Abroad in Egypt: First Impressions

I’m currently studying abroad in Egypt as part of the Museums, Memory, and Politics Winter Term group project, and okay, I’ve only been here for three days, but I’m already sure this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.

I love museums—I practically grew up looking at dinosaur bone replicas at the Peabody Museum in New Haven. Now, I’m looking at the mummies of some of the most famous pharoahs in Egyptian history at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, only one of twelve museums we’ll be visiting during the three-week trip. The program is a joint class alongside Egyptian students from the American University in Cairo (AUC) that examines how state-funded and government-managed museums use the curation of displays to shape historical memory for political purposes.

I’ll admit, in the days leading up to my departure, I became really nervous about the trip. First of all, I’ve never studied abroad before or traveled without my family (other than flying to Oberlin, of course). I’m also the only student out of our group of 15 who hasn’t taken a MENA course (Middle Eastern and North African Studies) or a course with Zeinab, the Oberlin professor running the program. I met Zeinab and learned about the trip when I met with her to declare my International Affairs concentration, a program that she runs as well. I decided to apply, not really expecting to get in given my relative inexperience, but I was so overjoyed at being accepted—I shrieked when I saw the email and gushed to my roommate and texted my parents in all caps and everything.

Once I got on the plane, I realized I definitely did under-pack. At the last minute, I decided not to bring a book to read, so I spent the entire 10-hour flight trying to sleep (I was up late last-minute packing), doing a bit of journaling (writing about how scared I was), and literally watching the minutes pass. In the days since, I’ve come to find that I’m missing quite a few other things as well. Laundry detergent, for example. Also, a small everyday bag to carry on our daily outings (I only brought my backpack, thinking we’d have more of a traditional class structure), sweaters (I underestimated how cold 65 degrees was), and a headscarf for visiting mosques. Luckily, there’s a mall (which I’ve yet to check out) right across the street from our nearest gate, and I also met these three lovely AUC students on my first day who gave me some store recommendations and offered to take me and some friends to the flea market on our day off.

Honestly, I just love AUC in general. Our accommodations are insanely nice—they put our housing to shame, no offense—I’m living in a four-person suite-style dorm with a living room, a kitchenette, and two bathrooms, and we each get our own room. And our rooms even have thermostats. We got a proper tour of campus this morning, and it’s absolutely beautiful. The architecture is gorgeous, the campus is covered in orange trees that our tour guide says she regularly picks and eats from, and there are friendly cats wandering everywhere. (They’re all vaccinated too.) All the AUC students taking the class with us have been so nice and helpful, and it’s so interesting to learn about their normal lives. 

I think this program is unfamiliar in one way or another to all the students involved. Being Oberlin students, we’re obviously unfamiliar with Egypt and most of us don’t speak Arabic. The AUC students are also taking this class as an additional shorter Winter Term class, and while most of us Oberlin students are humanities majors (lots of History majors in our group!), the AUC students are primarily STEM. All in all, it’s been quite an adventure for me, at least. I’ve been exploring Old Cairo, I tried Egyptian food for the first time (I’m a picky eater, but it’s not bad!), I joined an impromptu dance with a performer in front of an entire restaurant, and tomorrow I’m visiting the Pyramids, which has always been a dream of mine that I never thought I’d be able to do.

I’ll still need time to adjust to the pace and environment for sure, and it’s a bit of a pain keeping up with the going-ons at Oberlin when I’m seven hours ahead, but the new friends I’ve quickly made have definitely lessened the load. I can’t wait to keep you updated through the rest of my trip!