Assalaamu `alaykum,

Alhamdulillah quite a few people have expressed their interest in coming to Egypt to study. Here is a list of my top suggested items for you to bring:

[Disclaimer: I am not responsible for the decrease in Eman or financial savings incurred upon acquiring/using/breaking/being robbed of/abusing the following items.]

The dust in Egypt comes out of nowhere and spreads like a plague. The picture above was taken only about a week after I had my balcony floor scrubbed clean. My mom sent me a Swiffer mop, yay!

Shoes:

Converse chucks are the best shoes to bring to Egypt. They are have strong, solid, rubber soles that can withstand the rugged city terrain. The canvas is durable and hasn’t frayed even the slightest. The best part about these shoes is they can be put into the washing machine. My Converse were dusty and filthy but after a spin in the washing machine they came out looking brand new. Good walking shoes are essential during your stay here.

Backpack:

Sure, you can buy a backpack once you’re here but you won’t find anything ergonomic for a decent price. The one I bought in the States is Kenneth Cole (like the one pictured above except slightly different style) has protective space for both your laptop and mp3 player on the inside. It also has plenty of handy pockets for extra storage. The outside is waterproof (yes, believe it or not it rained a lot during the winter) and stays clean. The straps are thick and cushiony.

White board:

I was all set to shove my white board into my suitcase before leaving until my mom prevented me. She thought it’d be too big and inconvenient to take. She was right, I had no space but now that I’m here I do wish I’d brought it. Alhamdulillah Sammer brought one with her! Arabic is mathematical. Very mathematical. Drawing charts and formulas really helps. But don’t stop there, you must then proceed to memorize them. Keeping lists of new vocabulary up where you can see it every day also helps.

Medicine:

Even if you’re not a big fan of meds, I recommend you bring some essential things that you won’t find here. Such as the remarkable headache remedy: Head-On. The heat over here gets so intense that the blood in your head feels as though it’s boiling. The result: A pounding headache with migraine potential. I am SO glad I brought this little tube of Head-On with me. It even feels cold once you’ve put it on and offers fast relief. Alhamdulillah!

Chap stick:

The desert climate dehydrates you and dries out your lips. Burt’s Bees or LIP VITAMINS chap stick work the best and last the longest. I also like Carmex.

Calendar / Agenda:

Your study plans will change a lot while you’re here. Keep a calendar and always write in pencil. You’ll find that seeing your level completion dates on paper in front of you is encouraging. We also purchased Arabic agendas over here and I highly recommend it. It has the Hijri and Gregorian dates, as well the days of the week in Arabic.

Books:

If you’re anything like we are, you’ll feel a strong urge to read. Of course it’s best to read Arabic books while you’re here but there’s nothing wrong with wanting to continue to educate yourself in your own language. It keeps you from getting overwhelmed and bored. I recommend bringing at least one informative book about Egypt…such as the Lonely Planet guide (they also sell an Egyptian phrase book - pictured above - that is extremely helpful in your daily interactions with the people here. Even if you speak in fus-ha with them 9/10 times they will reply to you in the local dialect so it’s extremely risky to be totally unfamiliar with it. You’ll get ripped off, cheated, proposed to, misunderstood etc.

It’s also a good idea to bring some books you’ve always wanted to read but never got around to. Of course there are many Islamic Texts, namely, the translation of the Qur’an and texts of Ahadith. There’s also benefit in reading fiction (The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini) or a political/historical work like The Great War for Civilization by Robert Fisk. I also recommend something that connects your native language and Arabic such as Arabic to English proverb books (my all time favorite ones are three by Primrose Arnander and Askhain Skipwith entitled: The Son of a Duck is a Floater, Apricots Tomorrow, and lastly Unload Your Own Donkey!) It has been said, “To understand a people, acquaint yourself with their proverbs.”

MP3 Player:

I know all of you iPod lovers will disagree but I prefer the Creative Zen 30 GB. It has an FM Tuner (unlike the iPod) so I can tune into local radio stations. They have awesome Qur’an stations, Arabic talk shows, and Islamic programs to listen to. There’s also BBC world and Nile FM is sometimes funny to listen to. Oh the best part about the Zen is that it has a built in microphone…so I can record Qur’an recitations live, khutbahs, classes, funny street noises etc. I can also record myself to evaluate my tajweed when reciting Qur’an. The Arabic books at Fajr Center come with audio CD’s. I uploaded all the audio onto my laptop and then to my MP3 player so I can listen to them while cooking, cleaning, studying, walking, riding to and from school. As was reported on CNN once, I - and others like me- are part of Generation M. Urban Dictionary defines us as, “Generation Multi-tasking, today’s teenagers who IM, do homework, watch TV and listen to/download music all at the same time.” Although I’m not a teen and I multi-task in different activities, the habit carries into adulthood, in case you didn’t know…

Bedside essentials:

Your Cellphone. Make sure it is unlocked and Quad-Band. This will also serve as your staple alarm clock and currency converter. I also suggest a book light so you don’t disturb your roommates while reading at night. I have my own bedroom and I still use a book light because most Egyptian apartments come with dreaded TUBE LIGHTING in the bedrooms. Those things belong in offices, not houses! It’s really not conducive to a calm reading atmosphere.

Lap desk:

Seriously if you disregard everything else on my list of suggested items, don’t disregard this one! Everywhere becomes study-zone when you have one of these. Many fully furnished apartments do not come with desks or work zones or even proper dining tables. You’ll find a lap desk extremely handy…you can literally sit on the floor, in bed, on the couch or the balcony and do your homework etc. Here is a picture of our sitting room. The black thing on the stool is my lap desk. See how it creates an instant, comfortable, study zone?

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Winter Clothes:

I survived the winter here without winter clothes. But why would I wish the same for you? Please bring layers of clothes you can wear in the winter, including socks, a nice thick coat, scarf and gloves. The apartments do not have central heating and believe me these stone structured buildings get very cold in the winter. The winter season lasted from November to February for us! Some nights were so cold we slept fully garbed in layers with our prayer garments over that plus hijabs wrapped on tightly…

Internet gadgets:

We purchased a wireless router over here for 400 LE (over $70 USD ) and it isn’t even a good one. It’s called AirLive and has a very short range. You’re better off bringing your own when you come.

Travel Mug:

You will need to stay awake in class. You may not always have time to drink coffee or tea before leaving for school. We make it and drink it on the go, usually in the taxi and then in class if our teacher permits us. The GOOD ones here are expensive. We bought the cheapest ones in the store for 25 LE but they leak.

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That’s all for now but if I think of more I’ll update this post so refer back to it before coming here. Insha’Allah.

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Assalamu `alaykum,

February 23rd marked our 6 month mark. So far it’s been about 6 months of surviving and 5 months of studying. …Ash3uru bil-7uzn wa nafsul-waqt ash3uru bis-suroor…Ironically, I’m sad because I feel so happy here and I know it will not last. With each new day, milestones like delving deeper into Balagha and Sarf are just around the corner for me but not long after that so is my return date. We have been maintaining our intensive hours (6 hours a day/5 days a week) and alhamdulillah we will be starting level 7 tomorrow, if Allah wills. We are trying to maintain a pace that allows us to finish 2 levels per month. Through constant revision of grammar and practicing vocabulary, we believe this is attainable so long as we take final exams every other weekend. This inevitably means we will be taking exams every single weekend (the pattern would be: Midlevel, final, midlevel, final…etc). There’s only one thing standing in our way. I never thought I’d say this but:

H o l i d a y s    a r e     s u c h     a     w a s t e     o f     t i m e !

In our situation - on our time limit - we will only be able to finish all 13 levels by the first week of June if we stick to this pace and NOT take any breaks (other than weekends). Fajr Center said they are going to try their best to assign us a teacher who will be able to accommodate this request for us. See the problem is, Fajr awards every teacher the right to take a week off after every 75 hours of working. At the pace we’re going, we’ll be completing 75 hours every 12 days, so we simply cannot afford to be taking a week off every 12 days, that’s just absurd!

I hope it works out for us insha’Allah. Tomorrow we find out if our new teacher will be willing to accommodate our No-Holiday demands. If she can, then I think I will celebrate with a nice hot glass of sahlab, insha’Allah!

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[I wrote this post in December but I forgot to post it so I'm putting it up now. Kind of late, heh]

The other morning, after another night of insomnia, I looked out our window from the sixth floor, and a morbid thought came to mind. What if there was an earthquake and the building- with it’s 12 floors- just collapsed. This thought stayed with me as I went from window to window, craning my neck just to weave my eyesight past and in between all the surrounding apartment buildings to catch a glimpse of the sunrise. Homes built upon each other, stacking up high, forming concrete towers that crowd the Cairo skyline. Imagine if they all…came tumbling…down.

Have you ever had those moments where you imagine the worst happening, see the scene unravel in your mind, visualize it….and then it happens - either to you or to someone else - and you say to yourself, “SubhanAllah. Thank you Allah for preparing me for this”?

A couple days later this is what permeated the headlines:

“Death toll in Egypt building collapse rises to 20″

SubhanAllah. You’d expect a building structure like this to collapse:

Something weak and made of wood. Not the macho mabaani of Egypt, right?

………………………………………………………

Wrong.

And to Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Wa la howla wa la quwwata illah billah…

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This actually took place months ago but I guess you can tell I wasn’t very enthused to write about it!

I do appreciate the chance to -for the first time in my life- be able to live in a city with such rich Islamic History. I’d read once that the Historian Ibn Khaldun said of Egypt, “He who has not seen it does not know the power of Islam.” I wish I had Ibn Khaldun as my tour guide on my field trip to Islamic Cairo :(

The trip included: The Citadel and the sites surrounding it and the The Egyptian Military museum.

It was interesting…

Fortunately, I read a book on the life of Salahudden which really brought the whole area to life for me and made the experience somewhat uplifting. Other than that aspect, it’s a real downer.

Mausoleums in every “masjid”. It’s clear that a masjid whose foundation was not built upon taqwa, will end up serving a purpose other than 3ibadah, and Allah knows best. They have all turned into tourist attractions filled with people of all kinds, posing at the pillars of the masjids lounging around on the carpets, videoing etc. I would say that it was very disrespectful but I can’t blame them.. these masjids were very much built for showy purposes in the first place.

The museum was OK. There was a huge statue of Salaheddin. I do not believe in the permissibility of statues. It was when I saw this statue that I realized the wisdom behind such a prohibition. When I looked up it caught my breath and I was looking at it for a second as if I could see Salaheddin in front of me. People in ancient times first started building statues in respect and reverence of great people…it’s no wonder they later starting worshiping at them. I did however like the name plate:

My highlights of the trip included: The Citadel, The jeweled Yemeni Dagger, The Pillar from the first foundation of the`Amr bin al-Aas masjid, The view of Cairo from the top.

Looking on bright side, it was as great history lesson and I took some nice pictures.

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“Is it thy will thy image should keep open my heavy eyelids to the weary night?

Dost thou desire my slumber should be broken while shadows like to thee do mock my sight?

Is it thy spirit that thou sendeth from thee?…Oh no, thy love though much is not so great-

It is my love that keeps my eye awake.

Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat to play the watchmen ever for thy sake.

For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,

From me far off, while others all too near…”

Question:

So do you get homesick often in Egypt?

My Answer:

Since childhood I’ve been good at blocking out my homesickness whenever I’m away. I’ve taught myself to channel it and only let it out once in a while, mostly to myself and always to Allah. Maybe it’s something I’ve acquired from necessity. I am very content here and honestly in no rush to go home. I do miss my loved ones a lot and think of them often. I am beginning to think that might have something to do with my nightly insomnia. So I dedicate the above, Shakespearean sonnet number 61, to the two people I spend precious moments with before I go to sleep every night, the two people I love and miss more than ever: Mom and my ‘baby bro’ Adam.

At the start of my travels I found deep comfort in the following supplication for travel:

‘Allaah is the greatest, Allaah is the greatest, Allaah is the greatest,

How perfect He is, The One Who has place this (transport) at our service,

and we ourselves would not have been capable of that,

and to our Lord if our final destiny.

O Allaah, we ask You for birr and taqwaa in this journey of ours,

and we ask You for deeds which please You.

O Allaah, facilitate our journey and let us cover its distance quickly.

O Allaah, You are The Companion on the journey and The Successor over the family,

O Allaah, I take refuge with You from the difficulties of travel,

from having a change of hearts and being in a bad predicament,

and I take refuge in You from an ill fated outcome with wealth and family.’

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SubhanAllah.

I had a dream about a ferret type creature. I dreamt it belonged to Sammer and she asked me to pet-sit for her as she went out. The ferret was soft and brown and it only wanted to be held (I was under the impression Sammer spoiled it ;). While petting it, loving it, and giving it my undivided attention, a group of people show up at the house and start partying. They were several in number, each one obnoxious and loud. In my dream I kept telling the unwanted guests to Shh! because You’ll scare Sammer’s pet! when suddenly it leaped out of my arms and ran away. The rest of my dream was me panicking and searching around the house for the darling little creature before Sammer arrived home.

I woke up and on our morning walk to catch a taxi to school I shared my dream with Sammer. SubhanAllah to my surprise she told me she TOO had a dream of a ferret type creature! We were a little weirded out by the whole thing and each of us began describing the creature exactly as we had seen it in our dreams. You’ll never guess what happened next…

SubhanAllah, right at that very moment a creature that looked EXACTLY like what we saw in our dream comes scurrying along the street next to us! We were complete disbelief and kept saying to eachother “SubhanAllah it’s the ferret! We must be dreaming! Are we dreaming?” In the whole 6 months we’ve been here not ONCE have we seen these creatures in Egypt nor did we have any prior knowledge to their presence in the country. It’s amazing how that strange occurrence was written in our destiny long before that day!

We walked faster along the road trying to keep up with the curious little creature that seemed to have leaped right out of the dream dimension we’d only just left a couple hours before. There he was, in plain sight and then suddenly, we lost him as he ran down into a garage. We were left dazed and laughing to each other hysterically wondering if it had all been a result of lack of sleep. First we couldn’t believe we both dreamt of the same thing, the we couldn’t believe such a random creature found its way into our dreams, and lastly there it was right before our very eyes. SubhanAllah is all I can say.

Later on, internet searches confirmed that what we saw might not have been a ferret after all but it appears the mysterious little guy was an Egyptian Weasel:

“Didn’t expect to find these in Egypt, did you? These are weasels, just like the ones found in North America, Europe, and Asia. They are found all over the world as they can adapt to fit any environment. Weasels will eat anything, and they do devastating damage to the domestic fowls such as chickens and ducks, eating the eggs as well as the small chicks. For many Egyptians, the weasel is a great nuisance. They are often found living in the city, even in the walls of houses like mice, stealing food wherever they can find it.” Source.

I also learned a little about Egyptian foxes. This one’s a Fennec Fox. They are known for their big ears which are sensitive enough to hear large insects, such as beetles and locusts, walk on sand. Their fur repels sunlight during the day and conserves heat at night. The soles of their feet also have a thick layer of fur that serves as protection from the hot sand. I would love to see one of them next:

You can read more about the wildlife of Egypt here.

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