Party Hard

I would just like to say: I am freaking exhausted.

Sunday was a big day for my host family. Hossam got married! YAYY!

I already talked a little bit about weddings in a previous post but I'm going to do it again. Egyptians party hard, man. And they do it without alcohol. I spent the weekend at my host cousin Amira's house. I got ready there and went with her, her husband, and her baby to the wedding party. When I got there, the dance floor was packed. All the guys decided to pick Hossam up and throw him around in the air. Nadia looked like she was about to have a heart attack.

The party was lots of dancing and food. I actually knew the bride and groom this time and took some pictures. Basically, by 3 AM I was back at Amira's tired with sore feet. (Heels are not always my friend).

After the wedding party, everyone gets in their cars and follows the wedding couple's car to their home. People are honking their horns, hanging out the windows, shooting fireworks, and ultimately being loud, obnoxious, and a traffic hazard. It was actually really fun. We didn't follow all the way to their home because we had a eight month old, but I got the idea.

When we got back I changed, ate, and went to sleep. I woke up at noon yesterday and watched MTV until Amira's friend came over. Then we went to this restaurant and hung out until I had to make my way back to Cairo. I got home and got to bed this morning at about 1 AM and got up for school at 5:30 AM.

I am seriously obsessed with this picture. I am, obviously, in the pink dress with the cute shoes and Boosy, my roomie/host cousin, is in the blue.

Host Mom, Happy Corie, Host Dad

Bride and Groom doing something. I don't know what, but this is a picture I took by raising the camera up and zooming in trying to get at least one picture of them.

This is a picture I'd like to call: I don't know what to do with my limbs. It's just a OOTD picture. (Outfit Of The Day)

That is all I can manage to do right now, I seriously need to get ready for bed. 

Good news: There is some Eid this weekend so I have Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday off which means FIVE DAY WEEKEND. I don't know what I am going to do. Maybe Egyptian Museum. Maybe going to look at mosques or churches or something... idk. Stay tuned. 

Also, Katy Perry is coming to Egypt for her 30th birthday, or so I've heard. But she'll be in Luxor where all the historical stuff is. Luxor is like a nine hour drive away or something. It's a bummer because there's cool stuff there.

Two more days of school for the week.

It's also starting to cool down and it's amazing. Tomorrow is October. Um... that's insane. It's the season of all my favorite holidays that don't get celebrated in Egypt.

Last thing, I haven't had a burger in like a month and I'm really sad so I want everyone to eat a burger this week. Do it for me!!! Seriously, do it. If you're vegetarian, that's what veggie burgers were made for.

I love you. King Tut loves you. Have a good week guys. Mwah!

Learn something today.

Byeeeeee

Corie.

School, Food, and Exercise feat. A Mini Rant

As you know, I have started school. Also I didn't know if anyone would like my last post. But it's done better on Facebook than any of my other posts which makes me really happy.

Anyway, I can't keep track of what I say on here and what I say on my social media platforms. But if I already said it, I don't care. This summer was 13 weeks long. Three months and a week. I don't know of any summer that has lasted that long. Saturday was the first time I got up early since June. (Not including my 4 AM wake up call for my flight to New York but I slept on the plane). So this week has been so tiring. I do not give a flying fudge where I fall asleep. (i.e. class, the couch, the bus, the floor, the bathroom, literally anywhere else). I don't know if it's an exchange student thing or a Corie thing but I can and will fall asleep anywhere. 

Here is my schedule:

The only classes I will actually take are the ones labeled "English" and then French if I can. Everything is kind of self explanitory. Religion is separated into Islamic and Christian. It's kind of like Sunday school. I only get it because a girl translates for me. I'm not sure how to explain it. It's nice how school ends an hour earlier on Monday and Thursday. Um... Comp. last periods on Thursday is different projects on a computer. Again I don't know how to explain it. The teacher explained it in Arabic so I didn't get it. 

First two periods on Thursday is "activities" which is basically electives. You pick one and you do that for the whole year. The choices were a little disappointing to be honest: Music (only for singing, drums, guitar, piano), home ec (I was advised not to take it), library (how to use the library without asking for help and research papers), art, and maintainence. I cannot draw to save my life. Nor can I do anything artistic really. Maintainence is basically woodshop (tech ed if you've ever attended A G Wright). I was pretty good at tech ed in sixth grade and handled myself pretty well building stairs at SSP so I thought hey, why not. Here's why not: girls don't take it. This of course made me want to take it more. This is basically what my friends told me: There are only 15-18 spots for this class. They only take the boys. And then I heard this: boys take maintainence and girls take home ec. Home Ec teaches us the stuff we need for when we're older. 

Wait... What?!

I've been here for a few weeks, I know girls and women do all the cooking and cleaning and the men barely do anything. Actually I don't think they do anything. For someone raised with a working mom and a stay at home dad (and the memory of my mother making pasta so bad we had ice cream for dinner) this is really weird. I mean, that's the reason I'm here to learn about their culture. And that's part of their culture. 

However, this pissed me off. The girls I'm friends with wanted to take maintainence until they were told it was for boys. Also, someone told me that they had a plan to travel and then settle down after. But, she then told me she wasn't going to it because that's not how it's done. Girls don't go galavanting around the world by themselves. She also told me her mother said she wasn't allowed to. Due to the whole it's-not-how-it's-done thing.* 

Now, I know, I know, "every culture's different." "Not good, not bad, just different." "American values and ideals aren't shared by everyone." And I agree. This just rubs me the wrong way, that's all. 

Note: I apologize if this rant sounded rude or mean or hurtful to anyone in anyway. This just came as a shock for me and seems unfair. 

Anyway, I just took art since all my friends did and maybe my sister rubbed off on me a little. The first thing we did was "draw a simple flower" so I did. And the girl next to me told me it was nice. And the art teacher said "hilwa" (beautiful) and "very good". Yup. An art teacher said something I drew was beautiful. *holds for applause* If I'm not asked to draw a realistic human I'll be fine. 

Other than school, my life has been sleeping, eating, and watching movies. I am watching Ratatouille in Arabic as I type this. I haven't exercised in a long time... I would exercise except it's really hot. All the effing time. So when it gets cold I'll exercise. 

Egyptians don't have junk food lying around. So if I'm hungry but don't want to make anything my options are fruits or vegetables so yeah. Also my eating schedule is all out of whack. They don't really have an eating schedule, they don't even sell food at school. 

I don't know how this went from school to me talking about food and exercise so I'm just gonna go now. 

The view last night from the balcony as I hung laundry on the clothes lines. Because I am helpful. 

A snapchat of my face while watching a movie in Arabic. And while sitting in a clas taught in Arabic. And every time I'm mistaken for an Egyptian.

I really really love hearing from you guys. Your comments are so encouraging and they make me smile. Thank you so so much. Keep them coming!

Tell someone you appreciate them today. Because I appreciate all of you. 

*Edit: 28/10/2014 After reading my blog my friend told me she wasn't not allowed to go to America, her mother gave her a good reason why she shouldn't and she is choosing to stay in Egypt. I took the wrong impression from the situation. My bad. I'm sorry. 

Byeeeeee

Corie. 

Corie's Epiphany

I wanted to take a minute and address something. I had an epiphany (I think) today. 

The last couple days have been pretty rough for me. A mixture of exhaustion and homesickness and overwhelming-ness made life pretty hard. And I didn't understand what was happening. 

The thing is, is I only heard about the good things of AFS. (And some really really bad things. Like BAD). But I never heard about normal bad things. Like what happens when homesickness meets exhaustion. Well anyway, I didn't have really any advice. Nobody told me what to do when this happened. So I just went about my life, trying to be optimistic. But today during PE, me and some other girls were tossing around a ball and saying facts about ourselves. And something happened. I'm not sure what but I finally felt like I was in the right place. Like all the stress and money that I put into getting here was worth it. Something happened and everything worked out. 

Many of you who have done a year abroad may have experienced this or maybe I'm crazy. But the point is that if somewhere in the future an exchange student is reading this, or even if you are reading this ten seconds after I post this, everything you feel is normal. There's like a 0.01% chance it's not. 

While keeping this blog I have rediscovered my love of writing. And recently I've seen my blog stats and there have been over 1,500 total views. And half of them are between my mom and grandma. But that means that there's a small collection of people who really like what I write. 

You probably want to hear about adventures or whatever but this is what I got for you right now. So if you are having a bad day. It's okay because eventually it'll get better. And that might not be what you want to hear but it just happens sometimes. So yeah. 

Make today the best day ever. Or make tomorrow the best day ever. 

Also if you know anyone who would like this blog and doesn't know about it, be a good friend and tell them about it. Because if someone reads it and changes their initial thoughts on Egypt or the world or life then I succeed. 

And if you did not like my little inspirational rant, I will be posting about the first week of school tomorrow or Friday. And the wedding is on Sunday so you'll get that update soon as well. 

Thank you for listening... Or reading. And I hope that you have a wonderful day. 

Byeeeeee

Corie. 

Apparently I don't speak English

Holy crap. I am so tired....

Hello everyone, today was the most exhausting, confusing, overwhelmingly scary, and stressful day of my entire life. Forget getting lost in JFK. Forget getting on a plane by myself to Istanbul. Forget being in a country where I know no one and nothing. High school in a foreign country trumps it all.  I got up at 5, the bus came at 6, and I am freaking tired. My first day went kind of like this: eh. ugh. wtf. why. wait what. omfg i'm so stupid. Then, I went home. 

The German boy is indeed in my class. He has pale skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair. He looks foreign. Teachers ask him if he speaks Arabic. Apparently, I look Egyptian. People don't ask me if speak Arabic. They just say things really fast until I look scared and confused.

The whole day is was freaking me out and I hated it. I hated how all of these jumbled up syllables made sense to everyone but me. But then, I remembered something. The only classes that need to count are math, science, french, and english. With the exception of French, all the classes I actually need to care about are taught in English. Plus, at the beginning of school and during the beginning of break I was kind of a loner. But once I settled down, and realized that everything will be okay. I was fine. And I made some friends. 

The one thing that's really disappointing is that I have been in advanced math since sixth grade. I was supposed to be taking Pre-Calc this year. Instead, I'm doing Algebra, Geometry, and Trig... again. And when I get back, I will be taking Pre-Calc... Normal math. (Wow, that makes me sound really snotty. I am so sorry.)

Anyway, in English we will be reading Jane Eyre and Oliver Twist and doing grammar. Today, we did grammar. When the teacher called on me to answer a question... I. Got. It. Wrong. WHAT?! What the heck is wrong with me? I am an American exchange student from the land of "Well, why don't they all learn our language?" and I got the dang question wrong. Apparently, the word "fee" and the word "fare" are used in different contexts. And apparently, I don't speak speak English. *self five* Basically, I answered the question and the teacher goes "No." and then the German boy, who has literally said two words to me, turns and laughs at me. That's it. I'm done. I will never forgive myself for this. (You might be reading this like I'm serious and distraught, but know I will be laughing at this for the next hundred years of my life.)

And there's a girl on my bus, who sits next to me in school, so we talk a lot. It's nice. I'm gonna like it here now that I've calmed down. I'm gonna be lazy now.

I'll leave you with two quotes:

"'I like math.

                               'Ew, why?'

'Because it's the same in every country'"

-Mean Girls

"Attempting to care. Loading please wait."

-The shirt I'm wearing right now.

Byeeeee.

Corie.

Huh? Ice? Why do we need ice?

It's really hard for me not to start posts with the word "so". I mean, seriously, I'm 15... Heintz should have given me better  

.writing skills than this

Yesterday, I met up with my counselor (liason for you AFS-USAers). Her name is Maha. Maha, her cousin, and they're husbands took me to this restaurant in City Stars. It was the first time I walked over there by myself. I got lost in the parking lot of my buildings and then I had to cross the street by myself only since I was six." No. Now would be a good time to explain a little bit about driving in Egypt:                                              Driving in Egypt is not like driving in America. For all of you who are like my mother, drives relatively carefully, and hates it when anybody drives differently. Egyptian driving is your nightmare. Have any of you ever played Grand Theft Auto? Driving is kind of like that here in Egypt. Except, I mean, they don't hit pedestrians or other cars, but the whole "no law applies to me" mentailty is similar. There are no traffic laws. I have seen two stop lights in the entire city so far. And there are no cross walks. My cultural resource guide at Gateway Orientation described crossing the street as a game of frogger or hopper or whatever the game is where you have to get the frog across without getting hit by a car. That's 

.exactly it and it terrifies me

Yes, crossing the street is a big deal. At the restaurant in City Stars I had Oriental desserts. Kounafa, Bosbousa, these things that look like eclairs, this other thing that was sugary and delicious, and these things that are basically heaven. I forgot their name so I'm going to call them heaven balls. Heaven balls are like donut holes, except they're full of honey, and they're also covered in honey. It's honey and bread. Mom, these were 

.made for you

After I got home I sat on the couch and chilled for a while. Then we all go shopping for dresses for Hossam's wedding. I did find a dress. It's not conservative as many people would expect. You'll see in October. As we were walking back to the car, they were all trying to ask me something. All I got was ice. Then I was like "Huh? Ice? Why do we need ice?" (Title line!) And then they were like "mall mall with Amira yesterday" Oh. We were going to the mall that I went to with Amira yesterday. Tehn Muhamed asked me if I dance on ice. Then I got it. Ice skating. There's an ice rink at the mall 

.that Amira and I went to the day before

:I went Ice Skating

Last thing, my mother gave me ths rule before I left and that was: try everything three times.Three because my tastes will 

:develop or whatever. Thus, I tried fish

For some this may look delicious... personally, it's not my cup of tea. But I ate it. And it was good. I felt like I was in the biblical times for some reason fish and rice. Then again, Jesusland is like a 

.hop skip and a jump away


That's it. I'm in a positive mood. So I'm going to tell all of you that you are wonderful and I appreciate you. Tell that 

.to someone today. Spread the positivity

!Do it

Byeeeeeeee

.Corie

Wedding Crasher Turned Cheerleader Turned Baby Spit Towel?

Before I tell you about the past couple days, and how the title of this post is actually relevant, I am just gonna say something. I am typing on an Arabic computer and it's gonna do what it wants to do. It's kind of hard to explain but the end of my paragraphs will not have a period. That will bother me,but that's just what's gonna happen

Tayyib. So, yesterday Nadia's sister comes over with her daughter and Nadia's sister's daughter, , Amira, has a baby. And sometimes I'm like "ooh, a baby", and other times I can be like "ew, a baby". But this time I was like "Yessss. The baby won't understand anything anybody is saying either!"

So yeah, they come over and I was gonna sit around in my pjs, playing with the baby, eating chicken. But then Amira is like "Corie you want to come to a party with me?" And AFS has this thing about not saying no so I say "...sure". Then I change and we go. Turns out. It's not a party... It's a wedding. I am officially kind of a wedding crasher

The wedding was mostly people I don't know, speaking a language I don't know and me trying not to piss anybody off with my presence. And also, trying not to trip over my dress. And then they bring out food. Meat, french fries, rice and basically chicken nuggets. Then, these guys come out carrying flaming swords. I wish I had taken a picture. Then the bride and groom come out on this spinning stage and cut the cake. This ceremony was the only song that wasn't in Arabic. It was Pitbull, and it was in Spanish

Then one of Amira's friends comes over and asks me if I know how to dance. I say no, because let's be honest... my mother is white. But she takes me over anyway. I think it would be wise to tell you by this point I was avoiding the bride, groom, and any camera not on a phone, as to not tarnish their memories with my being there. But all that goes down hill when I get dragged to the middle of the dance floor to dance with the bride, whose name I still don't know. Then, I didn't even have a fork to eat the cake with

So yeah, that happened. Congratulations, couple I don't know. May your lives be full of love and joy

Then I go to bed. This morning during breakfast, Nadia hands me the phone. On the phone is someone from AFS saying hey, we're gonna get you in an hour for a kind of party

It takes a good hour, I'm guessing, to get there and when I do I sit there, I eat, and that's it. Apparently, they have some soccer something and people are gonna be cheerleaders and then they put on music and dance. Then once again I am pulled up to learn how to dance. And this was the second time I was told I was good. (Take that white girl genes). Then I show them an American move that I don't know the name of and don't know how to explain and everyone applauds and I'm thoroughly embarrassed

When I get home, I play with the baby. Couple questions: Why are babies so stupid and fat? And why do they spit so much? He spit on my clothes and put my card reader in his mouth

Now that me and all my everything is covered in baby spit I bid you adieu with some pictures because I am beautiful. and I have nothing else to say and pictures is like another thousand words per picture

Okay, random thoughts

I got my uniforms yesterday... and let's just say if anyone likes anyone at this school it's definitely about personality. You'll see on the first day

Not being in the U.S. I didn't even realize today was 9/11... oops

And there are not one, but three videos of me dancing and if you want to see them too bad. The only way you'll see them is if you are somehow responsible for my existence, or if my blog gets super famous, which it won't so yeah

 Learn something today

Byeeeeee

.Corie

Globalization

Two summers ago I took a class on International Politics at CTY. We talked about this thing called globalization. It was about how the world is losing culture and everything is basically becoming one big culture. Another theory is everything is being "westernized". This is called "Westernization". We discussed whether it was a good thing or a bad thing

Anyway, I finally completely understand this concept. Whenever I told people I was going to Egypt they said something like "Wow, you're brave!" Basically they reacted differently than if I were to say I'm going to Switzerland. They all think it's some foreign, far away place. I mean, it is foreign and far away, but I don't think people realize how similar the States and Egypt are

For example, they travel by car, taxi and bus here, just like in the U.S. I thought I was going to have to go without a lot of the things I am used to, but I managed to find a great deal of 

 . them here

The first place I learned this was the grocery store, called Carrefour. It is huge. The products there are very similar if not the same as ours. Corn flakes, Oreos, Coke products, etc. Plus if you are like me and think you will never find your name on the Share a Coke campaign, just imagine what you'd feel like if it were in Arabic... I found my brands of shampoo and toothpaste as well

.

This is the food section. There were also sections for toys, clothes, and technology. Basically, it's Costco

Then today, a couple of Fayrouz's friends came over and took me to City Stars, the biggest mall in Egypt. There I learned 1. malls in Egypt = Malls in the U.S. 2. Egypt teens=U.S. teens. We listen to the same music, like the same things, dress the same way, and watch the same movies. We all love Dylan O'Brien. That, is globalization

 

Pictures from the mall

Sorry the first one is sideways, I'm still trying to figure out this computer. Also the second one is awkward but that's a selfie with a normal camera

People, (my past self included) think Egypt is hecka conservative, and parts are. But Marwa has a nose piercing and wore short sleeves and Myrna has a cartilage piercing and a henna tattoo so it 

 .can't be that conservative

My safari app on my iPhone now is in Arabic

AFS gave me an Egypt phone so that's for calling and maybe texting if I figure it out. Plus its a Nokia so the battery will last until the year 2114

 .Homesickness sucks really badly

Whenever I'm just a little hungry my host mom will give me A LOT food

.

I'm almost over jet lag

I figured out how to use the air conditioner so I'm not sleeping in the extreme heat

And I learned there's another exchange student from Germany going to my school

Also Myrna and Mawra taught me some Arabic. Small things like "let's go". Also they said "we're your sisters now" when I said I missed Maya. It made me happy

Learn something today

Byeeeee

.Corie

Host Family Pictures and Presents

Today I gave my family their presents

I got t-shirts for my host  brothers and father and bags for my host cousin and mother. I also bought a big thing of Ghirradelli, a magnet from my hometown, and a picture book of San Francisco

 My host mother, father, and cousin's English is very limited, so we're working on closing the language gap

Also, apparently I missed the orientation yesterday, so a volunteer picked me up and we met a staff member at a nearby Starbucks.  If you want to know what Egyptian Starbucks is like, go to your nearest Starbucks and imagine more choices of food and coffee-free frappichinos

I found out today that there is a German exchange student here who will be going to my school. I am very excited to start school because I will be able to make friends and meet people my own age

I took a nap today and I'm extremely confused because I have no sense of time right now. My brain is either tired, or not tired, hungry or not hungry. I don't even know how I'm feeling right now

This evening my host family and I sat on the porch and drank tea... yes I, Corie, drank a whole glass of tea. Shai akhdar (green tea) to be exact

On the porch I figured out how to tell people I am allergic to nuts and shellfish (which might come in handy someday). That's about it for now

Here are some pictures. Ignore the finger in the camera, I taught them how to use it ten seconds before

Learn something today

Byeeeee

.Corie

Turkey and Egypt

I'm not entirely sure where I left off. But Thursday was a bunch of orientation then a bunch of waiting. I waited at my gate for about three hours. Then the plane wasn't too bad. I watched shows and movies, and I slept and ate. Then I waited in the Turkish airport on Friday for about 6 hours. Then slept through the entire plane ride to Egypt. From the sky Egypt is super bright. There's lights everywhere. When we landed I found my way through the airport. And through customs. I honestly don't know how I did it. Then my family met me and I came home. 

The main thing you need to know about Cairo is that it's hot and loud. Yesterday I had little energy to do anything. I only unpacked half my suitcase and then I fell into bed. Once I was in bed it was hard to fall asleep because it was hot and loud. Lots of honking and barking and engines roaring and laughing and yelling and holy crap. I woke up in the middle of the night a couple times and then it was again hard to fall asleep. At about five I woke up to something pretty cool. I woke up and this guy was singing in Arabic on a PA system. I'm guessing it was the call to prayer. 

My host mom came in and gave me like a sheet as a blanket. Then I woke up at about 8. It was a pretty hard night last night I'm not gonna lie. Data doesn't work on my phone and there's no wifi in my room so I'm in the living room, finally connected to wifi. 

Last night I hadn't heard anything from my family and it made me miss them so much. But now I'm connected to wifi and everything is good. I have orientation in about three hours, then I think I'm all set. 

I don't know what I'm gonna do for the next two weeks before school starts. 

I hope you are all doing well. I love and miss everyone. Okay. 

Byeeeeee

Corie. 

New York Day One

At 4 o'clock this morning my mother woke me up. After changing, I threw my carry on over my back. I thought it was heavy this morning. It got heavier every time. Anyway, I got to the airport. After all the airport stuff I said goodbye to my family. It was actually a little easier than I thought it would be. That's a good thing. Don't get me wrong. I love my family and I miss them already, but I'm glad I wasn't crying buckets before announcing my millions of ounces of liquid prescriptions to the TSA guy. 

So at SFO I got put in pre check. Which is actually the greatest thing every tbh. Before I stuffed my jacket, stuffed animals, and bag into that little conveyer belt thing a TSA guy handed another TSA guy a pocket knife and said "surrendered." That literally had nothing to do with anything. I just thought I'd let you know. 

Anyway, I got to my gate. Then I got a hot chocolate and a chocolate croissant. (Thank god I did because I wouldn't eat again until dinner). Then came the plane ride. Holy crap that plane ride. So I slept for about two hours. I slept through the beverage and food cart. :( And when I woke up I started to play with the TV thing. After deciding that I didn't want to spend $8 on a movie I tried to play a video game. And then it froze my TV so I couldn't order any food. It was awful. Then I tried to read. But it's hard to read a book that you've seen the movie five times for. So I got bored. 

Then I landed and got my luggage. And AFS said they would meet us at the luggage thing. But they didn't. So I kinda walked around the lobby until someone found me. I don't know if you know this but there are a lot of people in New York. Not just the city. THE AIRPORT. Then we got to the hotel and did orientation things. And at 6:30 pm (eight hours after my croissant) I finally got dinner!! I spilt my drink all over the table. But whatever I got food. And now I'm just sitting here in the hotel room. So here are some pictures from the flight. 

I call this collection: thoughts on the plane. Enjoy.

Then it got really weird. Like I drew beards and quotes Harry Potter. And then it got a little more normal. 

That's when we landed. As you can see I got really bored. Anyway I promised a picture in New York with a specific caption:

But I didn't get a good enough one. If I do I'll post it. If not I'll post one of my bad ones. Anyway. I am in extreme need of sleep. Goodnight lovelies!!

Byeeeeee

Corie.