هل تحب أن تأخذ صورتي

But I did already. Many many times. Because this month has been one of the most amazing months of my life. To think that I almost did not apply to the program is crazy, because I am so utterly grateful to have gone. I have met a group of amazing 20-something people, met and made new Egyptian ( and Qatar 😛 ) friends, and done some pretty awesome things. To think that someday I would have family and friends in Egypt, it is really touching and here I am, crying at my keyboard again. I’m crying because I miss Egypt dearly. But I’m also crying because I am so happy that all of this has happened. Day by day, I am still replaying all the trips and events over in my head. I am walking through Horus House Hotel, wandering the streets of Zamalek and sitting in our tiny Arabic classroom. I’d like to thank our bus driver for giving us some of his CD’s because that is the best souvenir I could take away. I have this strange way of imprinting all my feelings, reactions and memories into the music I listen to during that period of my life. So every time the “yani yani yani…shisha” song comes back on, I feel as if I am transported back into that white van, on my way to class or a lecture. From the pyramids to downtown Cairo, I fell in love with every part of that city. Many natives do not like living there, and I am sure that if I had to live there for longer than a few months (and needed to find a job there), the wonder would fade away.Coming back to Cairo is definitely on my to-do list…and perhaps it will happen during spring break, or maybe the summer. Or maybe I’ll even get an internship there for three months. Who knows. But this dear city will stay in my heart forever, all of it (even the poverty, even the lack of traffic lights, and even the deathly smog that always floats over the city).

I also dearly love everyone I met on the trip. I still wake up in my room now and expect to see my sleepy roommate Simmi. When I come down to breakfast, I miss seeing everyone’s faces, usually buried in their Arabic books because they are doing some last-minute studying for a test. I miss talking to all of them and making all the inside jokes we came up with…(“No, these are bananas.” “But we will though, but we will!” “Izquerda, itnasher, el bano!” “Yeah, sure” “Getting into cars with strangers again” “Hit me with a phonebook” “I kill my wife for you” “ROMANIA!” “Give me a hug, I like your body” etc etc)

I miss making late-night scary movies and having massage chains in our rooms. I miss going out to Hardee’s (the shame, oh the shame) and Koshery and Pizza Hut. I miss blowing the smoke into your faces when we do shisha, I miss going out and driving around Cairo at night (while asking for directions over and over again) and I miss just sitting in class with you, learning Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. I also miss the adults (because god knows, the rest of us were all children on that trip :P), Abdo, our teacher Aya, Dr. Denis (lovingly dubbed by Simmi as D-Dog <3), Nevenka, Rahim, Jamal and the hotel guy who taught us new arabic phrases at dinner. Thank you all for making this such an unforgettable experience. Though this month can never be recreated, I hope every amazing detail of it will stay in my heart and mind.

Finally, our whole awesome, awesome group of people on our last Arabic class day in the park (minus Abdo, Nevenka and Rahim):