get things done before its too late.
We have had such an insane couple of days that we are still trying to catch up
with sleep and haven't really had a chance to process what went down...

There aren't really enough words to describe how amazing the Palestine trip was,
We all learned so much in the couple of days - it started off at an incredibly low point
because - as everyone plus Israel knows - I was born in Saudi, and it says that on my
American Passport so I was holding up the rest of the group while I was interrogated
and probed by the Israeli police. That was an incredibly low point of my life, but I learned a lot
about the importance of patience. While we were getting our passports handed back to us after
seven and a half hours, a Palestinian family was waiting with us and they asked us to tell Bush what
happened, and they also said 'Now you know how we feel'. That was a really eye opening experience,
the start of an incredibly insane journey....
After that, it was a blur of spiritual highs, and I feel like it would do injustice to describe it in words...
It was amazing to see the three major faiths of the world coming together in a space of less than a mile.
The walls of the old city tell so many stories, and seeing the people of all different faiths living within them,
it was very powerful, I feel like I could have spent days and days wandering the inner walls... I definitely cannot
wait to go back and visit all of the friends we made...
As soon we got to Jerusalem, we had lunch at Pasha's with my friend Maher who works for UNRWA, who gave us
a crash course in the historical background of Palestine as well as a current update of the situation. He encouraged
us to go see it firsthand, and I'm so thankful that he did because seeing it is a whole another level to just hearing
about it. Even looking at pictures of the 'checkpoints' don't really speak enough words to explain what it feels like.
And the Palestinians go through it all the time... and according to a couple of other Palestinians we met,
it is just going to get worst before it gets better, because the israeli government is going to be introducing
Biometric cards to further handicap the ease of getting through the Israel/Palestine border... its mind blowing that
this is allowed to happen, especially in such a western and modern country...
Jerusalem and Palestine had spiritual beauty, and when we came back from Cairo we went to Dahab a day
later to experience natural beauty. It was amazing swimming/snorkeling in the Red Sea, its easy to see why
people from all over the world go there - it beauitifuuulll.
I'm going to spend hte next couple of days doing as much LE work as I can, and I have to wrap up my classes
and of course - pack!
HIBA

Wow.

So we just got back from Israel and Palestine. (Just got back meaning i just woke up....we arrived at around 6 am and didnt sleep most of the way back). It was incredible. Im already itching to go back. We all had incredibly experiences and Im not entirely sure how to write about them...but I'll try for the sake of Mama K (who is always here in spirit!!!), Ahmed and my Mom. We arrived in Jerusalem about 12 hours later then we expected to because we were held at the border. The experience of having no control over the situation was unbelieveably frustrating. The worst part was that we were planning to get Egyptian visas at the border (which we had thought was possible) but couldnt (Apparently it's not!) and spent 7 hours wondering if we were going to get into Israel so the big question was "Um what if we dont get in to the country?". We would have sort of been stuck in between to countries....so thankgoodness we got in. When we were finally handed our passports we were all jumping up and down and clapping and in some cases crying. From there we took a cab to the egyptian consulate, got our visas to get back to Cairo, hopped in a cab, headed to the bus station and got on a bus to jerusalem. We stayed in this awesome awesome hostel in the old city. It was great because we ended up meeting and befriending a bunch of people. Seeing all the religious sites shoved in next to each other was incredible, we were all impressed. I could say more about it but....
Anyway, the second day we headed into Palestine (West bank). We went to bethlehem, Jericho, the dead sea, and Ramallah. The great thing was we went with a group of 3 other people all of whom were young journalists, one of whom was Palestinian but Had never visited, It was an incredible experience. Amoung many things we got to see yasser arafat's tomb. We spent that first night in an outdoor coffee shop in Ramallah talking about everything from politics to travel experiences. When we finally foced ourselves to get up and get out we headed toward the "checkpoint" that divides Israel proper (Sort of....) and Palestine. It was pretty crazy. You have to go through this "terminal" that honestly looks like it was created for barnyard animals. After watining in line, getting checked, getting our bags checked, wwaiting, waiting, waiting, getting verbally harassed, and getting nervous, we were finally on the other side. Of coarse once you get in a bus to head back to the old city you get i.d-ed a whole bunch more (by 18 year olds with huge HUGE guns to boot). The whole thing is disturbing and really gives you something to think about. Of coarse since were not really supposed to be in the West bank anyway we had to moniter what we said, what we bought (or rather how we pack it), and take our camera chips out of our cameras (They will go through it....). That night we hit the town ( quite the scene they have in J-town), got locked out of our hostel (we missed curfew), hung out with some boys from Italy, and had great food. It was fantastic.
The next day we went back to Ramallah, this time just the 4 of us. It was another amazing day. One of the coolest things we saw was the otherside of the wall (which is in the process of being finished) which is covered in really thoughtful and interesting grafitti, poetry, quotes, and pictures. When we were walking around Ramallah this really intense crazy thing happpened- a young guy came up to me and kept insiting he knew me. "We were in the Palestinian solidarity group last year! Remember?" I kept telling him that I had never been to the west bank before but he kept insisting we had worked together. Finally we got to talking about where we were from and when he heard I was from New York his face lit up and he pulled out a packagae he had just recieved. The package from from NYU (Where i go to school!) and it turns out he had just gotten his visa to go to school there starting in September. When he told us he had never ever left Palestine and now he was headed towads NYC (And NYU!) i was completely BLOWN away. I literally spent the rest of the day in a fog....What a crazy coniciidence. Fate! It must be fate!!!!! Obviously we all exchanged info and I cant wait to see him again. Anyway theres so much more to say about this crazy trip but suffice it to say that I will definitely be going back. Inshallah I'll see Jerusalem and Ramallah again...and soon!
Sharon W.

PsSsssSss (Hissing sound)

So far, every weekend seems to top the experiences of the last weekend - and this one (inshallah) will do the same.
Last weekend was Mt Sinai wonderfulness - has anyone blogged about the food there? it was bliss on a plate - exactly what our bodies needed to detox the Cairo pollution. it was simply perfect - vegetables, salad, beans, bread mmm just thinking about it makes me hungry.
Its so so so so so hot outside. Lets take a hot (literally! ha ha ha) second to ponder it.
Lately, I've been experiencing how small this world is - a random girl we met in Mt. Sinai who moved there and married a bedouin - we convinced her husband to bring her to the bedouin camp so we could all chat and she turned out to be a Soas alumn! not only that but she has the same Sufi sheikh as one of my best friends from Soas - and they know each other from childhood.
The classes are chugging along just fine, they are grammar kings and queens and I'm really starting to get the hang of this lesson planning business. I can't wait to make some solid contacts to spread LE Egypt to more institutions!! Outside of class, I am really getting to know the students on a personal basis, there is so much to be learned and they are so eager to participate in a cultural exchange... my student invited me to his brothers wedding (which we saw the latter part of due to a prolonged visit by Mohammad, the guy who cleans our flat). We also had Kushari with some of my students (my new favoritestestest food in the whole wide world!), and we chatted about religion and world news which was one of the most fascinating eye opening conversations I have had in Egypt... I can finally wrap my head around what teachers really go through - holding back opinions, facilitating conversation, not getting personally involved - it is a really challenging thing to do! Especially for someone who gets riled up really easily (me).
I love walking around the streets of Cairo!!!! today I got lost trying to find fresh juice 'taaza a'aseer' on 26th July (todays date, AND the streets name = awesome) and although I didn't find it, I did find the Metro Mart - a western super market that sells chocolate digestives.
We are off to Taba in an hour via minibus, and we will be crossing the Egypt/Israeli border tomorrow afternoon....

HIBA

So, I need to renew my visa...

Ok, well, when I applied for my visa in the US, the consulate only gave me a month visa and told me that I would have to renew it in Egypt -easy right? Well, if it hasnt been that evident yet, Things that should be easy in this country usually have the tendency to be very complicated... So, I wake up about 8am so I can get to the 9am opening of the Mogama (The building I go to get the visa renewed). I get there, bright and early - go through security to enter the building - go upstairs to the 2nd floor, where I get a even more intense security screening. I wonder around the floor trying to see where the visa area was, but to no avail... I see this HUGE area with lines already 20 people deep at each station. (Just a side note, when I say lines, I mean masses of people - there are no formal lines) So, I ask "where is the visa extension area" and wouldn't you know it, it was the same area that the masses of people were at. I push my way through the line after about 30 minutes and being shoved literally halfwat accross the room by a lady who was probably 80 years old. I get to the window, only to be given a form and told to come back when I finished it... I finish the form, go to window again, to be asked for 2 photocopies of my passport and visa... so, off I go outside the building to find a copy machine - after another 20 minutes of wandering around the streets, i make the copies and head back. I finally get to the window a fourth time only to be told to come back in 2 hours... After a considerable time waiting and waiting... did i mention waiting? I finally go back, get in an even LARGER line to retrieve my passport. 4-5 hours later, I FINALLY get my visa and am on my way back to my apartment.

Walking back, I passed the same shop owner who asks me everyday to come into his shop and when I say no, he says "WELCOME TO EGYPT!!!" What I dont understand is that Ive lived here for almost 5 weeks and have told him many times that I in fact live right around the corner from him - yet he keeps going... I just dont understand! :)

Totally different from this story, I had the most wonderful meal of kosheri while waiting for my visa today, I must say - If you ever get the chance, please visit Egypt if for nothing else but the kosheri!!!


-Ken

A few more...

Im starting to get nervous about how little time we have left here in Egypt. Theres so much I still want to do and every day I start to enjoy myself more and more.

This past weekend we went to Mt.Sinai. It was fantastic. Probably one of my top 3 trips that I have ever taken. We took a rickety old bus on the way there (About 7 hours). You can now add Egyptian buses to the very short list of things I am afraid of. The bus driver had absolutely no concept of safe driving. On about 88 ocassions during the bus ride I was sure we were going to die. Anywho, we made it along with some other girls we've met here who are from England. The first night we stayed (Stayed- not slept!) at this Bedouin camp. The camp was aweeeesssooommmmeeee. We took cat naps outside in a tent with a fire going while we waited for our guide to pick us up. He came at around 3 am and we started hiking the Mountain. It's pretty rocky and it was tough going at some parts (Especially the end!) but we made it. Funny but I could totally see the toll that Cairo pollution is taking on me (And Cairo food....). That night we ended up going to a Bedouin party of sorts were we got to dance to music played on drums, a harp-y looking instrument, and some kind of guitar. Oh and singing! Lots and lots of singing! We were definitely sorry to leave...

Yesterday was one of my favorite days in Cairo so far (despite realizing that I lost my debit card....a testement to the wonders of Cairo!). We started off with breakfast in Maadi with Jon and then found this adorably little used-books store where we I bought 4 books for 100 pounds. On the way home, on the metro I was trying to learn how to say "I have a skin allergy" from a phrase book (so i could suggest getting a little henna done and then coming back the next day to see If I had an allergic reaction) but I couldnt quite pronnounce it correctly. There were a bunch of young guys standing behind me so I turned to them and pointed at the Arabic version of what I was trying to say. One of them sort of smiled and goes (in arabic of coarse) "I have a skin Allergy"". I still didnt get it so I asked him to repeat it slower. "I....Have....a.....Skin....Allergy". I motioned for him to repeat it again and the entire group of boys all at once repeated "I.....HAVE....A....SKIN....ALLERGY". So at this point Im trying to repeat it as well as various other people around me, meaning were sitting in a train car full of random people repeating in Arabic "I HAVE A SKIN ALLERGY". In the middle of all of this I turn to Rachel who's laughing at me so I say "What?" and she just responds with the obvious "Your sitting on a Cairo metro repeating over and over again that you have a skin allergy. Everyone is laughing at you". Sure enough I looked around and everyonnneeeeee was giggling. At that point I just bursted out laughing realizing how bizarre what had just happened was. Did I say how much I love Cairo?

We went to the center, ended up meeting with HIbas students for dinner downtown (Finally finally had Kushari!!! Delicious!!!!!!) and pastries at this amazing pastry place. Since we were outside of the context of the community center and the students know us fairly well they felt comfortable enough talking to us about religion (which is central to everything here in Cairo). It was really really facinating (as always) to have a conversation with them about things they had never been questioned on. At one point I was talking to one guy Michael and literally had the most amazing powerful conversation I have probably ever had. We both walked away saying "Wow I never thought about that....I have to think about that some more" which is really the sign of something changing isnt it?

So this weekend we are headed to Israel and Palestine- SO SO SO EXCITED! Like jumping-out-of-my-seat excited. Woootttt wooottt!!!
OKay i have a box of pastries to polish off.....
maa'salama,
sharon w.