I’m here. I’m safe. I’m happy.

27 April 2008

The trip has gone off mostly without hitch so far—surprisingly! They didn’t even weigh my bags at the Salt Lake airport, and I was sitting in my seat at the gate less than half an hour after getting to the airport.

At the Chicago airport, I showed my genius and brilliant navigational skills (after remembering my mom’s story about running all the way through the Chicago airport when she was very pregnant and they had a short connection time only to realize there was a tram) and took the tram. Walked right to the gate, in fact, and showed others in my group how to get there. (Thanks, Mom, for the story—it saved me today!)

On my flight from Chicago to Vienna, I sat by a very nice man who was returning home to India. Since he spoke English (kind of), we talked about India. I kept asking him questions and he kept answering, which was an exciting experience. He probably thought he was fluent in English, but I could only understand half of what he was saying and I am pretty sure he didn’t always answer my questions correctly. I realized that this is where I am in Arabic—that awkward foreigner who doesn’t really know what he/she is saying, but talks anyway.

Vienna to Cairo I sat in front of a little Egyptian boy, probably three years old. He was adorable and we played games between the seat (we were both sitting by the window) for much of the time. They mostly consisted of him reaching between the seat and touching my arm and trying to pull his hand away before I could tag him back. I was hoping to get some Arabic practice, but when I spoke to him in Arabic he didn’t answer. In fact, he never said anything intelligible except “mama” and “bye!” But he was still cute, and helped me realize that I don’t know very much “little kid” Arabic. I can talk about my studies all day, but play peek-a-boo with a small child? How many times can you say “izzayak” and keep their attention?

The weather in Cairo is beautiful—about 70 degrees. Thanks for praying for me, guys! And, tomorrow is the Orthodox Christian Easter and they are in the middle of “Spring Holiday,” so the traffic wasn’t that bad from the airport and we got to the hotel in 1/3 of the usual time. Did I mention that my hotel has working air conditioning? Does life get any better than this?

My “slumming” skills are improving. “Slumming” is what Dil calls walking around the non-touristy parts of the city and finding chances to speak Arabic with the natives. At the hotel I spoke for about ten minutes with the hotel clerk in Arabic (I think it was my “Egyptian eyes” that drew him in—he told me that I have beautiful eyes and that Arabs love green eyes!) (I have blue eyes). I am not feeling the culture shock I felt last year when I was here for the first time. When the security guards and clerks say “Let me help you, beautiful girl,” I just speak to them in Arabic. All the chances I can get to speak are necessary, right?

I have obviously changed my mind a lot over the past year because I think Cairo is beautiful. Wow, did I just say that? I guess I hadn’t realized how much I missed the constant staring at me back in the States!

Well, as my mother always said when I was little, morning comes early, and we have a big day tomorrow. And hopefully my blogs will get a bit more interesting…perhaps when I am less tired?