So this week is
Midterms and Eid, aka fall
break. During our break I will be
venturing to Egypt. My travel group consists of four boys and two girls. Egypt isn’t
on the State Department's list of countries to avoid (every boarder country for
Jordan is on that list) so I don’t expect any problems. Our plans are to fly into Cairo late Tuesday
night and then get on a train and head north to Alexandria. We will spend the day in Alexandria and then
venture south to Luxor where we will explore Luxor and the Valley of the
Kings. Our final stop will be back to
Cairo to see the pyramids and museums and whatnot. We will return late Sunday
night and get back very early Monday morning. I am so so so so so so so so so
excited for this trip. Midterms are the only
thing standing between me and this dream trip.
With that said I
just wanted to give a little insight into my feelings right now:
My host brother just
turned 11 I believe. He had his reading text
books on the kitchen table today and looked through it during breakfast this
morning. It was an English reading book
with lots of American history stories in it.
One of the stories was about the travels of a pioneer family from
Missouri who traveled into Kansas and Oklahoma before returning to a small town
in Missouri. I stupidly read this story
which so beautifully described the Midwestern landscape. I grew incredibly homesick.
I honestly never
thought I would say this but I miss seeing farm land and old farm houses and creeks
and cows and big trees and hay bales and grass.
These things are so unique to the Midwest and to me that is home. Mom has promised me a trip to a cabin in the
woods right after Christmas and I cannot wait to for that. To have homemade pancakes and bacon and syrup
and cold milk!
Don’t get me wrong,
I am having a wonderful time here. I am
learning so much and adapting very quickly to the lifestyle here but there is
just something about that Missouri fall breeze that I miss so incredibly much
and cannot wait to feel it against my face once again.
Okay done with the
pity party. Here are some exciting
things that I have done that I haven’t blogged about:
- I went to this rap concert last week with CIEE. It was very different from what I expected. It was kind of like the beginning of American rap music where it spoke about political and social issues.
- I voted in my first presidential election. I thought I would get to email in my ballot because I am in a "Combat Zone, Hostile Fire or Imminent Danger area" but since I don’t work for the government I had to send it in snail mail. WHICH postage here is so expensive! Had I procrastinated a few more days I would have been able to take it directly to the embassy and submit it there….
- I'm taking two Arabic classes here. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and colloquial Arabic (ameia). The same people are in both of the classes and there are only five of us in the class. Four of us have gotten pretty close. We always invite the fifth but he never wants to join us. Well the other day it was one of the four's birthday so we had a impromptu party for him with McFlurrys from McDonalds.
- The other day on campus there was some kind of fair. I think I missed most of it but I DID get to see a bunch of people dancing to Gangnam Style which was hilarious to witness
- My friend James and I have seen each other every single day since the Chicago Airport. I sat next to him in the terminal and never expected he would be one of my best friends on the trip. We aren’t going to the same place for Eid so we are trying to continue our streak until that fateful day when we don’t see each other.
- Yesterday I went to my "host cousin"'s house. It was like an Ikea catalog. It was so beautiful. She was an architect and now she just has a gallery for her designs. Everything in her house was designed by her. It was fantastic.
- I'm starting to develop a taste for Jordanian cuisine. I love love love hummus and falafel now. Ive also eaten eggplant, pastrami, lamb, more rice than I could ever imagine, various fruits….I have also tried fool and, well, let's just say I am not a fan.
That’s all for
now. My next post will probably be after
I come back from Egypt.
#wordsIneverthoughIwouldsay
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