As I write this it is currently Halloween which isn’t really a thing in Egypt but it felt right to acknowledge. Blog! Egypt is a beautiful country and honestly it feels like the time has flown by. I have enjoyed getting into the rhythm of things and finding a routine for myself. I mistakenly thought the weather would be much colder than it actually is in Egypt right now, currently it still feels like fall and I am severely underprepared as I stuffed my suitcase with sweaters upon sweaters, but I managed to take a belmont shirt which thankfully has saved me on many occasions in this weather. I also got the amazing opportunity to visit a beautiful Coptic Orthodox Church and I have loved getting to experience the liturgy in mostly arabic and coptic as opposed to English, Arabic, and Coptic. It is hard to put into words how special it is to finally connect with this part of my identity and make it my own but that doesn’t mean I haven’t tried! I’ve been writing a lot of poetry making sure to process everything going on and really let it sink in that I am in Egypt. The entire thing has felt a little surreal even 3 weeks in but I am slowly grasping that this is reality for a while and I am loving it.
Part of accepting reality is acknowledging that Egypt has a border with Gaza and that there is so much happening a mere country over. My thoughts often go to how I can support those affected in this time during my freetime seeing as I am so close geographically, and I care. I find myself praying for peace.
Another really cool aspect of this experience thus far is learning how to be self sufficient. The other day I was making nescafe, a common Egyptian drink and I learned how to light the stove top which uses gas with a match. While it doesn’t seem like a huge deal the fact that I sat there and figured it out felt extremely satisfying afterwards when I finally produced the desired coffee and it definitely tasted even better.
To speak about the internship experience so far, its been really cool to meet my bosses Safinaz and Ghada, they are both incredibly humble people who volunteer their free time to Bless in order to an their home country a better place. So far I know there is a huge event on Nov. 27th that requires the majority of Ilaria and I’s attention, and I have been trying to learn as quickly as possible in order to switch gears. I wanted to see if there is a way to support the Gaza humanitarian relief that Egypt is doing currently for the civilians affected by the war and am still ironing out the details so hopefully I will be able to update the blog about that soon!
In more personal news I get my LSAT score back tomorrow which is my last step before submitting applications. I hope the best and will update the blog as decisions come in!
Thats all for now blog,
Nardien Sadik
Cairo, Egypt