Day 18

February 6th

Mondays and Wednesdays are my long days of class. I start class at 8:00 AM and have Modern Standard Arabic until 11:00. I then have classes from 12:00 until 4:20, starting with Comparative Politics of the Middle East, Islamic Art and Architecture, and capped off with another hour and half of Colloquial Arabic. By the end of the day I am usually pretty beat up from the Arabic. The other two classes aren’t bad yet, and it looks like I might actually learn something in my comparative politics class despite warnings that it would be the worst class I ever took.
When I got back to Zamalek after classes I came down with a headache. It turns out that the bottled water I have been drinking Baracka water, has very high levels of sodium. I am not quite sure it has it, but because of the sodium I am actually becoming less hydrated. Anyways, I got some other water and immediately felt better.
Today I went to the library and checked out my textbook for my Islamic Art and Architecture class. Nothing runs as smoothly here as it does in the states or especially at Notre Dame. Everything, including buying books, getting supplies, making copies, is more complicated and slower then in the states. I never realized how much America is built around comfort and convenience.

Another thing I noticed about AUC, is that everything of value has a USAID sticker on it with a note saying it is a gift from the American people. Apparently, Egypt is the largest recipient of non-military aid in the world from America, and now I am starting to see where this money is going. These are American tax dollars in action. I think they are pennies on the dollar and being put to good use. Although not going to directly helping the most needy of the individuals in Egypt it is investing in the education of the elite. America can’t really afford to fund all education for Egypt and solve all its problems, but it can help to train the next class of Egyptian leaders who have the knowledge and wisdom to help pull the country out of its dire economic condition. Whether the school actually trains the people for this task is another question, but at least the effort is being made, which is always an important first step.
This weekend I am going to Alexandria. Apparently Alexandria is much less polluted and crowded then Cairo. Its supposed to be a gorgeous city and I am looking forward to getting out of the haze that is Cairo.