Tamara Sewell, Ph.D.

They led us into a big room, and told us about the history of the place, and the magnificence of its students. I was very surprised to see all of the students were very similar to me. They were concerned with finals, worried about how they looked, and even had fun in the same way that we did. It was great to see that even through so much cultural differences, we could still find similarities in our youth. This picture is one of my husband and I with one of our friends we met at MISR University. She used to attend the university as a student, and now works there. It was great to hear her talk so much about her beloved school.

Inside the university, they had a museum, which was filled with replicas of the original works inside the Egyptian museums. The students gave us a tour, and knew the history and impact of all of the pieces. I was very amazed when I saw the passion the students had for their history. Below is a picture of our guide, Aladin, who is a student and was showing us around the university.

I also loved seeing the citadel. I had seen pictures and videos, but seeing it in real life was such a treat. It was so much bigger than I had expected, and it was phenomenal to be there in person. It was an experience I will never ever forget. Below is a picture of me at the citadel, which I absolutely loved.

Another place we visited was the Library of Alexandria. It was amazing to see this huge building and learn all of its history. It was 11 floors, and our guide explained to us how it was especially designed to light the inside, and keep it cool, and with green and blue tinted glass, it helps tie into the historical significance of the country.

Everything we saw was very interesting and amazing to see, it's difficult to describe how awesome it was to see such old structures and to think of all the history. For instances we travelled to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, this site was packed with history. Home to over sixty-four tombs of Pharos like Tutankhamun, Merneptah, and Ramesses IV. Most of the tombs were cut into the limestone following a similar pattern: three corridors, an antechamber and a sunken sarcophagus chamber.

Inside the tomb the walls are covered from top to bottom with hieroglyphics, the original color is still visible. How remarkable it was considering these tombs date back well over 3,000 years ago. Along with the Valley of the Kings, visiting the Great Pyramids of Giza and the different Universities in Egypt was my favourite and most memorable parts of the trip.

I had no idea what to suspect when traveling to Egypt.  All that I have ever seen is what’s in the history books and in the media. I went to Egypt thinking that the history was going to be so amazing which would over power the whole trip.  Yes the history was truly amazing but what popped out the most to me was the Coptic Church’s.

In school we don’t learn about the Coptic religion, but after visiting the Coptic churches I’ve discovered it was a big part of Egyptian history. Reading the bible we learn about mosses splitting the red sea and freeing all the slaves.  We also learn about the Romans occupying the land.  From all this came the Coptic Church.

All churches are built for a reason, and the three main historical churches in Egypt were no different. The first on we saw was built where mother Mary took baby Jesus to hide. The second was built over a piece of land that they found the footprints of mosses.  The last church is called the hanging church and is called that because it was built over roman ruins.

All though I went on the trip thinking the pyramids were going to be the most memorable things I saw, I was wrong.  The churches are the one thing I came back with the most memorable moments.

One of our initial visits and first chances to see a glimpse of Egypt was when we visited Cairo University, Misr University, and Helwan University. Cairo University has an absolutely radiant campus, blossoming in tangerine colored flowers that make the campus glow. It is located in Giza, Egypt.

7am and the wakeup call is headed toward our room. This day we visited the pyramids and the Sphinx. The pyramids are very close to the city Cairo. There were quite a few tourists but not as many as I expected. Because of this difficult time for Egypt, their tourism is very low right now. But this is great for us because the sites are not packed with people and we are able to see everything at our own pace. 

We walk inside of a temple and walk up toward the Sphinx. Once again taking silly pictures with the sphinx, an Egyptian helped us get the poses just right. These monuments are unreal! To think that they are manmade and built during B.C. era is unbelievable. You can tell how weather has taken a toll on these sites but yet they are still very much intact. After those sites we headed back to the resort for dinner with special guests.

                                                         

Misr University is a private university in a suburb of Cairo called 6th of October city. The city's namesake commemorates the October 6th war, also known as the Arab-Israeli War. Syria and Egypt launched offensives against Israel on October 6, 1973. An initially successful offensive by Egyptian and Syrian forces ended in a stalemate between the three countries. A peace accord was brokered on October 25, 1973. The city of 6th of October is one of Cairo's wealthy suburbs. Misr University is one of the many private universities present in 6th of October city.

My experience at Misr University was surmised before I even set foot on the campus. A few blocks away from the main campus was a wall that was vandalized. The graffiti said "We care about money". While on the bus, the other students and I laughed at the graffiti's honesty and respected its candor. Others may be angered or find shame in the defacement of the wall but I found it to epitomize my subsequent experiences at Misr University. The students and faculty I encountered at Misr University were incredibly funny, personable and honest. Upon our arrival, we were ushered to a beautiful room set for entertaining. We were offered refreshments and given a summary of the university.

A couple minutes later, the students of Misr University entered the room. The students went around to our groups and spoke with us. Approaching groups of foreign students and striking up a conversation must be daunting but the students at Misr University did not hesitate. If they were nervous, they did not show it. We were appreciative of them coming in to talk with us, especially since they were on a break from school. The conversations we had ranged from current events to personal relationships. We joked about things like customs, music, films, nightlife, parents, teachers, boyfriends, girlfriends, Facebook, Youtube videos, politics and school.

We went to a part of the university that housed statues and artifacts; which the Misr students candidly said were fake but provided a good taste of what to expect at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It was refreshing to have an organic conversation with Egyptian students, not one structured around the talking points presented by officials. Even the vice president of the university, Dr. Muhammad El-Saadani, was joking around with us. By the end of our visit, we did not want to leave. We had such a good time with the Egyptian students at Misr University that we simply wanted to hang out with them for the rest of the day.

Helwan University is a public university located in Ain Helwan, Cairo. Satelite campuses are located in Giza, El Manyal, Zamalek and Boulaq. The main campus lies in the heart of an industrial community. The area includes factories specializing in construction material, automobiles and furniture. The university provides over 18 fields of study, ranging from technology to fine arts.

The visit at Helwan University was extremely structured. We were herded into a beautiful conference room. It housed a very large finely crafted oval wooden table, lovely tapestry and high tech amenities.

The room was so large that we had to speak into microphones in order to clearly hear one another. The room embodied the experience at Helwan University; structured, formal, intimidating, and impersonal. Formal welcoming commenced and was followed by a power point presentation about the university's many attributes. We were left with the uncomfortable task of speaking with the university's esteemed faculty.

There was a palpable disconnect between the Helwan faculty and ourselves. Many contextual misunderstandings hindered fluid discussion. The conversations were formal and impersonal at best. Unfortunately, we did not get the opportunity to speak with the students of Helwan University because it was finals week.

The positive and personable experience at Misr University was a stark contrast to the formality and structure of Helwan University. Although both universities provide great educational opportunities, the two experiences were completely dichotomous. Not being able to converse with the students at Helwan University was a missed opportunity to understand the university through their perspective.