What a long strange trip its been

 

While I am sure that the late great Jerry Garcia did not have the Middle East in mind when he penned the classic Dead song, I can think of none more appropriate than that to sum up my experience in this wonderfully amazing, confusing, scary, loving, poor, wealthy, beautiful, war torn, foreign land.

When 26 random students from NU boarded a Luftanza flight for Cairo, they had no idea what they were getting themselves into, including myself. 

After 24 hours of flying we could barely make heads or tails of what was going on that first day. But before we knew it there they were, just as I had seen in so many books and movies my entire life, the great pyramids of egypt.

We mounted our camels and headed up towards one of the great wonders of the world. For some reason I had no idea camels are exceptionally tall, so I spent the better half of the first twenty minutes just hoping I didn’t fall off. As the winds picked up while we inched closer and closer I assumed this was the natural weather of the desert. It was not. Who could imagine that the day a person finally sees the pyramids for the first time it will be in the middle of a sandstorm! That’s just how this trip was meant to be I suppose.

Now I suddenly find myself sitting on my couch, in my living room, with my dog, eating ramen and drinking milk (not together, that is just disgusting, but they are two foods that I missed the most).

I realize that when I left this very house some six weeks ago I felt seasoned, rounded, worldly and knowledgeable. I have returned knowing that I was naive, sheltered and had more than a lot to learn.

Looking into the eyes of the small children during my visit to Ain El Sira has fundamentally changed me to the core. When a thirteen-year-old girl, whose ten-year-old brother works twelve hour days for a dollar, tells you that she wants to do something great with her life, that she wants to be a doctor, you cannot help but change. To live in such immense poverty and still have hopes and dreams of a better future for yourself and those around you, truly captures the human spirit that lies within all of us.

While the story that I wrote about micro-finance with my colleague Kristina was wonderfully published on our main blog I do not intend to stop there. The program is so powerful and influential, when run properly, that I cannot simply turn my back to it now that I have returned to my cushy surroundings. So I use this blog as a forum to try and begin a local drive to raise money for the Alashanek lending group in Cairo. Here a just a few images that may encourage others like myself to want to help these wonderful people.

A convenient store and some local children

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The amazing beautiful children of the neighborhood

 

To say she can steal your heart with one look would be a gross understatement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will be putting more together for anyone that would like to contribute to this great cause in the near future.

Leaving Egypt was a sad and thrilling experience. After spending three weeks on the island of Zamalek it had begun to feel like home. The wonderful people at the Flamenco who always made us feel welcome, to the cute little old man at the falafel shop around the corner who lit up like a christmas tree when I would return to his store, were hard to say goodbye to. Not to mention the one and only Abdu. From finding lost members of our group, to organizing soccer matches, Abdu truly is the James Bond of Egypt, anything you could possibly need or want he can make happen. I miss you terribly Abdu.

Now, Syria. I had no idea what to expect when I stepped off of the plane. As we were ushered into the VIP waiting room I knew that this would be a very special experience. As we met with different ministry officials it became clear that we were not somply being treated well because of that little blue passport, it seemed as though we were the first link in a long awaited Syrian /American relations change. As times we felt like pawns in a political game, but if being used grants me access to high ranking cabinet members… use away! I am a journalist and contacts are vastly important in having a successful career. Now granted, when the anti-Israeli tirades were underway I found myself uncomfortable at times, but that was mostly due to my own ignorance about the history of the two countries. 

Visiting the Golan Heights was an emotionally draining experience because of the massive destruction that remains to this day. Bombed out hospitals and churches, barbed wire fences, and the UN are all that remain and that is a truly sad sight.

After an action-packed visit we were boarding yet another plane and heading to Qatar. I had heard that this was a city like none other in terms of wealth and construction, everything I heard was true. 

It seemed as if no one actually lives in Doha, it is all office buildings and hotels. I expected a very Western feel, but the only Western aspect was the skyscrapers. The city of Doha is extremely conservative and unlike the other countries we visited, no one was walking the streets. It is hard to grasp a culture that you have no submersion into. Everyone has a car and drives from one place to another, with little interaction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doha at night

Then came the reason we were here, Al Jazeera. The main entrance serves as a museum to the history of the station and those who helped build it. The vest of a journalist killed by US missiles is encased in glass, as is his bullet proof vest and helmet. As we continued the tour of the studios one cannot help but feel as though this is where a foreign correspondent belongs. This network has informed so many people of the events affecting their lives in a way that no one before them had been able to do. I admire their work and look forward to their US birth on July 1.

And as I finish this last post, from my couch, I want to thank everyone involved in making this trip possible. I also want to thank my colleagues who endured traumatic times, unbearable stress, and unstoppable laughter, along this journey of self-discovery with me.

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