AUC: A culture of diversity

It's just so hard to fit in here if you're an international student in a sea of Egyptians. The biggest thing is different priorities. They stay up most of the night, while you sleep at 11pm and have to wake up at 6 to catch the bus to your 8:30 class. They skip class routinely, while you only miss it when you and your friends plan a trip to exotic locales. They have stable relationships with each other that they've cultivated over the past few years, while you're thrown in at first not knowing anyone.

I guess it's a good thing that we effectively stay separate. One semester for most of us is not enough time to establish any kind of meaningful relationship or spend all our time with people from a completely different culture, who live hours away from most of us. With all the diverse goals international students have for their valuable time abroad, of course we don't need to put such a high priority on friendships with AUCians when there are so many other things out there that will help us gain more in the long term.

But it would be nice to not feel like such an outsider. At UVA people will at least come up and say hello to you if they see you're alone. As I write this right now I'm sitting in a packed McDonald's cafeteria on campus, and it's just a bit awkward being the only American here. (I know, the irony.) I'm actually waiting to see an awards ceremony put on by the Filmmakers' club, including some notable Egyptian comedians and actors. I guess it's not anyone else's fault I know who Samir Ghanem is. (He's a famous actor from Egyptian films of the 1960s and 70s).

This environment of isolation has made me think more about being an American around here. Coming back to some of the reasons why I decided to come to Egypt, it's clear that living here has given me a more realistic picture of Egyptian-American relations. That said, there are so many different sides to everything. For every instance where I feel constantly profiled as a rich white American who can be ignored or easily exploited, within a few hours something will be sure to contradict any stereotype I could make about Egyptians as a whole.

Like anything, what you get out of an experience is equal to what you put into it. If you don't leave your dorm, isolating yourself in a compound full of Americans, speak only English, and only leave your home when you have to, of course you'll develop certain ideas about others and just expect them to be confirmed when you talk to them.

So my advice is: Always go into a new situation with an open mind, positive expectations and a smile. Even if things don't go your way, deal with it and move on. Everyone makes mistakes and part of life is learning from them, but in a country like Egypt, it's probably not all your fault, so don't worry. (Unless you and your 10 friends joined hands and crossed the street together, which is an extremely stupid thing to do. Then it's definitely your fault.)