Arrival in Al-Iskandariyya

Well... I am in Egypt. It is a little hard to believe that I am finally here - our trip was beyond eventful and I'm pretty sure this stack of cancelled and unused tickets shows you why I will NEVER be flying United Airlines if I have anything to do with it again (the best part of the trip was the train United put us on when they had no other options).

Oh well... "ce qui est dur ne peux pas durer" as they told me in Senegal... "that which is difficult will not last long." Although apparently it can last at least 54 hours, because that's how long it took us to get to Cairo. After a four hour bus ride to Alexandria, we were scraggly, exhausted, and ready to sleep. However, I would do it all again just to spend a week here. Alexandria has so far proven to be an amazing place. Every single person I have met has been ridiculously friendly. I keep expecting people to be wary of me or accuse me of doing something wrong since I was warned that there has lately been suspicion of Americans, but instead I have received nothing but warm welcomes and a great deal of patience. And a lot of food.

My favorite thing to do here so far (besides drinking fresh mango juice, enjoying the garbled English phrases on the shirts of passers-by, and walking along the edge of Poseidon's playground) is tell people that I actually teach Arabic to high school students. I think most people are delighted and surprised that American high schoolers care about their language. Maybe it makes them reexamine their previous mental picture of Americans, and it makes them reexamine me. Every time you travel, you should be an appropriate ambassador for your country to every single person you meet, no exceptions. Talking with pride about my students back home makes it easy for me to do that, and it makes me very happy.

Keep in touch for the next five weeks as I post updates about my trip if you are interested in Egypt or Arabic!