Siwa

10/13/09

This is going to have to be a quick note because it is coming down to crunch time here. We have two weeks before we leave for travel component and we have a lot of things due before then. That being said…

We got back from homestays about a week ago. Mine was really fun. It started pretty slow because Sherif was sick for the first couple of days. After that though, things picked up and we were able to hang out and have a lot of fun. He plays chess really well and we went out to a café one night and played til 2 am.

This past weekend we were in a town called Siwa. Siwa is on the border of Libya and has been totally isolated from the rest of Egyptian culture. People still get around on donkey drawn carts and bicycles. It is a completely different culture in that the women are strongly held back and some would even say discriminated against. We were able to meet with a Siwan who is a friend of ours and we got to ask about Siwan culture and life. We were also able to go to some of the natural hot and cold springs and go swimming. We also visited an ancient temple that once housed an oracle and Alexander the Great even came to Siwa to visit this oracle.

On Friday, we took Jeeps and went out into the Sahara desert, out to where we weren’t able to see anything except desert in all directions. It was truly something out of postcard, with the sweeping sand dunes. We also took snowboards and went sandboarding. It was so sweet. That night we stayed out at a Bedouin campground and slept under the stars. There were no lights and not a sound in any direction. It was so awesome.

This week has started the crunch period for papers. Everyone is starting to feel it and people are starting to stay up later and later every night. We have four papers due before we leave on the travel component in two weeks and then another four due after we get back at the end of November.

Tomorrow I am heading to Alexandria for a couple of days to relax, sightsee, and, in sha Allah, get some writing done. Possible update again after I get back on Sunday….