Monday morning I had an interview. Skype is awkward. Needless to say I was nervous about the video portion of this interview. Luckily, there was no video involved. Praise the Lord. The interview went great and they promptly emailed me Tuesday morning to ask me to join the Office of Development at the American University of Cairo. WHOOP!
Now, what does this all mean? 1) I'm moving to Cairo in August. Holy crap. I'm moving to Cairo in August. 2) I'm interning in an office that works primarily with donors and fundraising. Better get my networking skills polished for all that schmoozing. 3) I get to take and speak Arabic in an Arabic speaking country. I am so ready to get out of UGA's Arabic department.
Things I'm excited about:
1. Cairo is like the New York of the Middle East. Chaotic, never sleeping, dirty (or as Brad put it "covered in feral cats and feces"), and wonderful. I literally cannot wait to get back to my second home (the Arab world, that is). The kind of feeling I get from thinking back to Morocco and Kuwait is one of homesickness. I love the people, the culture, the language, the sounds, the smells, and the general Arab-ness SO much my heart hurts. I feel as though I'm going home.
2. The internship sounds awesome. I cannot wait to be part of a team again in an office setting and really hone some professional skills I can use in the future.
3. The Arabic. Taking MSA classes and speaking in my general day to day for a year should make me as close to fluent as I can get. This is by far the most exciting thing for me. I really wasn't ready to quit Arabic post-undergrad but there's really no other way to learn than to just go there and speak.
4. Meeting my future husband. Just kidding. But not really. Surely there's some converted Egyptian named Khaled (the sexiest of all Arabic names) just waiting to marry me. Right?
Things I'm nervous about:
1. Arabic. I know that I can pick up the language relatively quickly again when I'm in that environment, but I'm not the most confident when it comes to using my language with native speakers. The good thing about the Arab culture is that a) they love me over there. For whatever reason, I'm enticing to Arabic families and they think my lack of actual speaking ability is endearing, b) people are so willing to invite you to a meal, tea, coffee, or whatever if it means you'll speak English with them and they can speak Arabic to you. So, hopefully these fears will be mitigated and I'll jump right into speaking and learning in the classroom.
2. Community. Something I've learned about myself and my faith over the past four years is that I thrive in fellowship and community, but don't do so well without it. I've already had some contact with some Christians that run an orphanage in Cairo so hopefully I'll be able to volunteer there and meet some fellow believers, but I'm worried about being spiritually isolated in a Muslim country.
3. General living. This is kind of double-edged sword to me. I am so excited to be independently living in a country completely unlike my own. However, I'm also a little nervous about this process of settling in alone.
Overall, my excitement is way more overpowering than my nerves. I am absolutely enthralled with this opportunity and cannot wait for all of you to come visit. GET OVER THERE.
love.
