Well, I seem to have made it in one piece. And first of all, let me say that I definitely should have set up my blog before I left, because for some reason, it now thinks I read Arabic, I guess because it knows that I’m logging on from Egypt? I’m just not sure. I managed to click on all the right things, though, somehow, and here I am!
I was picked up from the airport by someone from AUC, and it turns out there were actually a bunch of us on the same flight. Who knew? In fact, the girl I sat next to on the Plane is from Norway, and we’re now friends. Her name is Marie. I also learned as soon as I arrived in Cairo that the lines on the road mean nothing. No one drives in lanes. We even went down the wrong way of a one way street at one point. I found it amusing that I’ve come all the way to the middle east, and the roads were my biggest threat. Again, somehow we made it in one piece.
We arrived at the dorms in Zamalek, a neighborhood in Cairo, pretty close to the old Campus. All the international students are staying here for now. Most students are moving to Heliopolis to live in hotels in a week, but I’m staying here.
Today we went to City Stars in Heliopolis, which is a gigantic mall. It was seriously the biggest thing I’ve ever seen. Unbelievable. I was totally worn out after that adventure. then we had a dorm orientation meeting, and discussed things like the dress code in Egypt, how no boys are allowed in girls dorms (and the opposite), and it’s strictly enforced, etc.
Then! (the most exciting part!) We took a sailboat ride on the Nile! I seemed to be the only one who was…almost peeing my pants with excitement. We were on a boat! In Egypt! On the Nile! How crazy is that? I took lots of pictures, but I haven’t put them on my computer yet, and my camera is up in my room and I’m down in the lobby because the internet is not working in the girls’ dorm. Plus, I have to play around a bit on here to figure out how to load pictures. I’m sure there’s a link to add them, but again, everything is in Arabic. I’ll figure it out.
I guess that’s it for now. We start orientation tomorrow (Sunday) because our work week here is Sunday-Thursday. That’ll take a little getting used to.
I’ll write more soon when I have more to say! (and I’ll be sure to post those pictures as soon as I can!)