One day at the end of April, i was scanning articles from subscription accounts on my WeChat as usual, oversaw an article about global volunteers's stories. I felt very envious and admired them. I thought, they can did this, why couldn't I? So i turned my laptop on, registered, browsed the web,tried to apply for projects, and i received replies soon. And finished the interview with the help of Google Translate (The interview was simple, but I was not good at English at that time.) Then did a lot of things,paid for the fee, booked flight tickets, applied my visa, bought souvenirs. It wasn't plain sailing, but I finally arrived in Egypt safely. And I started my life in Egypt on 30th June.
My project was in Alexandria,I needed to take bus from Cairo,and an AIESECer picked me up in Alexandria bus station. (Thanks a million for all of kind person who helped me on my way to Alexandria.)
I had a rest until night after i arrived my accommodation.I got a message from my friend who is from AIESEC. He was responsible for my interview,and helped me a lot about my visa. He asked me"what's your plan today?"And i answered "Today?It's 8pm, today is gonna over." Then my roommates told me that it was normal, egyptian always went out at night until early morning.I was shocked at that time. It's unusual for me in China,if i back to my home always so late,they will call me bad girl.
But i went out to meet my friend at last,also had two volunteers from Tunisia,we went to a cafe near my accommodation, sat there and talked. I thought maybe they didn't meet or talk with any chinese girl before, or something,they asked me a lot of questions with curiosity. My English was so limited at that time, and their accent, i couldn't understand anything, so I just said "Sorry, please repeat again."? They had to repeat maybe more than five times each question. And for me,i had to use translate to search almost every word. Overall, the first time conversation was awful. But they were so nice ,always encouraged me, told me"take your time." Hahaha(Thanks all of you, guys!) I back to my accommodation around 12pm at last, because I was too tired. It was the first day.
By the way, I always back to my accommodation at early morning from the second day. Be a real egyptian, hahaha! Because it's too hot in the daylight, they go out at night, stay in cafes by streets, by the sea, everywhere, full of people,they go out with friends ,with family,or with lover,just sit there, talk,drink coffee or juice, smoke shisha(a kind of hookah),what a comfortable life. But for me ,lived a life like this for a long time, felt a little bit boring,especially while most of my friends finished their projects and backed to their countries. But it was better when I started my project,I needed to work in daylight.
Here you are,pictures of Alexandria.
Next,my project,scouts,actually,I never heard of it in China,but it was intresting and amazing.
"Scouting or the Scout Movement is a movement that aims to support young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society, with a strong focus on the outdoors and survival skills. "? ? --from Wikipedia
However I started my project a little bit late,and at that time they were busy for preparing their celebration which only one time a year. It was pity that I did nothing for the project except learnt some basic skills. It would be better if I stayed longer.
Pictures of my project.
I have been to three different cities in Egypt except Alexandria.The time of my project is flexible,and AIESEC Alexandria also organize different trips in different time,you can make a choice by yourself. For me,during the trip,the more important thing than scenery is deepen our mutual understanding and friendship with other volunteers.
The first city,Cairo.
I have been Cairo twice.
The first time was for the conference of AIESEC Alexandria. Almost all of volunteers were there,we knew more about AIESEC, knew more about ourselves. I went to pyramids during that time. Let's cut to the chase.
Pictures of Cairo.
The second time, I explored Cairo by myself before I back to my country, and met many chinese volunteers in Cairo.
The second city, Luxor
Fire balloon, Valley of The King, temples. I couldn't understand tour guide because my poor English, and it was too hot, almost 40℃. Hahaha, for me, the only thing what I wanna was the air-condition in hotel, I had to keep alive. I was shocked by the long river of history, although I just touched the thousands of years of stone columns. Any words are pale at this time, let me show you some pictures.
The third city,Sharm el Sheikh.
Sharm is located in Sinai peninsula. It is only three hours' drive from dahab. It was a pity that I didn't go to dahab due to time. Both of them are tourist cities beside the Red Sea. Sharm el Sheikh is clean, enthusiastic, more open. Although I didn't know how to swim, I weared a jacket went to snorkeling, drank a lot of water in the sea, salty, really. I asked my friend who comes from Portugal as my lifeguard, Hahaha,thank you very much! Whatever, this was my favorite trip, because I went there with my best friends. And the most important thing is the beautiful Red Sea,I really really love sea, that's why I choose Alexandria.
The above is a brief introduction to my 45 days life in Egypt.
Some one asked me that why you didn't go there with travel agency? You don't need take too much time in Egypt, and will be more comfortable. I want to ask him, who told you that I didn't enjoy my trip in Egypt? You heard that I starved out because I was not uesd to egyptian food and had only one meal a day in most cases.You heard that I was afraid of going out alone because I am a girl with limited English,and don't understand arabic. You heard that there are a lot of mess streets and shabby buildings because the economic recession.Then you concluded that I might not be okay, and spent money to make my life miserable. But who gives you the right to judge my trip? No one but me know what I experienced and the feelings in my heart. You don't understand about this, because you are just a tourist.
Someone said I was bold, crazy, but youth and summer are should be like this!
Translate into English:
Every choice that you make decides who you're gonna meet or leave, what kind of life you're gonna experience, what kind of scenery you're gonna enjoy.
However,life should never be monotony. If you don't go out to taste experience by yourself, you won't know how colorful the life is!
---I wrote it in GuangZhou when I was waiting my flight to Cairo.
I was worried and afraid at that time,but I am sitting here and writing this article now.
As a global volunteer in Alexandria is one of my best decisions in my life.
During these 45 days, happy or sad,angry or disappointed, all of things made me grow up, learnt a lot. Whether I admit it or not, all of these have melted into my blood. I get greatly improved fluency in English(even still bad), and I make a lot of friends from different country. And I know more about Egypt, the Mysterious Muslim country. But if you wanna ask me more about the real Egypt, NO! I won't tell you anything. You'd better experience Egypt by yourself, rather than know it from others.
I am glad to read the article about your life in Egypt someday!
Pictures of us
At the end, I wanna say, welcome to Egypt, welcome to Alexandria, a7la AIESEC, shokran!
If you wanna be a global volunteer like me,don't hesitate to click the link! It's time to go crazy!
http://bit.ly/searchtoolAlexandria
Life is either a adventure or nothing!
Yalla binaa!
NOTICE:AIESECers are just students like us, so please don't compare AIESEC with commercial organizations. No matter what the quality of project is ,how to live your life depend on yourself.
