it was Anna’s 21st Birthday, and anyone that knows her, knows that on her birthday, Anna is “birthday princess.” Studying abroad in Cairo, Egypt, one might expect that her birthday celebration would be a little milder than usual, but it was her 21st, and she and her friends were determined to make it bigger and better than ever.
With an Arabic final on her actual birth date, she decided “to take it easy” the night before, attending an intimate dinner with close friends and then heading out to a nightclub that she claimed was “Cairo’s Blue Velvet, but pink!” …Except for the expensive cover charge, necessary advanced reservation, posh elitist crowd, and the minor detail that this club was located on a luxury boat anchored on the Nile River.
On the actual day, however, complications arose. David Guetta, the famous French techno star, was hosting a concert in the Four Seasons Hotel the night of her birthday. “David Guetta is like Kanye West for the Egyptians,” explained Day. “Every student in Cairo was attending this concert.” Thus, now competing with David Guetta, the stakes had been raised for Anna-Palooza 2009. “Most of my friends weren’t really into Guetta and had run out of money since we only had a week left in Cairo,” she explained. “But I really wanted to go, so I convinced my core group of friends to participate in a little plan that I had construed.”
This “little plan” entailed convincing the Four Season’s bouncers that her roommate was, in fact, a famous DJ on Guetta’s label. Day assembled her three best guy friends to play different roles: Day was “the sassy NYC Virgin Records agent,” her friend Chris was “the hyper-stressed manager,” her roommate Sami was “DJ Sami: Virgin’s latest sign,” another friend Ali was the bouncer (“we put an IPod ear-piece in his ear”), and her friend Sean was “the enthusiastic/obnoxious best friend… you know, the entourage” Anna explained.
Ali, who, according to Anna, “may or may not have been a British intelligence agent,” had a new black Audi with diplomatic plates and tinted windows, so when the four friends rolled up, bass pumping, to the chaos of the Four Seasons, “the crowd stopped, turned, and parted as we got out of the car. It was unbelievable, such a rush. It was absolutely hilarious,” Anna laughed.
After a series of confrontations with bouncers—never leaving character, of course—the four friends floated past security only to be awarded with free VIP Passes (approx. $500 each) for “DJ Sami and his crew.” Guetta’s concerts, known internationally for their pyrotechnics and rave-style acts, managed even to surpass all the surrounding hype from the previous weeks. Needless to say, Anna had achieved her Super Sweet 21st Birthday goal. “I’ll never forget my 21st birthday, that’s for sure!” laughed Anna as she continued her tale about the rest of the night.
Wisconsin Senior Anna Day has spent most of this past year of her life working, volunteering, studying, and travelling throughout the Middle East. A Political Science and Communication Arts major, Day has long been interested in the history, culture, and politics of this ancient and volatile region of the world.
What first sparked her interest was the media coverage of the American invasions of Afghanistan and then Iraq. An 8th grader at the time, Day was researching the media coverage of the Vietnam War and its role in shaping public opinion. “Vietnam became increasing unpopular as media clips of the realities of war were broadcast into American’s living rooms,” Day explained. Her paper discussed the increased limitations of the media as a result of Vietnam. “While I was researching Vietnam-coverage, I watched the news of our invasion of Afghanistan and then later of Iraq. The footage only included aerial shots, basically just fireworks; not a single shot of the realities on the ground.”
Stemming from her fascination with the power and control of the press, Day began her study of media and politics on campus, but quickly found herself longing to get into the action. Following her sophomore year, Day spent her summer studying Arabic and volunteering with Palestinian refugees in Amman, Jordan. Soon after, she travelled to Cairo, Egypt, studying at the American University in Cairo, and then headed to Lebanon to pursue her dream of becoming a foreign correspondent.
Throughout her time in the Middle East, she travelled to six different countries: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey. Click on the country to hear her incredible stories, hilarious tales, and powerful insights from a young student just like you. If you’re a young woman interested in taking the road less travelled, feel free to contact Day at atday@wisc.edu.
