Traveling while abroad in Egypt
- Josh Pasternak
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
When you see your friends on Instagram while studying abroad, you may see them in a different country at a different club every weekend. And while that does look like one hell of a time, I am almost a little happy that being in the Middle East I am not afforded that luxury.
This past summer however, I did take one trip abroad with my previously mentioned group of friends, where we went to Istanbul, Turkey. This had been at the top of my bucket list for places to visit for years. Being the history nerd I was, seeing the great old city of Constantinople was extremely healing for my inner child.
From getting lost outside the Blue Mosque, overpaying for Turkish ice cream, watching my friend fall in love over a shared cigarette, and us Americans belting “Free Bird” at our British friend with a mix of “2-0” chants on the Fourth of July, I truly have nothing but positive things to say about Istanbul and can’t wait to visit Turkey again.
In Egypt and much of the Middle East, the work week is Sunday–Thursday due to the Islamic day of rest being on Fridays. It was certainly an interesting switch to make, and it was really weird having school on Sundays instead of rotting in bed.
If in the future you plan on taking part in a summer language program, be prepared. It’s a lot of language.
My classmates and I had roughly five hours of classes a day, with another two to three hours of homework and studying at night. Our teachers were phenomenal, and my Arabic improved tremendously over just that short two-month period, but it certainly was not as relaxing as I had originally expected.
Nonetheless, when you get to choose spending your weekends in the heart of Cairo, being lost in the winding bends and turns of Khan Al Khalili market, swimming with dolphins (yes, literally. Such a cool experience) in the crystal-clear waters of the Red Sea, or exploring the ancient Roman and Greek catacombs of Alexandria, the city founded and named after Alexander the Great, you really don’t mind the long hours during the week as much.
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