Quick update from Jerusalem

Hey all! Sorry I haven't updated since Turkey. We've been traveling for a little over two weeks now and time is just flying. I had a good time in both Syria and Jordan and appreciated being able to see more of the Middle East. We stayed right outside of the Old City in Damascus and had good amount of time to explore the surrounding area. I also got some time to myself to process everything and just chill out alone. The group is great but we're constantly around each other so some time alone was really nice. Our time in Jordan was nice but way too short! It really serves primarily as a resting point before we get to Israel-Palestine. Aside from hanging out in a really nice hotel, we were able to go to the Dead Sea. We had a really nice day floating on the Dead Sea and I enjoyed having a day off.
From Jordan we boarded a bus and headed to Jerusalem. We got through customs pretty quickly. Dr. Dave, the director, said it was the fasted he had ever been through it. We spent yesterday getting acquainted with our surroundings and had some time to walk through the area. We're staying at the Armenian Hospice in the Arab Quarter of the Old City.
Today we went in small groups to Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Museum. It was a powerful experience and left me with much to think about. Well I must be off. My friend is ready to head back to our hostel and it's getting late.

Working out in Asia

I'm sorry for the amount of time it has been since I last wrote. Our last few weeks in Ciro were incredibly busy. My computer decided to crash about a week or so before we left and I had to rewrite all of the papers I had finished. It was frustrating but it's over now. After finishing all of our papers we headed to the airport for a
3:00 am flight to Istanbul. We've been in Turkey now for 5 days now and it has been so nice. I didn't know what to expect but I have really enjoyed my time here. I can definently see myself returning to Istanbul at some point We've been able to do quite a bit of exploring--we've seen the Haggia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar. We also have had several speakers including pretty big political people.

Yesterday, a few of my friends and I hopped on the ferry and went to the Asian side of Turkey. We wanted to go to this tower that one of our Turkish friends told us about but it was closed. So instead of the tower we went across the way to a park/excercise facility. It was this really random park area that had both slides for children and then excercise machines for adults. After excercising and taking photos we went to eat at this really good Turkish restaraunt. After getting back to the European side I went exploring with one of my friends. We walked all around before stopping at a little cafe. The cafe wasn't what we were thinking so we ended up going to another one for dinner. We ended up staying at the cafe a little longer than we planned and had to run to be on time for the speaker. After the speaker I hung out in my room. Some people went out but I was too tired to do anything but just rest.

After lounging around this morning I joined around 11 or so MESPers to go to Taksim square. We met up with friends from Koc University (an elite private college where we discussed politics with some students a few days earlier). They were so impressed with me (and I guess the others) that they wanted to hang out again. They wanted to take us out to a bar and were very surprised when we couldn't drink! After explaining, they still took us to a bar but we just didn't drink any alcohol! We walked around for a bit after, got coffee and then split up. I went with the group that went to sit down at a coffeeshop. We had a nice time talking and will hopefully be able to stay in contact with them.

We will be in Istanbul for another day and then we will head to Ankara. From there we will fly to Damascus (well, from Istanbul) and then to Jordan. After Jordan we will stay in Israel-Palestine for two weeks.

Well we're going to the U.S. Consulate tomorrow and have to wake up early so I better be off. I'll try to update again soon.

Siwa, Homestays and Africa Cup

I apologize for my absence from the blogging world. These past few weeks have been quite busy. Two weeks ago we loaded onto a big bus for a 10 hr drive to Siwa, an Oasis town that has been virtualy untouched by tourists. The ride was long but it was well worth it! Siwa is an incredibly relaxing place with many cool things to see. We stayed at a really cool hotel called the desert rose. Check out the website for some pictures of both the hotel and the village. I hiked the old village ruins pictured on the website with a few other MESPers. www.desert-rose-hotel.com/en/index.html--if you click on the various titles on the bottom of the screen you can see more pictures.
Siwa is about 50 or so kilometers from Libya. the people are mostly indigenous Berber peoples. They are the ones who ran most of our time in the desert. In addition to having free time to roam about, we were also taken on a day through the Sahara. We headed into Jeeps and were taken by local guides throughout the Sahara. Driving down the sand dunes was quite the experience. At several points I thought we were goners, but thankfully we always made it. Seeing the sun set in the desert was incredibly amazing.
Almost the whole group (save one student) slept the night in the desert under a tent. It was not as cold as I thought it was going to be but it was still really cold. I can't say I got much sleep but it was still an extremely amazing experience. On a whole, Siwa has been one of my favorite things about Egypt. We also got to visit the remants of the Oracle's temple--History tells us that Alexander the Great visited the oracle.
Last week was my homestay where I stayed with a Muslim family. I'm glad I got the experience but it was often very uncomfortable and awkward. We were supposed to be placed with a basic english speaker around our age: their interpretation of a 'basic english speaker' around my age was a 38 year old man who knew all of 4 phrases-- "come on", "ok", "no problem" and "bye." I stayed with him and his wife who was just a few years older than me and his 3 year old son. Directly above us was his brother and sister in law with their family (another MESPer stayed with them) and downstairs were his mother and father (a MESPer also stayed with them) I was the only one in my group to actually stay every night. Many of my peers were sick this week--I think some were sick with nerves but that's besides the point.

Egypt just won the Africa Cup for soccer and it was amazing to be here while that happened! The final game was on Sunday. I went with two of my friends to a western mall and the streets were completely empty because everyone was watching the game. We got back in time to eat dinner on a nice boat along the nile! They have several different restaurants in each boat (Chilli's, TGI Fridays, etc) and about 5 minutes after getting there Egypt scored the first and only goal of the match. There were about 30-50 Egyptians watching it with us and they went crazy when they scored. After dinner we decided to walk back to our flats (about 20 minutes) so we could watch the celebrations. People were flipping out! Everyone was honking their horns, screaming, beating drums, dangling out of their cars (the passengers at least) and starting little bonfires. The celebrations lasted well into the morning (around 4)

We're leaving tonight for an overnight train ride for our Nile cruise to both Luxor and Aswan. I'll try to update sometime next week when we get back

When it rains, it pours.

I’m sure this is the title of some cheesy pop song and I know it’s an overused cliché, but it sure applies to the situation. It doesn’t normally rain in Cairo but it has rained several times since we’ve been here and it rained really hard two evenings ago/yesterday morning and it was not fun. Cairo does not know how to deal with water at all so when it rains they pretty much have to manually sweep the water into the drains. Walking around in such weather is interesting to say the least.

We went to the pryamids on Friday. We're only about 20 or so minutes away but Friday was our first free chance to see them. They keep us incredibly busy so it was nice to just mull around! It was a bit foggy (which is the norm in Egypt with all of the pollution) but still very nice. The sphynx was really cool. We also went to see the Cairo Symphony orchestra yesterday at the Opera House. We had to get dressed up (ties were required) it was a really good cultural experience. Afterwards some of us went to the 40th floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel for dessert. Once we got up their we found out they had an $94 pound minimum. (with everything my total came to about 22 dollars) Some of my peers left but I was part of the group that decided to stay. They give us 100 pounds per week for food and I've been good about not spending too much money. We had an amazing view of Cairo from the top floor so it was really nice. I got this plate of french cheeses and it came with a lot of food (they brought rolls and two bowls--one with Kiwi's and one with Strawberry's)
When we we're finished me and two others got into a cab to go back to our neighborhood. Usually on shorter trips you don't really have to barter with the taxi driver before--it's obviously no more than 5 pounds and no less than 3. The general rule is to get older drivers because the younger ones try to scam you. We got in and this young guy who was full of himself asks us in english how much we are going to pay him. We start with 3 pounds and he says that's too little. Finally I said that the highest we would pay him was 7 pounds which was still too much. He told us his minimum was 20 pounds so we got out of the cab! He dropped us off in the huge puddle which was annoying but there was no way we'd pay 20 pounds. We were able to get into a cab not long after that and paid 10 which is still a little too high but not that bad.

Today's my 21st birthday and it was a bit sad not to spend it with family/friends back in the states. The program does a good job of making you feel loved on your birthday. We had cake after lunch and my flatmates and I went out for Kosheri.

Well, I think that's it for now. I hope everyone is doing well!

Today marked the first day of service projects. At around 10:40 I walked to the villa to meet the 3 other students who would be doing the same project as I and Dr. Diaa (the assistant director of MESP who is an Egyptian) who would be bringing us to our location. We went about 45 minutes or so away to Nasr City (Nasr is Arabic for victory) to a geriatrics center. Since we were not familiar with the general area, Diaa drove us; unfortunately this was a one time deal. From now on we have to take a taxi there and back. It takes around 45 or so minutes and should cost no more (or less) than 20 pounds (a little under $4).With no meters in the taxis, the price needs to be negotiated first. We know that it should cost around 20 LE (pounds) but we still start by asking how much it will cost to go to Nasr (or if we’re coming back, Agouza). After looking at us and seeing we’re Americans the driver will usually say anywhere from 25-35 pounds. We respond with thanks, but how about 15 (well our group said 17 because it’s much easier to say!) If things go right, the driver should say no and then we come back with our final offer which is 20 pounds. This of course is all in theory. A few of us had a cab driver start out with 30 pounds (we were going a much shorter distance and it should only have cost 5 or so pounds) and refuse to go any lower than 25. We were already in the cab but he said we could leave if we weren’t willing to pay that much; we did! It worked out pretty well coming back today. At first the driver acted as if he would not go any lower than 25 after we started to walk away he told us to get in for 20 pounds. The drive was actually nice (well, not the traffic) but the driver spoke a little English (substantially more than our Arabic though) and we had as best a conversation as we could. He told us how much he liked Jimmy Carter and asked if we liked him too. He also said how much he liked Americans but didn’t like Bush. He asked us all if we liked Bush and we all responded negatively. I’m not sure if one of my peers was telling the truth but it was the best response!

To begin our service project we talked a bit with the director of the program. He had us come into his office and write down our names, e-mail addresses and majors. He’s been at the center as the director for a few years and is also a physician. We spent a while in his office drinking tea/juice and meeting the head nurse. Both of them spoke English rather well and told us what we would be doing during normal hours. Next Tuesday (and the subsequent Tuesday’s) we will get to the center at 8:30 and hang around with the residents for 2 hours, take a break a half hour break, and then either do “manual labor” (a little cleaning, food preparation, whatever else) or hang around with the residents again. At 2 we’ll get lunch and then head back.

We didn’t have the normal schedule today so we pretty much just visited with some of the residents for an hour and a half. I went with the other Kyle (I’m pretty sure that’s why we were put together, it’s easier to introduce us!) to the second floor, Hannah went to the women’s only floor (the other two floors are mixed gender) and Alex, the last student, went to the fourth floor. Most of the residents speak English pretty well—I’m not sure, but I have a feeling that they are pretty well educated. We came today as they were eating lunch. On our floor only one woman spoke English well and we spoke to her for a little while. Since they were eating lunch it wasn’t the most ideal time to engage in conversation so we mostly spoke with the doctor that is in charge of the medical aspect of the center. Like the director she is an internist and is pretty much fluent in English. She told us a little bit about her family (I think all three of her daughters are either doctors or still training to be doctors) and asked us what we would be doing and where we would be traveling to. After talking to her Kyle and I went to the floor above us to see what Alex was up to. He was talking with a pretty lively woman who seemed to much enjoy talking. She told us several stories (which were the same ones that she had told Alex earlier) about her life (she described herself as “naughty” and “bold” though she did specify that she never did anything “fundamentally” wrong, whatever that meant) She seemed to be pretty well educated (or at least she told us she skipped several grades in school) and wealthy (she was pretty stylish and was wearing her cell phone on her belt) I guess it’s impossible to know how much of what she told us was true. I can’t remember what her name was but it meant wisdom in Arabic. She was quick to point out that she wasn’t very wise though. We also talked to another woman who was not as lively but did talk. There was a man there that asked Kyle “Where’s the music? No music today?” He was much harder to understand and had some apparent problems grasping reality. The lively woman looked at him like he was crazy and asked me what he was talking about. She finally spoke with him in Arabic and told us what he was saying, but I think that it didn’t even make sense in Arabic. He continued talking and kept on repeating something about Jesus coming and how we were supposed to help people as far and far as we could see. He asked Kyle his name and thought he said “fire” to which he responded, with a laugh, “fire! Fire! I’m scared!”
Tonight me and most of my flatmates went to get some kosheri (an Egyptian dish sort of like spaghetti with noodles, lentils, and rice topped with chickpeas and fried onions with tomato sauce. It cost 3 pounds (around 40 cents) and is really good. We're in charge of getting all of our dinners on our own (though they give us 100 pounds) so me and my flatmates will be eating a lot of kosheri!

Tomorrow is the first day of classes. I'm nervous for arabic but excited to begin!

egypt so far

I've been in egypt since wednesday. It's hard to believe that i'm here and I have to constantly remind myself of that fact. I'm sitting in a nice internet cafe outside of our neighborhood in Cairo. I took a taxi with four of my flatmates so that we could get a better connection to the internet. Today we went in pairs around to get better aquainted with our neighborhood. We had to take a taxi (an interesting experience) get food for ourselves, and buy several other things. It was an interesting experience but I'm not sure quite how confident I am in going around the area yet.

Yesterday we went to a mosque for 12:00 service (this is comprable to sunday church) Prior to going I was quite excited--worshiping alongside Muslims in Cairo seemed like an awesome experience. I'm glad that I went but i'm not sure if I would go back. Throughout the service I felt quite uncomfortable--it was as if we were watching fishes in their tanks. I personally saw no issue with compromising my own faith (which was something that a few students shared) but felt that it was a little disrespectful to the muslim faith. The prayer service for them is not something to "visit" or watch; if you're not worshipping Allah then you shouldn't be there. One person came up to the group of guys and shared that opinion pretty strongly. He was nice, and could speak english very well, but firmly told us that we did not belong there. After sitting through the service I agreed with him. None of us could understand any of what was going on and it seemed like we shouldn't have been there. I'm still processing through the whole event and i'm sure I'll post more later.

In the evening we went on a really cool boat tour of the nile. It was amazing to actually be on the nile! I never thought i'd get to be doing this. After the tour, we went to two of the touristy markets and roamed around. I went with Dr. Dave (the program director) and a few other students through a more local market. We were able to go into a part of the city which has been around for centuries. We were also able to visit a mosque and go to the top of the roof. The sight from the roof was amazing. We had a great view of all of cairo and it was especially nice being lit up!

the tempature these past few days have been very nice. The first two days we were here it rained (which is apparently very rare) and so some of the streets are still semi "flooded"

well we have to leave really soon because we have to be back at the villa (the place that MESP owns and where are classes/common meals are held) for dinner.

inshaallah (this is not typed correctly, but bear with me--it means God Willing)I will write soon!

I'm in Egypt writing from a little internet cafe. Both of the flights went well. We've been doing basic orientaion stuff. Today we went to a local market where the girls got a higab for our mosque visit tomorrow. We got a pretty nice view of the pyramids and tomorrow we will go to a few other "touristy" places in the evening. Everything is going well so far. I live in a pretty nice flat with 7 of the other guys. There are three rooms and I live with one other person, Matt, who goes to Cedarville University. The flat is affectionately known as "Paisely Palace" because all of the furnishings in the living room are pink. Well I really can't write much more because i'm sharing my time with one of my flat mates. Thanks for all of your thoughts and well wishes. I'll try to keep this up as much as I can.