for five months, Day’s normal college career was transformed into an exotic fairy-tale. By the end of her trip, she had toured the pyramids by camel and the Sphinx by horse. She’d veiled herself to explore the world famous ancient mosques of the early Islamic empires of the Arab world. She’d joined a safari into the Sahara Desert, sleeping under shooting stars that “were so bright that they woke us up.” She’d gone scuba diving off the Mediterranean coast in Alexandria to see Cleopatra’s ancient palace. She’d travelled with Bedouin, the descendents of ancient nomads, to hear their tales of their struggle against modernity. She’d climbed through the night in Moses’ fabled steps up Mt. Sinai to its summit for “the most beautiful sunrise I’ve ever seen.”
But Egypt wasn’t all glam and luxury, Day explained. “Beneath the façade of the lifestyles of ex-pats [ex-patriots or foreigners living abroad], Egypt is teeming with poverty, corruption, and pollution, all of which only fuel the rejection of the West,” Day explained. “Egypt is America’s saddest unfulfilled promise.”
This “unfulfilled promise” to which Day refers is the 1979 American-brokered peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The treaty put Israel and Egypt at the top of America’s foreign aid list, where both remain to this day. The treaty promised Egyptians the security to focus on political, economic, and social development, instead of war.
Politically, the American finance props up one of its closest regional allies: a corrupt and authoritarian president, who rules with election limitations that secure his regime.
Economically, Washington uses its purse-strings to dictate foreign support of American industries at the expense of comprehensive Egyptian development. And in a reaction to this Western interference, Egypt socially has shifted into more conservative Islam. While in Cairo, Day was present for the 30-year anniversary of this historic occasion.
The campus, American University in Cairo (AUC), for example, was recently moved an hour outside of Cairo into a development called, “New Cairo.” Most foreign universities and suburban developments have made the move to this new city. “Basically, the government decided that Cairo’s such a mess that they’d just give up and move the wealth outside,” explained Day. “AUC’s campus was like Disney World—the rocks sang, fountains flowed throughout the interior. All the students were unbelievably wealthy, lots of oil money; going to campus was like stepping onto a Gucci runway. I saw women with Burberry hijabs [headscarves]!”
Downtown Cairo, however, was a different story. Of Egypt’s 80 million people, 20 million are concentrated in metropolitan Cairo. Streets are packed at all hours, and the impenetrable heat made sitting in the Cairo traffic nearly intolerable, Day reflected. “The first few days, my new room mate and I bought an air purifier because we swore that we couldn’t breathe from the pollution,” laughed Day. “But as the semester went on, we got used to the filth.”
Despite her mixed feelings, Day said she’d strongly recommend Egypt as a study abroad destination. “I really want to encourage women to travel to the Third World,” Day explains.
“If you’re looking for the crazy-partying study abroad experience, you can find it for a fraction of the price, even in the Islamic world,” Day laughed. “At the same time, you can experience a culture dramatically different from your own. I learned so much about myself and my culture from looking at the West from the outside, and I left so empowered: now I’m not afraid to go anywhere or do anything.” To learn more about study abroad opportunities or about Anna’s Egyptian experience, email her at atday@wisc.edu.
