We are off again!

On Friday I leave for Gambia, a small country in west Africa (see map below). There I will be teaching for six weeks as a part of my Masters in the Art of Teaching program. The program has been pretty vague about where I will be teaching, but let me tell you what I do know. I am traveling with three other girls; Jess, Kelly, and Allie. Jess and I will be teaching secondary; while Kelly and Allie will be teaching pre-school. I believe I will be working in an all girls school, but that has not been confirmed. I am living in a compound called "Happy Camp", also known as the Tubab (foreigner) Palace. The building apparently towers over all surrounding buildings. We will have a man bring us eggs and milk every morning for breakfast, the program gives us a small stipend for lunch, and a woman comes to the house and makes us dinner. There is wireless internet in one room of the house, the library, and only five people can be on the internet at once. I have to teach in skirts, and pants/shorts are highly discouraged to wear when in public. The current temperature is in the low 100s and I need to take malaria pills.

All in all I know very little, this I find terrifying. I am a planner. Sometimes it scares me how anal I am about organizing things and making myself feel like I am in control. However, after Egypt, I thankfully have learned how to disassociate myself from some things that I have absolutely no way to control. I am preparing myself to get back into Inshallah time, and praying that I don't have a student tell me that Inshallah bukra they will turn their work in to me. (I should come up with a good retort though if someone does try that).


During my time abroad I am going to try my very best to update my blog weekly; however, with the unreliability of electricity/internet I do not know how likely that will be. I will also be blogging at http://edstudies.smcm.edu/in-action/category/interns-abroad/gambia/ , which is the blog affiliated with my MAT program, there you will also be able to read the blogs of the other people who I will be traveling with. I look forward to keeping in touch with everyone!

The Gambia is a tiny country located on the west coast of Africa. You can barely see it in this picture because when the British colonized this land they sailed their ships down the Gambian river, firing cannon balls off the ship onto the river banks. Where the cannon balls landed marked the territory that Britain claimed. This resulted in a small country, the second smallest in the world, that snaked with the Gambian river. 

In this picture you can see Gambia off on the left. It is the brown line in the middle of Senegal.

Off to Upper Egypt!

I am going to get on my bus to the airport at 3am my time (9pm East Coast time) and my plane is at 6:45am to Aswan. Then head to a ship in Aswan to see the High Dam, the Temple of Philea, and a felluca ride around Kitchener's Island, and the Aga Khan Mausoleum. The second day we are going to a temple shared by two Gods Sobek and Haroeris of Kom Ombo. Then we will sail to Edfu and see the Horus Temple. That night we will sail to Luxor and on day three we will see; the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, and the Colossi of Memnon. Finally we will go see the Karnak Temple and the Luxor Temple. Then back to Aswan. Hop on a plane and back to Cairo in time for dinner on Tuesday!

I will have lots of stories and pictures up hopefully by Tuesday evening! Much Love! And Happy Rosh Hashanah (on Saturday) and Happy Eid el Fitr (on Sunday) !!

xoxo
~S

P.S. Check out my videos on YouTube!  http://www.youtube.com/user/Sarah8104

Comments and Concerns

Things overall are going well here. I have figured out how to eat while I am on campus. It is kind of annoying though because I don't have a meal plan so everything that I eat I have to buy out of pocket every day. This also means that I am slightly concerned about having enough money to do everything that I want to while I am here....but I think I will be okay. I found a way to get to a grocery store using the bus system here on campus. In order to save money I think that I will buy breakfast things and some snack things there. So at the most I need to only buy 2 meals on campus a day.

I still don't know how to change in travelers checks. I'm going to go to the bank on campus today and try to figure that out. This is VERY important because I am running out of money! (between buying food, and school supplies, and a down payment for a trip I'm actually currently a bit short to buy a bus pass...I have the money it is just in travelers checks at the moment.) OH! and I am really not happy that I have to pay 300 LE ($60) to get a student visa! My travelers visa is good for 6 months but apparently I still need to get a student one.

My door now shuts! But my ID won't open my door....and we don't know why because I got a new ID but it still doesn't work! Therefore the problem must be in the door itself. We will just have to wait and see how that pans out.

I was quickly typing this as a way to distract myself from going to my crash course in Arabic...but that starts at 10 and I need to find the building it is in! So I am off to class! HI to everyone back in the states!!! Especially everyone at SMCM! I miss you all so much and I don't think I realized how much that place meant to me until I was away from it.

Much Love,

~S

Why I chose Egypt.

Why not?

I have always wanted to study abroad. Many countries have floated through my head over the years (Ones I know my parents would have been more happy with...ie England). But I have never been the one to take to easiest path...and I wanted to go some place different. It is rather simple for me to go to England or France....Egypt not so much. This provided the perfect opportunity! (And my friend Susan went. She is to blame for planting the seed in my head! :-P )

I have always been a history buff and I feel very cheated that in grade school I was never taught ancient, African, or Middle Eastern history. I do not want to be another teacher that continues to ignore half of the world and doesn't teach their students about it. Especially when ancient, African, and Middle Eastern history is arguably some of the most important and most interesting history their is! (YAY Pyramids and Mummies!) Without Muslim scholars the western world would never have known the works of Aristotle. Aristotle's works were translated into Arabic and then crusaders brought his works to the west. Muslim scholars in Baghdad invented the magnetic compass, and the lateen sail. Both of which completely altered the history sailing. And without them Europeans would not have been able to make it around the world, or to America. Muslims were the prime scholars in the world and living in splendor back when the people in England were still living a squalor.

These laps in education merely uneducates the students who are supposed to be learning. Furthermore, it breeds stereotypes and prejudices. (ie...We don't learn about these places therefore they are not important.) This is why I want to go to Egypt. I want to face every stereotypes that I have heard. I want to see for my self what it is like to live in Africa, and in the Middle East. Because clearly living in the United States has not shown me an accurate picture.

So you're going to Egypt...

Every time I tell someone that I am going to Egypt I get many different responses and am asked many different questions. Here are just a few of each. 

"Are you going to get to ride a camel?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!" (Maybe. Hopefully!!!! I really hope they just don't spit at me.)

"What religion so people practice over there?" (They are mostly Muslims, however Egypt does have Coptic Christians and Jews.)

"You know those people over there are Muslim right?!?!" (Said like, "You know those people over there are purple, have four legs, and eight eyes." Guess what Muslims are people and human just like me and you! They aren't scary I promise.) 

"You have to bring me home a Mummy!!"  (Ummm don't think I can bring one home through customs)

"You know they killed all their pigs because of swine flu." (Yup I have read the newspapers.)

"Do you speak Arabic?" (Workin on it.)

"What do people speak in Egypt?" (Arabic. But all my classes will be in English. Most of the people in Cairo speak some English.) 

"Are you going by yourself?" (Yup, I enrolled directly into the American University in Cairo.)

"Why would you ever want to go there?" (Asked to me by a guy on base at Ft. Detrick....he just got back from Iraq and didn't understand why I would want to go to the Middle East . Answer: To try to stop stereotypes that people like you keep going.)

"Wait Egypt is in Africa?!" (Yup Egypt is in the upper right hand corner of Africa.)

"Do you have to wear a Burka, hajab, scarf?/ Do you have to cover your head, face, arms, legs, shoulders, insert body part here?" (Around campus no, they are pretty chill about what you wear, you just can't be too reviling. But out in the town I need to cover up and wear long sleeves, and pants. If I go into a mosque then I would cover my head out of respect.)

"Be Safe./ You are going to really stick out./ You are blonde and have blue eyes...watch out." (I will be careful.)

"Why Egypt?" (This is asked of me by everyone and is a blog post entirely by itself.)

So what's going on here?

If you haven't heard yet I'm heading off to Egypt on the 28th of August. This blog is my attempt to stay adequately connected with my family back in the United States while I am gone. So I promise to attempt to try to possibly make posts as much as I can.....maybe! I tend to forget to do things like tell people what is going on in my life. As a result these posts may at times be pointless, however, they will assure you that I am alive and at least functioning enough that I can type out a few stories! :-)

(WARNING: Grammar and Spelling will often be wrong. When this happens use your imagination...I find that makes the reading experience more exciting!)

xoxo

~S