Where do I begin... (don't freak out mom and dad). I met this guy from Nigeria in the internet cafe. You meet people everywhere here. He's been in Cairo for 2 months, and we ended up hanging out yesterday. I thought it would be a casual thing... but we ended up taking a taxi (my first taxi experience in Cairo) to get sushi. This was also my first sushi experience... ever. I must say that it was very tasty. We ended up talking for 2 or 3 hours in this restaurant about everything... our lives, why we were in Cairo, what we wanted to do in the future. And I'm not going to say that I "like" him because we just met... but we kind of meshed. I think we might be good friends during my stay here. We have a lot of the same philosophy on life. He plays football (otherwise known as soccer), and he's very into travelling. He kept saying "life is a journey." Umm... yeah, I know. That's pretty much how I live my life. It was so nice to talk to someone that's from a completely different place than me, in a completely different part of the world, and connect with them. He also paid for everything, which made me think it was kind of a date. Well, it at least kind of turned into one. He said he wants to make me dinner (who does that?!) ... a traditional Nigerian meal. Most people reading this might be freaked out, but there's something very genuine and honest about him. I'm just happy to be making friends because it has been difficult being here and not knowing anyone or how anything is done. Anyway, I guess we'll see how it goes. Oh yeah, he had really nice arms and a hot tattoo.... I think we all know I'm into that.
In a nutshell, I want to briefly share what I've learned about Islam and the Arab culture while I've been here because I think it's fascinating. I've already shared a little about Ramadan and fasting. I learned about marriage from my friends from the school that I've become close with. In the Islam religion, people don't "date." If 2 people like each other they get engaged, and then have a period of "dating" that lasts anywhere from 2 months to 2 years, and then they get married. If they find out they don't like each other in that period, they give the ring back and every gift they got for each other, and call the wedding off. I don't think that's very common though. It's also very common in the Arab culture for people to marry first cousins. Weird, I know... but one thing I've learned being here is that everyone has a different culture. I'm in the minority here. I'm learning that just because a culture or belief is different than mine, that doesn't mean it's wrong or bad. It's just different. I wouldn't like it if someone told me that my beliefs or my culture was wrong. So I listen respectfully to other people, and hope that they will do the same to me. And they do! :)
Orientation started today and all the expat (non-Egyptian) teachers that I've met are awesome. They're friendly, funny, and willing to answer all the questions us newbies have. We went shopping today to a huge mall and I felt like I was in the US. It was a nice feeling. Tomorrow I am going to the pyramids!!! I am so excited!!
And I can't upload pictures yet because I need to buy a new camera. I don't have the proper chord to do so ... so I'm kind of waiting to get paid. I'm also waiting to get DSL in my apartment which may take until November. It is Ramadan and everything moves much slower. "If God wills it" (as they say), it will happen. This usually means "we will take our sweet time getting it done." That is another thing I've learned :) Arab time is definitely not American time.
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