FDOC

It is a very tired blonde who posts today. Woke up early for our first block of classes this morning - 4 hours studying amiya (colloquial Arabic) wasn't exactly my ideal morning, but I really feel like I learned a lot of practical phrases and words which I'll have to practice a lot. After that, we went to St. Andrews for our second orientation session. St. Andrews, again, is the organization through which we work with refugees. How that's gonna work: the St. Andrews director set up summer programs at several different refugee centers around Cairo, and we're all breaking up and going out to those centers to teach our classes. Mine is in Giza and I'll be working with Fernando, another DukeEngager, and a center facilitator at a Somali refugee center. Apparently, our kids are going to be all Somali, ranging from ages 14 to 19, and we'll have about 11 girls and 9 boys. The classes are going to be not only about teaching basic English and Arabic skills (listening and speaking, not reading or writing, since many will be illiterate) so they can communicate in basic situations, but also about basic life skills (like hygiene) and resources they have access to as refugees.

So, I really feel like today, right as we are about to pass the one week mark, we really got to encounter Cairo. That realization came as I was sitting on a microbus (buses with no doors that circle around their routes hardly stopping to let people on and off) heading towards the metro station after walking through a market crowded with not only people and goods but also cars, scooters, motorcycles and the occasional donkey.


For those concerned about safety (yeah, I'm talking to you, rents): Cairo is extremely safe. Max, for example, apparently left his iPod on a taxi the other day and today received an email from someone who had found it, wanting to arrange to give it back. And I'm going to and from the center with Fernando, who may not be particularly imposing but keeps being mistaken as Arab even though he's from Colombia. We're being very cautious, but we can't just stay in the posh parts of Cairo and tourist around - that'd kinda defeat the purpose of DukeEngage.

In other news, I am, unfortunately, beginning to feel the effects of that 'traveler's sickness' they warned us about. If I'm still feeling this poorly tomorrow morning, maybe I'll just send in my homework with someone else and laze until my stomach stops getting mad at me for eating all that koosheri.

I'd love to hear from all of you, so please send me an email or comment or facebook me! Let me know how things are going at home/wherever you are.