This section is dedicated to the travel columns I wrote while studying abroad in Cairo, Egypt during Fall 2012, just before the Egyptian revolution which led to former President Mubarak's overthrow in 2013, and later President Morsi's overthrow. All photos are my own.
At the protests in Tahrir
We took a taxi to the square. The three of us are American, but we met with two adult male Egyptians whom a friend of mine had met last weekend at the protests.
They served as our shepherds through the square as it filled with tens of thousands of people.
We could see the burnt scarring on the building where Al Jazeera’s office had been set ablaze a few days ago.
The main gate to American University was charred and surrounded by rubble, since it lies on one of the main streets of the fighting.
They served as our shepherds through the square as it filled with tens of thousands of people.
We could see the burnt scarring on the building where Al Jazeera’s office had been set ablaze a few days ago.
The main gate to American University was charred and surrounded by rubble, since it lies on one of the main streets of the fighting.
You're going where? When people find out I’m leaving in a few weeks to study in Cairo, I generally get one of two reactions: excitement or terror.
After the reaction come the questions: Do you have to cover your hair? Don’t they have Shariah law in Egypt? Can women drive there? Can they wear jeans? Aren’t there terrorists in Egypt? Or more seriously, why Egypt? How are your parents handling it? |
Goodbye, Stateside Four months doesn’t sound like a long time. 120 days. 18 weekends. Two holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving. A single semester.
But if you think about it in terms of college years, it’s an eternity. I’ll leave Friday to live and study in Cairo for four months. |
Discovering a new Egypt Jan. 25 and 28 are dates that need no explanation here, the two most important days of the revolution last year.
Many Egyptians know people who died for Egypt during the riots, and they all have stories from living when former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak ruled. |
The view from Tahrir Square If you go to Tahrir Square in Cairo today, it’s as if the revolution never stopped.
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Caught in the middle I don’t really know how to describe what it feels like to see your host country’s people burn your home nation’s flag.
The best word I can come up with is “stunning.” |
Change must come In the Arab Spring, Egyptians fought and died for freedom, democracy and equal rights.
What they’ve been left with is a democracy many believe to be fraudulent, a police force that’s just as brutal as it was before, further reliance on outside nations and more dangerous streets for everyone. |
Blazing trucks & a closed-down campus One month into my study abroad, I should know better than to think that any trip in Egypt will go according to plan.
No school in sight I’ve never been a huge fan of school. I’ve always seen it as means to an end, both in high school and college.
But now, in Cairo, a student strike preventing classes is stretching into its second week. |
Egyptian snow days This past year, tuition at American University in Cairo went up 7 percent. Some students say that amounts to about 10,000 Egyptian pounds, or $1,500. To an American student, that doesn’t sound so bad.
To the Egyptian students, it’s apparently intolerable. How many wives do you have? It’s a very odd feeling to be married at 20. It’s even weirder when your husband doesn’t actually exist.
For the last five weeks, I’ve been living a lie. In Egypt, I’m married. |
Black clouds appear in Cairo In case you haven’t heard, Cairo is a pretty big city.
“Pretty big” means that the city itself houses nine million people, and the metropolitan area is the 16th largest in the world, home to 30 million people, Africa’s largest. Basically, it’s massive. Massive amounts of people come with massive problems, environmentally speaking. |
8 weeks down, 8 to go As of this week, my time in Cairo is halfway through.
Two months ago, I was boarding a plane, terrified of becoming lost in half dozen airports and about what waited upon landing here. |
Living a stereotype Before I came to Egypt, I never understood what it’s like to be stereotyped based on your skin color.
I knew such profiling existed. We all know that. But it’s different to know it rather than live it. After having lived it for only two months, I cannot fathom what it’s like to live it every day. |
For better or worse In Egypt, the one cultural aspect that remains most different from American culture is dating.
Dating in Egypt bears next to no resemblance to dating in the States. A few girls here have started dating Egyptians. Every time, all of us are left with questions and confusion, because it’s hard for us to wrap our heads around the differences. |
A step backward for Egypt I never understood how a country could become a dictatorship overnight.
I always thought there would be warning signs. In Egypt, there weren’t. |
Class with the Muslim Brotherhood I had never seen a teacher look so nervous.
Then again, when you’re bringing in Dr. Mohamed Gouda, one of the head members of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political branch, the Freedom and Justice Party, you’ll probably worry things might get a little tense. |
Farewell to Cairo Even as a small child, I wanted to come to Egypt. This country has been the place I’ve always most wanted to visit. I wanted to see the pyramids and eat falafel. I wanted to experience the politics and talk to the people.
As a journalist, I wanted to come here to tell stories. I wanted to try and do what I could to bridge the overwhelming gap between east and west. For 20 years, all I’ve heard were America’s phobic tales of the Middle East. I wanted to get the other side of the story. I never thought I would get that opportunity at age 20. |
Now what? When I walked out of the final terminal in Indiana, I saw my parents standing there, waiting for me, and I ran to hug them. The relief of being home was overwhelming.
After being home for two weeks, all I can think is, “now what?” |