It has now been five days since I arrived in Alexandria, but it feels like it's been five months! The past few days have been filled with orientation activities, crash courses in Egyptian Amiyya (colloquial Arabic), hanging out in the dorm with our Egyptian dormmates, and exploring the city. The program "officially" started today when we all took the language pledge - thus, I am now speaking exclusively in Arabic.
Many of the sights and sounds in these first few days in Alexandria have on the whole been quite unlike anything I've seen or heard before, although there are many things that seem normal to me, too. After my experience in Kenya last summer and after hearing about the city from friends who did this program in the fall, I had prepared myself for an experience similar to the one I had in Nairobi: a third world city, crowded, polluted, and chaotic. I might use some of those adjectives to describe life here in Alexandria, but for the most part I have felt quite often during the first few days that life in Alexandria is not too far from what I'm used to at home. For example, the roads are nicely paved, there is a tram that runs throughout the city, some beautiful architecture, and great views of the Mediterranean along the coast. There is a lot of traffic, crossing the street is an exhilarating experience in and of itself, the trams aren't necessarily state-of-the art, and people tend to walk on the street instead of the sidewalk, but as a whole my impression so far is that there is certainly a logical way that this city works. The divide between private and public space (houses / shops and the street) just isn't as "clean-cut" as it would be in the US.
On the other hand, this is the most foreign place I have ever been to. I had no idea how present Islam is in everyone's daily lives. I wake up every morning to the call to prayer outside my window, religious sayings are commonly seen on car bumpers, storefronts, and even graffiti on the street. On top of that, the clothing that people wear makes you feel that you are in another world. Of course many people wear Western attire, but I would say that 99% of the women here wear hijabs (head scarves) and about 10% have the hijab covering their whole face with only their eyes showing. Many men also wear Islamic garb, though none cover their heads. Despite the ostensible differences in clothing, however, there is no awkwardness once you strike up a conversation with someone. I have found everyone that I have talked to extremely kind and welcoming (it is not uncommon, as happened to me today, to be asked to sit down for tea or coffee and a conversation by a stranger on the street). As my Arabic improves, which it is already starting to, I really am looking forward to wading deeper into the culture.
Finally, and this subject certainly deserves its own post, Alexandria's history is very visible throughout the city. The new library is beautiful, Roman and Greek ruins are all over the place (including shipwrecks and pottery that are still being explored in the Mediterranean), and British and French style architecture, roundabouts, trams, and grand boulevards run throughout the city.
I have seen so many images in my first few days here that will hopefully help bring the city to life for any readers of the blog, and I will write about some of them later this week. I am exhausted from a long day today which included watching Egypt's national soccer team win their match versus Mozambique in the African Cup of Nations in Angola - You can imagine the celebration on the streets after both of Egypt's goals...
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