World War 1 Memorial

You'll be getting information about Alexandria as I track down the pictures I took of it. One of the last things we did was visit a World War 1 Memorial Cemetery. It was incredibly moving and very well maintained.

Moving up a Class

Well, I've taken the plunge...
I have been moved into a class that will be studying Modern Standard Arabic only...Al-Kitaab chapters 4-10. So I have thirty-six hours to catch up like 10 chapters...here we go!!

Camel Picture

There have to be better pictures somewhere...I went with three different people. But here's one, at least.

Home Safe

I'm home safe from Alexandria. No internet while I was there, but I typed blog stuff on a friend's computer. As soon as she emails me the text, I'll post it. There are some pictures as well that I will post when I get my hands on them!

Classes

I am currently enrolled in a class that will take me through the end of Al-Kitaab 1. This is not a full year's worth, though I will earn eight MSU credits for it. I have a few options:
1. Study some of Al-Kitaab 2 on my own and pull some strings at MSU to get the credits to transfer simply as 201 and 202.
2. In this extra week with no classes, finish Al-Kitaab 1 on my own and switch up a class.
At this point, I'm not sure which I'll go for. It probably makes more sense to get through the book this week and move up. In that case, I think I'd be studying some Egyptian colloquial as well.

Elective-wise, I am taking Translation and the Qur'an (!!). I will receive MSU credit for these, so I'm very excited. The Qur'an stuff will look great for religious studies; I'm hoping to be able to transfer them as specific courses (titled that appear on my transcript) rather than just general Arabic credits.

Extra-curriculars will be Typing and Calligraphy - just for fun! Hopefully calligraphy will improve my handwriting; typing will be good and will give me more exposure to academic Arabic.

The Swine Flu

Many of you may have seen the news...here's what I know:
1. There have been two confirmed cases in the Zamalek dorms (downtown Cairo housing). Zamalek is currently under quarantine.
2. The Ministry of Health has mandated classes to be postponed until next Sunday, June 14.
3. We were required to be tested at the clinic today, though do not know the results.
4. I feel fine. Please do not worry about me.
5. We have been cleared to leave, if we wish.

So...a group of us is probably going to Alexandria. We will most likely not have internet access, as we'll be "bumming it." I will be in a large group; there are fairly fluent speakers with us. I will try and give you details, but don't panic if you don't hear from me for a while.

The Extra Week

For those of you who don't know, I have a bit less than a week after classes end to "bum around Egypt." I was originally planning to go to Luxor. I am now doing that with the Institute, though, and getting there on my own would be a bit nerve-wracking. What am I doing instead? Well...lucky bum that I am, I have a friend whose father teaches at this university. She goes to Columbia but is doing ALI this summer so she is better able to visit her parents over here. Her parents have a house...and an extra bedroom...
So I will be staying in Cairo for essentially nothing, and Hillary and I will be having a blast climbing in all of the pyramids, living in the Museum, and generally loving life.