Overseas Briefing - 03/11/10

ALEXANDRIA — Prior to traveling to Egypt, I had never been out of the United States (Canada doesn’t count), so I really wasn’t sure what to expect from a land as exotic as the Middle East. When I arrived, culture shock was my first reaction, but, like all who go abroad, I had expected this.

What I didn’t expect was that I would turn into an Egyptian. I have, indeed, become an Egyptian.

This phenomenon became apparent when I visited Jordan this past week, and the natives told me: You don’t look like an Egyptian, but you must be from Egypt.

Why this reaction?

First, I have an Egyptian accent, according to the Jordanians. For those of you who don’t know Arabic, this includes pronouncing “ga” instead of “ja,” a glottal stop sound instead of the much prettier “qa” sound, and a million other little differences in terms of colloquial words and sayings.

But my Egyptianness doesn’t stop there. Oh, no.

An avid coffee drinker since I was about three years old, I have only ever used milk in my coffee occasionally, and never sugar.

I now use more milk than coffee, and four sugar packets per cup.

There’s more:

1. I have watched approximately 20 soccer matches in the last two months. Soccer is bigger here than football is in the state of Georgia (it is huge there, by the way).

2. I eat ful (bean paste) and falafel for breakfast. Ful is amazing. I will be attempting to cook it in the fall — find me then.

3. I use religious words in daily conversation (i.e. “if God wills it,” “thanks be to God,” “oh, my God,” etc). These expressions have a million meanings. Sometimes, they are used for general emphasis. In other cases, they are actually an answer to a question, i.e., “How are you?”— “Praise be to God.”

4. I yell at foreigners for wearing inappropriate clothing. What are the hewagat (foreigners) thinking when they wear mini skirts and tank tops in a mosque, or even in the street? And, yes, I actually have yelled at them (but in Arabic, so they didn’t understand).

5. This is the best yet. I ignore lines in restaurants. Instead, I push through the crowd and scream out my order to the cashier. Any Egyptian (like me) knows that if you want food, push your way to the front and flash your money. It also helps that, while my speech is Egyptian, my looks are foreign.

Unfortunately, in addition to this lighter and funnier side of my study abroad experience, there have been negative changes in my personality. I took a lot for granted in the U.S., including my ability to walk down the street alone, talk to anyone I want, or even something as simple as smiling at a stranger.

Some not-so-nice aspects of my Egyptianness:

I never smile at people in the street; I don’t wave “thank you” when cars stop for me. I ignore hellos. I am pushy when I haggle prices in stores and markets and, the biggest difference yet, I yell obscenities (Arabic and English) at impolite men in the street.

It’s a little cheesy — but definitely honest — to admit that these past two months have changed me. But thanks to my newfound Egyptianness I am learning that I can handle this extremely different world, and in the process, I am finding a path to understanding and hopefully changing the negative aspects of my experience here— “if God wills it.”