So, I have been here over a week! Mabruk al-nee =)
Boy have I got some stories….but classes first.
I’m in Fusha (Modern Standard Arabic) with Suzi- a professor I knew at Middlebury and in Summer School! I have Ammiya (Colloquial), an Arabic Literature class, and a one-on-one with Dr. Maha about anthropological studies on women under Arab culture and Islam.
And all four classes are entirely in Arabic. Gulp.
So, basically I have been in school the past few days. I have classes on Sunday, Mon, Tues and Weds….and three day weekends. Oh yeah ;)
My professors are pretty much fantastic- I am working with some of the best professors that Alex University has to offer. Gad, I am one lucky girl.
Now for some interesting cultural differences that I am subjected to and have decided to make an analysis of:
First, المعاكسات, (Ma-3kasat).
Ma-3kasat roughly translates into Western standards of verbal sexual harassment. The difference here, however, is that it is an ingrained part of culture (or rather, according to my roommate, for only the last 15 years). It’s weird, and more than a little annoying to be honest. For example, the Americans here stand out- our skin is lighter, our features different. Those of us with light eyes don’t stand a chance of blending in. While the Egyptian girls get similar treatment, it is the foreigners with lighter skin and hair that suffer the most.
Ma-3kasat is basically catcalls, hissing, kissing sounds, and, on occasion, grabbing…
Gross, right? Yet instead of dwelling on this rather sketchy side of culture as annoying, I would instead like to share some of my favorite examples of this strange flirting tradition.
The most common one is “Welcome in Egypt!” You think nice, right? Friendly. Sure, sure. But after passing 20 people and everyone of them saying this to you, you tend to take deep breaths and stop up your ears.
But that’s not so bad. Guys and girls get that, all the time, anywhere, everywhere. People are shocked when they learn that I (or any American) know Arabic. It makes up for the annoyance, and they tend to carry on really long conversations.
This isn’t really Ma-3kasat though…it’s more of things like “ye hel-wa” or “bent Amerekia” or “gamilla.” All roughly translate to things like “honey, darling, beautiful.” It wouldn’t be so bad if there wasn’t the hissing and kissing noises that often accompany it. I mean, who doesn’t want to be called “the most beautiful girl in the world?”
Has all this happened to me? Yes. Ma3lish. My favorite comment so far (with a super heavy accent) is “I like you!”
The other crazy thing here is the driving. I’m not kidding. New Yorkers think they’re tough cookies on the road, but NYC or any big city is nothing compared to this. First- there are no stop lights here. I’m not kidding. Then there’s the Cornish (pronounced Kor-neesh).
It is unbelievable. Five lanes of traffic on each side. No stop lights. No speed limit. No one uses turning signals. People dodging cars, cars dodging people. In some places it narrows down to two lanes on each side, and there are crosswalks here. I typically use the underground tunnels to cross, but have had to cross the Cornish twice.
First time was with Khalid (our Assistant Director) and in two lanes of traffic, and was like crossing any normal street here (where you chance of getting hit by a car is only 25% likely). The second time was last night, but there was a police officer there. Sometimes being “hel-wa misla el-3sol” (sweet as honey) has its benefits.
Right now I am on my weekend break. The entire group is going on a scavenger of the city this afternoon, and afterwards we are going to a music concert this evening. Anyone know the group “وسط البلد “ (Middle of the City)? They sing “Shms in-nahar” and “Mag-noon.” Look them up on Youtube….I am quite mob-su-ta lel-el-hafla =)
Tomorrow, my Fusha professor is taking my class to lunch and to the Library of Alex. Be super jealous ;)
Oh, and did I mention the sunshine here, and the heat??? =P
Love you all!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
The Beginning. Plus Day 1-3 in el-Askandaria:
I should probably really begin this blog by saying that I may not be politically correct always…I want this to an honest, diary-like blog. Lucky y’all get to witness the inner workings of my brain.
Why I had to show up 3 hours before my flight and sit in the Atlanta airport is beyond me, but I’m not complaining too much…
I had the best send-off a little while ago. Mommy, Valkyrie, Victoria and Teddy drove me to the shuttle, and were all quite excited and hyper…we’re a weird bunch…shukran le-kom le dah =)
The plane ride from Atlanta to JFK was actually very interesting...
I am typically one to sleep on planes, even though I am still obsessed with flying. My flight from good ol’ Hartsfield (the busiest airport in the world) was full of Arabs. Now, I fully expected there to be tons of people on my flight to Cairo (of course) but this was just strange.
Apparently, my flight continued to Amman, Jordan. I got to practice some extremely stiff Fus-ha. A few people laughed.
Met up with Clara at JFK, and we proceeded to hunt down “American” food there, which to us was Chinese. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any and were forced to eat gourmet tomato and mozzarella sandwiches. Ye meskenatan =)
The ride to Cairo was different. Allah was looking out for me, though, because I sat next to the nicest man from Cairo. He has two boys and one girl, and he wants his daughter to take me under her wing when I visit Cairo. He claimed me as his American daughter. We also spoke in Arabic (mostly Fus-ha), which was nice. But, wa-la-hee. Once the other Egyptians realized that I knew Arabic, they assumed I spoke fluent Ammiya (the dialect). A flight attendant was trying to explain something about an elderly woman’s bag, and I translated some in Fus-ha (which is really cool to be able to do!) but then the same woman continued the conversation with me in really, really, really fast Ammiya. I just kinda shrugged. I was talked about for the remainder of the flight. Hopefully in a good way.
The other side to that was that the Egyptians assumed that I didn’t know any Arabic. My seat partner was extremely kind, but he was teaching me about conjugating verbs, and when to use the tarmabuta for the feminine ending of words. When I walked to the back to get some coffee, the Arab flight attendant and another man were talking in Ammiya, so I was like “afwan, ah-e-za qa-hwa men-fadlik” (excuse me, I would like some coffee please). They both seemed way shocked.
The experience in Cairo was…an experience…
I don’t like to dwell on the negative, so I have decided to take the many stares and hisses I received as comments on my beauty. True, sah?
I was on the same flight with three other students in the program, and we were meeting two more at the airport. Getting visas, passport checks, customs, etc, was sooooooooo easy. Wa-la-hee. I was in and out in less than 20 minutes. It was only after this very efficient system that I learned how the real Egypt time works.
We all met up with our driver (hired by the program), and he only spoke Ammiya, but that wasn’t a big deal. We found our other member of the group after about half and hour, and we ready to hit the road. Then the driver apparently didn’t have the right paperwork, so he told us to wait 15 minutes only, while he talked to his company.
15 minutes in Egypt means 45. At least. Ma’allish. We got on the road about 5 and half hours later, for a 4 and half hour ride to Alex. It was super bumpy and slightly sketchy (we stopped at a gas-station at midnight…) but we eventually arrived, and us benat were met by Khalid (or Paul, our coordinator and demi-god) at 1:45AM. Our roommates even kept our dinner for us.
Btw, all who have been here, be jealous. Eman Khdar is my roommate. Gamila owee =)
So the last few days have been Orientation, and unbelievable. The first day we went to el-gamia el-eskandaria, and met the dean. He talked on his five phones throughout the discussion, which sounds really rude but was mostly hilarious. He seems nice enough, but is greasy and could easily pass for a mob boss.
The day flew by with lunch, Ammiya class and dinner in the dorms. After that, a group of us went to a café, but unfortunately we women were not allowed in it…so we sat at the tables on the street. I drank way too much coffee the first day. Ahsan qawa fe heyetee, be-ged.
Yesterday, we had Ammiya again (Khalid has a “crash-course” and is determined that we are fluent by the time the pledge starts), and then went to the Catacombs!!! It was so amazing- we got to walk around inside of tombs. In the evening, a group of us went to Sasallia (a café on the Mediterranean!) and met some more Egyptians, and talked about volunteer opportunities.
In-na-harda (today) we got to sleep in- although I woke up and went with Clara down to the Cornish (sp??) and we walked along the Mediterranean in the sunshine. After that, we all went to el-Hadeqa (Botanical Gardens) in an area of Alex called Montezah. It was a blast- I played soccer with some little kids (I was terrible but they seemed to get a kick out of the my Ammiya). The little girl was adorable and spoke fluent English. She asked for my email and invited me to have dinner at her house, and visit her elementary school.
The garden borders the Mediterranean, and we walked down the board-walk, and then sat around as a group. One of the guys played his guitar, and we were a tourist attraction for the Egyptian children, which was actually a ton of fun. Had Syrian food for dinner- wa-la-hee!!! I am addicted to the food here…
After dinner, we went to a concert, which was a peaceful and calm evening. All of us got pretty tired to say the least. As we were walking home however, we ran into a wedding party on the street. Of course we wanted to join, but we didn’t know if we could. They noticed us and pulled us in.
By far the best thing yet. Bedun shek.
Bokra (tomorrow) we have proficiency tests, and then- The Pledge. No English. Ebeden. Except for you lucky people reading this blog. And mommy of course =)
Love, love, love.
Why I had to show up 3 hours before my flight and sit in the Atlanta airport is beyond me, but I’m not complaining too much…
I had the best send-off a little while ago. Mommy, Valkyrie, Victoria and Teddy drove me to the shuttle, and were all quite excited and hyper…we’re a weird bunch…shukran le-kom le dah =)
The plane ride from Atlanta to JFK was actually very interesting...
I am typically one to sleep on planes, even though I am still obsessed with flying. My flight from good ol’ Hartsfield (the busiest airport in the world) was full of Arabs. Now, I fully expected there to be tons of people on my flight to Cairo (of course) but this was just strange.
Apparently, my flight continued to Amman, Jordan. I got to practice some extremely stiff Fus-ha. A few people laughed.
Met up with Clara at JFK, and we proceeded to hunt down “American” food there, which to us was Chinese. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any and were forced to eat gourmet tomato and mozzarella sandwiches. Ye meskenatan =)
The ride to Cairo was different. Allah was looking out for me, though, because I sat next to the nicest man from Cairo. He has two boys and one girl, and he wants his daughter to take me under her wing when I visit Cairo. He claimed me as his American daughter. We also spoke in Arabic (mostly Fus-ha), which was nice. But, wa-la-hee. Once the other Egyptians realized that I knew Arabic, they assumed I spoke fluent Ammiya (the dialect). A flight attendant was trying to explain something about an elderly woman’s bag, and I translated some in Fus-ha (which is really cool to be able to do!) but then the same woman continued the conversation with me in really, really, really fast Ammiya. I just kinda shrugged. I was talked about for the remainder of the flight. Hopefully in a good way.
The other side to that was that the Egyptians assumed that I didn’t know any Arabic. My seat partner was extremely kind, but he was teaching me about conjugating verbs, and when to use the tarmabuta for the feminine ending of words. When I walked to the back to get some coffee, the Arab flight attendant and another man were talking in Ammiya, so I was like “afwan, ah-e-za qa-hwa men-fadlik” (excuse me, I would like some coffee please). They both seemed way shocked.
The experience in Cairo was…an experience…
I don’t like to dwell on the negative, so I have decided to take the many stares and hisses I received as comments on my beauty. True, sah?
I was on the same flight with three other students in the program, and we were meeting two more at the airport. Getting visas, passport checks, customs, etc, was sooooooooo easy. Wa-la-hee. I was in and out in less than 20 minutes. It was only after this very efficient system that I learned how the real Egypt time works.
We all met up with our driver (hired by the program), and he only spoke Ammiya, but that wasn’t a big deal. We found our other member of the group after about half and hour, and we ready to hit the road. Then the driver apparently didn’t have the right paperwork, so he told us to wait 15 minutes only, while he talked to his company.
15 minutes in Egypt means 45. At least. Ma’allish. We got on the road about 5 and half hours later, for a 4 and half hour ride to Alex. It was super bumpy and slightly sketchy (we stopped at a gas-station at midnight…) but we eventually arrived, and us benat were met by Khalid (or Paul, our coordinator and demi-god) at 1:45AM. Our roommates even kept our dinner for us.
Btw, all who have been here, be jealous. Eman Khdar is my roommate. Gamila owee =)
So the last few days have been Orientation, and unbelievable. The first day we went to el-gamia el-eskandaria, and met the dean. He talked on his five phones throughout the discussion, which sounds really rude but was mostly hilarious. He seems nice enough, but is greasy and could easily pass for a mob boss.
The day flew by with lunch, Ammiya class and dinner in the dorms. After that, a group of us went to a café, but unfortunately we women were not allowed in it…so we sat at the tables on the street. I drank way too much coffee the first day. Ahsan qawa fe heyetee, be-ged.
Yesterday, we had Ammiya again (Khalid has a “crash-course” and is determined that we are fluent by the time the pledge starts), and then went to the Catacombs!!! It was so amazing- we got to walk around inside of tombs. In the evening, a group of us went to Sasallia (a café on the Mediterranean!) and met some more Egyptians, and talked about volunteer opportunities.
In-na-harda (today) we got to sleep in- although I woke up and went with Clara down to the Cornish (sp??) and we walked along the Mediterranean in the sunshine. After that, we all went to el-Hadeqa (Botanical Gardens) in an area of Alex called Montezah. It was a blast- I played soccer with some little kids (I was terrible but they seemed to get a kick out of the my Ammiya). The little girl was adorable and spoke fluent English. She asked for my email and invited me to have dinner at her house, and visit her elementary school.
The garden borders the Mediterranean, and we walked down the board-walk, and then sat around as a group. One of the guys played his guitar, and we were a tourist attraction for the Egyptian children, which was actually a ton of fun. Had Syrian food for dinner- wa-la-hee!!! I am addicted to the food here…
After dinner, we went to a concert, which was a peaceful and calm evening. All of us got pretty tired to say the least. As we were walking home however, we ran into a wedding party on the street. Of course we wanted to join, but we didn’t know if we could. They noticed us and pulled us in.
By far the best thing yet. Bedun shek.
Bokra (tomorrow) we have proficiency tests, and then- The Pledge. No English. Ebeden. Except for you lucky people reading this blog. And mommy of course =)
Love, love, love.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Day 1
Marhaban my friends!
Today (rather three days ago, December 31), I am in pain. I now have typhoid, hepatitis A and B, polio, and swine flu.
Beware.
Maybe this isn't a good way to start....
Christmas Day:
Christmas Day, I recieved the best present EVER that helped boost what shall, in' sha Allah (if God wills it) become one of the best experiences of my life:
Teddy gave me a hat.
I know you guys. You're laughing and thinking "what the heck"- not quite sure how to respond to the idea that a hat can spark the journey of a lifetime. But this isn't just any old hat, my friends, oh no.
Still not convinced? Fine, I'll be honest. Teddy and I have been searching for this thing for the last five years at least. We explored hat shops in every major city we went to, plus the Mad Hatter in Savannah, GA and South of the Border in SC. Teddy even searched while he was in NYC a couple years ago.
We found leather hats, camo hats, water-proof hats, straw hats, fancy hats, hotdog hats.
Nothing worked.
Then, al-ham-da-Allah (praise be to God), there was a shift in luck.
Teddy recently went on a road-trip with our mom to Monterey, CA to help our older sister pack up her apartment after graduating from her master's program at MIIS. They had about a week to putz around California, and it was there that The HAT was found.
This one is an olive-brown, two and a half inch brim, legit Indiana Jones hat.
(They avoided purchasing the leather whip that went along with it).
My other preparations thus far have included washing cloths, taking Malaria pills, pretending to brush up on my Ammiya (colloquial) Arabic, and enjoying the last vestiges of general laziness before school starts back again.
What am I saying? School???
I mean adventure =)
Happy New Year to all!
Til the next post, ma'salama!!!
Today (rather three days ago, December 31), I am in pain. I now have typhoid, hepatitis A and B, polio, and swine flu.
Beware.
Maybe this isn't a good way to start....
Christmas Day:
Christmas Day, I recieved the best present EVER that helped boost what shall, in' sha Allah (if God wills it) become one of the best experiences of my life:
Teddy gave me a hat.
I know you guys. You're laughing and thinking "what the heck"- not quite sure how to respond to the idea that a hat can spark the journey of a lifetime. But this isn't just any old hat, my friends, oh no.
Still not convinced? Fine, I'll be honest. Teddy and I have been searching for this thing for the last five years at least. We explored hat shops in every major city we went to, plus the Mad Hatter in Savannah, GA and South of the Border in SC. Teddy even searched while he was in NYC a couple years ago.
We found leather hats, camo hats, water-proof hats, straw hats, fancy hats, hotdog hats.
Nothing worked.
Then, al-ham-da-Allah (praise be to God), there was a shift in luck.
Teddy recently went on a road-trip with our mom to Monterey, CA to help our older sister pack up her apartment after graduating from her master's program at MIIS. They had about a week to putz around California, and it was there that The HAT was found.
This one is an olive-brown, two and a half inch brim, legit Indiana Jones hat.
(They avoided purchasing the leather whip that went along with it).
My other preparations thus far have included washing cloths, taking Malaria pills, pretending to brush up on my Ammiya (colloquial) Arabic, and enjoying the last vestiges of general laziness before school starts back again.
What am I saying? School???
I mean adventure =)
Happy New Year to all!
Til the next post, ma'salama!!!
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