I have been in Maadi (kind of a suburb of Cairo) for about 3 days now. I have learned so much and there has been a challenge every day!! I am trying to get used to the constant noise of dogs barking outside my window (even though I live in an apartment on the 6th floor), and the calls to prayer 5 times a day. But it seems like they happen more than 5 times a day because it is Ramadan right now. Ramadan is the month of fasting for Muslims. They don't eat or drink from sunrise to sunset, or smoke, or anything "bad." It is a great time to be here because there are lights up all over the neighborhood, people are really nice to each other, and there are fireworks every night. And when I say fireworks, I mean little firecrackers :).
I have been making some great friends so far, and I'm getting out every day and exploring my neighborhood. I've especially been exploring Master's, the internet cafe, haha. Almost everyone speaks English because a lot of expats live in this neighborhood, meaning people that are not from Egypt. It is really hot!! I always carry around a bottle or water because I pretty much feel like I might pass out everywhere I go unless it's after sunset.
Everyone is super nice. The first full day I was here, I thought I would be cool and go explore my neighborhood a little bit. On my way back to my apartment, however, I realized that they all look the same!! Also, all the signs are in Arabic... I can't read Arabic (yet). So while I was looking for my apartment, i walked right past it. Three people stopped me, and told me turn around. At least, I assued that's what they were saying. They were speaking Arabic and just kept pointing back. Then a nice lady was explaining to me where I lived in Arabic and pointing. I just kept saying "shokran" meaning thank you, one of the few Arabic words I know, and went inside. Oh yeah, I also tripped on my way in. So I'm pretty much the new American girl in the neighborhood who doesn't know where she lives!! I'm making a great impression.
The next big thing on my list of things to do is to go to the market. This is a daunting task to me and sounds very scary because not only am I shopping in a different country, I'm paying in pounds, and then I have to carry all the stuff back to my apartment. I should explain that people don't walk on the sidewalk here... everyone walks in the street. And cars expect you to get out of their way. But I'm going to do it. Oh yeah! My big thing I did yesterday was light my stove! It was very exciting and my new friends from the school helped me... well kind of forced me to do it. But I was grateful.
That was the longest blog post in the world. I have been writing my journal that the lovely Casey Clark bought for me for graduation. It has my favorite quote on the front... "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterly." (In case you were wondering, I also have a magnet and a coffee mug with the same quote). That's kind of my mantra for this trip. Anyway... at the end of each journal entry (and I've been forcing myself to write daily), I say that tomorrow I will struggle more, and learn more about myself. So that is how I will leave this blog.
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