A few days ago, I wrote about the marriage obsession of people in Egypt, and I mentioned that the topic hadn't come up with my English class. I spoke too soon. Today we talked about it not because they were curious about my marital status, but because one of them is getting married! One of our oldest students, a nineteen-year-old Eritrean girl, hasn't been in class for the past week (we were told that she had a tooth ache). Even at the beginning of class today, as we were waiting for everyone to arrive so we could leave for our faluka ride outing, another student reaffirmed that she was too sick to come to class. Later though, while we sailed on the Nile, the truth came out - she's been in the process of becoming engaged. The best part of this whole thing: my co-teacher and I are invited to the wedding! However, there is the typically crazy Egyptian twist... the date for the wedding is not yet set, though apparently there is a possibility that it will be within the next two weeks. Inshaallah, I'll still be in Cairo to attend this wedding, though at this point I have nothing to wear, and I'm not even sure what is the correct attire.
Contrasted to this future, another of my students, a sixteen-year-old Eritrean girl, told me today that she's interested in studying at Duke in the future. She talked to me for most of the walk to the faluka ride, because she's trying to improve her English so one day (inshaallah) she can study in the US. It's interesting that these two similar girls - both from the same culture and about the same age, and both very bright - are seeking two vastly different paths. One is marrying an Eritrean man who lives in Cairo and getting ready to settle down it seems, and one is dreaming of studying in a far away country. That's not to say that the future bride doesn't hope to leave Cairo (I don't think any of my students are particularly happy with their lives here), but the dichotomy in their plans is fascinating. I also don't think that one choice is necessarily better than the other; it's merely different. When I discussed this with my co-teacher, she said that timing played a huge role in these decisions, and our presence in the lives of our younger student made an impact on her dreams. Although I guess that's obvious (why else would she have heard about Duke?), it was certainly humbling to have evidence of the impact we've made on this girl and also touching to hear that they want us to be a part of their family's celebration. I'll keep you updated on the wedding date, but for now I really need to sleep. Masa el-khair!
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