These are the most Frequently Asked Questions about my trip to Egypt
Q. What did you like best?
A. What was most important was my time spent with Marwa's family.
Q. What did you think of the Egyptian people?
A. What stood out to me was the generosity and hospitality of everyone that I personally met. People went out of their way to make sure that I was happy, comfortable, fed, etc.
Q. Has the trip changed you?
A. Definitely! I am now more aware of the vast differences in the way people around the world live. I am more confident after putting myself out there on my own and making presentations to groups of professionals - After surviving the Alexandria Airport by myself, I can do anything!
Q. What did you think of the education system?
A. The teachers are very frustrated by many things. First the national curriculum and the testing that comes with it is very restrictive. It focuses on more memorization than critical thinking. Secondly, there is a system of tutoring that is a vicious cycle. Parents pay private tutors to prepare students for their exams. Sometimes these tutors are the class teachers. Many parents cannot afford the tutors, but no one wants to be the one to NOT have a tutor for their student. Finally, students admission to university is determined by the average of their exams from their final two years. The scores determine not only what university students can attend, but also what major they may pursue.
Q. Was Egypt what you expected?
A. In some ways, yes. I had done a lot of reading and was familiar with the country and the customs. I was not surprised by much except the traffic and ways of driving. I expected the crowds, but the chaos was unsettling. Also, some of the activities that we conducted at the ILEP orientation in DC before traveling proved quite true. In the US, we are accustomed to waiting in lines that ore orderly. This is not true everywhere. Often customers would just crowd ahead of one another - not paying any attention to who was there first.
Q. What were your favorite tourist sites?
A. Of course seeing the pyramids was a must. I enjoyed going full tourist and enjoying a camel ride and photo op. My other favorites include the Roman coliseum in Alexandria, the catacombs, the National Museum in Alexandria, and my trip to the sea. Each of these ventures was made more enjoyable because I was with family and seeing the sites through the eyes of Egyptians, not a tour guide.
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Rose, having you in my classroom was definitely a pleasure but having you in my house was both an honor and a pleasure. You brought so much happiness and excitement to our lives and we really miss you because to us you are family. Now you know that you will always have a second home in Egypt whenever you decide to come back and visit us with your husband and kids sometime soon.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that people were interested to learn more about your trip to Egypt. Reading your blog definitely shows that people had a lot of questions to ask you. I am glad that you were able to share your experience with a lot of people. It is also interesting to see my country and culture through someone else’s eyes. The most important thing for all of us was that we wanted you to have a good time. I hope that you truly did. I know that Egypt is not a rich country. We have a lot of flaws and problems, but we have a lot of kind people who are caring and loving. I know for sure that you did not enjoy the dust, the rubbish, the crowds, the crazy driving and our lovely Alexandria airport. However, I am hoping that you enjoyed your time with family, friends and students. I am also hoping you enjoyed your visits to the different monuments and museums. Please forgive us if we ever said anything that was inappropriate because of the cultural differences.
Your take on our schools and educational system hit the nail on the head. Although you did not spend enough time in our school, as an outside observer you were able to see and understand a lot of things. When I was in the U.S., I was able to see that our systems had a lot of similarities but a lot of differences as well. Teenagers are the same everywhere. Teachers are working hard and they all have their own complaints. The one thing that stood out to me was that I noticed that our students have more or less the same curricula. However, our students study a lot of things at a much younger age. The things they study in their junior and middle school are the same things that the U.S students study in their high school years. In my opinion, this does not make them smarter. The main problem is that they do not learn to be independent learners. They do not know how to do projects, work in groups or even make presentations. Some schools do that, but the vast majority does not really pay attention to such an important aspect. That is why, when they join universities, they are at a loss because they are not used to working on their own. When they graduate and look for jobs, they do not know how to work in a team. It takes a long time for them to change their habits and know for a fact that in order to be successful, one cannot work on one’s own.