21st Birthday Egyptian Style & Dirty Prostitutes

I still cannot fully absorb the idea that I am 21. Like all other birthdays, I did not feel any older. A 21st birthday is just a concept we have in the U.S. of finally being able to purchase and consume alcohol. It's not like I feel more like an adult. Responsibilities and experiences have gradually built the person I am today. As well as my wonderful family's love, support, and knowledge, I am an adult.

To be honest, I really wanted to celebrate my 21st birthday, American-style on the day of my birthday. So many free items I could have received. However, when I arrive back in the states, I know my friends will celebrate my birthday as if it were my birthday that first day I see them. With that said, I really enjoyed my birthday with my cousins, even though I studied the majority of the day for my history class. They were sneaky enough, having another language to speak in, to throw a surprise birthday party for me! My aunt and May baked me a cake and other delicious foods. I had birthday balloons and even a band. ; ) Okay, so the band didn't play, but the youngest Ude teacher in the Middle East played. Sherif even bought me my first legal drink. I had the Egyptian beer, Stella. I'm so thankful for them, and especially thankful for my brother, Hytham, who helped me with my trip to Egypt and encouraged me every step of the way. I only wish he could have the opportunity I have to come to Egypt. One day, I know we will both come back together.

For the past two weeks, I've been very busy, reading chapters for my 3 week intensive history course. I was really worried intially, but it turns out I am on track. I received the best grade on the quiz we took 2 days ago, and I just confidently finished my Midterm, part I. Part II is on Sunday. I will be traveling to Alexandria this weekend, so I will have more pictures. Hopefully, I'll be able to relax with all the readings I must get done for Sunday. All my pictures are on Facebook, but I really don't have as many as I would like to. Soon, I'll have more pictures.

So a very scary event happened to me yesterday. I have never been to New York city or any other large city alone as a woman. I have experienced annoying men before in America, as well as Egypt on my previous trip. However, this time was different. I was standing near a bank, away from the traffic. it was 2:45pm, and I was just dropped off by the coach bus I take to the new AUC campus every day. I was waiting for my cousin, May, to pick me up, but with traffic, it's a little difficult to be exactly on time. After about 5 minutes, an older man in his late 40s early 50s, pulled over in his nice red vehicle. It was a brand I did not know of, but I knew it was a newer expensive car.

I accidentally made eye contact, someone women should not do with the lower classes in Egypt. Since the poverty is immensely increasing, there has been more loitering, crime, harassing, and prostitution. The man apparently thought that I was a woman that was waiting to get "picked up" for some money. I motioned him to go away and said so in Arabic. He moved slightly, and thankfully, a traffic policeman saw him and motioned him away. I walked into the bank to stay hidden. After a couple minutes, I walked back out to see if May was there yet. Instead, the man drove around again to annoy me. I went back inside the bank, scared that he would park and come over to me. I knew if I went into the bank, or even into the bathroom and locked myself there, he couldn't do anything.

He left and I came back out. For a 3rd time, he came back and was laughing. A traffic policeman shooed him away again. Thankfully, Ryan must have sensed the need to call me. It was 6:45am for him. I am so happy he did, because it calmed me down a bit and distracted the man. May finally came, and I jumped into her car. What's ironic is, I was not wearing anything revealing. I wore exactly what May would have worn in public. I guess veiled women and others are the ones that ruin it for all women here in Egypt. They prostitute themselves to make some money for their families that have lost their jobs and incomes. It must be ignored and accepted, or unknown in the family. I don't understand how a woman can cover her body and treat it like this. It's absolutely disgusting.

My cousins are very moderate and not traditional at all. They believe it's silly to cover one's body, especially when we can't even see a woman's face. You can barely see a woman's eyes, and when May is at the clinic (she's a doctor), completely veiled women in black greet her. May is unable to greet her back. She has absolutely no clue who this woman is. There's no name tag. Haha. We find it very comedic. Also, some women wear the veil over her head, but wear tight clothing.

I'm sorry, but a woman's figure is a lot more seductive to a man than her hair. According to one's family, a woman has a choice whether or not to wear a veil. Similar to American society, there are traditionalists and very conservative people. Some families, fathers and mothers, require their daughter to be veiled, or at least take away privileges or treat her less than human. However, this is not always the case.

To solve this issue, Egypt's president needs to lose his power already after 30 years in rule, and there needs to be hope and education. The public school system is horrible and is not doing it's job. Teachers are not teaching because they are not making enough money. Instead, they provide "private" (after school) lessons for any students that wants to be taught. Each student would pay for these private lessons. Tell me this isn't corrupt.

Political problems are not providing the people with hope. Several people like Obama, but don't believe he will change anything. Without certain rights and freedoms, I don't blame Egyptians for not having hope for the future. They're living in a society stuck in the past that's fighting the modernity, religious and political issues.

Anyways, that's enough of Egypt's issues. I am enjoying my trip, with the ups and downs. My family here is absolutely amazing, and I'm so happy to be with them!!! I miss you all so much!

Egypt is one big maze.

What is one of the biggest problems in Egypt? Organization, hands down. The management needs significant improvement because there is no proper training or regulation. The streets are crazy, but I'm used to that. No lanes, really. Very little traffic lights and stop signs; instead, they use their horns. That is their way of communication while driving. It's noisy and scary because you feel like someone will hit you 24/7 whether you're walking or in the car.

I had much difficulty with the American University of Cairo. Since Obama came to Cairo last Thursday, it was advised for several people to stay at home and try not to attend work. My cousin's exam got rescheduled because they knew it would be difficult to drive around the city. The country blocked streets as to clear the roads for Obama, and there was the topmost security. I, as an American, would have been allowed to see Obama speak, but my cousins do not have those rights. I wasn't going to go alone. Instead, we watched the speech on TV. If you haven't yet seen the speech, I recommend you do!

Another thing that bothers me about the culture is if one does know an answer, they instead lie or tell half the truth. Every time we asked for directions (note that my cousin is Egyptian so she knows how to talk to people), we would receive an answer, but would not know it was not true until we tried following the directions. I was getting so very annoyed on the campus. First off, I did not receive any communication regarding my courses I was planning on taking nor did I receive any information about the student orientation I was supposed to attend. I emailed several times and called numerous phony numbers (like I said before, it's accustomed they'd give you an answer, regardless if it holds validity or not). It was the most frustrating college experience ever!!! On top of that, my student id wasn't working correctly and my IS course got cancelled. That meant I had to drop my other course because no other class would fit in the schedule and would fulfill one of my requirements at UW-L. So I'd end up paying a very large sum for the AUC for no beneficial classes except for pure enjoyment. How about not.

Right now I am hopefully scheduled for a history and a sociology course. I attended both of them today so I hope I am registered. My student ID still doesn't work at one entrance, but I think it's because the gate is new. I figured out the bus schedule. I will be taking a coach bus to and from a place my cousins drop me off. This is nicer and easier for my cousins, also it's air conditioned on the bus. However, today was way too hott, especially in jeans. I don't know how they do it. I'm not wearing jeans tomorrow. I was dying today! I might have to just change when I arrive at the campus.

Since today was my first day, I tried very hard to speak as much Arabic as I could. I receive a few compliments, and I'm happy for that. I need significant improvement though. I already made 2 friends, who are guys (one is Egyptian and one is American). I haven't met any girls yet. There are several girls, but all were Egyptian. They seemed to already have their friends. Hopefully, I will improve my Arabic more and I will feel more comfortable communicating in Arabic. Right now, I just use polite and simple words or phrases.

I took a few pictures of the campus and the scenery, so I will post the pictures on Facebook soon. It's officially one week until my 21st birthday, and I can't wait for this weekend!

Sweaty Butts

Where to begin. So far every day, I have woken up very late. I go to bed around 3-4 in the morning, and I don't wake up until noon. My cousin Lina wanted me to purchase a PS3 in America and bring it over to her. I brought over some games including Need For Speed and Resistance: Fall of Men. I really don't like action and shooting games because they scare me. I usually watch Ryan play COD on his Xbox, but I won't join in. For my first time, I really got into a shooting game. Now I am obsessed with Resistance. I play with my cousins Khalid, May, or Sherif until early in the morning. I feel bad because Khalid and May have to work the next day. Anyways, I pay too much now. When I get back to the states, watch out! Haha. I haven't had the urge to watch Young & the Restless (nor can I online) or kept up with the daily summaries. Instead, I'm playing video games. Haha.

Anyways, it's about 100 degrees here. It's so hot, and in Egypt, Egyptians are not yet accustomed to women showing their legs in public. That means if we must walk in "not-so-friendly" areas, we have to wear long jeans or pants. To our mistake (May never noticed), we wore khakis. Yeah, about that. There's no air condition in one of their cars. They have one classic VW beetle and a BMW. We took the VW to drive my Aunt Maysa somewhere, and we noticed when we got back home that our butts were soaked with sweat. It was great! Lol. I learned my lesson, so from now on, I will wear jeans.

Since I'm already accustomed to my mom's wonderful Middle Eastern/Greek food, I love the Egyptian foods. It's slightly different, but I've had similar foods such as: fresh okra & tomato sauce with rice, green beans & tomato sauce with rice, grilled cheese, apricots, and other foods. The foods are a little sweeter, and since everything is fresh, it's much less salty.

Also, I'm learning Arabic much quicker. However, I'm learning the Egyptian slang. So whenever I speak Arabic, it's usually the Jordinian/Palestian slang. They laugh and think it's cute. I'm trying to adjust to the Egyptian slang. I'm learning so much, I may forget English when I get back. Haha.

We haven't had time or a similar schedule with everyone to go anywhere. We were wanting to go to Alexandria this weekend, but May and Khalid both had meetings at work today. It's silly to me because Friday is supposed to be our Saturday in America. Why would they have work meetings? I guess it was the only time that fit in all of their schedules at work. So next weekend is my birthday, and I'm sure we'll go somewhere then.

I saw the Eiffel Tower from the plane!

This was my first time flying overseas by myself. It was a scary feeling saying goodbye to my parents and my brother at the airport. We had always travelled together internationally. Over 5 years ago, we travelled to Egypt together and Jordan a year after that. This time, it was all up to me! The 1st problem I encountered was with my luggage. One suitcase weighed 56 pounds, 6 pounds over. They wanted me to pay $50 to cover the 6 pounds. No way would I do that! Luckily, the other suitcase was about 42 pounds. So my brother and I quickly moved a few items from one to the other.

After checking in and sending off my bags, I had to say goodbye to my family before entering customs. This was very difficult for me. Eventually when I boarded the 1st out of 3 planes, I did not get my window seat as I was supposed to. The "window seat" was actually an engine seat, so I could not see anything but the plane outisde the window. This was disappointing, but my 1st flight was only 1 hour to Detroit. The 2nd problem occurred when I had to switch planes. I was afraid I would not find the next gate in time because we landed at 8:30, and the next plane was boarding at 8:35. Fortunately, the next gate was very close.

The 2nd flight was the longest, and I did get my window seat. : D This made me happy because I was able to see the land and the ocean outside the window. I was also able to see the Eiffel Tower from the plane! I didn't think I would see it but I spotted it! I wish I was able to take a picture, but we were just about to land in Paris. The only problem with this 8 hour flight was that my brother had told me to try to stay awake the whole trip. This did not work very well because during this flight, they required us to shut the windows and preferred if I did not have my light on. Therefore, I was unable to read my books, and instead, I watched a few movies on the new touchscreen tvs Air France has. I watched Bride Wars and a couple of others, but I kept falling asleep in the dark.

I really enjoyed the France airport because I love listening to other languages and trying to pronounce new words like: au revoir! I like to pretend that I cannot speak English. : ) It's much more fun that way! Anyways, I wanted to make some purchases with some Euro I have had from previous trips, so I bought some French dark chocolate and internet access for 15 minutes. Afterwards, I boarded my last plane of 4 1/2 hours to Cairo.

Since I've been to the Cairo airport, I already knew what to expect. However, I did not expect (since I was alone) that I would be stopped. A security guard stopped me and asked me what I was doing. I said I was walking through customs, and he asked where my family was. I said I was alone, and he looked at me strangely and allowed me t0 preceed.

I was looking for my family to pick me up at the airport and could not see them anywhere. I knew they were around somewhere so I started walking around. I did not move 10 feet without five men asking me if I needed a taxi. "hey you, taxi?" "if you cannot find your ride, I can give you a ride." Um, no. After 5 minutes of being bothered by the several men, I saw my cousin, Khalid, and I started crying! No, it wasn't because I was scared, but I was just so happy to see him and then my cousin, May, and my aunt, Maysa. Tears of happiness!

I was extremely tired since I had tried as much as possible to stay awake for the trip of about 17 hours, on the plane and in the airports. However, I was sooo excited to see my family, and we stayed up until 2:30am (from 7pm) talking. I was sooo tired that I slept until 5pm the next day! That was a horrible mistake because I could not fall asleep until 8am the next morning. Anyways, that's all the updates for now. I will post pictures soon, since we will be driving to Alexandria this weekend to swim in my favorite body of water, the Mediterranean Sea!

I hope everyone's having a great summer, and I miss you all!