hey kids, 

indeed, i have made it to the big mango. right now i'm sitting at an cafe in agouza, picking up signal from the nearest mcdonald's...thanks golden arches! 

my computer has little to no battery life...i'll do what i can to write quickly! 

time in egypt so far has been relatively stress-free. mesp is a program highly committed to student well-being; they are good about easing students into egyptian culture. i have mixed feelings...as a group of 30 we take a tour bus around cairo, go to mosques, and participate in other activities in the city. i knew this going into mesp, and i am actually pleasantly surprised at some of the other student's cultural awareness and previous travel experiences. i try to ignore complaints and offensive comments toward egyptian culture and highlight other student's excitement and open-mindedness. 

i am also learning new things. we went to the khan-el-lili (an extremely touristy spot with hookah and souvenirs). the director of the program offered a mini-detour to a few students...i took him up on his offer. after a round of turkish coffee and hookah we walked through a narrow alley with vendors every couple of feet. we made it through the chaos and came up to an extremely elegant, historical mosque. we snuck upstairs to the roof that overlooked cairo. for just a moment we were able to experience peace in the midst of the chaos. we glanced down the edge of the roof and there was a massive courtyard below, not at all looking like it belonged there. our little excursion was a beautiful escape from the greedy, chaotic tourism below. 

one of the girls' foot got run over by a taxi the other day...the driving here is insane and the pollution is (says the director) comparable, if not worse than Beijing. 

i don't have a regular schedule yet; we are still in orientation week. like i said, the program is introducing us to egyptian culture very very gently. the first couple days our cooks made us american meals: burgers and spaghetti. lately we have had more egyptian food: fried fish, macaroona, etc...

my computer is about to die now. i'll finish up. tomorrow we are going to "garbage city," one of the more poverty-stricken places in cairo. we start arabic class later this week. I CANT WAIT!!!!!!! i'll visit my family next weekend most likely. i was able to see ben and amber, was really nice. i'll see them again for a meal on thursday. 

all in all, things are great. its good to be back :)

Pre-departure jitters...

yes, my friends, i have created a blog. it was at the sole advice of two females who mean a lot to me: leah butts and kelly worcester. i admit, it took some convincing...i'm not too into the blogging thing. but, i do know it will be a ncie outlet for updates and a venting session or two :)

i'm sitting in my dad's apartment in alhambra, ca, finishing up packing for my trip to egypt. i'll be there for about five months: four months on a study abroad program (middle east studies program), and about a month traveling afterward. you could say i'm experiencing all the standard pre-trip emotions: anxious, excited, numb...

my dad is taking me to the airport in four hours. i have most of my stuff ready to go, just need to take care of last minute logistics.

i'm most excited about learning arabic!! and, we travel as a group to syria, jordan, israel and turkey. it will be hard for me to be travel in a large group of students (30), but i hope to keep patient and open-minded. also, our director emailed the group and warned about groups who have done MESP during the U.S. presidential elections in the past...he says it nearly destroyed community! i'm sure there will be a variety of opinions; i'm eager to see group dynamics unfold.

great news! i found out my brother and his wife and son will be on the same flight as me from frankfurt to cairo! (fyi: they met during MESP, and since have lived and worked in the middle east). i'm really really pumped about this.

alright, thats about it for now. gotta get to more packing/attempting to keep my sanity!