Hello again from Alexandria,
That's all I can think of for now, other than... GO BIG BLUE!!!
Thankful all is well and normalizing,
morgan
I hope that this email finds you well and that spring is in full bloom in America. The weather is definitely warming up here, and pretty soon I am going to be wishing it were winter again!
It is hard to believe I have almost been back for two weeks. I finally feel settled into my apartment and my schedule is starting to take shape. Eric and I will start Arabic classes officially tomorrow and I also begin teaching tomorrow as well. Right now, I am set to have three classes in the Faculty of Science and I am looking forward to being in the classroom again. I had a meeting with my new supervisors last Monday and they are wonderful. Dr. Ismail and Dr. Alaa took into account my concerns about being over-worked (as I was last semester) and worked with me to set a manageable schedule. Hopefully, we continue to work well with one another.
My roommate, Grace, is set to return Monday evening and my friend Megan got back yesterday. Four other guys in the Fulbright program are also returning to Alexandria this week. I am really looking forward to seeing them all again. I anticipate a grand WELCOME IN EGYPT party will occur very soon.
This past weekend, Eric and I visited some other friends of ours that live in Cairo and Mansoura, plus we wanted to check out the place we watched compulsively for the last two months. While I expected to see a lot of national pride displayed in Tahrir Square (as we have experienced in Alex on the whole), the Square looked just as I saw it last September. There weren't really even that many posters, graffiti, or murals commemorating the revolution.
While downtown, we went to a book fair at the American University of Cairo next to Tahrir Square which was really well organized and well attended. I bought a calendar of pictures from the revolution and a work book about reading Arabic news more efficiently.
We had dinner with some Egyptian friends Thursday night and went out to a club with some of our Fulbright friends afterward. Friday we met the Fulbright Director, Bruce, and his wife for tea and breakfast. I really enjoyed the time we spent with them, reminiscing about the stressful and emotional week before we evacuated and now what we hope to accomplish by being back.
After breakfast, we headed to Mansoura to meet up with some of Eric's friends from when he taught there. Samah and Salma are so much fun to spend time with and are really encouraging towards us trying to speak in Arabic with them. Slowly I feel like I am remembering the Arabic I knew that seemed second nature before. I am trying to be patient, but you know me well enough to know that is its own struggle.
Today I am just taking care of laundry, reading some news, reviewing vocab, and hopefully finding a gym to work out in. I am not sure if I will get to play ball with my club again because there is a newly enforced NO FOREIGNERS rule. I have played a few times for fun at the school like before, but because of the club's rule I have not been to practice. I am not too worried about it, though, cause the season is nearly over. Hopefully, I will be able to go to the games to cheer my team on this week.
It is hard to believe I have almost been back for two weeks. I finally feel settled into my apartment and my schedule is starting to take shape. Eric and I will start Arabic classes officially tomorrow and I also begin teaching tomorrow as well. Right now, I am set to have three classes in the Faculty of Science and I am looking forward to being in the classroom again. I had a meeting with my new supervisors last Monday and they are wonderful. Dr. Ismail and Dr. Alaa took into account my concerns about being over-worked (as I was last semester) and worked with me to set a manageable schedule. Hopefully, we continue to work well with one another.
My roommate, Grace, is set to return Monday evening and my friend Megan got back yesterday. Four other guys in the Fulbright program are also returning to Alexandria this week. I am really looking forward to seeing them all again. I anticipate a grand WELCOME IN EGYPT party will occur very soon.
This past weekend, Eric and I visited some other friends of ours that live in Cairo and Mansoura, plus we wanted to check out the place we watched compulsively for the last two months. While I expected to see a lot of national pride displayed in Tahrir Square (as we have experienced in Alex on the whole), the Square looked just as I saw it last September. There weren't really even that many posters, graffiti, or murals commemorating the revolution.
While downtown, we went to a book fair at the American University of Cairo next to Tahrir Square which was really well organized and well attended. I bought a calendar of pictures from the revolution and a work book about reading Arabic news more efficiently.
We had dinner with some Egyptian friends Thursday night and went out to a club with some of our Fulbright friends afterward. Friday we met the Fulbright Director, Bruce, and his wife for tea and breakfast. I really enjoyed the time we spent with them, reminiscing about the stressful and emotional week before we evacuated and now what we hope to accomplish by being back.
After breakfast, we headed to Mansoura to meet up with some of Eric's friends from when he taught there. Samah and Salma are so much fun to spend time with and are really encouraging towards us trying to speak in Arabic with them. Slowly I feel like I am remembering the Arabic I knew that seemed second nature before. I am trying to be patient, but you know me well enough to know that is its own struggle.
Today I am just taking care of laundry, reading some news, reviewing vocab, and hopefully finding a gym to work out in. I am not sure if I will get to play ball with my club again because there is a newly enforced NO FOREIGNERS rule. I have played a few times for fun at the school like before, but because of the club's rule I have not been to practice. I am not too worried about it, though, cause the season is nearly over. Hopefully, I will be able to go to the games to cheer my team on this week.
That's all I can think of for now, other than... GO BIG BLUE!!!
Thankful all is well and normalizing,
morgan
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