thetravelingpole

Hello All!! First, sorry I have not updated my blog in almost two months, I have been incredibly busy with: 1. Following the news updates about Egypt (I'm addicted to knowing what's going on in my current home country). I promise I am COMPLETELY SAFE! AUC campus is 40 minutes from Tahrir, and you're only in danger if you're on the front lines in Tahrir. That being said I am not arrested, nor was I arrested and later released for throwing anything off any roofs, but that's a story for another time.. 2. Doing homework. Sometimes people forget there is a study part to studying abroad, that includes students too, haha. 3. Teaching English. Twice a week I venture into Coptic Cairo via the bus and metro to teach English to high school graduates in Coptic ... read more

Ahlan wa Sahlan ya Shabab! I was fortunate enough to have a 3 day weekend this past week because of Egypt's Independence Day falling on Thursday, so my roommate and I decided to head to The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan! I was very excited about this trip because this would be my second time in Jordan, the first Middle Eastern country I had ever visited. After a flight delay of 5 hours (wonderful Cairo airport strike which apparently happens very frequently) we took an hour and ten minute flight to Amman and landed at 2 AM instead of 930 PM. After meeting our driver, we were off to our hostel in downtown Amman. Our driver was extremely nice and spoke Arabic with me during the entire 40 minute ride. It made me remember the absolute overwhelming ... read more

Marhaba! This past weekend I ventured to Alexandria, Egypt's beautiful Mediterranean coastal city. The drive took approximately three hours, and was not that bad since I slept most of the way (I had to get up 5:10 to leave at 6 in the morning!) The first thing we did while in Alexandria was venture through the narrow streets with our big bus to go to the Roman Catacombs. The Roman Catacombs in Alexandria were found only in 1900 by a donkey since an excavation started in 1892. Wait a donkey? Well, according to legend, a donkey pulling a cart unfortunately fell through a hole in the ground and voila there were the catacombs! The catacombs, or Kom el-Shoqafa, date back to the first century AD. Most likely these tombs were originally private, but later became public. ... read more

Hi Everyone, Ahlan wa Sahlan! I was hoping to be writing my next journal entry on my trip to Alexandria this past weekend, but I woke up on Friday to find out the trip had been postponed because of the rallies in Tahrir Square. For safety reasons, when word gets out that there will be a rally they close all the surrounding streets down, making it impossible to enter or leave Cairo. While I was bummed about now having to cook this past weekend, I knew it was part of the adaptability I would have to encounter this upcoming year, and that's what I signed up for! Besides, I got an email today that the trip has been rescheduled for this weekend, so inshallah we will be able to make it North to the Mediterranean City! ... read more

Saturday morning at 9 am we were off to explore another part of Cairo, this time a very historical part, Old Cairo. Technically Old Cairo came before the Cairo we know today as a city and was formally known as Babylon. The city used to be surrounded by a fortress named Fort Babylon which housed the Coptic Churches and Synagogues. When one thinks of Egypt one associates it with the Muslim Religion. While the overwhelming majority of Egyptians are Muslim, roughly 9 percent out of the 83 million are Coptic Christian. In fact, the Copts originated from Egypt. Their history dates back roughly to 42 AD, way before the Cairo today was even thought of. It is said that Saint Mark introduced Christianity to Egypt in Alexandria and it spread from there. The main difference Copts ... read more