In which travel is just plain fun

Flying to Europe is fun. It sounds obvious, but after recent adventures involving flights through Europe, it is so much easier to stop just on the other side of the Atlantic.  There is also a lot to be said for a direct flight, and a pleasant seat companion, and landing in the morning, local time. Other things that are much easier in Europe? Customs. I'm so used to scrutiny, and questions, and harsh lighting. The Marco Polo airport is quiet and calm and made of beautiful red brick.

First views of the lagoon from the bus

I checked in with the cruise agents, and joined three couples (all retired) from my flight for the shuttle ride to the port. The airport is east of the city of Venice proper, so instead we got views of winding roads, brick houses, and vibrant colors. 

Many people live outside Venice in the city of Mestre, on the mainland

I'm now sitting in the main lounge of the ship, waiting for Aunt Lib to arrive, and for our room to be ready. There's a great conversation about how people don't dress up to ride planes anymore, and that's just deplorable. Perhaps I'll have more in common with other passengers than I thought...

The main lounge of the ship - lost of mirrors

"Ti Amo" just started playing in the lounge. My strongest association with this song is the excellent live-action Asterisk and Obelix movie (if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it), so there's hope on all fronts. 

In which I leave Africa and there is a small reunion

Although I have been dispicably inadequate in my blog posting, I thought I ought to take a moment to let you know how life across the ocean is going.  The semester at AUC had its final classes last Thursday, and on Sunday, I left Cairo for Istanbul, where I met my friend Meegan (from Bryn Mawr).  We had been planning this adventure (or variations on the itenerary) since last spring, so I'm very impressed that the whole two days we have experienced thus far have worked out so well.  We'll be here for the next week, playing our touring by ear, before we head to Jordan after Christmas.

Briefly, the end of my time in Cairo was busy, filled with finished classes up, visiting the bazaar to get some shopping done, and saying goodbye to the people I felt I had met just a few weeks before.  One of the great things about the hostel where we're staying in Istanbul is that there's very good wi-fi, and people have a tendency to hang out in the common room on the computer, which means that you can expect some actual updates for a while - maybe I'll even get through some of the backlogged stories I have to share with you about the past two months.

As for Istanbul, I arrived in the afternoon, and took a bus to Taksim Square, where I wandered about in the rain for a little while, before dropping off my bag at the hostel where we had decided to stay.  Thanks to Facebook's NewsFeed feature, I happened to run across a high school friend's blog sometime in November, and leanred that she was studying in Istanbul (see link here for some great observations about life in Istanbul), and it worked out that we were able to meet up for dinner.  She took me to a great local place where I had lentil soup and lamb.  By the time I got back to the hostel, Meegan had arrived, and we were able to do a little planning for the beginning of our time here, and then got to sleep for a very decent length of time.

Today (Monday) we went to Topakı Palace, which was built and improved by various sultans over the course of about five hundred years (yes, you're getting the very condensed explaination), and which currently houses several different exhibits (the highlights of which include Moses' Rod, the Prophet's Beard, Abraham's Saucepan, and John the Baptist's Arm and Skull) in various parts of the palace.  The architecture, internal decorations, and grounds are all fantastic in and of themselves, though I was struck at the difference between this and the temples and other places of opulence I have visited in Egypt.  There is no way that anything so ornate would have survived so long in Cairo.  We also saw the underground Cistern, built by Justinian (well, by order of Justinian) in 532, and repaired and opened to the public in 1987.  It is a beautifully lit underground cavern, with all sorts of columns, which I enjoyed trying to identify as Ionic, Doric or Corinthian.  Fun fact: there are actually all three styles represented.  I have no idea why this is.  Bonus points to anyone who finds out.  We'll continue the tourist adventures tomorrow - I'll try to keep you updated on what we get to see, and where we're going when.

**brief awkward sappy note, which you should feel free to skip**

Just a note, in light of recent events in Colorado Springs, and the various anniversaries which have passed or are fast approaching.  I am working hard to not be fatalistic, or too glib about these deaths.  I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but I'm greatful that I am able to visit all of these exciting places, spend time with people who are important to me, and see so many different cultures.  I feel a little bit uncomfortable posting this paragraph, but I feel as though I need to say something.  So in memory of those we've lost (a list growing far too quickly for my junior year of college) I'm here to live.  I still don't regret choosing to spend Christmas away from my family, but I do look forward to seeing them again in January.  Please, find someone important to you and hold them close for a moment during the next couple of weeks, when family and friends are particularly in our thoughts.

In which I remember why I have come to Egypt

As much fun as I've had wandering about Cairo and napping in air-conditioned rooms, the reason I'm here is to, well, study abroad.  In light of that, I am taking five classes at the American University in Cairo, on various topics only vaguely related to my major of Linguistics.  Luckily I have an understanding adviser and a flexible course schedule for the rest of my tenure at Bryn Mawr, so I was free to choose whatever courses I wanted for this semester, within reason, that is.

The expected classes would be some Arabic and some Linguistics, and I'm happy to report that both of those make appearances.  I think the easiest thing to do is give a basic rundown of each course (I've had one meeting of each one, with the exception of Arabic, which meets four days each week, and thus has met twice).  And so, without further ado, I give you, as they say, the dirt:

Society and State in the Middle East, 1906-Present is a history course looking to be discussion-based in a class of thirty students.  The teacher is hugely enthusiastic, and seems interested in pushing us.  We will have several articles to prepare for each session, and throughout the semester we will be working on the culminating project - an annotated bibliography of the sources we explore.  There will be some other assignments, but no major essays, so the preparation and discussion in this class will be the brunt of the work.  The professor is a recent (2007) graduate of an NYU doctoral program, where she specialized in Palestine, so we'll get to concentrate on that region - particularly timely, given the peace talks slated for the end of next week.  I'm excited about the other topics we're discussing as well, and though the majority of students are American, there are enough local/international students to bring other thoughts to the table.

I was expecting Arabic in the News Media to be a linguistic analysis of journalistic jargon, even though it is listed in the Arabic Language department.  As it turns out, I think we'll mostly be reading articles and listening to broadcasts and discussing out understanding of them, in Arabic.  This is great, because I am excited to see Arabic in a productive, real form, instead of in Al-Kitaab, everyone's favorite language instruction manual.  The class is small, and has only one native speaker (though formal Arabic is not his first language), so we should get a lot of practice and individual attention.  I find slight amusement in that the professor has previously taught at the Middlebury Summer School (though not this past year) and another girl who I met this summer (from Norway, studying at St. Andrews in Scotland) and I are both in the class.

Intermediate Arabic 202 is exactly what it sounds like, and thus far, about as interesting.  I don't know exactly how the course will be structured, though we seem to do a lot of worksheets in class.  The lack of knowledge likely stems from the fact that the teacher was late (45 minutes late) to our first class.  This is because we are on a special schedule for Ramadan, so all the classes are moved up incrementally, and then pushed back, after a certain time, so as not to conflict with iftar, the meal which breaks the daily muslim fast.  Anyway, the professor has been flustered about that, and I think after we come back from break this weekend, she'll have found her footing, and we'll get going.

The Linguistics class that was my justification for studying here, Principles and Practices of Teaching English is the only class where I am the lone American, and the lone non-degree student.  The course has a reputation of being easy, and it's a simple way for students to fill elective requirements, so I think that's why most of the other students are there.  The other component to the class is community based teaching, so I will teach staff (janitors, security guards, library workers) for at least eight hours in the coming semester.  It looks like the class will be more about the theories of language acquisition from an educational, rather than linguistic perspective, but hopefully I'll have plenty of opportunities to find inspiration for my thesis.

My last class was going to be several things, some of which I didn't have the proper pre-requisites for, some of which didn't fit, and some of which were canceled, but I have settled on a masters-level class called A Critical Introduction to Middle Eastern Studies, and it's required for all entry-level MA students in the Middle Eastern Studies department.  This is nice, because it means that almost all of the MA students are as new to AUC as I am, and we're starting with very little assumed previous knowledge.  It will be a reading/writing intensive course, with a major research paper at the end, but will complement my history class well, and give me another set of perspectives on world events I've only followed with recreational intentions.  Academia always lends a new view, and the small class should be a comfortable place to challenge what I think I know, which, really, is very little.


Overall, I think the semester is going to be very engaging, and somewhat challenging, and certainly different from anything I could find at Bryn Mawr.  I'm grateful that my Middlebury experience this summer allowed me to take two Arabic language classes, and we'll see how much of my historical writing skills I've retained from the likes of Ms. Lindau and Mr. Kennington's high school lessons.

Just a quick rundown of the logistics, two classes meet Sundays and Wednesdays, one meets Mondays and Thursdays, the graduate class meets only on Mondays (for two and a half hours), and Arabic meets Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday.  The weekends are Friday and Saturday, and Tuesdays are usually used for field trips, etc. which I don't have.  Therefore, Tuesdays will be my reading days, I think.

I apologize for the amount of text without pictures, but I didn't record all of my classrooms, and besides, as it turns out, classrooms look pretty much the same in every expensive institution of higher education built in the last few years.

In which we sweat and sail

I spent most of my day on Wednesday looking at things like this.

Or the backs of airplane seats.  So actually getting to Egypt was quite exciting, and not just because it broke the monotony.

After landing in Cairo, getting to the terminal (planes land on the tarmac and buses take passengers to customs/baggage areas), collecting bags (they came in waves), and breezing through customs, we (me and about 35 other AUC students) got in minibuses and headed into the city.  Cairo traffic is as bad as I was warned it would be, but I've learned that if I look out the window and not out the windshield, it isn't as worrying.  In the next few weeks, I'll tell you all about the driving/traffic customs I've experienced, both as passenger and pedestrian.

I was assigned a room in the Zamalek residence about halfway up its 10 story square.  Two wings are assigned to women, two to men.  The window of my room looks out onto the courtyard in the middle of the building, which is a very pleasant view.  My roommate (whose stuff was present, though she was not, when I arrived) is a Journalism major at IU (which my father has forgiven, as the IU Journalism program is fantastic) and will be studying here for a year.  The room is quite large, as you can see, with tile floors and an air conditioner, my new best friend.

Our sheets and towels are provided, and we are required to use the complimentary cleaning service twice a week, for sanitary purposes.  Once we use it, I'll let you know how it goes.

The other first day (night) activities included walking around the neighborhood to get cell phones (I'm using a new SIM card in my old international phone from my trip to Europe four years ago), change money, and make a grocery run.  I think one of the best things to do in a new city is to visit a grocery store.  This one was of the omni-mart variety, so in three floors it had not only food, but kitchenware, dishes, toys, electronics and all sorts of other things.  American imports are more expensive - cereal, Jif peanut butter, Nutella, shampoo - but most things have local equivalents.  We were warned, though, to spring the extra dollar for the fancy peanut butter.  I'm used to boxed milk, which is occasionally available here, but the huge stacks of eggs sitting out are a little disconcerting.  I'm not sure how they manage that, but it must be okay, because I've since seen it in other stores.

These are the faluccas we rode on the Nile

I've now made this post longer than I intended for it to be, but upcoming posts include geography, first impressions of AUC, and stories of the Falucca (small boat) ride two nights ago, and the Nile cruise we're taking tomorrow.  Let me know how I'm doing on the level of detail, and what else you'd like to hear about.