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 :)