Later Sunday night, I had the privilege of dining with some friends from my alma mater who are here for the semester as study abroad students. Together with my flatmate's guest, we enjoyed typical Egyptian food and chatted about our feelings toward Egypt and toward the States. What made it interesting were our different relationships to the country-me here as a graduate student for a year and half, Tyler and Bridget as study abroad students here for a semester, and Rachel as a tourist here for a week. It was funny, Rachel and Bridget both had things they were looking forward to doing when they got back to the States. I haven't really thought much about those sorts of things being logistics-buying plane tickets, rescheduling appointments, etc.
Yesterday, the internet began working at my apartment again since the new landlord, Mohamed saw fit to renew the contract with the ISP. I took the opportunity to finish my paper for Migration and Development, a class I have in an hour and a half. Later on last evening, I joined Marise and some of her friends who study in Colorado. Originating from Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Chile, they also had unique perspectives on Egypt to contribute. We had a nice dinner at al-Azhar Park (seems I'm finding myself there a lot these days).
Other than that, my life has been filled with paper-writing, researching, and group project-tweaking--oh, except for when I got stopped in the street by a triad of teenage Egyptian girls who asked to take photos of me with their camera phones. Flattering or disconcerting, I'm not sure which.
News:
Egypt tourism industry poised to weather the economic downturn?
Copts divided over criticism of Egyptian government
American women in Egyptian prison in adoption fiasco
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