So yesterday was my first day of orientation at AUC which was held on the new campus in New Cairo, about an hour and a half from my dorm in Zamalek. The bus over there was crazy, the bus squeezed through the littlest spots that I didn't think even NY cabs could. Even though the bus belongs to AUC (I'm guessing) the sides of them say "Family Transport" which is a little weird but nonetheless I got to campus safe and sound and realized that it truly is in the middle of the desert. I feel so bad for the kids who are dorming on the new campus because although it is GORGEOUS, there doesn't seem to be anything around to do and the campus itself is actually still not completed. You'll still see workers all around campus sanding and cementing structures... you'll see them in my pictures from today.
So yesterday upon getting to campus I was immediately awed at the architecture and colors that were used in the construction of the buildings. The colors are eye popping bright and the architecture is very modern. The campus itself is HUGE, it probably takes around a half hour to walk from one side of the campus fully to the opposite. The pictures truly don't do the campus justice and I wish everyone who reads this could experience for themselves how great it is. On campus they gave us breakfast which consisted of local food... some fuul, falafel, and I don't know the exact word for the last one but it was pretty much a small omelette with shredded lettuce and white sauce in a type of pita bread. Fuul is beans in the same bread and falafel looks like a patty almost a burger but it is made of fried chickpeas along with some other ingredients I was told. All of it was delicious and then there was also rice pudding, some fruit (which had seen better days) and tea or water.
After breakfast we had orientation where the staff told us more about themselves as well as the school and then they proceeded to show us a slide show of different images of Egypt and some sites within it. We did a roll call of nations which consisted of a country being called out and everyone from that country standing up to represent it. I found out that some of the international students here came from Norway, UK, and India. A lot more were called out but I'm guessing that those students either just haven't arrived yet or didn't want to stand up. Of course when the US was called out, 98% of the room stood up, which was no surprise to me.
After being talked to for what seemed like forever, lunch was served which was even BETTER than breakfast! We had pasta covered in a creamy white sauce I've never had before (no, it wasn't alfredo), parm chicken, vegetables, and the most delicious chocolate cake and cheesecake I've ever had. MMMMMMMMMMMM so good!
So after lunch the school had a few booths up where you could talk to some reps about the sports, residential life trips, health care center, etc. They also made us get cell phones in case of emergency they needed a way to contact us, but honestly I think it was pointless and I put it off anyways because I came here to get awayyy from those types of things. The sports seemed really interesting and I think that I'm going to sign up to play volleyball, which I've been dying to do ever since I got out of high school and since I'm finally not working, going to school and doing a million other things at once I'll actually have time to do this.
Lunch passed and then a group of us went to find out how and where to get our AUC ID's as well as some other things the school wanted us to do and when we finally did the lines were so long for everything that we just ended up doing nothing really and decided to do it today instead. Two girls that I've met here who are really cool, Kayla and Deb, and I decided to take the bus back to Zamalek to get ready for the cruise on the Nile that we had signed up for. So we got back to the dorms and I decided to unpack my suitcases (yes they had finally arrived!) and tidy up my room a bit. By the time I was finished with that and Skyping and IMing my friends and fam it was time to get ready for the outing.
The Nile Cruise was the most amazing cultural experience that I've had here yet. The boat was huge and the music, dancing and food was soooo great! There was a woman belly dancer, a guy who danced in a skirt which then turned into a spindle, and a live band. Everyone was so full of energy and enthusiasm the whole night. The girls and I sat at our table and enjoyed a great view of everything but what wasn't so great was that the performers then targeted us out to dance with them. After the show and dinner a group of us decided to go to the top deck of the boat for the view and to take some pictures. It was quite chilly but so beautiful that it definitely made up for it. The whole experience was about 2 hours or so, but I wish it had lasted a little longer. When we docked, we took some pics of the boat and the structures around it and then boarded the bus to go back to Zamalek.
When we got back to Zamalek it was still quite early so Kerry, Alex and I decided to explore the streets a bit and to try to find some cheap cells to keep in contact with each other. We did find some good stuff and after we got back to the dorms we went to Kayle and Deb's room to hang out and chat for a bit which went on for hoursss but seems like minutes. Most of the girls here that I've met are really cool people and I'm glad to have met them.
Today we had to go back to school for more orientation and had the same thing for breakfast and pretty much for lunch as well but the topics of discussion were a little bit different. There was a professor who was speaking on Egyptians and why AUC had moved to New Cairo (which from my understanding was mainly due to the pollution in Cairo as well as more space for expansion). It was interesting but what I really wanted to hear about was the sports which I had apparantly missed but hopefully they'll have some things around campus to learn more about them here.
So the girls and I attempted to get our IDs again today but to no avail because apparantly it takes about 15 mins p/person and there's always a million and ten people waiting for IDs so maybe tomorrow will be a better day. :) After that we just boarded the bus back to
Zamalek and Mae and I shopped around for some things. She for a voltage converter and me for a cell and some flats (which I still haven't found). The sand around here really isn't that bad but most people wear closed toes shoes and so I feel as if I should as well. I didn't carry any but one pair of sneakers because they would have taken up way too much space and weight in my suitcase.Tonight is up for grabs as to what we are going to do, but we might head out to a local restaurant or go to play pool at a local place. There are many things to do here and slowly we're going to try and do a little of everything. The nights here come very quickly and since we don't really have school for a couple days we're going to try to explore as much as possible now before we get bogged down with homework and schedules.
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