Today started out a bit drearily - with a placement exam at our Arabic language center, the Arab Academy. Although the staff there were wonderful and happy to see us, even through the painful interview portion, the test was not the ideal way to kick off the morning. For example, one of the options for the essay was: "Poor countries argue that it is the duty of rich countries to protect the environment. Discuss." Honestly, I'm not sure how I would respond to that even in English... but that is really the point of a placement exam, to challenge you and determine exactly what you know and don't (emphasis on the don't, it seemed like from today!). After the exam however, we drank tea and ate cookies and chatted with the staff at the Arab Academy, and I'm really excited for classes to start there. I should probably make a quick note on the difference between formal Arabic, called Fus-ha, which I study at Duke and will be studying at the Arab Academy, and the street Arabic known as 'Amia. Fus-ha is the language used in the media and in any written Arabic and would be similar to Shakespearean English (i.e. people think you sound ridiculous when you speak it outside the classroom). 'Amia is distinct to various regions of the Arab world, for example the Cairo dialect is slightly different than the dialect spoken in the rest of Egypt which is very different from other countries' dialects. So while I'm still working on the formal Fus-ha in class, I'm also trying to pick up Egyptian 'Amia to speak with shopkeepers, people on the street... really anyone who will talk to me.
Alright enough about language, and back to the rest of the day... after a brief orientation about life in Cairo, we headed out to explore. I had something called "koosheri" for lunch, which is a delicious combination of rice, noodles, spaghetti, lentils, chickpeas, and fried onions with a tomato sauce (sounds weird, I know, but it's unbelievable). There is the option of adding a spicy sauce. I'm not really sure what it was made of, but I put a few drops into my bowl and my mouth was on FIRE. After lunch, a few of us walked from our apartment to Zamalak (the island on the Nile). We intended to go to the Cairo Tower, but we somehow managed to walk all the way around it without ever finding a way to get in and up to the top... I guess we'll have to take on that adventure another day. Regardless, the walk was amazing. The view from the Nile is gorgeous, and we had fun interacting with the people walking around - most of whom shouted "Welcome to Egypt!" as we passed. Two big things from our trip: walking down pointless stairways and trying to cross the street. Multiple times we attempted to walk down a stairway that seemed to end at the bottom of an exit ramp off the bridge to Zamalak, but actually dead-ended into a concrete wall... oops. Then there was street crossing: think Frogger, except the cars don't always stay in their lanes and drive at a consistent speed. It is also impossible to find a gap when no cars are coming in any of the lanes. Luckily, there were plenty of police officers sitting in the area who helpfully led us across. Though they are all more than happy to lend a hand and their expertise at navigating Cairo's streets, they are extremely intimidating since they are so obviously armed (probably because they are stationed near so many embassies). Later that night, I went out to a tiny backgammon room/tea shop/hookah bar type place, where we sat with some Egyptian men who critiqued our backgammon skills. All in all it was an excellent day, but I really need to get some rest now... ma salama!
No comments:
Post a Comment