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. 

In or Out

As part of having this blog, other than documenting my journey, I hope to give advice to future exchange students. Especially girls going to Egypt. With my countdown at 2 days 13 hours and 7 minutes, I thought it was about time to start packing.

If any of you have been abroad or know someone who has, you may know that the limit is one suitcase (for me it's at 44 lbs.) and one carry on. If any of you are, have been, or know a teenage girl. Imagine taking the entirety of a teenage girl's life and putting it into 44 lbs. Fortunately, I'm a pretty low-maintenance girl. I don't wear make-up. I don't have a lot of hair products. That takes care of some problems one might encounter. However, I love shoes. I really do. I have maybe 15 pairs... give or take. So to narrow down those options, my dad made a game (kinda). So basically, I take an item out to the living room and everyone votes in or out. In, I take it. Out, I don't. It is kind of sad when you love something and it's voted out. It's like seeing your favorite contestant get voted off a reality show. And it's even sadder when your sister yells "I'll take 'em" after it is voted out.

I have compiled a list of things to take, tips on packing, and anything else that I come up with while writing.

1. Packing for long trips is like writing an essay. You pack, edit, unpack, repack, and repeat.
2. So far I have had two "drafts" of my packed suitcase. The first time I packed, I put everything in folded. Then, the second time I rolled most of my clothes. I found that rolling really does make it easier to pack. I have no clue why, but it takes up less room.
3. Know what the weather is like where you are and pack accordingly. You have a small amount of space so use it wisely.
4. Think of how much stuff you buy in a year. You don't have to pack all the clothes you can. You will buy things while you're there (I'm assuming). So just keep that in mind.
5. Aside from clothes, shoes and toiletries, I am bringing other random things that aren't that random.

• Stuffed animals: I am bringing two stuffed animals and my pillow pet for comfort. Also because I am a dork. :)
• Gifts: It's a really good idea to bring gifts for your host family and other people you meet. For my host mother and cousin I got them tote bags that say California and San Francisco. I got t-shirts from Hawai'i. I also bought a big bag of chocolate. I'm also bringing a bunch of individually wrapped candy corn things to explain Halloween because again, I'm a dork. :) I also bought duct tape with American flags on it and I'm in the process of making little bows to give to like friends I make or whatever.
• Children's books: I brought like four kids' books in case I get a chance to help little kids learn English or in case I get home sick and need something to make me feel better (i.e. The Little Engine That Could).
• Other: I think I'm gonna pack some Kraft Mac n Cheese or something because I don't know how hard it's gonna be to find it so yeah, I thought it was a good idea. I'm also bringing a camera, video camera, chargers, and an SD card reader so I can put things other than words on my blog.

So that's pretty much all I have for you guys right now. My bag currently weighs 41.5 lbs and I don't have anything in my carry on so I have some work to do. I leave on Wednesday, it's Sunday night. I just got home from my family Bon Voyage party. (My parents took me to see a drag show in San Francisco. It was awesome.) Anyway, this weekend is going by so slow. I am so excited and scared and kinda sad and I'm having all the feels right now. 

I decided that I'm gonna give you this link because it's the song I'm kind of vibing on right now. Vibing isn't a word but whatever. So enjoy Idina Menzel. (No, it is not Frozen).

These are the bows I made in case you were curious.

Okay... Byeeeee :)

Corie. 

My Host Family

Over the past couple of months I have been in contact with my host family. I got the email when I was at camp. When I opened up the information, the only way to contact the family was either a) email the host sister or b) call them. Never having to call anyone over seas I didn't know my international calling allowances, if I even had any. With a couple weeks left in camp, my only option was to email my host sister. So on my phone I set up an email to her. Not knowing whether or not anyone knew English, I spent the next couple of days using google translate and my friend from Saudi Arabia to translate a little passage into Arabic. I sent that along with what it meant in English to my host sister. A few days later I received a response. My host sister, Fairouz, had responded to my three sentence email with a three paragraph email in English. She even included words like btw and yay (with many ys "yayyyy"). I was relieved I didn't have to translate, but disappointed I spent all that time poorly translating for nothing.

When my dad received the alert that I had gotten placed. He saw the lack of "family email" and said something along the lines of "looks like you'll be unplugging for a year". I agreed with him. In her first email, however, Fairouz managed to ask if we could skype or FaceTime and if I had a Facebook with in like ten words of each other. Sounds like you were wrong then, Dad.

After that I didn't email Fairouz again. Pourquoi? Because from then on we messages each other on Facebook. All. The. Time. For hours. And days. It was crazy. It was good though. I learned that Fairouz, too, will be an exchange student. So while I am having my adventure in Egypt. She will be having her own adventure in Missouri. Kinda funny right? I also learned I will be living three minutes walking distance from City Stars the biggest mall in Cairo (or something). I'm really freaking excited about that. I mean, look at it: 

It's beautiful... at least until I'm broke.

When I got home from camp, Fairouz and I finally set up a time for her family and me to Skype. I was so excited. The night before I barely slept. (which in no way had anything to do with a sleepover) Barely slept so much that when I logged onto Skype I fell asleep waiting for them. After about an hour I woke up. They still hadn't been online. Later, I received a message from Fairouz saying she had overslept and her mom went to bed and asked if we could Skype another day. At that point I knew I had the right family when I realized we all fell asleep simultaneously. 

Eventually, we all were awake enough to Skype. I got a chance to meet my host mom, dad, cousin, and sister. Online at least. They were super nice and sweet. Saying things close to the following:

• "You are going to have so much fun here"
• "I'm can't wait to teach you Arabic"
• "I'll give you lessons when we cook together"
• "The kitchen is open to you whenever you are hungry"

The last one really makes me happy. :')

They also asked things like

• What kind of food do you like?
• What kind of music do you like?
• What kind of things do you like to do?
• What do you like to watch on TV?

To which I had nothing to say. In my mind I said, "I don't know... American things?" But out loud I said, "Basically anything."

So yeah. I leave for New York in 23 days and 12 hours, but who's counting. I'm so excited.

Byeeeee :)

Corie.