Two Weeks in Egypt

This time two weeks ago I was on my nice luxurious flight to Cairo. Today I am sitting in my luxurious apartment in Alexandria, with two weeks of Egypt experience on my shoulders!!!! ;)

Gosh these two weeks have been a very eventful week, I have not no idea where to start from.

I got a NICE welcome in Cairo (please note the sarcasm!!!). Well now I think it was funny but at that time I did not think it was very funny!!! Well, AIESEC Alex decided to play a trick on me, which, Ms Naive Thea totally fell for.

Three people came for me at the airport, the LCP of Alex and two other AIESEC people. Louli the LCP told me that these people were not AIESEC people and she met them at a party and they were meant to drive us home. Well, we hoped into the car with my tonnes of luggage and right in the middle of the highway, in the middle of nowhere the car decided to stall. So Louli and I got out of the car and started pushing in the scorching mid-day sun!!! As soon as we started pushing the car started again, and instead of waiting for Louli and I to hop in, the guy sped along the highway. Well we were a bit puzzled but I came to the conclusion that they were warming the car up. We waited there for what seemed to be hours but were only 5mins, until Louli started worrying me by asking me if I had any money or my passport, which I obviously did not have cause everything was in the car. So we decided to start walking which is not the best of things, two girls walking in the highway in Egypt, one of whom is not Egyptian are perfect preys for the hungry predators so we got hooted at us and many a car stopped to offer us a lift!!!!! At that point I was a bit panicky, well, I don't think you would blame me!!!! I had all my life in that car!!!! Finally after like 10mins the guys came back, we jumped into the car and they shouted 'WELCOME TO EGYPT' Man I could have killed them at that point in time!!!

Alex is cool and the people are very nice. My house mates are great, although all American, so I guess this is my chance to take away my prejudices of Americans, which I already started doing. We have had many interesting conversations about the world, America and the middle east, the European Union etc, and it is extreeemly interesting to get another point of view, especially an American one!!!!

I am still in the process of settling in!!! there is sooo much confusion in this country that I must say I am finding it quite hard. First and foremost I have to really be careful of what I wear. I cannot wear sleeveless tops (I already got told off at work of wearing a sleeveless shirt which in Maltese standards is very conservative while here is super shameful). So I have to make sure I am covering my knees and elbows unless I want to be harassed and stared at in the streets. The driving in insane, traffic lights don't exist and crossing the roads is impossible. I have not yet overcome my fear of crossing the street where the only means of getting to the other side of the road is to run in front of cars and hope they either stop or then run between the cars as fast as you can. I still wait for a minimum of 5mins until I find the right time to make a run for it. Though hopefully this will decrease as time passes.

Work is also fun. I love the people I work with, they are great fun, though the work load is insane!!! Marianne and I are totally exploited being the only English Native Speakers in the center. We work 8 hours a day 6 days a week!!!! Egyptian kids are a big head ache, though once you get the hang of it, you can deal with them quite well. (things such as threatening to shut them in a big tank or drowning them or choking them also work!!). Yesterday one of my students asked me if I loved her, and I told her of course, then she sighed in relief and told me 'good, cause I love you a lot' I think that was the sweetest thing I have heard in a very long time!!!! The Centre also arranged a welcome group for us, who are 3 of the senior students who are meant to be our buddy. It is sooo awkward to be taken care of after 2 years of sticking up for yourself.

The Egyptians are the nicest people ever, and would do anything to make sure you are happy and comfortable (unless money is concerned!!!!). I really want to start learning Arabic, I guess that would help with my strange encounters with the taxi drivers and shop keepers who would charge you anything you wish cause you are white, and all they see is money!!!!

OHH also the funniest thing is walking around the streets and people shout out at you 'Welcome to Egypt' at the beginning I used to shout out 'Thank you' but now I only say ' I have been here, you don't need to welcome me anymore!!!!'

Well, I think its long enough!!!! And I should be heading off to another day of work. I will do my best to keep this log updated though it might be hard due to my very limited internet access!!!!