Morocco!

Hello from Morocco! Sorry its been so long since I've given an update - I have been busy busy busy. Classes are going well, arabic is going well...just slowly. I can't really say much is modern standard arabic, but I know almost all the letters of the alphabet! Moroccan arabic is going a little faster, probably beacuse I practice it more. Writing is my favorite part of arabic, most of the time I don't know what words I'm writing, but its pretty! My other classes are going well, I'm learning alot about Morocco and Islam. I like it. I'm in the process of setting up and independent study of the health care system here. I am super excited about this. I'm going to focus on rural verses urban health care and looking at homeopathic and religious traditions. Hopefully this will start soon.
This past weekend three other girls and myself went on a adventure to the middle atlas moutains. We went to a little town called Azrou. It was beautiful. Everyone in the town was very friendly and helpful. We chose this town because of the Cedar Forest, which is the home to Barbary Apes. We did infact find the monkeys and we fed them apples that an old man gave us. On our hike through the forest we saw more monkeys that were not used to people, so they didnt approach us looking for food. This was really neat because we got to watch them in their normal activities, foraging for foos and playing. The forest itself was beautiful, the trees were all very old and so tall. It was so nice to get out of the city and get some fresh air. On our way down from the forest we were stopped by a carpet vender. He invited us into his shop and taught us all about the different types of carpets and the symbols on them. He insisted that he just wanted to teach us and show us the carpets...but we ended up buying carpets anyway. They were too tempting and absolutly beautiful.
This week is the last week of Ramadan, so things will be returning to normal soon - which will be all new to us. Our class schedule is being all changed for after Ramadan, which is going to take some getting used to - but hey, im being flexable.
Anyway...I'm off to class! I'm going to try to post some pictures at some point, when I figure it out! Love and Best wishes.

Starting to feel settled

Hello!

I know it has been a while since I wrote to update. I'm sorry. I really am quite busy with classes and...being in Cairo and whatnot. I clicked around on all these arabic buttons and figured out how to upload pictures. The one on the left is me in front of the Egyptian Museum, the one on the top right Alexandria/Mediterranean, and the one on the bottom right is from my first night on a feluca on Nile at sunset. I'll try from now on to add pictures with each blog.

Anyway, some of this update I may also be repeating. I can't seem to remember what I've told to whom and when. but here we go:

Classes started 2 weeks ago (time is going so quickly!). My schedule is as follows:

Sunday: 8am Arabic, 11:45 Voice lesson

Monday: 8am Arabic, 10:25 Survey of Dramatic Literature, 1:15 Play Analysis, 2:40 Acting for Singers

Tuesday: 8am Arabic, 1pm Chamber Singers

Wednesday: 8am Arabic (sensing a theme?), 10:25 Survey of Dramatic Lit, 1:15 Play Analysis, 2:40 Acting for singers

Thursday: 1pm Chamber Singers

This is the Ramadan schedule. The times will change once Ramadan is over. They push everything up so that there are no classes during Iftar, which is where they break their fast. It's really interesting. Once you hear the call to prayer at Iftar, everything stops and people eat. The police men who are on the street corners at their posts are chowing down. There's no traffic. Stores close, and if they're open, everyone is eating inside. People are sitting on curbs eating. I mean, I can't say I blame them. They haven't eaten since 330 that morning. But it's kind of funny.

Last week there was a recruitment meeting for Student Action for Refugees (STAR) and I attended and have volunteered to teach English to refugees 3 hours/week starting October 4^th. I’m very excited. They were also in dire need of a treasurer, and promised that it would not be too much of a time commitment, so I agreed to do that as well. It’s an organization that I feel I could devote a lot of time to. They seem to do wonderful work. Mostly teaching English, but they also do other things as well. They hold bazaars on campus for women to sell their crafts, as it is their livelihood, and hold cooking classes for students to learn from the women how to cook their native foods. There are refugees from all over: Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Armenia…the list goes on. I’ve also met a girl in my acting class who has lived in Cairo her whole life, but is actually Armenian and she volunteers at an orphanage once a week, and said she would take me this Wednesday with her. I’m really excited about that too.

Arabic is really interesting. Our professor developed this whole new methodology of teaching that doesn’t use El Kataab, which is the traditional book that most people use to teach and learn Arabic. We never learned the alphabet, but rather are exposed to the language as a whole from the very beginning. I was a bit weary of it, just since it’s not what all the other classes are doing, but it’s really amazing. I can read now, for the most part. Most of the time I don’t know what the words mean, but I can pronounce most of it, and I’m starting to be able to identify words that I know, and know what they mean and whatnot. She’s also not teaching us grammar rules, but rather we’re learning them through exposure. It’s very much the way children learn their native languages, and it really seems to be working. Plus, there’s no memorization involved, which is wonderful. Just exercises for homework, rather than making flashcards and studying them. I’m really enjoying it and I feel like I’m learning a lot. The only trouble is that I’m learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), which is the more formal language, and not the colloquial, so it’s only useful to an extent on the streets. The way it was explained to me, is that MSA is like Shakespeare’s language, as compared to what we speak everyday. But colloquial is more just speaking, and really will only be helpful in Egypt. At least this way I’m learning to read and write, and will be able to understand Al Jazeera, which uses MSA.

What else? I went to Khan Khalili today. It’s a giant market and one of the oldest of its kind. It was actually started in the year 13-something, so that’s pretty cool. It was a bit overwhelming. Everyone is heckling you to buy things and/or marry them…haha. One guy told me I look like Jennifer Garner. I was like…really? I think it must have been the only American name he could think of, because I clearly don’t look anything like her. Anyway, I bought 4 scarves and spent L.E. 80, which converts to about $15. It was quite an adventure. At one point we were going down this alley part, and it was quite narrow and extremely crowded, and there were people on all sides of me, going in all directions, and I literally couldn’t move and I was quite overwhelmed. I started to feel panicked and unsafe, but Kayla (the girl I went with) managed to navigate us out (which took quite a while) and we were more out in the open once again. But they were selling everything at this market. I’ll definitely go back at some point, but it was nice to get a feel for things first.

And there’s the call to prayer now. I’m sure everything has stopped and everyone is eating.

I think that may be it. I’m not sure there’s much else to tell. I think I’ve finally learned my way around Zamalek, which is the neighborhood where I live, so that’s good. I rarely go places alone, and never at night, but it’s good to know where I am and where I’m going. It’s interesting to walk places, too, around here. The sidewalks are usually quite broken or covered in trash or other things undesirable to walk upon, so most people walk in the street, and if there’s a car coming, they’ll just honk to let you know he’s there, and you move to the side, and you’re squished between the parked cars, and the moving cars walking along. They’ll pass you quite close, which doesn’t seem to bother anyone who’s native, but makes me quite nervous. I’m starting to get used to it though. The same goes for riding in busses and cabs. It takes a little getting used to, but I might be getting there. No one bats an eye at a bus going in reverse on the highway, or the fact that a 4 lane road has six cars across. It’s perfectly normal to go the wrong way down a one-way street. People might be annoyed, but they just deal with it…it’s a way of life. If cars are coming, you can still cross the street as a pedestrian. They’ll slow down just enough to not hit you, but you’ll feel their breeze as they pass. The noise of honking can be deafening at times, but it’s all (or mostly) out of courtesy for other drivers/pedestrians, not out of frustration. I find myself saying it several times a day but, “we life in a funny place.” I’m getting used to it all, and I’m sure it will soon begin to feel like home, but it’s a lot to handle at first. The men on the street are also something to get used to. There’s a lot of cat-calling, both in English and Arabic, and sometimes hissing. I find if I wear my sunglasses it’s easier. That way I can avoid eye contact, which is difficult for me. I just naturally make eye contact with people and smile, but that can be interpreted the wrong way, so I avoid it altogether.

I think that may really be it this time. I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written. I’ll try to be better about it. It’s difficult, though, because I have little time. I catch the bus at 6:30 am (because it takes about an hour to get to campus from my dorm) and I usually catch the 4:30 bus home (which takes even longer, because it’s Ifar rush hour) So by the time I get home and do homework and eat dinner, it’s time to go to bed. But I’ll definitely try.

I hope everything is fantastic in your world. Lots of love to everyone!

Final Call for GCP 2009 applications!!!

We, as students, faculty and staff at Shenandoah University are so fortunate to have this unique opportunity to submit an application and one page essay (stating why I would be a good candidate to travel and how I will share my travel experiences upon my return) for the global travel project, Global Citizenship Project, (GCP) during spring break. This project is funded and sponsored by the university with the intention of giving an unforgettable international educational and cultural opportunity to those who have been selected from the Shenandoah University community! More information is available on our website: www.su.edu/gce.

The application and essay deadline is 12:00 noon on Monday, September 22, 2008!! Don't delay applying for the 5th year of GCP!

Check out the previous destinations and photos on this blog. This could be YOU in 2009!

Slowing down to keep up with the pace..

Finally... I made it to Jordan! I got here over a week ago, but it's taken me all this time to get a chance to tell you all about it. I was nervous and a little scared when I first arrived. I definitely am "not in Kansas anymore"! But I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised by the level of hospitality I've received. The day that I arrived I was greeted by the receptionist at the hostel who speaks limited English, but she tries her best and does fairly well. The room they gave me is great. It's like a studio apartment furnished completely with a kitchenette. Because it was lacking in a few important items (i.e. toilet paper, food, etc.), I asked where I could go to shop. She was unable to tell me so instead she called the market and someone walked up the hill to get me, walk me back down to the store, and upon seeing the amount of purchase, gave me ride back. I'm quite sure the local 7/11 back home would not have done the same! I was grateful for the courtesy and felt good about being off to such a nice start in such a faraway land.

Being that I am an English speaking Christian, and that many people here find religious preference to be a significant factor in commonality, I was introduced to a girl from Australia. She has been instrumental in my settling in. She has also become a dear friend. I was quite anxious for school to start, and then rather surprised to that my professor did not show up to the first two classes. I was told she'll be at the next class though. I am told that this is not uncommon for the first week of classes! I guess this is only fair since I missed one of my other classes. I showed up on time, but the class met earlier because we are in Ramadan. No worries. That's how it goes here and it's all good. It's just a difference pace around here.

You really do float like an air mattress in the Dead Sea!! You just lift your legs and BOING, BOING, BOING!!! I've met a lot of really nice people here, both from Jordan and all over the world. I am so grateful for this experience...an experience of a lifetime! Thanks Shenandoah!

It's hot and I have sand in my shoes...that's just how we roll here in Egypt.

So...I'm in Egypt. You know...just hangin out. haha. Cairo is crazy. It's busy and loud and the traffic is INSANE and it's dirty, but that's to be expected when 16 million + people live in one confined area, you know?

School started today. Again...insanity. Because it's a brand new campus (that's not finished yet, might I add...there's construction going on all over, some classrooms don't yet have electricity or desks or chalkboards or anything...) no one knows anything. Everyone is just as lost as I am, so I guess it works out. And even if you do happen to find what you need on a map, it might not be there because the buildings aren't quite finished yet. Many offices have mystery temporary locations and whatnot...it was chaotic. And my first class is at 830 (but during Ramadan it's at 8 because everything is pushed up so we can have a break for Iftar, which is when they break the fast) so I have to catch the bus at 630, because the bus ride is about an hour and 10 min to campus, so I get up around 5-515ish. It's early, but I mean, I used to have to be at work at 415, and wake up at 3, so it's totally doable...Oh! haha so...one of my classes was supposedly in the humanities and social sciences building in room 1016, ok? So I'm lookin and lookin and I find 1015 and 1017 right next to eachother, and i'm like...hmm? where could it be? then across the hall I see the men's room, which is numbered 1016! hahaha so my choir is in the men's room? wtf? and there's another girl there with me, looking for our class, and someone tells us to go to the registrar to try to figure this situation out, and they tell us it's in the performing and visual arts building (which totally makes sense) but no one will or can tell us the room number, and these buildings are freakin BIG and confusing and you can't really tell where one building ends and another building begins...it's crazyness. I never did find that class. i'm gonna try to email the professor to see if he can tell me what's up. who knows?

I'm just tryin to go with the flow. if i stress out about these things, i'll die. everything over here seems to be totally disorganized and late and no one knows the answer, but will tell you anything to go away, even if it means pointing you in the wrong direction. I went in and out of one particular building so many times, the guard knew me by name...already. haha it's funny.

we went to Alexandria this past weekend with ResLife. it was BEAUTIFUL! our hotel was right on the Mediterranean sea...how cool is that? we saw lots of neato old stuff too, like a roman amphitheater and stuff...it was cool. We also saw the Alexandria Library (Biblioteca) which is the second largest library in the world, next to the Library of Congress. The architecture is beautiful, too! It's quite amazing. i got some sweet pics of the sunset over the sea too...it was gorgeous. We also saw the catacombs, which were awesome. I thought I would be more creeped out being so far underground at the burial site of so many people and horses (true story!) but I wasn't. I guess that's good. There were also quite a collection of horse bones they left down there and put in a case to see...eerie. We also saw the Citidel which was pretty neat. The structure itself wasn't really all that interesting, but the views were incredible. I took a lot of neat pictures.

And! The most interesting part of the whole weekend was our attempted feluca ride. Ok, so it was not in the original Itenerary, but the people running the trip thought it would be neat, since we had an entire afternoon free, to set up a boat ride on the Mediterranean for whoever wanted to go. It was going to be super cheap (L.E. 15, so about $3) so naturally, I was all about it. It took a bit of planning to get those who wanted to go on the feluca on to one bus and those who wanted to go back to the hotel to wander the city on their own on the other busses, but we made it work. The tour guides made many phone calls to make sure we had enough boats for everyone, and we were off. When we get to the dock, and one boat was filled, a fight broke out on the dock. There was yelling in Arabic, and I didn't know what was going on. It was between two Egyptian men, both yelling what I assumed were curses. The fight became moderately physical, and they got pretty close to me. I was afraid I was going to get pushed into the water. We all moved back, but since we were all international students, most of us with limited Arabic skills, we didn't really know what was going on. they continued pushing eachother down the dock, yelling. After about 10 or so minutes, the word got around that the fight was about whether or not to let the foreigners on the boats. Ultimately, we left, without the feluca ride. It was interesting to watch the whole thing play out. I didn't feel especially threatened, mainly because we were in a relatively large group and our guides were Egyptian, but had I been alone, or only with other International students, I definitely would have felt threatened. It's times like that (and...well...all the time) that I wish I understood Arabic better.

So last week I took a Survival Arabic course. It was WONDERFUL! Definitely worth the time and money. I now know enough to be able to function around the city. I can talk to a cab driver and negotiate a price. I know the vocabulary for the things I might need at a grocery store or a market. I can ask directions and ask the price of things. I can order in a restaurant. It was quite helpful. It was A LOT of information in a short amout of time, but I took detailed notes and can continue to study and learn the vocabulary on my own. the last day of the class was neat too, because our teacher took us out around the city to markets and stores and to a koshri place (only the best food EVER and my new favorite meal made of macaroni, rice, chickpeas, lentils, marinara sauce, garlic vinegar sauce, and hot sauce to taste...it's awesome) and we were able to practice what we learned with assistance before we had to go off on our own. It was really fantastic.

So this may be weird, i know...but i kinda miss rain. i should get over it, because it might rain once while i'm here, but i enjoy a good afternoon thunderstorm once in a while, and those just plain don't happen around these parts.

i haven't been to the pyramids yet. i know, it's nutso. i'll probably try to go next weekend.

I guess that's all the news I have. Oh! except that I also went to the Egyptian Museum last week. It was awesome. It's there where all of King Tut's tomb business is, and there were mummies, including Ramses II. They had all sorts of Egyptian art and coffins and jewlery...I really enjoyed it. It was also neat because I went with 3 other girls, 2 of whom are archaeology/egyptology majors, so they were able to explain what a lot of the symbols meant and why something was especially cool and/or controversial among scholars. I learned a lot from them, which was fun.

I guess that really is all the news I have. Hopefully I'll find my classes tomorrow. At least I know the first one, because it's the same as my first class today. I can only hope my laundry dries by tomorrow morning. I learned after washing everything I own that the only working dryer in the dorm is now broken, so all my things are strewn about the room in hopes they may dry. I'm taking it in stride, though...this is certainly a more energy efficient way of doing things! plus...wearing wet clothes tomorrow will help keep me cool, because that sun is even hotter out in New Cairo, where the new campus is...it's in the Desert for real. i had to dump the sand out of my shoes when I got back this afternoon. That's Egypt, for ya! :-)

Please excuse my poor capitalizations and stream-of-consciousness writing.

Greetings from Sunny Morocco! I have been here for almost two weeks and I am nearly through my first week of class. Things are going quite well. The first week here I spent in a hotel. We did some touring of Rabat and saw some of the older parts of the city. The first day we arrived there was an optional beach excursion (and of course I went). It was the city beach so it was very crowed. It was the first of many times that I truly felt out of place. Our whole group stood out - we were all pale and there were three blonds in our beach group. We got quite alot of attention... Another place we have visited (and gone back to many time) was the madina (the old part behind the walls) is my favorite. It is a bustling place full of people and donkeys and shopping and smells. On my journey around the city I visited chellah, which is the oldest part of the city, it is the area of the white and bright blue walls. It was a spetacular site, and very maze like, I will be returning here soon to explore more. We have also visited the old Roman ruins, which were beautiful. (pictures to come..as soon as I figure out how). On Sunday we visited a pottery "factory" for a lack of a better word. The owner of the shop showed us how to make the pottery, he was very talented and made it look so easy, which we found not to be true when we took our turn at the wheel.
I have been living with my host family almost a week now. It is starting to feel like home. The first few days were awkward as I learned what was expected and where things were and how to communicate. The daughter (15) speaks english very well, the son (12) speaks only arabic and french, the father speaks some english, and the mother very little english. So we speak in a mixture of their broken english and my broken arabic and use many gestures. They are wonderful people and very caring and are making me feel at home.
Today is the third day of Ramadan. There is a big change in the city during the day. Things are much slower and quiter. In the evenings just before the cannon sounds for iftar (the breakfast) it is like a ghost town. The night is filled with eating and visiting and celebration. Fortunatly my family does not expect me to stay up all night eating or wake up at 4:30am for a very early breakfast before dawn. It is not expected that nonmuslims fast, but to be polite we eat and drink discretely.
Over all things are wonderful here in Rabat...pictures and more updates to come!

Don’t Miss Out on the Opportunity to Travel by Sapna Gupta

Many students either don’t know about the Global Citizenship Program (GCP) or don’t think it is important in their educational curriculum at SU. But I beg to differ. I would not miss an opportunity to see any part of the world if I have a chance. I consider myself a global citizen, after having lived in Nigeria, Ethiopia, India, Canada and now the USA. But despite having lived in so many countries, or maybe because of it, I have a deep desire to see even more new places. The world is so big, and has such diverse cultures that you are bound to be wowed by something new each time to travel.

Last year I had the opportunity to lead a group of students and staff to a GCP trip to India. It was my first year at Shenandoah and my first independent experience as faculty leader to any country. Having always worked in a team with other faculty and staff, this was new territory for me. But I dove right into it.

The Pre-trip Planning: I had four months to prepare my group for a good experience in India. I tried to design the trip activities based around what might be a good learning experience for all members of the group and what kinds of image would I like them to bring back from India. In addition to the planning, I met with my group 4-5 times before embarking on the journey. My task was to prepare them for travel to this country that they may nothing about. Since I have taught a whole course on the Culture and History of India, narrowing it down to 4 short class sessions was quite the challenge. It is really hard to express to someone what India is like. India is a full assault on one’s all five senses – sound, sight, smell, taste and touch. No amount of pre-planning can prepare anyone for that kind of immersion. One only has to experience it. But I was very lucky. I had the best group to work with. All participants (three graduate students, four undergraduates, two staff, one president of the university and one board of trustee) eagerly jumped in for the preparation.

The trip went as planned and in some cases even better than planned. (Or it might be better to say that I accomplished everything I wanted to in the eight days we were in India). Any trip can have surprise changes (good or bad), but what matters is how you deal with those changes. Again, the fabulous group I had was up for anything and everything. We landed and departed from Mumbai with a short road trip to Surat in the state of Gujrat. Mumbai is the most populated city in India with about 12 million people and Surat is the textile and diamond capital of the world.

Some of our highlights of the trip were; a) an Aashram. Since India is the birth place of three major religions of the world, it was natural to visit a place of higher spiritual learning; b) Elephanta caves which have hindu sculptures and about 800 years old; and Karla Caves which are Buddhist caves and over 2000 years old; c) Mumbai University, here we met some graduate students who gave us a good tour of the university.
To highlight some of India’s key industries in the city of Surat we visited a sugar factory, a textile mill and a diamond polishing industry (too bad we did not get a free sample here!!), and in Mumbai a cookie factory. While visiting all these places we manage to survive wading knee deep through a river to see the largest banyan tree of the world. And somehow in the middle of all these adventures we found time to shop and buy some saris from the great bazaars of Surat.

We shared food at mealtime like a family, ate juicy sugarcanes right out of the farm, tasted some hot fresh jaggery (unrefined sugar), drank fresh coconut water like an Indian and ate a variety of fruits we don’t have in the USA.
How can one pass such an adventurous opportunity? The group gelled beautifully and have become the GCP-India group forever. We never had a dull moment.

I would recommend all students, staff and faculty to apply for the GCP program. In fact, any faculty can also lead one of these trips, provided they know the country and language well. It was a little bit of work to begin with, but it is a very rewarding experience. It has helped me forge friendships I would never have ordinarily made.