I just realized today that it's been almost two weeks since I last posted, so I figured I'd give a quick rundown of the happenings about town here in Alexandria. I've been quite busy with classes and schoolwork, but of course there has been more than enough time for adventures and discussions outside of the classroom. Here's a quick outline of what I've done the past few weeks, and I'll come back with some more details tomorrow or Wednesday.
First of all, I spent a night two weekends ago with Khalid, the academic director of the program and my first ever Arabic teacher at Tufts, in a village located just outside of Cairo called Abu Sir. This is the village where Khalid (who is American) lived for a year while he was learning Arabic and working in Cairo. He stays in contact with his former host family, and I was elated to have the chance to accompany him for a night with the family. The warmth of everyone in the village, the delicious home-cooked food, and the exposure to completely new viewpoints reminded me of my time in rural Kenya last summer.
Second, I had several really interesting conversations about the contrast between most Egyptians' outward appearance of religiosity and dedication to Islam and the clamor and sometimes ugliness of daily life - dirty streets, no respite from honking horns, and the general lack of order in everything from restaurants to basic services. Is the ostensible contrast between the order of religious life and Islam and the disorder of daily life a problem that stems from the Egyptian people themselves, or is there a political basis for it instead?
Third, I had a great time last weekend playing tour-guide for a day and showing my friend Ben from Tufts around the city. The essentials of Alexandria: ful and falafel, a walk through the "Bahri" neighborhood near the sea, a trip to the Qait-Bey Citadel overlooking the Mediterranean, a meal of grilled, delicious fish, and, of course, fresh juice!
Finally, I attended a really interesting lecture today at Alexandria University about the relationship between Egypt and Russia in World War II and the continuation of those relations in the 65 years since the war. The professor in my seminar on "Geopolitics of the Middle East" chaired the lecture, and we heard from him, two other professors at the university, the dean of the college of arts and sciences, and two Russian guests who had their speeches translated into Arabic. Quite a whirlwind of information for my brain to process. I managed to understand most of it - the gist was that the battle of El-Alamein, which took place just a little ways west of Alexandria, and the siege of Stalingrad were two of the most important turning points in the war and that the cooperation between Egypt and Russia was essential in guaranteeing victory for the Allies. All of the speakers also mentioned the collaboration between the two countries in the building of the High Dam at Aswan. Interestingly, the U.S. was not mentioned in any context during the speech. In addition to having a chance to keep on practicing my Arabic, it was really fun to be a part of a true cultural exchange without any English whatsoever. One of the Russian presenters, a former general in the Air Force, brought the house down when he declared that were he younger and if he had the chance to go back to school, he would most certainly learn Arabic.
I'll flesh out these experiences some more in the coming days when I have time. By the way, I'm off on Wednesday night to Lebanon and Syria for a week and a half of travel in the two countries.
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