Grad School in Egypt

So I thought all of you may deserve an update about grad school in Egypt. Let me preface this post by saying it is 2:30 in the morning. Graduate School at the American University is always an adventure, and as alissa says while this may led some to drinking it has led me to fine dining. The best part is living in a flat with three amazing women, and no, i'm not just saying that because they may read this. They have been my compatriots here. helping me through my ups and downs...so much so that I find myself wondering what i will do when they leave Egypt (I'm still trying to convince them to stay...so far unsuccessful...the economy in the us may be on my side though). Migration and Refugee studies....sucks. it's the most depressing **** I've ever studied. If you were frustrated when studying the Israeli Palestinian conflict then you don't know the half of it...o no my friends o no the israeli palestinian conflict pails in comparison to many of the wonderful subjects to which i have paid 9 grand. To add to my delight to the subject, thus far all classes have been taught from the perspective of anthropology, sociology, statistics or law....myself being a poli sci fan, i have been finding myself frustrated and led astray by professors, advisors and colleges.

i have developed friends here...from the young man who (i think actually helped ext. invisible children) who randomly sneaks of b/c the orphanage in kampala needs to speak to him about the children or b/c of his friends in zimbabwe to the man who has worked with refugees every where from afghanistan to sudan....or the white south african refugee who gradutated from cornell...to the egyptian from helwan who already has a Ba and MA in English literature and is not receiving her second MA after working with refugees in cairo for almost ten years ... the social group is always lively fun and ever changing.

the fun social life has been accentuated by my ability to explore parts of egyptian culture which were forbidden to us before...such as bars called hurriya (beer for 10 le) hotels with resturants on top of them...drinking wine in cairo (i think my fav. thus far) and dating. that's right kids. becca has been dating in cairo. an atheist as well. a french artiest. who actually began our relationship by running away from me.. haha. funny story which if i will have to share in person for all of you to appreciate. anyways, in cairo of all places, i find myself dating an atheist. he's a nice french man who teaches french and philosophy in local french h.s. along with private piano lessons. i think it's cute to make fun of his accent and his stubborn french ways, but i actually appreciate the fact that he's making me think about things that i previously took for granted...surprisingly enough not about christianity but about islam....my views of G-d and Christ remain unchallenged. (he does at times challenge them but these questions don't actually challenge me mentally or spiritually) it's the questions about islam that challenge me the most. the other night we had a debate/argument about the appropriateness of the niqab which was so enthralling that two egyptian men stopped their meal and spent their time listening to us....at the time it wasn't so much enthralling as frustrating and annoying. anyways...while dating french man who will remain anonymous to all of you (we call him french kid) i have also had a bit of an internet fling (could we call it that kirsten?) with an israeli guy (we call him israeli kid) okay so tech. he's not israeli yet...he's converting....that has not/cannot go anywhere b/c he's about to officially become a jew, and the type of jew that does believe that non-jewish women are not kosher...but i will admit to all of you right now here on this blog that if he did not view me as being non-kosher (which i find extremely offensive by the way) i'd be the first in line to date this kid even though we'd probably argue more than the french kid and i do now...hehe (*smile*)

this is all summed up to say that in three days i return to the states for holiday. this is after my computer crashed last week...yes my mac of one year old crashed...bye bye finals and papers...yes that's right kids all my papers seemed to disappear. i spent several days mourning the loss of my papers (quite literally) to find out that the great apple store here in cairo was able to save them for me. so here's were i stand with graduate school: I turned in my first final paper this past friday. i just (literally just) finished two of my rough drafts for two other classes) I now have one other paper (which I have an introduction for) which needs to be 10-15 p and a 3-5 p paper along with a final exam to complete all by thursday! (It's now 3 am tuesday morning).

thankfully, my lovely french....dare i say boyfriend (OMG please don't hurt me alissa) brought me back a bottle of wine from his trip in israel. it is an incentive for me to finish my papers. along with the fact, that if i am able to accomplish all of my work by thursday after my computer crashing, i'll be a bit proud of myself! yay! feeling proud of my work would be nice considering that thus far...i've felt a bit overwhelmed and unqualified for graduate school. let me say from my experience of course readers which if stacked are taller than myself and all contain depressing, depressing information, graduate school sucks! also...for those choosing graduate schools....be wise as to how you choose. i chose by location. i have learned the best way to choose is by researching the professors of whom you will be studying under. if you have similar research interests then that's a positive note for that grad school if not move on....i chose by location...and i don't recommend it (grad school wise). love you all and i miss you all...also for those of you who have my cell number you can still call me on that number with no extra cost to you or to me yay...for those of you who don't have it...i think its on facebook...yay!