For one week during my semester in Cairo, my class dispersed throughout ‘Real Cairo’ for a weeklong home stay with a Muslim (most of us) family. By ‘real,’ I mean that it is off the typical tourist path of and I got the impression that many young kids in the area had not seen a westerner in person before. The neighborhood that I was ‘assigned’ to was off limits to our program’s students just a year ago due to ‘a strong fundamentalist militant presence.’ None was observed, but there is no doubting that there was a strong traditional bent in Ambaba. My adventure here started with a bit of uncertainty, which stemmed from uncertainty regarding my home stay actualizing. The week was to start with a party where all the host families gathered to pick up ... read more

Our whole program decided to head up to the coast for a quick one day visit to the Mediterranean. We arrived in town, then proceeded to get lost fairly quickly, and slowly snaked our way along the beachfront searching for our hostel. Turns out that it was far further than anyone had realized. My conservative estimation is that we ended up walking for about three miles before taking a break for lunch. Of course, we couldn’t help but end up at a Pizza Hut. Maybe it was because we had been in the country a little over a week and felt that it was time for a taste of home. Either way, we spent well more than we should have (when compared to the cost of local food) and much less than we would have in ... read more

The following entries will be from my semester in Egypt. To give some perspective, I have copied some info from the program's website. The Middle East Studies Program (MESP) seeks to prepare students to live the Christian life in a world that is religiously and culturally pluralistic, whether that's in the Middle East, North America or other parts of the world. Students experience intense encounters with different worldviews while the MESP community offers a supportive environment. As a program sponsored by the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, the Middle East Studies Program is academically grounded in a Christian liberal arts context. Efforts are made to fully integrate the Christian faith with the curriculum and community life. In light of this, the objectives of the Middle East Studies Program are as follows: • To create in ... read more

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (S.M.O.M), has the distinction of being the worlds smallest country. While some legal experts doubt its true sovereignty, it does have a small parcel of land (a little over an acre if I remember correctly), and issues its own passports, postage stamps, currency and license plates. I believe the quandary comes from the fact that while the country has citizens, it has no full time residents. Legal semantics aside, visiting the ‘country’ was cool. It is in Rome, and overlooks the Vatican. Here is a short history of the organization behind the parcel of land that may or may not legally sovereign: In 600, Abbot Probus was commissioned by Pope Gregory the Great to build a hospital in Jerusalem to treat ... read more

After several days of crash course emersion with a new group, a day off in the countryside to unwind was an order. I had enough credits on my Geneva transit card to make it to the outlying French vineyards. Personal hopes of also finding cheaper groceries were dashed when I realized that I had chosen to venture out on a Sunday. A huge supermarket that doubtless had cheaper goods was nicely sealed up due to the day of the week. I thus had to be content with walking through wine country and feeding horses etc. The border with France is not marked if one is on trails (I found out I had crossed the border via some other people on a hike). The border crossing has (French) border guards stationed at it, but there is no ... read more