Half Way

I don't even know where to start in descibing how amazing this experience has been. I feel I have grown so much as a person. Each day is like an adventure waiting to be discovered. There have been plenty of challenges in this journey, and times where I have felt like giving up. It was all worth it though, and I can not imagine not being here. I just have this feeling that this is where I am really supposed to be. In the short time I have been with my host family, they have made me feel like I am a part of their family. The country and the people in it are incredible. There is such a unbelievable sense of community in a city that is so huge. The other day, I was on the metro and a lady waas giving her daughter a chocolate wafer, and she offered my friend and I the wafer as well. Little things like that just make me stand in awe. We are all cramped and tired standing on the metro and people are still offereing everything they have. Sure, there are ups and downs each day. For example, catching taxis is always testing your luck. You may get one that wants to talk an tells you all the sites you are passing, and to teach you words in arabic or you may get one who is really grouchy and doesn't want to deal with you. You just have to take a deep breath and deal with whatever is thrown your way. It may be a day when you feel like you are constanly getting yelled at on the street, but then you see your friends and you forget it ever happened. Friendship. In Egypt I have made some friends that I know will be my friends for the rest of my life. We care for each other so much, and have helped each other through the school frustrations, host family moves, culture conflicts, arabic struggles, and everyday troubles. We are together all the time, and I mean all the time, but we never grow sick of one another. We have alot of fun. We find new cafes, travel to new places of the city, and simply enjoy one another's company. That is one thing about living in a huge city. There is always something new to do or a new place to go to. With public transportation everywhere is sinply a microbus, taxi, or microbus away. It makes everything so spontaneous. We are never quite sure exactly what we want to do or where we want to go. Do we want to go relax in a cafe? do we want to take a felucca on the Nile? do we want to go shopping? do we want to go to a movie? do we want to go to the club? the possibilities are endless. Never really having set plans has made me so much more relaxed. It is essential in the city. You have to be somewhere, but then you are stuck in traffic. There is nothing you can do about it, you left ten minutes early, but you will still be late. It is ok. That is nothing to worry about. I have found a passion for learning arabic. In the beginning I thought it doesn't really matter if I learn arabicbecause it is too hard, but taking lessons and seeing improvement has really made me want to continue to practice and learn arabic. In such a short time I have seen so much improvement and I want to continue to study it. Every sunday, tuesday, and thursday I look forward to going to arabic, and I spend time outside of lessons working on it. Because I am enjoying myself so much, sometimes it makes me sad to think that I am half way done and that I only have three months left, but I can't think that way. I just have to live each day to the fullest and appreciate the time I have here. In the coming months I want to practice my arabic more, and continue to explore Egypt. Mostly I just want to enjoy my time with people I love in this beautiful country.