Live, from Cairo, it's Saturday Night!

And time for our "Weekend Update" ... 

Yesterday was spent in Alexandria; rather than taking the train (as originally planned), I decided it best to send all the students via our trusted car service (Abdel-Meguid "Abduh" Travel); the train is perfectly safe and fun, but going up in our vans allowed the students to save $$ in that they did not have to keep renting taxis to get them around this new city, with which they are totally unfamiliar.  One group went up and back yesterday (one van, 14 students); the other group spent the night in Alex on their own (two vans, 19 students plus Dr. Mo Taslim and his wife Farough) and 2 students stayed back in Cairo, as did I.

I arranged for a VIP tour of the Alexandria Library (really, that's what my friends there call it, the VIP TOUR!), which allowed for a private tour of that amazing new construction alongside the Mediterranean Sea, as well as two special museums within the library, one of which is a rare books/documents exhibit.  Joyce ("the assistant to the assistant", as Cynthia designates our dear Joyce!) took care of the logistics in Alex, including the "meet and greet" with the Public Relations officers at the Library; and Abduh's son Karim (a senior at Cairo University) gave his own special tour of the city.  

Today, the 2nd group (the one that spent the night in Alex) went to Montazah Palace Gardens (and beach!) ... you can probably guess that they didn't go there for the "gardens." :-) and they are on their way back to Cairo now.

Tomorrow (Sunday) we head back to our Service Learning sites to "show off" the websites our students designed.  We did a "soft launch" of the site for the leaders of the NGO and AUC's Gerhart Center on Thursday.  Those folks were quite taken (okay, it's more accurate to say they were "blown away") by the sites our students developed.  Nearly all the students contributed to the site development - pictures and stories about the people and products and places we are working with; and a team from both the Arabic-language students and the Engineering students took those contributions and created a beautiful website (which we will launch in the days ahead ... so stay tuned for that URL).  Not only do we have a professional photographer in our midst, we also have a professional website designer along with talented students who might as well be called "professional", even if that's not where they would place themselves.  It is an amazing group of talent we have here in Cairo ... 

Fulbright Commission and Dialogue

"Dialogue" - noun, a conversation between two or more persons; an exchange of ideas and opinions; verb, to take part in a dialogue.

We held our second "informal-formal" dialogue at Fulbright Commission offices in Cairo last night (May 26).  I stress to our students that any "dialogue"/discussions we have with our Egyptian hosts/friends should be as informal as possible; still, I do have to organize (formally) a time, place, people, etc.  And once we get together, our discussions and dialogues should be as open, free, uncensored, uninhibited as possible.  

Last week (our first dialogue evening, May 19) went so well that most of our 35 students spent additional time in the ensuing week with their new Egyptian friends - i.e., on their own, in the evenings, and outside the confines of the "formal" dialogue.  When we met again last night, it was a total change from our first meeting.  The first meeting was "stiff", almost cold, since no one knew one another and we had to spend time "breaking the ice".  The second meeting (last night) was warm, hand-holding and hand-shaking, polite cheek-kissing all around -- i.e., "old friends" reconnecting after days (!) of separation.  We held one session of 45 minutes to welcome a few new Egyptian participants and bring them "into the family", our Egyptian-American family of new friends.  Then, Safaa of Fulbright welcomed us to the roof of the Commission's office for a wonderful Egyptian dinner (the roof was the only space that could hold all 60+ "dialoguers"!).  And then we "adjourned" the dialogue, and invited our participants to simply go off on their own and enjoy their evening ... one group ended up at a felucca (sailboat) on the Nile, with 2 boats tied together (the group was too big for just one boat), and they spent an hour or more floating on the Nile after sunset, singing and listening to music (one Egyptian brought a traditional drum "just in case"!).

The "official dialogue" is over, and now the real dialogues can continue, with our students and their Egyptian friends going off on their own, "naturally" (unplanned, not organized formally).  Safaa of Fulbright is very pleased with our success, and we are already talking about what to do next year (though she did plead with me to not bring any more students than the number we have this year!  "Kifaya (enough) ya Denis!  No more than 35 please!!"  Cynthia sympathizes with that but also shares my goal -- to bring more and more and more people to my 2nd home.)

Weekend and a new week

Week 3 of classes begins today, Monday (Memorial Day in the States).  We have only 2 weeks left of "academics" - Fluids and Arabic.  We also have only a few days left to finish our Service Learning assignments.  The website team is finalizing its work; we hope to have a draft ready by Wednesday so we can show it (the draft website) to our NGO partner and then show off our students' great work to the communities with whom we are working - Establ Anter and Muqattam.

Our weekend was spent recuperating (many of our students found themselves with colds and headaches; a couple still suffer from stomach ailments).  On Saturday, our 2nd group of students took the tour with Iman Abdel-Fattah of Islamic Cairo (see post from last Saturday).  Iman was most impressed with our students ... the amount of questions, and the depth of those questions, made her feel that we were truly connecting with Egypt's Islamic history -- i.e., that we had both an interest in, as well as a growing understanding about, Islam in Egypt.  

I believe it is the "chemistry" of this group that makes it that much more impressive than many other groups that came before them (i.e., came before, with me, to Cairo).  Our students are majors in Arts & Sciences (Middle East Studies, International Affairs, Political Science, Linguistics, Psychology, Biology, History, Physics, Music, English, Sociology, and Human Services), Criminal Justice, International Business, Bouve (Pharmacy), and of course Mechanical Engineering.  The inter-disciplinary elements, the various learning styles, the different ways of seeing the world, the multiplicity of perspectives, to say nothing of the sheer size (35 students!) allow for a unique learning environment for all of us, professors and students alike.

And now, off to plan the rest of the week ... in particular, our final night of Dialogue (tonight) at Fulbright offices.

Monologues and Dialogues

Yesterday, Thursday May 22, after a full day of classes, we extended our day to include a visit to (a "briefing" at) the U.S. Embassy (3 - 4:30 pm) plus a meeting at the Arab League (7 - 9 pm).  A trip to "America" (which is where we were for the afternoon, on U.S. soil again ... albeit in the center of Cairo) was exciting for all 35 students - leaving all electronics at the security desk (especially fun for Engineering students!: laptops, cameras, calculators, cell phones, flash drives, iPods), wand scans, bag checks, visitor ID cards.  Then, the actual "briefing" included talks by 3 Americans - all Foreign Service personnel - about what a great job it is for an American to "represent" American interests abroad.  Sure, it's a challenge, but "someone has to do it" -- to make the Arabs understand our war in Iraq and our support for Arab dictatorships and our "empty pledges" to promote democracy, freedom, and human rights (yes, more editorializing by Dr. Denis).  These "monologues" left most of the students "underwhelmed" ... and some said it even made them rethink their hopes of joining the State Department or Foreign Service.

And then we went to the Arab League ... where our students' interests in international diplomacy and supporting the values of America abroad were re-established.  How strange, I thought, that it took an Arab diplomat to encourage our students' interests in American diplomacy.  Ambassador Hisham Youssef, Chef de Cabinet for Amr Moussa, the Secretary General of the Arab League, was a "hit" with our students.   He was more than generous with his time, spending over 2 hours with us -- during a period of time where he is also involved in negotiating an end to the crisis in Lebanon!  Sitting around the formal desk of an Arab League Committee conference room, our students (all "dressed to the nines" in their suits, ties, dresses and heels) asked him intelligent, probing, thoughtful, "tough" questions -- about Israel, US policy in Israel and Palestine, Iraq, Sudan and Darfur, women in the Arab world, "democracy and freedom", the gaps between rich and poor across the Arab world ... I was one very proud professor!  

Ambassador Youssef in turn asked our students questions about their perceptions of the Arab world, and Egypt in particular; "did your parents worry that you were going to a dangerous place?!" (with a quick statement that, "now you see it is not dangerous, and you're probably also surprised about how much fun you can have here!").

As opposed to the "flat" tone of the Embassy visit, our time at the Arab League was a truly engaging discussion.  It was over 2 hours of give-and-take, friendly and tough discussions, and it ended in the great hall of the League itself, the "General Assembly"-style hall where all the diplomats gather for summits, League meetings, debates and negotiations.  Our students went crazy when they entered the palatial hall and experienced a sight that is otherwise reserved for VIPs, Kings, Presidents, Foreign Ministers.  Then, when they were told to "go for it", they ran around the opulent hall, and chose their "favorite Arab states" so they could get pictures taken behind the flags and at the desk of Libya, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco ... one of our Jewish students said he was "so tempted" to sit at the Palestine desk, but that he just couldn't bring himself to do it.  That same student "connected" in a very meaningful way with Ambassador Youssef.  In addition to his generosity of time, his thoughtful and encouraging nature, I believe this "connection" was also due to the Ambassador's open acceptance of Israel and his statements that the Arab League will continue its efforts to support peace, security, and justice for both Palestinians and Israelis.  He is an advocate of a 2-state solution and yes, he is adamant that Israel needs to be pushed to make concessions for peace just as America and Europe are demanding that Palestinians, too, must make reciprocal concessions.

This "evening of dialogue and diplomacy" was a highlight of our stay so far ... I look forward to reading students personal reports to see if it will have a "lasting" impression.

"Routine" in Cairo ...

I think the "bloom is off the rose" or whatever the phrase is to suggest the "honeymoon is over."  Not that folks have fallen out of love with Cairo, but that we are all in a fairly routine pace these days ... classes 4 days per week, 4 hours per day; homework and cramming for quizzes in afternoons; plus service learning project work; plus the occasional added activity (all required but still "added on" to the core work we're doing).  These activities include: "dialogues" with Egyptian students (our first was on Monday May 19th and all accounts suggest our students loved it ... lots of "Facebook-ing" going on now between American and Egyptian students); we're heading off to see the film version of our novel, Yacoubian Building (today at 3:30 pm Cairo time).

LOOKING TOWARD TOMORROW -- U.S. EMBASSY & ARAB LEAGUE visits!!!  (AFTER our class meetings)

Then a fairly free Friday ... the best day in Cairo ... no traffic!  quiet mornings ... Some students are already planning a return to the Pyramids for horse-back riding.  Saturday most students (i.e., those who did not go last Saturday) will take the tour of Islamic Cairo (see posting below on last Saturday's tour).  

NOTE:  IF YOU NEED TO REACH ME, my email is d.sullivan@neu.edu ... I've put this also in my "About me" just underneath my picture, to the left.  Any private matters ... please just drop me an email.

Islamic Cairo: 879 - 1857 A.D./C.E.

From Ibn Tulun mosque (constructed between 876-879 AD/CE: "Current Era") to the public fountain and library (Sabil-Kuttab) of Qaitbay (1479 AD) to the Citadel (constructed by Saladin/Salah ed-Din from 1176-82) and the mosque of Muhammad Ali (built between 1830-57), we wound our way through nearly 1,000 years of Islamic history, art, and architecture.  Our guide and teacher today was Ms. Iman Abdel-Fattah (American-Egyptian, native of Manhattan, resident of Cairo), who worked our students hard - both on their feet, through the 5-hour walking tour, and in their minds, through Tulunid, Mamluk, and Ottoman styles, designs, and artistry -- Islamic throughout, with comparable and contrasting layouts for both the sacred and the secular structures we visited.

With "NU-40" still a challenge to manage at times, we have begun to break into various groupings - first, by class: 11 in Fluid Mechanics, 9 in Arabic (intermediate), and 2 separate classes of introductory Arabic (7 in each of the classes); second, by service learning projects; and third, any other way we can ... just to keep things from getting too "fixed" in any particular grouping.   Today, we divided (or "mixed and matched") again in order to have today's walking tour manageable for Iman and we'll have "group 2" take the same tour next Saturday.

Visit to Establ Anter, Service Learning site

A long trek through Cairo traffic, through dusty side streets, and through narrow alleys (strewn with trash, trash, and more trash), under a bridge, alongside a decaying 18th-century structure (a former prison from the Ottoman Empire), and we found ourselves "nowhere" - i.e., we arrived where we wanted to be, at Establ Anter.  But it does not exist officially.  Establ Anter (named after a Mr. Anter who had his horse stables on this spot decades ago) is an informal community of some 5,000 souls ... poor souls. 

We visited Mr. Sherif and Mr. Hamada, brothers in their 30s, who started a glass-blowing workshop a year or more ago ... and it is expanding.  Our task is to help them get a "presence" on the web, to target new markets, to provide our thoughts about what American and other foreign markets/audiences might like to see in their products, and to help them expand their reach beyond the local suqs (markets) where they currently sell.

This site is just one of 3 or 4 we will work in for the next month.  But, our time is starting to fly!  We have to get moving on all of our projects - knitting/quilting is the 2nd project we will work on.  Both of these 2 projects (glass-blowing and knitting/quilting) will begin in earnest on Monday.

And we are struggling with 2 others - including a carpet-weaving project that already has major international reach (with website, marketing infrastructure, etc.); but, this corporation is also working in Establ Anter and recruiting children to work for them.  

This is our conundrum: are the children slated to become "child labor" for a corporation?  or, as our NGO leaders say, are the children going to be educated - in traditional subjects, in a new school built atop the local community center and mosque - as well as learn a vocation, get 2 meals a day, earn money for each product they help produce (helping their families immediately), and have hope for a future beyond the poverty in which they currently suffer?

We are struggling with this one ... and we'll keep you posted!