What Even is Egypt? 2

The first time I renewed my visa, I had a post called "What Even is Egypt?" Yesterday, I got my third visa renewal, and I decided it was time for another "what even is Egypt?" The last post had ten things that were different about Egypt. That was written on 19 October, if I can count correctly (which I probably can't) that was six months ago. In the last six months I have noticed these things that are different in Egypt:

1. If you buy a bottle of water from a little market/convenient store type thing, it costs like 2 pounds. Maybe. That's about 28¢. Chips are usually like 1.5 pounds which is like 21¢. In America the cheapest bottle of water is like 79¢ at Safeway. And chips are like... a dollar?

2. Buses and microbuses are about 2 pounds each. The metro is 1 pound. (28¢ and 14¢ respectively) Yesterday, while we were waiting four hours for my visa, me and my friend went to the AFS office and back. To go from Nasr City to Tahrir to Giza to Tahrir to Nasr City was a total of 8 pounds each (ish). Which is equivalent to $1.14 each. To take the bus from my school to my neighborhood in Pleasanton is $2. 

3. You can get a Tameyah sandwich for 2 pounds. I don't even know how much a falafel sandwich is in America. 

4. Easter is on 12 April this year. Why? I don't know, maybe the time difference. 

5. Christians don't do lent. Instead they do something different, for a longer period. They don't eat anything that comes from animals. No milk, eggs, meat, fish, etc. 

6. Lots of Egyptians have really big phones. My friend's phone is literally the size of an iPad mini. And I've met others with phones that aren't much smaller. 

7. I don't know if this is all of Egypt, or just my school. I can't use bathrooms that aren't on the same floor as my classroom. During break time, they close the bathrooms near my classroom. Most of the time, I hang out in the chapel during break which uses the same bathrooms. If I need to use the restroom, I can't go to the floor down or the floor up, is have to go all the way down and then all the way up. And I love my school, but really? I don't know I just think it's weird. 

8. Senior year is the most important. Therefore, no one in third secondary actually goes to school. Instead they all take private lessons and only show up for tests. While I understand Egyptian schools aren't the greatest ever, I don't know why you'd pay to go to a private school, not show up, and then pay for private lessons. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

9. Power outages. The power goes off, not everyday, but often. As the weather gets warmer, the more they will happen. When 7 million (ish) people have the A/C on, cities run out if power. During the winter, we obviously don't use the A/C so it doesn't happen as often. 

10. There has not been a single fire drill, earthquake drill, tornado drill, or intruder drill. This doesn't mean schools don't have them. According to my friend, our school does. We just haven't had any yet. In the US we have them about once a month. 

11. College acceptance is based solely on grades. If you don't get certain marks, you can't get into a certain field. For example, if you want to go into politics, but you don't have high enough marks, you have to settle on something like business, masalan (for example). In the US if you don't get into political science at UCLA, you could try for political science at San Jose State. Also, colleges look at SAT scores, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, etc (so I've heard). 

12. If you don't play a sport, there are no extracurricular activities. I was very lucky to find ASMUN since it's pretty uncommon. The US is chock-full of extracurricular activities. 

13. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day. The main meal, instead of dinner. 

14. Spotify, Netflix, and Pandora have all "not come to this country/part of the world yet. Sorry."

15. Lots of people don't participate in tourist things. I know lots of people who haven't seen the pyramids. I'm not expecting everyone to visit every museum and landmark where they live, but if you live near something world famous how have you not seen it? It's right there!

That's it. I could probably come up with more if I tried, but those can wait. 

I hope you all are having a fabulous week, and as always, learn something today. 

Byeeeee 

Corie. 

Guess Who Finally Went To Hussein

Hey clear the way in the ol' bazaar

Hey you! Let us through-

it's a bright new star

Oh come be the first on your block to meet his eye!

Make way!

Here he comes!

Ring bells!

Bang the drums!

Ah! You're gonna love this guy!

Today, I FINALLY went to Hussein. Hussein is a place, in Cairo, with things. My friends have been talking about taking me since November. Hussein has a bunch of bazaars that sell really cool things for not expensive prices. A lot of the stuff is touristy (pyramids and pharaonic stuff). I'll probably end up going back to get presents for my family and friends. 

I went with a bunch if cool AFS returnees. There were two girls who went to the US and came back. And a boy who went to Germany and came back. Plus the two AFS people who are making the video. (Because I'm a movie star)

We walked around and filmed and took pictures. Then we ate fatirty (is that how it's spelled?) It's a kind of Egyptian pie with meat or cheese in it. It was very good. We also ate on with Nutella and bananas. 

After that we kept walking. At one of the shops I saw a cool mystery item that I thought my dad would like. (I can't tell you what it is because I gotta keep it a surprise). I used my Arabic skills to ask how much it was, and then my friend haggled for me and I paid 15 pounds less for it. Cool. Then, we sat and drank at this cafe that had a very Egyptian vibe to it. 

This menu was the perfect example of google translate gone wrong. For example, there is a tea called "anise". In Arabic it's "yansoon". Yansoon in Arabic also means "they forget". So instead of the English side of the menu saying "anise" it says "forget". We had a good laugh over it. 

Two of the returnees and I took some mini/micro busses home. I like taking the micro/mini busses because it feels both Egyptian and adventurous. I don't take them often, because I can't do it myself. 

When I got home I was wiped, but guess what? My visa expires in a week. Also, I don't have anymore passport pictures. So instead of sitting in my bed resting my weary feet, I had to go take my fifth set of passport pictures in the past year. Yay! Exchange students. They gave me 8 small pictures and one big picture. At least I look sober in this one, unlike the four previous times. 

I also exchanged some money that has come into my possession. Let me tell you, shoving an envelope stuffed with cash in your purse is quite satisfying. 

That's all I have today. I had a lot of fun in Hussein. Lots of people have been telling me to go there, I'm glad I finally did. It was really great hanging out with more AFS returnees. Since there are only two exchange students in Egypt, I feel like I miss out on having other exchange students to experience things with. This is a good alternative. I also love touristy places because it makes me feel like I'm not a tourist... even though I am. 

Happy Easter, if you are celebrating it. Easter is on the 12th here, so it's not really Easter for me. 

Thank you so much for reading this post. I hope you all have a wonderful day. 

Learn something today. 

Byeeeee

Corie. 

Weird.

I guess I'll just start this post with this: my best friend is a really good guy. There aren't a lot of people who will fly 16 hours and then some to bring you Girl Scout cookies. 

My friend from America's dad has a branch of his company located here in Cairo. For spring break, he and his dad flew out here. While I spent the week taking exams, he went on his own Egyptian adventures (selfies with a camel included). Then on Thursday, my two worlds collided. 

One of the weirdest things about being an exchange student is my life. My everyday life is normal to me now, but it's weird and foreign to my friends and family 7,744 miles away. My parents have never met my friends. My friends haven't met my parents. My parents haven't met my parents. (Try and figure that one out). While this adventure is forever going to be a part of my life and is currently changing it forever, everything here in Egypt is like an entirely different life. For most of you, my experience is what you read on this blog. This blog is the only insight into my life in Egypt you have. 

Thursday, Etch A Sketch and I went to City Stars, as usual. This time, we were joined by my good friend, Husain. We walked around, hung out, and got some dinner. It felt normal, but the thing is, it wasn't normal. I'm really close to Husain and I'm really close to Etch A Sketch, but Etch A Sketch has never met Husain. Husain had never been to City Stars and Merna didn't know any of the people me and Husain talked about. 

I am Hannah Montana. I have two lives. They came together... and the world didn't explode. 

Friday (today), after ASMUN, I went with Husain and his dad to the pyramids, where we watched a sound and light show. This made it even weirder, because city stars has an American vibe, but speaking Arabic to the car driver and driving through Cairo and seeing the effing pyramids was intense. I mean, my best friend is in Egypt. I'm in Egypt. This is all real. 

The light and sound show was awesome. I enjoy Egyptian history. I wish I could learn more, but the bits and pieces I get are great. The pyramids, as always are astounding. They are big and beautiful and old. They took 3 million stones, some weighing 30 tons, carried by 100,000 men. Husain thinks aliens built them, but I disagree. I think the pyramids are proof that humans can do anything with determination and teamwork. 

The world fears time, but time fears the pyramids. 

That's all I have for this blog post. I hope you enjoyed it. I am the luckiest human being on the planet. 

I will have another post up soon, but until then:

Learn something today. 

Byeeeee

Corie. 

The History of April Fool's Day

I cannot believe it is already April. Where has the time gone? 

You all should know what April Fool's Day is. Today, I was very curious to find out who invented this holiday of disappointment and here is what I found:

April Fool's Day was invented by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1935. He supposedly came up with the idea to prank his Vice President on the first of April. He wanted use this opportunity to lift the spirits of America during the Great Depression. Roosevelt made a clay bug and hid it in a lamp in John Garner's office. Garner, notoriously afraid of bugs, wouldn't enter his office until Roosevelt showed him that it was fake. He finished the prank off with "Happy April, you fool!"

More people joined in the fun on the next April 1st. By the third year, director Frank Capra played an infamous joke on actress and friend Bette Davis. He ripped his clothes and got very wet to convince his friend that his boat crashed near the Statue of Liberty and he had to swim all the way back. He, too, ended his plan by saying "Happy April, you fool!"

 

It wasn't until 1939 that April Fool's day got it's name. After the famous line used by Roosevelt and Capra: "Happy April, you fool!" 

During the Second World War, the "holidays" popularity died down. It wasn't until 1947 that the JEM Rubber Co. used it as a method to advertise their toy: the whoopee cushion. This is when April Fool's Day really regained acknowledgement and turned into the April Fool's day we know and despise today. 

I'm totally kidding. I don't know when, where, or why April Fool's Day is a thing. 

Happy April, you fool!

Learn something today (like maybe the real history of April Fool's?)

Byeeeee

Corie. 

Picture links

FDR and Garner: https://www.cah.utexas.edu/news/press_release.php?press=press_bucket

Bette Davis and Frank Capra: http://friendsofcalarchives.org/2014/03/march-5-1936-the-first-oscars/

Whoopee Cushion: https://www.pinterest.com/burrito7/christmas-1920s-party/

Lessonades

When life gives you lessons, you make lessonades. 

Everyone has an opinion. It could be as insignificant as: the whale emoji is the sassiest of all emojis. It could be big and complicated, like: the death penalty is morally okay and should be used to discourage crimes like murder. 

Everyone has an opinion and everyone has the right to have their opinion. They're important. They shape who we are and what we stand for. 

Today in ASMUN, they revealed to us that the reason they chose the theme of the sessions, was to have us learn how to formulate opinions and be brave enough to share them. 

In tv shows, the external conflicts in the episode often reflect on the internal conflicts for the main character of that time and they learn a lesson in the external conflict to help them with the internal conflict. 

So the external conflict in the tv show that is my life is we learn to express opinions in ASMUN. The internal conflict is this: I didn't like the Insurgent movie. 

The two friends I went to see Insurgent with loved it. A friend that already saw it also loved it. I didn't. I found myself thinking that I must be a pretentious bookworm because I didn't like this movie. (I might be, but that isn't the point). Then I found myself thinking that maybe I did like it. Maybe the environment ruined the movie for me (3D in Egypt is awful and the other movie goers were annoying). But that wasn't it. I just didn't like the movie. And that's okay. 

This happens to me a lot. I will find myself liking or disliking something. Then when someone disagrees with me, I start to second guess my own opinion. It's hard to stand firm with something when everyone else disagrees with you. 

I have now learned, thanks to ASMUN and Insurgent, that I can't do this to myself. I like what I like and that's perfectly okay. If you love Twilight or hate Beyoncé, that's perfectly okay. 

I keep saying that going abroad has "changed my views on things". I knew this was true, but I couldn't think of a specific example. Now I have one:

I've always had this preconceived notion about people who think homosexuality and the works are wrong, or a sin, or whatever. I thought they were terrible, stupid people. 

I was wrong. My host family and new friends hold these beliefs, but they aren't terrible or stupid. They aren't even a little bit bad. They're wonderful and awesome and smart and lovely. We just disagree on things. 

You see, my weak opinions were never on controversial topics, but on the people who hold views I think are wrong. 

Most the time, people's opinions don't make their personality. I disagree with people here on really big topics like religion and homosexuality, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends or family even. It's okay to disagree with people, that's what makes humans so unique. If everyone agreed on everything, life would be boring. 

So here's the lessonade: Trust your judgement and opinions. Just because you like something people hate or you hate something people like, does not mean there's something wrong with you. Also, don't judge people based on their beliefs. Don't let disagreements stop you from befriending someone. Just act like adults and agree to disagree. 

Thank you all for reading this post. I am really proud of it. I would love to know some unpopular opinions you guys might have. If you're brave enough, let me know what that opinion is. 

I hope you all are having a great day and I'll talk to you next time. 

Learn something today. 

Byeeee

Corie. 

Let's Have A Drink: Cadbury Creme Eggs

Hey guys! I thought for today's post we could just sit and have a drink. I'll be drinking 7-up, but you can drink whatever your heart desires. Life has been happening, so let's just chat... about life. 

Work hard, play hard. 

Health

Last week, my school went on a trip to Ain Sokhna. Between the getting in and out of the pool many times and the lack of dry clothes and just generally being wet and cold, I got sick. 

Last time I got sick it was really bad. This time it wasn't quite as bad, but still. So Friday I was fine and then around like 1 in the afternoon I got really tired and cold so I just stayed in bed. I went to sleep early (like 8 pm) and woke up around 10 am Saturday. After being awake for like half an hour I slept again until 2 pm. The rest of Saturday was not fun. I was weak and cold and tired. And just no. I ended up missing a wedding in Suez that my family went to. I stayed home. 

By Monday, I was good and ready to go to school. The only problem was my stuffed nose and sore throat. 

My throat got better Tuesday. And I'm in the very last stage of stuffy nose right now. Like I can breathe through my nose again, which is good. 

World Health Organization

The conference room before the madness. 

Every year the World Health Organization has a World Health Day where they pick a health topic to focus on. Last year it was like insect transmitted diseases or something like that. This year it's food safety. 

For World Health Day they hold an art competition for kids ages 8-18 all over the world. All the Arab/Middle East countries' entries were sent to this office in Cairo. Two other kids (Egyptian returnee and Belgian exchange student) and I sorted the art work, went through it, and organized it for the judges. 

While the task itself was tedious and boring, the pay is really good and the food was really good and I love the UN so the experience was really good. 

Also, one of the people who works in communications, who helped organize this, wants us to do more work later on for the WHO. (The guy was from New Orleans, btw.) I, as well as the other two, might be working (and paid) at the WHO. He said we'd be running a Facebook page or working with the media or stuff like that. Stuff in communications. 

If you're nodding to yourself like "hmm, that's cool" let me say this. This is beyond cool. By now, you might know that I want to work for the UN when I grow up. Also, I've looked at public relations and communications areas of study before. Finally, running a Facebook page? Who's more qualified to run a Facebook page than a 16-year-old world traveller who runs a blog and... a Facebook page? No one. Except like maybe someone who works at Buzzfeed. And how cool would that look on a resume or college app. This job possibility came from the heavens. 

If it doesn't end up working out, malesh. But it's still cool to think about. 

AFS video

AFS came over yesterday to film my host family. It was super fun. They filmed me attempting to read a children's book in Arabic and failing. 

Also, they are coming to my school to film on Monday. (Psst. NRC students: look extra awesome on Monday you may be being filmed). 

I'm so excited to see this video come together. 

ASMUN

A candid photo I actually look happy in. It's a miracle. 

Yesterday at ASMUN I had a debate. I debated taking off the religion section on ID cards. I was against it (so I was arguing to keep the section on the card). 

My team won. I don't know how. I pulled all my arguments from my butt and I'm 16, against college students. 

I am trying my best to stay humble, but I think I'm getting pretty good at this organized arguing thing. 

The Mall

My week would not be complete without a trip to City Stars (which I now say in an Egyptian accent). 

I went to buy my host mom a gift for Egypt Mothers Day. I got her a lotion from Bath and Body Works. They had a Buy Two Get Two Free sale. I got lotion, Boosy got lotion, Nadia got lotion. Everyone got lotion! (I got Cashmere Glow because my sister loves that scent and it reminds me of her.)

While I was in City Stars, we passed a candy stand and out of the corner of my eye, I saw CADBURY CREME EGGS. Cadbury Creme Eggs are my life. I am so glad Jesus died on the cross and went to heaven because Easter=Cadbury Creme Eggs. (I'm a terrible Christian, I'm sorry.) 

I didn't think Cadbury Creme eggs would be in Egypt, I'm glad they are. I bought two without even pausing. They are double the price but worth it and OH MY GOODNESS YOU GUYS CADBURY CREME EGGS ARE LIFE. I CANNOT CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT. 

I hope you all haven't finished your drinks because I am going to propose a toast:

To mothers everywhere. To mothers in Egypt. To my Egyptian Mom. Thank you for all you do. For feeding me and taking care of me when I'm sick. And for making sure I don't die. 

To good health and Cadbury Creme eggs for all. Cheers. 

I hope you all had a fantastic week. Thanks for stopping by and having a drink with me. I might make this a monthly thing. I did one last month called "The Bags Under My Eyes Are Gucci". 

Don't forget to check out my last post if you haven't already. I take you on a hot mess of a tour of Christian Cairo. 

As always, stay awesome and learn something today. 

Byeeee

Corie. 

Warning: This Post is a Hot Mess

This post is so long overdue it's not even funny. 

Three or four weeks ago, my host dad and his friend took me on a church tour of Cairo. We went to two different areas. In each area, there were several churches. 

I wrote a story version of this trip, but things got complicated. I finally got a chance to get the pictures from my camera to the computer but it took almost an hour to get the pictures loaded onto the blog. 

After several frustrating complications, I decided to just put up the pictures with captions.

Saint Saman Church

(A mountain with six or so churches built from caverns.)

To get here we had to go trough "trash village" or "garbage village". This is wherever garbage collectors live and sort the trash. The picture I uploaded was accidentally deleted.

Most churches had a little book behind and curtain like this. I went back there to see what it was and I was kicked out because "women weren't allowed". 

This church looks like what I'd imagine a hobbit hole to look like. 

Somewhere, there was a fire and the only thing to survive the fire was this picture of the Jesus Christ Superstar. 

This is the doorway to the Hobbit church of Jesus. 

This is a carving on the side of the mountain of a verse about Jesus going to heaven, accompanied by a picture of Jesus going to heaven. 

This is a sculpture/carving of the angel telling Mary and the other chick that Jesus isn't in his tomb. 

Can you guess what this carving is? It's t the Ten Commandments (not the movie)

"I was thirsty and you gave me drink"

[There was a picture of "if your right eye causes you to sin gouge it out" but it disappeared.]

I can't read what it say, but I liked how the artist incorporated chains. 

This is the altar-pulpit area of the biggest church in the Carholic Monastery. 

Egyptians like to brag about how their kaza is the biggest kaza in the world. And this is the biggest church in the Monastery. Not all the pews are pictured. (I'm sorry.) but it really is big. 

Something something something, something something. Something:52

An illustration of the passage about the Holy Spirit coming and they all started talking in different languages. (Aka one of my favorite bible stories). 

"...the son of man comingin the clouds with great power and glory."

In one of the churches there were windows leading out onto the side of the mountain. We went out there and I took this picture and I love it. 

[There was a picture of a column shaped like a cross, but it too disappeared because my blogging skills are a hot mess.]

Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Jesus walks on water. 

The Nativity Scene

The Hanging Church

This is a hanging church. It sits on top of two columns. Like:

Like this, except the columns are the same height, so the church (represented by the bible) would be level. 

In the more modern Coptic churches, they have pictures of different saints. You can light candles (seen here). The Coptic Christians also walk around, kiss there hand and then touch the pictures. This one is the Virgin Mary. 

There was a synagogue in this area of churches, but we weren't allowed to take pictures. It was really pretty though. 

So there once was a guy. He was a martyr. He was captured and tortured with these devices. He would not denounce his faith in Jesus Christ Superstar, so they killed him. 

He is one of the Saints they have a picture of in many of the churches. This is the picture they use of him:

Slay. 

Jesus on the ceiling of St. George's Church(?)

St. George's Church

Back on the 4th and 5th centuries, there was a very large population of Coptics in Egypt. This Coptic museum housed many artifacts from their civilization. Carvings, artwork, tapestries, clothes, pottery (they wrote like receipts and letters on pottery before paper), paper, books, tools, toys, and the oldest known copy of Psalms. 

We weren't allowed to take pictures, but hey, it's for the blog. 

In the churches, there are examples of Coptic art such as:

This was very frustrating to post because things kept getting deleted or not working the way I thought it would. I really didn't want to wait any longer to post this so here it is. 

This was a really fun and interesting trip to go on. I hope you enjoyed the pictures I did manage to put on here.

That's all I have today, thank you for coming. I'll talk to you next time. 

Learn something today. 

Byeeee

Corie. 

P.S. Why is the text centered? I don't like it. Ugh.