as a study abroader, i feel obligated to somehow wrap up this experience in some cliche, meaningful way that will tug at heart strings and give people a deep look into everything i have learned, experienced and seen, but instead i'll just write whatever comes out of this bearded head of mine, because that seems way more natural...
so its been almost exactly 4 months to the day that i arrived here in the megalopolis (excellent word) that is cairo...i still have a month left, so im truly not "wrapping things up" as some people say, but whatever, i will be traveling for the rest of my time, so deal with it...but like i was saying, boy how i have changed since i arrived here...i remember being scared out of my wits about being lost, stumbling with getting out numbers, surviving on laffy taffy and reese's that my mom gave me in my hotel because i was terrified to try and order food, and refusing to walk anything but straight lines because getting lost struck fear into the deepest part of my 160 pound frame...this was africa, this was better yet the 'middle east', that idea alone made most my family cringe and most of the people i told say "why the hell do you want to go there?"...
answer: i want to learn arabic. plus, i've done europe, i've done south america, and asia will soon be on my list...but the middle east (northern africa if you want to get technical) was far cooler than anything else i could dream up, and honestly i would change nothing about this experience...well except next time i will make sure i have a washer and dryer...more than anything, i am still young enough (and maybe naive enough) to have a sense of adventure that most of the people i know lack...how can you fully understand the world unless you see the world? i would argue that it's impossible...and i certainly don't claim to understand the world completely after this experience, but i am willing to bet my perspective is one step closer to completion (not that it could every possibly be complete)...
to continue on a different tangient, i began envisioning cairo during my first few weeks of arabic class at elon 2 years ago. my teacher had lived and married their, and she was awesome (not to mention from the same area in ohio) so i figured, "cairo, here i come", and a year and some change later, there i was, walking off a plane, hearing this crazy language that i wanted so badly to master, and i remember my first cab ride the best...i attempted to tell my driver that i thought cairo was beautiful (in retrospect, it is, but in its own special way)...but he couldn't understand me at all...its like 3 words, but i was rusty and i think i ended up saying "cairo city camel" (seriously, cuz beautiful and camel are almost identical words) which certainly made no sense...and that's when it set in, i was way in over my head, plus i had no place to live (i planned to find an apartment when i got here, which worked out amazingly because i found 2 excellent room mates and a sweet place, but it was by an act of buddah that i found them) but i used the 2 weeks leading up to class to adjust and get my bearings enough to feel comfortable running around...keep in mind i have spent all my life in either a small ohio town of a few thousand or suburban north carolina amongst my peers...cairo is one of the largest cities in the whole world, and the biggest in africa...safe to say i was daunted
i came thinking "after 6 months here, i should be pretty damn good at this language, and maybe in 2 years i'll be able to save the world"...haha, fat chance todd...but what did my 20 year-old mind know? well, here is where i stand...i am still pretty pitiful at the language, but i am leaps and bounds (cliche #?) ahead of where i was when i came...take my tests scores...entrance exam score: 17 (at best)...exit exam score: 54...vast improvement i'd say...although i have come to the frustrating/exciting realization that i will to study for AT LEAST 5 more years to get to the point where i can use this language effectively, but that means i have a great excuse to come back to this region after graduation (my parents will be thrilled!) and keep learning!
this just popped into my head, but my blog is aptly titled "nothing ventured, nothing gained", a huge cliche that is incredibly appropriate for this trip...i don't intend to toot my own proverbial horn, but i did come here without knowing anyone, barely knowing the language, without a place to live, a pocket full of ambition and crossed fingers...i'm saying that not because i want to point out how cool or risky i am (cuz i am neither) but rather because it seems like a pretty crazy proposition now...but i would certainly do it all again, and i hopefully will, just hopefully next time in a new country...
i suppose this post is aimless, pointless, unhumorus, and dodgy...but, as all these posts have, it serves more as a cool thing i can look back on and see what i was going through, and i am glad that any one you who read this are still reading this awful excuse for a post.
so about one month left until i taste the proverbial cake that is my home country...school ends tomorrow, and let's call this a wrap. the list as usual will follow, extra long this time...
1. on a mildly serious note, i will miss the friends i have made here...truly some of the smartest, coolest, funniest, and overall stand-up people i have ever had the privelege to meet...i am looking forward to home, but dreading leaving here
2. it will take me a few days to get out of arabic mode, and i promise i will say "momkin" (maybe, possibly) and "shukran" (thank you) to many people within my first few days...that will be awkward
3. i have had the privelege of traveling to egypt, jordan, syria, kenya, and lebanon during this trip...add in argentina, the UK, france, italy, mexico and canada before that and i have visited 11 countries besides the US (i hung in the chile airport, but i won't count that)...11 countries down, 182 to go....
4. when i am fluent in arabic (4 to 5 years, in sha allah), i will come back here, find every person that ripped me off while i have been here (and there are many) and i will serve justice on their scheming ways...actually, i won't do anything remotely vengeful or violent, i will probably just pout and yell at them...but this time in arabic!
5. ipods are single-handedly the greatest inovations ever to grace this planet...i dare any of you to prove me wrong...modern medicine came in a distant second...
6. i will do everything in my power to bring some of the amazing egyptian fast-food restaurants to the states...i mean mcdonalds, kfc and their fellow american fast food cronies are here, clogging the arteries and notching extra holes in the belts of egyptians, so why shouldn't egypt return the favor?
7. it is my mission this summer to learn how to type relatively quickly in arabic...which may be a problem considering my typing in english is quick, but unorthodox and in no way correct...but i can handle it...
8. someday i will read these posts and recognize what an idiot i was, but until that day i will continue to write obnoxious and altogether pointless posts...my life as a blogger may not be over after this excursion ends...
9. egyptian colloquial arabic is vastly different from modern standard arabic, and developed to make the language easier for everyday people...but they failed, because both languages are still incredibly hard...or maybe i am just a wimp...maybe both?
10. i can't help but wonder what things will be like when i am intoxicated in the future (LEGALLY)...i'm not sure i will be winning any hearts or minds when i have a few drinks and begin busting out my broken arabic...but then again, it should be fun...
11. i traditionally edit these posts, but i think this time i will let any mistake i made slide...afterall i pledged at the beginning to write whatever came to my large, bearded head...promise kept
hopefully there be at least one more of these before i leave in june...home june 20th, see you all then, in sha allah
fii amanillah
todd
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