Upon reflection...

Before I begin: the website (http://www.nuphotoegypt.com) is now fully functioning and features a 90-image gallery page for each photography student (plus Rob!). I invite you to check it out, and relive the dialogue with us!

I wrote this as a reflection paper for the dialogue class, and thought it would be beneficial to share:

My trip to Egypt began in a whirlwind. When I first heard about the new photography class being taught in Egypt, I immediately decided I had to be a part of it. I applied right away and anxiously waited, tentatively allowing myself to dream about the experience of being in Egypt. I’d always wanted to go to Egypt, ever since I can remember. My grandparents went to Egypt themselves before I was born, and all my life I’ve listened to their stories about traveling the world. I’ve been interested in the pharonic side of Egyptian history for years, and I’ve memorized the Ancient Egyptian exhibits at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. But it was only last summer, when I took Modern Middle Eastern History at Northeastern, that I began to learn about the more recent history of Egypt – and I was even more hooked than before. So, naturally, when I heard about this trip, there was no question in my mind that I had to go. I had been worried that my major would not allow for any study abroad opportunities, so this trip was a perfect fit. It would allow me to spend some time overseas, study something I’m interested in, and finally visit the place I’ve heard and learned so much about.

Fast forward to the week before we left for Egypt. I had just finished my spring semester classes, and was frantically gathering things for my trip. I packed, repacked, and then repacked again, trying to get everything organized. This being my first trip overseas, I wanted to make sure I got it right. I began writing in my journal, mostly about how nervous and excited I was to embark on such a life-changing experience. However, as you may have heard, I lost this journal on the flight from Boston to Frankfurt. I panicked at the airport, and grieved for those long lost journal entries. When we arrived in Cairo, I purchased a new journal, and began fresh. Before my trip I definitely would not have said this, but I’m glad I started a new journal. It allowed me to neatly package all my nervousness and worrying, and then to begin anew and enjoy the new experiences for what they were. The trip, as it came to be, was all about spontaneity and change – which, somehow, losing my journal prepared me for a little more.

Egypt itself was like a dream. On Day 1, when we visited the Khan el-Khalili for the first time, it felt like a mix between Disney World and Hollywood. It just didn’t seem possible that after a (relatively) short plane ride that I could really be in Egypt, interacting with locals and just being there. My head was spinning. That night, we left for Aswan on an overnight train, and I found myself so overwhelmed that I just accepted everything that was happening without thinking about it. Now that I’m free to relax and reflect on the experience, I’m amazed at how much we accomplished on the trip. The train itself was a jarring experience, one that didn’t feel altogether real. I enjoyed seeing the view of Egypt’s countryside after the quick tour of Cairo. Riding the overnight train did give me a sense of distance, something that the plane ride back from Luxor to Cairo did not. It gave me time to think, and time to really experience how far it is from northern to southern Egypt. It is a very big country, and it was important for me to digest that fact as we rode the train.

Aswan and Luxor were more amazing than I could have ever imagined. Visiting the Valley of the Kings was one of my favorite experiences in Egypt. Although it was brutally hot that day and full of tourists, my time there was untainted. It was incredible to be inside the tombs there, which featured artwork that completely blew me away. I had no idea how well-preserved and fully colored the tombs still were. It was well worth the long climbs up and down the narrow shafts crowded with people. That day we also visited Hatshepsut’s Temple, which I had learned about time and time again since childhood. It was amazing to see in person, and was much larger than I had imagined. That day happened to be my 21st birthday, and was the best birthday I could have ever asked for.

It was a relief to be back in Cairo after our five days in Aswan and Luxor. Cairo was a bit cooler, and was also not completely inundated with tourists (whose appearance and behavior had begun to become irritating). I was so glad that this trip was about living in Egypt, not being a tourist there. I was also glad that we had been given time to be tourists, so we could get it out of our systems and explore other aspects of the country. Our visit to the pyramids at Giza was one such touristic moment. It was unbelievable to be able to ride camels through the desert to the pyramids. Even though I definitely felt like a tourist, I still enjoyed the opportunity thoroughly. It was nice to feel relatively alone in the desert, it was just our huge group and really nobody else. When we got to the Sphinx, however, we found the tourists. It was unfortunate how busy the place was, and how blocked-off a lot of the routes were. I would have liked to see the pyramids and Sphinx from different angles and from a closer viewpoint, but I’m sure a lot of other tourists would have liked that, too.

Visiting the U.S. Embassy in Cairo the next day was disappointing. It had been something I was looking forward to, a chance to see a little chunk of home in a foreign land, and to ask important questions, and to hear about what it’s like to work in an embassy. However, the presentation we were given seemed like one that had been scripted and heavily edited – we never really got our questions answered. It was fascinating to contrast this experience with our later visit to the Arab League, where our questions were answered respectfully, eloquently, and truthfully, without any hint of cover-up or politics. I was dismayed that an American embassy would feel the need to not share completely with us as American citizens, while a representative from the Arab League (of which the United States is not a member) felt freer to tell us the truth. It was a shocking revelation, but it made sense, especially as I learned and experienced more about the Egyptian culture as an example of the Arab world as a whole.

A couple of days later, we visited the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in smaller groups. I had been expecting a western museum like the ones I was used to, but I was rapidly realizing that many things in Egypt just didn’t fit the western mold. The museum was extremely confusing to explore on one’s own, and there were many guides outside who seemed very excited at the prospect of taking your money to show you a few key things in the museum. We elected not to get a guide, and instead wandered on our own. Because of this, we didn’t see a few things that I would have liked to see (even though we wandered what we thought was the extent of the museum). Even though I was disappointed with the museum as a whole, I was extremely happy to see the collection, especially the treasures from King Tutankhamun’s tomb. We visited his tomb in the Valley of the Kings (which still contains his body, in a display case for all to see). I was amazed that all these treasures (and more) fit into the tiny tomb that we had been in just a short time before. I felt like I had my pharonic quota filled that day, and was happy with the excursion overall.

That night we attended the Red Bull X-Fighters motocross event at the Sphinx in Giza. It was an entirely different experience than ones we had been having, but I was excited to be part of a crowd of Egyptians around my own age. As we pushed through the crowd to get better to a better view of the action, I found Kareem, Abduh’s son, and his friend. They took me under their wing, and we enjoyed the event together. I was very excited to spend some time with Egyptians, which I had not previously had the chance to do. The event played a collection of American rock songs, which I was surprised at, this being an international event in a completely foreign country. As I spent more and more time in Egypt, I was able to see the pervasive nature of pieces of American culture. We heard American music (mostly music from the 1990’s and early 2000’s) played everywhere. There were many American restaurants, especially at the City Stars mall in Heliopolis. We ate at McDonald’s and Hardee’s with some frequency, and we decided that this fast food was better in Egypt than it was back home.

People ask me how the food was in Egypt. I tell them it was delicious – when we ate it. Most of the time we found ourselves eating western food, which definitely kept me feeling healthier while I was in Egypt. Now that I’m back in the states, I regret that we didn’t eat more Egyptian food. I feel like many of the choices I made in Egypt were ones related to self-preservation and weren’t future-focused, which was a necessity at the time. It was hard to think about diverse eating when you were busy thinking about feeling better.

Our day trip to Alexandria was definitely educational. The new Biblioteca Alexandrina was incredible, and so western! I couldn’t believe it! Here, in Egypt, something that looks like it belongs in Paris! By that time, however, I had gotten used to the somehow familiar and homey look of the run-down buildings covered in brown dust. This clean, polished, expansive library just didn’t fit in, and seemed odd in that landscape.

By the time we left Egypt, I felt homesick for the place. Everything there had become so routine, so familiar, that it just felt weird to be heading home. I was excited to tell friends and family all about Egypt, but knew that I would miss actually being there. The first time I saw a group of Americans out for ice cream in my hometown, I kept getting confused. Here was a group of people, all Americans, all Caucasian, and all speaking English – and they weren’t members of our Dialogue group. I kept doing double-takes, thinking I was seeing members of the group in the crowd. I even mistook a friend for a dialogue member! I know part of it was the jet-lag and exhaustion from traveling, but it definitely threw me off for a little while.

Now that I’ve had some time to readjust, I still find myself seeing the American version of things and thinking back to how it had been in Egypt. The first time I went to a restaurant since being in Egypt, I was surprised to see tap water served with ice in glasses. Part of me was struggling with the “duh” factor, and part of me wanted it to be more like it was in Egypt. I had gotten used to the slow service in Egypt, the fact that your check would never come until you asked for it. It was somewhat endearing and fun to make an order at a restaurant using a mixture of hand signals, (extremely) broken Arabic and English – then hoping, somehow, you would get something resembling what you ordered. Cairo had become home, and it was a bit unnerving to be thrown headfirst back into the efficiency and cleanliness that is American suburban life. I was confused and unhappy for a while, while at the same time I was excited to be catching up with friends and family. When people asked me “how Egypt was” I was literally speechless. What could I say? How could I possibly sum my entire experience into just a few sentences? And would anything I came up with possibly give justice to the experience? I’m sure some of my responses were less than eloquent. I found I could better talk about my trip when something jogged my memory specifically, like when I went to a movie for the first time since coming home from Egypt. I couldn’t stop talking about the cinema experience in Egypt, and I’m sure I was babbling like a lunatic.

I haven’t caught up with the people from the dialogue yet, and I wonder what it will be like to be back here with them now that we’ve shared what seems like a lifetime overseas. I hope we stay in touch, because to each other, our stories are memories and not just stories. Regardless, our trip to Egypt really happened, and there are real artifacts that reinforce that truth. Sometimes I worry that I’ll wake up one morning and it will all have been some crazy dream. It went by so quickly, but it was such a life-changing experience. I feel like I’ve been given a new set of eyes to look at the world a little differently. Since being in Egypt, I feel less like an American and more like a member of the international world. I am thrilled and overwhelmed that I was able to participate in this program, and it’s one that I’m sure I’ll reflect happily on for years to come.