October 4, 2004
"What to Do?"
As I sit here writing to you, the sun has just risen out of the
Mediterranean Sea, and most of those who woke up to see it are crawling back into bed. We are in Alamein, a half day's drive northwest of Cairo. This brings us to the title fo the e-mail...WHAT TO DO?
Today is our first ever "free day" of the entire program. this means that we have had a lecture, tour, field trip or travel day EVERY SINGLE DAY UNTIL NOW! To compound the matter, we have two more free days coming up at the end of the week. As far as "What to do?" Most people are spending today endulging in traditional beach activities...swimming in the sea, lying on the beach, playing frisbee in the sand or walking/hiking along the shore. Overall, it is a much needed break.
Even though we sometimes look at each other, break into a huge snile and laugh "this is school!" while we're seeing or doing something exciting...we are encountering so much information. For example, in our last week of lecture we covered the history of Egypt from the end of the pharohs to the present, an introduction to Islam, an overview of the Coptic (Christianity in Egypt) Church and Islamic architecture. And when we're not in class we are still experiencing a constant tutorial on city living in a non-western setting.
It's hard to believe that we only have a week and a half of Egypt left. I think that it's even more amazing that we've been able to keep such a rapid pace for a month...4 countries, 6 soon to be 7 different housing places, countless bus rides but most importantly priceless experiences. By now we all have a favorite restaurant in Cairo, our own way of communicating with taxi drivers, enought market stories to fill a book and gowing relationships with the other students and adults in the group.
A little bit about yesterday and the next few days. We visited two Coptic Monestaries in Wadi Natrun (basicaly just out in the desert) and then spent some time in Alamein seeing the British Commonwealth Cemetary and German and Italian World War II memorials for the fighting that took place in North Africa. Learning that approximately 16,000 men died fighting in the desert for the main purpose of being a diversion from the war in Europe was pretty sobering. Tomorrow we travel to and take a tour of Alexandria. We'll see the site of the Ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria and Pompey's Pillar.
So what are we going to do with our almost incomprehensible two free days in a row? Some people plan on using the days to recuperate in Cairo; others really want to deeply explore the city. A few are travelling east to the waters of the Red Sea or hiking up Mount Sinai. Whatever we choose, we're sure we'll enjoy our mini vacation!
But back to the day at hand. From where I'm sitting, there are ridiculous differences between Cairo and Alamein. Both are approximately 1200 square kilometers ( I'd convert to acres or square miles but we're not taking a math class so I don't have to!), BUT Cairo has 19 million people living in that space compared to Alamein's 6,000. The constant traffic noise has
been replaced by the breeze and waves of the Mediterranean Sea. However, I already miss all of the "hole in the wall" restaurants and shops of Cairo.
As we leave Cairo in just over a week, our opinions are just as varied as our majors; some people could live in Cairo, others would come back to stay for a few months, some would take a two week vacation in Cairo and others are glad they made it here but are ready for India.
I'd like to leave you with a reminder that as we're a month into our journey, and almost halfway around the world...WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!! yes, we world-travellers have our moments of missing home, so keep us updated with what's happening in your lives.
Sincerely,
Dana Morrow and Global 2004-05
