Finding a Balance

As many of you have seen, due to my lack of entries, I have struggled immensely with writing my first entry from Cairo. At first I was too excited and busy to take the time to sit down and write, then I too frustrated, and from there, just confused.

My intention for this blog was never to be too preachy or for lack of a better word, “serious”—I once wrote to my sister, “I’m not trying to go all Maya Angelou on you.” And since many of you know me, you know that I’m a self-proclaimed goof and openly admit that most of my daily conversations revolve around sarcasm or some sort of humor. I’ve never tried to take life too seriously, and have found that by sometimes being able to laugh at things, or yourself, you’re able see things differently.

Although it’s only been two weeks here in Cairo, I have been forced to look at myself, and my life, very differently. I am now a “double minority”—fair skinned and American, in a developing country where I do not speak the language. Things could not be more different than being in Hamilton, New York at Colgate or at home in Alexandria, Virginia where the majority of everyone I interact with everyday looks and talks just like me.

At first it was exciting to be different—I laughed at everyone staring at me, smiled and waved when people welcomed me to Egypt and joked about how different this part of the world was. It was in this phase that I didn’t want to blog for fear that sitting in my room on my laptop would remove from the city that never stopped. Soon, I found it hard to joke about the differences—so many people were poor, the electricity was too inconsistent, and nothing seemed to ever get done around here. While I wanted to write about all of this, I feared that without my sense of humor, my writing would be too serious and my site would just become a classic college-student-abroad blog on par with all the others. (And I obviously did not want to upset my huge following of readers who were looking forward to all my adventures and misadventures here).

It wasn’t until my walk to school today that I realized that what had brought me here—my ability to not take life too seriously—was exactly would get me through this experience and allow me to share it with others in a unique way. I consider this trip to the Middle East, coupled with my personality, a way to connect readers to what is happening here in hopes of creating a better understanding between the East and West—and if I have learned one this thus far (besides not to eat chicken schawerma) it is that we all need to work towards this.

So to everyone who reads this (mom, sister) I hope you can find a balance between laughing at my stories and taking something away from them, just as I have found a balance so that I can live and learn here happily by laughing. Before I go to wash off the layers of dust I leave you with a quote I often say to myself here when I think that there are too many problems to fix or that not enough people care, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” –Margaret Mead

Enjoy your days, eat Chipotle for me, and request “Midd Kidd” at the Jug tonight!