My Last Day in Cairo

As I sit here in the library of AUC for one last time, I can say that I have (almost) successfully completed the semester at the American University in Cairo. (I say almost because there is one bus ride between me and being totally finished with AUC. But as soon as I make it back to Zamalek today around 3PM, my AUC experience will officially come to a close). I was finished with my last final on Saturday, December 19, but in typical AUC fashion because things close early/never open on various weekdays/weekends, I had to come back to campus one last time to visit the campus book shop, as I had promised some people I would bring them back t-shirts from AUC. I also wanted a shirt for myself, almost as a reward for lasting an entire semester at this university. I really shouldn’t complain as much as I do. None of my classes were truly awful. Some were very different than they would have been in the US, I am sure, but none were completely awful. I also think that I did well or at least decently in most of them. So when I put down AUC, I am not putting down the classes or the instructors per say because, at least in my experience, these have been fine. It’s just that it floors me that the institution itself is considered a functioning university. It needs work, no doubt, a lot of work. The sheer process of requesting a transcript on Thursday was a nightmare that involved an hour long search through the library for a book that I had already returned. And that’s not even to mention the four other offices I had to go to, and to some of them multiple times, to actually make the transcript request. Everyone helping me in the process was very nice, it was just a classic example of AUC inefficiency and extremely frustrating. The efficiency of Notre Dame is definitely something I will welcome with open arms in January. And I will feel for the seven ND students that will just be getting their first taste of AUC inefficiency as I am settling back into classes at ND.

I’m actually a little worried about what might happen for these students. There has been some talk that AUC will not open next semester (three guesses why, and if you don’t say ‘swine flu’ as your first guess, I think you should lose your next two guesses), or more likely that it will not reopen until the beginning of March. (As of now, I think it is supposed to open for the spring semester in early February. There is a winter session beginning after Christmas and ending in late January that may also be cancelled. This session actually has a greater chance of being cancelled than the spring semester). I don’t know what ND would do if this happened. The problem is that, even if AUC were to just push the semester back until March (meaning it would end in early July, I assume, unless there is some other plan about extending class hours/days in class, etc), they probably would not give sufficient notice that this was their plan. Again I understand that this is not completely their fault as the government often forces their hand at the last second in these matters, at least in my experience. The ND study abroad students are scheduled to arrive in Cairo in late January. If they get here and then AUC makes its announcement, they are really stuck here with nothing to do. At that time, we will already have had three weeks of classes at ND. (If the semester is cancelled at AUC, they will probably need to come home and re-enroll at ND as soon as possible, but if it is just pushed back until March, they are going to be forced to stay here and then start school then. This won’t be the worst thing in the world because they will have the same great opportunities we had to travel, but because they will presumably be here until July, it hurts their chances and abilities to participate in summer internships and jobs, which are important to political science majors between their junior and senior years. I don’t know what will happen, but I hope next semester brings no cancellations and even if it does that everything works out for the students that will be studying abroad here.

And to finally move away from the topic of AUC, perhaps forever, I’ve realized that I really do like Cairo and that I will miss it a lot. It’s not America. It’s a far cry from it, but there have been times this past week (when I’ve been pretty much removed from AUC) that I have thought about the aspects of Cairo that I really did appreciate and enjoy. Because we have had less work as everyone is finishing up final, we have been going around the city, trying to get as many as the ‘musts’ done as possible. This has mostly included visiting Cairo and Zamalek restaurants and cafes and buying any and all souvenirs that we may want or need. It’s actually a good thing I am leaving. Lately, I cannot control myself whenever we are around anything that can be purchased! I figure it’s not too much of a bad thing though. I don’t know that I will ever be back here and I do not want to have any regrets upon leaving. (Though I may regret the looks of my bank account especially when I have to start having to think about things in terms of, GASP, American currency! The exchange rate is something I will definitely miss!)

I would say our final exploration of Cairo began last week when some ND students visited from Rome. I was so glad that they came to Cairo because I want other people to experience what I am experiencing, and I also loved hearing about their experiences living, studying, and traveling in Europe. (That is one big difference between studying abroad in the Middle East and studying abroad in Europe. Traveling is so much easier in Europe. Everything is right there. My friends from Rome had a list of things they wanted to do in Egypt in a week to ten days or so. This included Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, Dahab, and Mt. Sinai. I told them this was going to be a daunting task! There is so much more that goes into traveling in the Middle East. Everything is a trip, usually a long trip. And when you factor in security and crossing borders, which some of them will have to when they continue on to Jerusalem, you need to make sure you leave more than enough time for traveling). It seemed like they liked their experience in Rome, though I was comforted by the fact that they said their universities there were far cries from ND. But after we told them of AUC, they agreed that it seemed they had it pretty good in Rome. They also said they never thought they would see traffic worse than in Europe…until they came to Cairo. Oh, the wonders of Cairo. Anyway, we went to a small Zamalek café with them called Crave. It wasn’t the most authentic thing in the world, but it was great for a big group and it was a nice dinner. We also had another guest join us. A few weeks ago, my grandfather had a strange reaction to a flu shot and had to see a neurologist. During his last appointment about three weeks ago, the doctor mentioned that he was from Egypt and that he would be visiting family there with his family over Christmas. It came up that I was there and that his 19 year old daughter, who is a sophomore at Drexel, would be with him. My mom gave the doctor my contact information and the girl e-mailed me and asked to meet. I invited her along to dinner, and though I was worried about meeting/finding/coordinating everyone, everything worked out perfectly. I think the girl really enjoyed spending time with us and I hope we showed her a nice time in Cairo. It was really nice to see some familiar faces and to make some connections to home.

A few nights later, for a friend’s birthday we went to the restaurant Tabula in Garden City (a region of Cairo very close to Zamalek serving Lebanese food). The restaurant was wonderful! I even had ‘lamb cubes’ which were basically a lamb shish kabob, and though lamb is something I wouldn’t normally eat, I am glad I was living a little dangerously. It was a great meal. The restaurant was very nice and decorative too. And Garden City was a nice thing to see. It is a very, very upscale neighborhood. It is actually home to the US Embassy. The street that the restaurant is on is actually not accessible (at night? At all times? I’m not sure of the specifics) by car because of the restaurants proximity to the Embassy. We walked past the Embassy on our way to the main street to get a cab back from the restaurant. Although it is behind a concrete wall, it is gorgeous and massive. (I am not sure of the exact statistic, but I have heard something like it is the biggest embassy in the world outside the US. From what I can gather this means if you exclude all the embassies in the US, some of which are huge, the US Embassy in Egypt is the largest in the world. This makes sense considering Egypt is the second largest recipient of US Aid (behind Israel). (That’s another interesting thing we learned in Cairo, and some of us are thinking it might be a good idea to have a few chats with a few representatives about this issue, especially where US Aid at AUC is concerned. And it for sure is concerned in this capacity in a big way. There are “US Aid: Paid for by the American People” stickers EVERYWHERE.) It was a great feeling passing the Embassy. Seeing the words, “Embassy of the United States of America” gave me almost a giddy feeling. This is partially because I am returning home soon, but partially because I have come to realize after being away from the US everything that those words, “The United State of America” represent worldwide. They are revered and respected worldwide. It sounds cheesy, but I am not only proud to be an American but appreciative and grateful that I have experienced life as an American, that I have grown up in an American way of life. It is not a privilege all have and it’s one that is too often taken for granted in my opinion.

Aside from the trip to Garden City and also a final trip to Khan El Khalili (which was stressful and entertaining as always; highlights: fake sneeze followed by “I’m sorry I’m allergic to beauty,” “you have magic eyes,” a quest for Turkish coffee in a box (which we ended up getting in a bag and saying “fine, perfect, at this point just scoop it into my hand,” mastering the art of bargaining without even trying/wanting the item being bartered for, and an hour long semi-hostage situation that my roommate and I got ourselves into looking for a soccer jersey), we have been mostly exploring Zamalek. Last night we went to a highly recommend vegetarian restaurant, which also had meat. It’s kind of a must in Egypt. It was very Americanized, but very, very delicious. We followed that with a trip to Mandarin, our favorite Zamalek ice cream place. And earlier in the day, we visited the Egyptian Craft Center in Zamalek which sells produces made by Sudanese refugees. It was a really cool little shop in an apartment building, and we made some neat purchases.

Tonight, we are going to Sequoia tonight for dinner. It’s an Egyptian restaurant which is famed for its various shisha (hookah) flavors. Apparently, there’s caramel and that’s unheard of! I don’t smoke shisha, but everyone is excited and I am equally excited for some delicious Egyptian hummus one last time before leaving.

After dinner each night, we have been going to local Zamalek cafes to have a drink and smoke shisha. It’s really a nice way to wind down our time here. Really, I think we are just trying to spend as much time with each other as possible. The biggest thing I will miss about Egypt is the people. It has been so sad now that people have started to return home. Luckily, there are several people on my flight, so I think I may be done with sad goodbyes for the most part. Though I am sure tonight might bring a few tears. The people that I have met here have been truly incredible, and we all mean so much to each other. What we have done over the past four months has not been easy, and if we did not have each other there is not a doubt in my mind we would not have made it. Part of the reason we were able to deal with AUC each day is because we knew that we could come back each night and over delicious dorm food (I’m not being sarcastic, we grew to love it, possibly because rice, vegetables, hummus, pita, and chicken were the only sources of consistency in our lives) rehash the bizarre and frustrating events of the day. And because we had each other we could always laugh about it and get up the next day to repeat the process all over again. Because of the situation we were thrown into together, we have become closer in four months than most people are able to become in years. I am so grateful to them and they will always have a special place in my heart for having been with me through what I would consider the most challenging time in my life. They are amazing people, I wish them the best of luck in the future, and I know that they will all do incredible things both in their work and in their lives. I hope to stay in touch with all of them and I know I will never forget any one of them.

Aside from being upset about leaving the incredible friends I have made in Cairo, there is a part of me that is sad to go home. I am definitely ready to go back to the US and to see my family and for it to feel like Christmas, but it’s sad that this period in my life is ending. First of all, it has been something that I have been anticipating for almost a year (when I was accepted to the study abroad program), and even before that. And now it is over. There’s an element of sadness in that. But there is also a huge sense of accomplishment. This is, without a doubt, the most difficult and courageous thing I have ever done. It has helped me so much, both form an academic standpoint and from other perspectives as well. I have learned so much culturally here that I would have never learned in the US and that it will be greatly beneficial for me to know considering what I hope to do later in life. I have also grown immensely as a person and learned so much about myself. I came to Cairo terrified, but I am leaving feeling like I can truly do anything. Being Cairo has not always been easy, but it has always been worth it. Even knowing what I know now, given the chance to go back in time and decide not to come, I would definitely, without a doubt choose to live and study here. This has been the most incredible, unforgettable, worthwhile experience in my life. I do not regret one second of it and I am so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to participate in the program. I should not even comment further on my experiences here because they truly speak for themselves. I will never forget my time here. I think it will and I hope it will be a defining moment in my life.

With that, I think this blog is coming to a close. I want to thank everyone for reading. I hope it has been interesting, funny, and enlightening. It was a great way for me to document a lot of what I experienced in Cairo, and I enjoyed writing it. Right now, I am going to go grab a final ‘yogurt, granola, and honey’ from Jared’s Bagels (my go to spot on campus) and then board the AUC to Zamalek bus one final time, officially ending my semester at AUC. Tomorrow my flight leaves at 10:10AM and it is due into JFK at 3:15PM. (Thankfully although the blizzard on the East Coast interrupted many travel plans, many of which belonged to ND students returning home from Europe or simply from ND, the storm has finally passed, and if all goes according to plan, which I am desperately hoping that it will, our flight should remain on schedule. I cannot believe I will be in America tomorrow. It is almost surreal. But it’s also terribly exciting. Hopefully, as I am walking through the terminal at JFK there will be big glass windows through which I can see the snow and some greatly anticipated Christmas carols playing! I can’t wait!