kul 7aga mumkin fi misr! Everything is possible in Egypt!

It's been quite the busy week! Just diving in to some new classes and getting everything organized for the new semester. I have a couple of fun events from the week to share. First, I went to this very interesting lecture at the American Center on Tuesday night. It was a professor speaking about who, in his opinion, were the nine most influential (good or bad) political leaders of the 20th century. The list included Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, FDR, Truman, Churchill, Ghandi, Mao Zedong, and Deng Xiaoping. The lecture itselft wasn't that interesting, but we got to listen to the simultaneous translation. The lecture was being given in English and we listened to the Arabic translation. Simultaneous translation is insanely difficult and I gave the translator credit. I also found myself wondering how I would translate the lecture. The question and answer portion afterwards was far more interesting. Several Egyptians were arguing with the professor about why he didn't include Nasser in his list of 9 people. The professor said that while he felt Nasser had made a major difference in the Middle East, he hadn't done so on a global level. Then Israel came into the conversation. The professor remarked that Israeli forces had beaten several Arab countries at once including in the 1948 war, the 1967 war and the 1973 war. At the mention of the last war, the room exploded because Egyptians consider the 1973 war an Egyptian victory, not an Israeli victory. The director at the American Center then wrapped up the question and answers and remarked that the American center invites all sorts of people with different opinions to speak there and that their views do not always reflect the views of the US government.
Afterwards, a man in a suit came up to me and grabbed my arm and said, "come, you do interview downstairs." I asked him what the interview was in Arabic and he looked very surprised. "You're American, no?" I replied that I was. I found out the interview was for a local channel. When the correspondant found out that I spoke Arabic, she insisted that I conduct the interview in Arabic with her. Needless to say, I was super nervous and freaking out! However, she asked me the basic questions: Where are you from? How long have you been here? Why are you studying Arabic? So I think I did well. The interview apparently was on TV the next morning at 11am, but I was in class and did not get to see it.
After the lecture ended, I went to a bar with two friends to sit and chat and split a bottle of wine. As we were sitting at the bar in this little Italian restaurant, we heard club like music and asked about it. It turns out there was a birthday party going on in the party hall of the restaurant and the waitors invited us in. The party was for an Egyptian girl, around the age of 20. We were standing on the sides dancing a little to the music, which was a mix of Arabic and American music and the waitors kept motioning for us to join the Egyptians and dance, but not wanting to intrude we refused. Finally, a group of Egyptian girls came over and pulled me on the dance floor. I danced for a song while they sort of stood awkwardly by and the fled the floor embarrassed. It was fun nonetheless.
Later this week we had a birthday party in the guy's apartment for Mona and Seba. It was a "classy affiar" and we all dressed up in our best for some dancing and socializing. We even had some of the people from the Middleberry program and some other Egyptian friends show up. The party was super fun and lasted late into the morning. It ended with a group effort at making hashed browns in the kitchen at about 3am. They were delicious!
The next evening, Mona's host family had a birthday party for her at the home of their grandfather, so some of us went. There was super delicious pizza and cake and Syrian sweets. We spoke a lot of Arabic and had a really good conversation with Mona's host mother about language. We also got to hear Mona's host mother and Tammam (one of the guys from our program) recite the Koran. It was absolutely beautiful. There were children present as well, including two babies (babyhat in Egyptian) and it was hilarious to hear us all speaking Arabic to the babies.
Sitting there, full on delicious food, speaking in Arabic in a comfortable Egyptian home, I see the obvious benefits that I've missed out on by choosing not to live with a host family. I know my language skills would be so much better and that I would be forming very special relationships that would last a lifetime. However, I also know about all the challenges from listening to the girls who do live in host families. Some host families are constantly gone, some don't have hot water, one is in the midst of extreme maritial problems which has put the student directly in the middle, one girl witnessed her host father slap her host sister. There are without doubt, huge challenges to living with host families, and I deeply admire the girls who have chosen to do so.
As for me, I'm happy with my living situation. I just have to work a little harder for the language practice and interaction with Egyptians, but more and more, I find myself willing to do so.