The Pre-Departure

So I figured I’d start a travel blog for my upcoming semester at the American University in Cairo, which starts this Friday and ends in late May. I intend to fill it with cultural observations, random commentary, anecdotes, and pictures or links to them. I’ll also try not to dwell too much on historical information, my day-to-day routine, and things regarding the Arabic language, since most of my friends do not find these things as engrossing as I do.

Today I’m mostly getting stuff together for my upcoming trip, and have to fit four months worth of clothes, electronics, and necessary American comforts such as quality toiletries into 2 suitcases and a carryon bag. I’ll be flying out tomorrow night out of JFK by British Airways at 10:30 PM, and will arrive for a layover in London’s Heathrow Airport at 10:30 AM. From there, I’ll meet up with some friends from American University and probably a bunch of other kids studying at the American University in Cairo, and will leave at 4:55PM in order to arrive in Cairo at 11:35 PM on Friday, January 23. There will hopefully be someone from AUC to pick me and all of the other students up at the airport and to take me to my dorm in an area of Cairo called Zamalek, which is located on an island in the Nile River.

Hopefully everything will go according to plan and my next blog posting will be me recounting my voyage from the US to Egypt, along with first impressions of the country.

In the meantime, here are some facts about Egypt that should give you an impression of the country I’ll be staying in for the semester.

-Egypt is overwhelmingly desert, which causes 99% of the population to live in the Nile River Valley, Nile Delta, and the Red and Mediterranean Sea coasts. Because of the whole desert thing, it almost never rains in Egypt.

-The country is 90% Muslim, with the remaining 10% being a sect of Christianity called Coptic Christianity.

-The exchange rate with Egypt is about $1 US = 5.5 Egyptian Pounds (Abbreviated LE).

-I just looked at the temperature for Cairo for Friday and it’s between 46-71 degrees. Apparently it’s warm during the day year-round, but the temperature plummets at night, which is another effect of the desert. Also, the weather starts to get uncomfortably hot in April, which you’ll probably hear me complaining about in the future.

-The official language of Egypt is Arabic, specifically Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. This dialect is very different from the Modern Standard Arabic I’ve been learning at AU for the past year and a half, but hopefully I’ll learn it quickly.