culture shockkkkkkked

So it's Sunday morning and I'm not at church. This will be a recurring event because every Sunday morning I have class. Classes start next Sunday. I've been here for two nights now (I arrived in the evening) and have met plenty of amazing people. This is just the start. I don't think all the international students are here yet and pretty much all local students aren't here yet. Which is fine, and means that all the girls I know live in double rooms alone for awhile (including myself).

Residence Life has been hosting a few outings. I missed the Felucca Ride on the Nile because that was while I was arriving and at the airport :( but that was only the first day of free events!! Last night I went to Khan El Khalili (an Egyptian Bazzar) with plenty of people from the dorms and some from the off campus living place called Zamalek. The girls and boys mingle but mostly stay separate because our dorms are actually separated. What's the point of getting to know someone if you can't hang out in their room or meet them outside of their dorm? I have to tell you about the Khan. Getting there was ridiculous. If our parents knew what Egyptian driving is like, they never would've let us go to this city. They would have a heart attack!!! I almost did. That was definite culture shock for all of us on this bus. We all had seats but none of us had seat belts. Our driver was a honker. He would honk at everyone on the road. People walking, stopped cars, people going slower than him, people he knew, or people in his way when he wanted to turn. Perpetual honking. We got there and it was about 8pm I think. It was obvious that we were a big group of foreigners. Naturally, all the girls feared for their purses and luckily, nothing was stolen the whole night. But this place! At first it just looked like the center of some town. It reminded me of Chihuahua quite a bit. After making a few turns into the alleyways and such, it turned out to be a whole lot of stuff you could buy! You name it! Imagine the big store in Chihuahua. The one where it has a lot of stuff but then you sort of go into this back door and there are more tables and everything is separated into little booths and covered with cloths and shelves all over. I think there's even an upstairs to that store. Anyway, the Khan was like that. Only 5 blocks long and 5 blocks wide with a few chairs in the middle sometime and a couple of cafes. Ridiculous. Everyone was trying to sell something and plenty were trying to sell them by speaking English to us. If I wanted to buy something they'd overcharge me so I'd need to bargain, which was something I did not want to do! The cafe where we sat and relaxed was so much fun. Literally, hole in the wall/alley. Occasionally I'd have to lean away from a man moving, oh, 15 chairs outside of the cafe. I almost died! The stack was way to big! The Khan was great, I'd love to go back, numerous times. On the bus ride home, the bus drivers were late. Apparently they were checking on their tires or something. But while we were driving back, like maniacs, our driver honked and stopped and found something wrong with his tire. Uh oh. It was probably 11:30pm! But they changed the tire and all of that. Finally we were on our way. My goodness. I'm sure that was the first of many unintentional bus stops due to a broken vehicle. Wow.

I'm overall enjoying the culture shock and getting used to the concept of time around here. I like the friends I'm making and the place I'm in. My room is actually quite large, for two people. There is a communal bathroom shared by 7 girls but so far I think at least 3 of us are here. There are so many fountains and relaxing places to chill (what else do you do in relaxing places). The campus is big though. I'm afraid I'll get lost, but I haven't gone on a tour yet, that should help. There are plenty of places to eat on campus!! Super fun! But there's no meal plan so I guess it'll be out of pocket.

I finally know that I am here. I am so here. And I can do this. No problem. Even if I am the only one here who can only say "thank you" in Arabic. Oh well. I miss you guys, but not too badly ;)