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Global Urban Trek 2008
Awkward InitiationJune 29, 2008
Awestruck and awkward would be the best way to describe our team upon arrival in Cairo.
Soon after stepping off the plane, we were met with blatant stares from the Egyptians waiting to enter the airport. After this awkward encounter, we rode through Cairo with dropped jaws. The awkward/awestruck experience followed us throughout the rest of the week.
We were awestruck at simple things: the mattresses and air conditioning of our apartment, the hectic traffic, internet cafés that cost 30 cents for thirty minutes, and juice stands at about every street corner, which encourage a community lifestyle as customers cannot walk away with the glass cup.
It practically goes without saying, however, that much of our experience has been awkward. People in Cairo find it culturally acceptable to stare, and in a country that is 97% Egyptian, Americans are a perfect spectacle to study. The women, as well as the men, give us the complete head-to-toe stare, making metro rides quite uncomfortable (we are glad for the two women-only cars!).
Besides being quite obviously out of place, the moment we open our mouths and stutter out broken Arabic…well let’s just say one time the entire bank was having a good laugh. We each went through this humiliation when we were split up into groups and sent into Cairo with tasks to accomplish.
Shekinah, Olivia and I found ourselves laughing hysterically as a way to deal with our apparent ineptitude and awkward attempts at completing our tasks: it took us 20 minutes to buy a phone card, and looking for an internet café found us sitting alone in a waiting room with a secretary who spoke no English (it turned out to be a café for students enrolled in classes).
Meeting the Sudanese teachers started off awkwardly enough, as we huddled together occasionally glancing at them (except for Shekinah, who strode up to a group and introduced herself while holding her Arabic phrasebook in front of her face the whole time). Once we started into our workshop lessons of sports and music, however, we were quite comfortable.
Because we girls were able to roll up our sleeves and actually look all of the men in the eye as we talked to them, we felt a welcomed relief from the standard Egyptian customs on the streets. During our first lunch with the Sudanese teachers, we were taught the Arabic we wanted to know and entertained with stories.
So at this point in our trip we are adjusting to the stares, adding a few more Arabic words to our vocabulary and are still amazed at the beauty of Egyptian buildings, clothing, and way of life, and at the gracious hospitality of the Sudanese people. I think God is glad to see our awestruck reactions to Cairo and I’m more than certain he’s getting a chuckle out of our awkward moments.
- Karin
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