Travels in Egypt

My name is Karin Zylstra, and I was a Research Associate at the Institute for Global Engagement in the summer of 2006.  I am now spending this fall semester of my senior year studying at the American University in Cairo (AUC).  I was invited to share some of my experiences and reactions on this blog, so here goes.

I am challenged by the task of using words to describe my impressions of Cairo.  My thoughts are summed up in pictures and experiences, but I will try to describe some vivid encounters as I go along.

To start at the beginning…My flights over to Cairo were fine. The trip from Frankfurt to Cairo was almost half full of AUC study abroad students, which was entertaining for me, and I’m sure for the other people trying to peacefully travel home. There was a sort of organized chaos at the airport getting whisked through immigration, and a non-existent customs to shuttle buses waiting to take us to the various residences. That ride was the first of many fully packed rides and our first introduction to driving and traffic in Cairo.  To digress briefly, traffic in the city is intensely personal. It’s kind of hard to describe, but you’re not really on the road with other cars, but just a whole bunch of other people. The lane lines are completely disregarded, there are no understood areas of personal space around cars, horns are used no less than twice a minute and are a language all their own. Being a pedestrian is also quite an experience, and widely acknowledged to be one of the more dangerous aspects of Cairo.   Sidewalks aren’t really used, either because they are covered by trash, an extension of a sidewalk vendor, used by people smoking sheesha…you name it, but the effect is that most people walk in the road, sometimes on the sides, sometimes not. The common wisdom is that you take your life in your hands when attempting to cross streets. I often have oncoming cars accelerate as I cross in front them, very lovely.

Culturally, I can’t even begin to describe the amazing differences I see here. People are intensely involved in each others lives and very friendly to each other. This carries over to foreigners like me in different ways. There are the guys on the street who whistle and hiss and do anything to get my attention (for future reference it might take me a while to respond to anything but my name said loudly and distinctly). But there are also the workers, guards and street vendors who are eager to talk and hardly let me ask the few questions I know in Arabic before using all the English they know (or Arabic that I understand) to ask me many questions about myself. I had a 45 minute conversation with a maintenance worker in the hotel, with topics ranging from education to religion and prayer to family relations (this was clearly in English). 

I have  enjoyed observing my fellow study abroad students, almost all of whom are from America.  There are more than 300 total, and a little less than 100 living in this hotel, which has created a kind of American ghetto, which I’m sure is either very entertaining or annoying to the locals in this neighborhood. I share an apartment/flat with 7 other girls, which is a really good set-up, because there is always someone to talk to and hang out with.

I was able to register for classes a couple days ago, which was a very hectic process, as it is at all schools. I am currently taking a class in Egyptian Politics and Government, which I really hope will include some field trips. I am also taking a seminar course in Ethnic and Regional Conflict, which probably will not have any field trips. I am also signed up for Arabic 101. This is Modern Standard Arabic, which is all reading and writing, and isn’t really spoken anywhere. I was stumped by the choice between that class and a beginning level in Egyptian Arabic, which I would then be able to speak while I’m here, but nowhere outside of Egypt.   My current thought is to do some tutoring out of class so I can learn Egyptian Arabic while learning to read in class, we’ll see how that works out. I’ve been taking an evening class for the past few days. It is a program offered by the school called Survival Arabic. The class, instruction and experience have all been excellent. Our teacher is a very nice Egyptian woman who loves to teach us Arabic words, but also Egypt itself.  She will always tell us certain cultural things to do or avoid, and we have gone on two eating excursions during break time. The first day we went close by and had futir, which she called an Egyptian pancake. It is flat, flaky bread that is rolled up with either honey or cheese inside. That was very delicious, of course. The second day was a bit more adventurous. We all went to a sit-down restaurant and had liver and brain. Both were cow’s meat, and both breaded and fried, but quite an experience, most likely not to be repeated.

Another unexpected benefit of our Arabic class was that a group of us were able to go with our teacher’s son to see the pyramids. After getting up ridiculously early we took taxis out to the Giza area of southern Cairo, where the pyramids completely dominate the landscape. After choosing horses over camels (the horses were “fast” and we would “run” across the desert, and they were half the price) we set out. The horses were not exactly race horses, but that was probably better, given the trouble some of us had staying on when they managed to work up a bouncy trot. We spent probably an hour going out and back, and paused briefly about half a mile from the pyramids. Even from that far out, they are quite an incredible sight to behold. 

Ok, so now we have gone to and returned from the Red Sea, and that trip was really cool. To be honest, one of the more exciting parts of it was the food. We all stayed at a resort on the beach and all our meals were in the restaurants in the hotel. I think that they staff might have been slightly overwhelmed by feeding 300 college students who have been eating fast food and 30 cent meals for the past week. We had one orientation session which we all did our best to shorten as much as possible and then hit the beach. The Red Sea is really warm and really salty. I hung out with some of my roommates and friends and later in the night I went to a belly-dancing show with some other roommates and friends. The resort mostly consisted of beach and umbrellas, so the snorkeling I had hoped for never materialized, but it was still a good time.

Sunday morning I got up early for another AUC sponsored trip, this time to the pyramids. We saw the three main pyramids in Giza and then traveled a little further south to some smaller step pyramids. At one of those, we actually got to go down a very small chamber into the burial chamber and see the sarcophagus there. The whole trip was pretty long and hot (shocker), but one very bad thing is that my camera began what appears to be a slow death, so I will soon need to replace that.

On a more personal note, much of my time here has been spent trying to find balance from extremes. I am a very people-focused person, so it has been a challenge for me to leave all my friends from college, especially during senior year. At the same time, I am faced with meeting hundreds of new people (so many names!) and developing different kinds of friendships. I guess I’m still learning how to relate to people on different levels: learning that I don’t have to be best friends with everybody, but still trying to understand what it means to treat them each as a valuable person. I’m also really beginning to struggle to know how to balance doctrine with personal interactions. What happens when I speak with Muslims and am convicted that their faith is more sincere than my own? How on earth could I then say that I am in the right and they are not? More superficially, how do I distinguish between Egyptians who are just curious about who I am, and those who want to swindle me or gawk at a blonde American without a head-covering?

Even after only a few weeks here, I am astounded by how much I have learned and in so many different ways. I am still getting used to the schedule here, as classes are just now starting. The Islamic holiday of Ramadan is starting soon, which will create a totally new dynamic in the city. I am looking forward to taking trips outside of Cairo, possibly to Alexandria and Mr. Siani. I will try to keep this blog updated on my latest escapades. If you would like to ask me any questions, or respond at all, please feel free to email me at Karin.G.Zylstra@wheaton.edu.

Comments

[Bennett Graham]

Karin,

Wow. What a great experience it seems you have had already! The traveling on horseback around the Pyramids, the cow brains, Arabic classes, whew... it sounds fascinating. I would love to hear more about how you have come to understand some of your questions in the blog about doctrine and relationships. Additionally, have you been able to participate in any family life in Egypt? What is the biggest challenge so far? I'm very excited for you and will keep you in my prayers as you perform your own "relational diplomacy."

Bennett

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