Sitta

Hey all,
I am safe and alive, thanks for being patient. I have entered the part of the semester where everything starts to happen and finding time to process and be okay with what I am experiencing is priorty over finding internet, so I will try my best to keep you updated and informed when possible. :)
Cairo remains largely unaffected by the events transpiring in Gaza so we are still safe. We were, however, affected by the mass internet loss. So last week when I had time to write, I had no internet. :) Cest la vie!
I have just finished a week of living with an Egyptian family. This was an interesting experience, but for the large part too quite. It did make me realize that no family unit anywhere can be stereotyped. I would join fellow MESP students for classes and hear all about the weddings they attended at midnight and the constant shuffling from one activity to another. But my family is an older couple with four children, three of whom are married with middle school aged children, and one who is engaged and leaving the house in May. So we went to bed at 10 almost everynight and from the time I got there to the time we went to bed all I did was watch Arabic soap opreas and movies. I enjoyed it much more yesterday when the three older girls and their kids came over. Fridays are mosque worship and family days so it was fun to be surrounded by screaming, fighting boys for 10 hours straight. Definitely made up for such a quite week. :)
This week was very tiring though because I never really had the opportunity to "let down my guard". As a women, anytime I am on the street or in a public setting, I assume the stance of having and maintaining a mission, or a reason for being in that place. I also have to build a pretty big wall against listening to and acknowledging the men and the attention they lavish on me. There is a little condolance in knowing that even Egyptian women experience this, but not much. It was very frustrating when I dressed up to visit Al-Azhar (the leading Islamic "theological" school located here in Cairo) and four taxis stopped to look at me on my way to the building, one block away. Earlier this was very humourous, but when travelling alone, it is very annoying and has started to wear me down.
I hope this finds the rest of you well. I am not intentionally ignoring you, just quite busy right now. :) I have two more days of classes and then will be going on a tour of the mummies and pharonic temples for the next five days. Hopefully I can communicate again sometime next week! Salam alaykoom!