Life in Egypt is going by normally and quickly. I can't believe I'm almost half-way through the exchange. I've been getting so frustrated with my Arabic lately because I feel as if I still haven't made very much progress. Or at least not as much progress as I could be making. Arabic class still isn't really teaching me very much conversationally. But I suppose I just need to be patient.
Other than Arabic, nothing else is really frustrating in my life here. My English classes are going well and I really enjoy talking with the students and getting to know them. I found out last week that I've been accepted into Americorps NCCC at the Vicksburg, Mississippi campus! So that's what I'll be doing next year and then after that I will go to college.

So these past few weeks I've done some pretty exciting things and found more magical places in Cairo. Well first we had our 6-week orientation at a really beautiful place. It was a fun little get away to talk about how our Egypt experience is going. But then afterwards, 5 out of 9 in our group got really sick. Not me though! But it was pretty bad. In the past week or so I also got an opportunity to go to an Egyptian wedding! Here people have like three different celebrations for the wedding process I think. There is the one party that happens when they get engaged I believe, and they just have a party in the street outside of their home. They bring out rugs and other things from the home that the husband will give to the wife, I think. I was told all of this by different people in broken English so I'm not totally sure. But then there is a lot of loud music and dancing in the street and joyfulness. After this party another day or maybe sometimes the same day, there is a ceremony at the mosque when the bride and groom sign the official documents saying they're officially married. Then another day is the wedding-type ceremony that we have. I was able to go to the ceremony when the bride and groom sign the documents. Afterward is the real fun though, when everyone crams in their cars and drives around beeping this certain tune and blasting music and clapping. They also make this funny noise, I don't know how to explain it. After driving, we went to a mountain in Cairo that has a beautiful view of the city.

Last week I also went to Khan el Khalili which is a really famous old bazaar and there were so many beautiful things I wanted to buy. I'm definitely going to go back and buy stuff for everyone at home. Next to Khan el Khalili is Old Cairo which has many old mosques and buildings. We didn't explore very much of it but we went into a couple really beautiful mosques and a famous old house as well. In one of the mosques especially, you could really feel the history inside of it. It felt like we were exploring ancient ruins almost. The next day I went to a really fantastic Egyptian cafe. It was down this dirt road near the pyramids and then the road just opened up to these wonderful tent-like but also really nice cafes. All the cafes I've been to before here are very normal, westernized looking places, but in this place you sit on the ground and there is a little stage for dancing to shaabi music and it was so wonderful. And there was also a baby lion. Shaabi music and dancing makes me so so happy! It is considered the lifestyle of the "working class" and really local people, and the music is this mixture of Egyptian folk songs remixed with new electronic instruments and loud dance-y beats! It is considered rougher and more edgy than other music and many of the songs are banned from radio and television. But on the streets you can hear these songs everywhere! So many people know and love them but the artists are far from any type of fame with the media. Maybe some of you will enjoy this music as much as I do, so here is a link to a youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpf8ZDx3J7I

Oh, and another thing I saw in the past couple weeks was the market! It was so magical! And I live basically across the street from it but I didn't even know. The market is basically just a bunch of small back streets filled with stands and shops and tons of people. And there is the market of vegetables and fruits. The one thing that really disgusted me though was the meat.. There is just raw meat hanging or sitting out everywhere and it is so nasty.But everything else about the market was incredibly magical! And I will go again soon and take pictures!

As for now, that's all, and if you are someone who I am not friends with on facebook and you'd like to see lots of pictures, let me know and I will send you the link!

Under the Egyptian Sun

Yesterday was definitely the hottest day yet, reaching nearly 100 degrees. Not only have you people in America been having a strange and extreme winter, but we've been having one here in Cairo as well. Temperatures usually never reach this high in the winter here. And a couple weeks ago there was an intense thunderstorm that flooded the streets and hail also coated the ground in some places. Most Egyptians had never seen hail before so a lot of them thought it was snow.It was pretty amusing.
So it's just daily life here now, I can't think of much of anything new to write about. I am still awed by the fact that I'm in Egypt though, so the newness hasn't worn off yet completely. My day usually consists of going to teach an English class and then going to my Arabic class, each of which are 2 and a half hours long. Some days I don't have English classes though, so I just go to Arabic.Either way, I never have to wake up earlier than 10. Which is a really good thing because at night I stay up late sitting and talking or playing cards with my host family. Last night we were up until 2 I think. I have no clue how my host mom gets up early for work everyday! Oh, and I also just started taking a kung fu class! It's a lot of fun and my friend Michelle does it with me.
I definitely really feel like Egypt is my home now and I'm going to miss it so much. I really think the thing I love the most about Egypt is the people here. They are incredibly friendly and Cairo is a very safe city because of them. I remember when I was telling people that I was going to Egypt, many of them were afraid for me or something because they thought it would be unsafe. Why? There is no difference in safety between Cairo and any other city in the U.S. In fact, I've read articles that state that Cairo is much safer than many major cities in the U.S. Another thing that I've noticed here that I really want to write about to dispell stereotypes is how accepting and peaceful everyone I've talked to is. For example, even though the majority of Egyptians are Muslim, there is a minority of Christians here, and whenever anyone explains this to me, they say how both the Muslims and Christians live as one. There is no hostility between them or anything of the sort. Another thing I've noticed from people that I've talked to that are Muslim is that they are just in general extremely accepting of others' beliefs. They would never tell you that your belief is wrong and they do not try to force their religion on others. From my experience, the majority of Muslims that I have met here are so much more accepting and peaceful than the majority of Christians that I have met in America.. from my experience. And also from what I've noticed, people here follow their religion much more strictly and it plays a bigger part in their daily lives than what I've seen in America. These things are just my observations from my experiences. But hopefully this will change a few people's prior misconceptions about the middle east and Muslims.
Oh and this past week I also visited the Citadel, an ancient Islamic place and it was incredibly beautiful. I will post pictures.:)
We also went to Azher Park and I saw some grass and trees!!! It was really exciting.