Before I get into my reflections and ponderings and whatnot, I feel like I need to give the background to how I reached them. It started last night when Professor Lo talked to me about the blog, specifically about how to make it less “touristy”. At first, I reacted a little defensively about how much fun everyone has had writing it but then I started to think a little more about what tourism meant. And, as usual, Professor Lo’s small statements opened up a world of introspective insights.
What is tourism? Is it spending 8 weeks in a foreign country? Is it exploring Cairo? What makes this blog “touristy”- is it our casual tone or our comparisons between home and here? If comparing the US and Cairo is touristy, then what is less touristy? Is there some deep insight that we (that I?) are overlooking? In a sense, we are actually tourists to Cairo. Eight weeks is not nearly enough time to make us natives of, or experts on, Cairo. So what is the difference between tourism and immersion – because, after all, this is an immersion program. Tourism is physically exploring a place but never becoming part of it. Immersion is exploring a place, in terms of its physicality, its culture, and its personality.
Circling back to the start of this entry, how has this physical, cultural, and personal immersion affected me so far? I don’t know. It’s hard to get perspective on something while you’re actually there, while you’re actually doing it, especially after just one week. What I can say for sure, though, is that DukeEngage has opened my eyes to a part of the world I would never have otherwise seen. Sure, I could have visited Cairo and the pyramids and the museums, but DukeEngage has opened me up to the people and individuals that enliven Cairo. Instead of hearing about poverty or imagining what street children look like, I can now say that the wool over my eyes has been pulled back.
As President Broadhead described in his address to the DukeEngage students, this service-learning project is a unique form of education. Personally, I’ve always found learning to be something you need to experience. I have trouble comprehending or understanding or believing something unless I witness it first-hand. Now I can say that I have done just that: I have seen Cairo. While there is a lot left to learn, and seven more weeks worth of experiences to have, I can see the problems that affect Cairo and I know my place in how to better serve the community. I guess I have just begun to see things in a different light.
I wasn't going to say anything, but since you brought it up...I agree with Professor Lo. So far your blog has been similar to what you might expect from a teen tour. No offense intended, and it is understandable that the first few days would be spent in wonderment looking around you. Now, though, it would be nice to start reading blogs that reflect why DukeEngage selected each of you and is supporting you on this service learning mission.
ReplyDeleteFirst, are you studying Arabic? How much? At what level? When are you lessons, and for how long? Do you have homework? What steps are you taking to increase the immersion level? Since you are staying with Anglophones, it is hard to truly immerse yourselves without extra effort. Are you voluntarily speaking only Arabic with one another to increase your skills? Are shopkeepers and other Egyptians with whom you interact speaking Engish with you primarily? Or, are you forcing the issue to work on your Arabic?
What about the service component? You have been there a week and we haven't read anything yet about your NGO work and responsibilities. With whom are you all working? What are you doing? Whose lives are you changing? How are you changing them? What are you doing on a daily basis? Are there individuals with whom you are working that you can describe to us?
You are all advocates for future DukeEngage programs. Your blog should be aimed in substantial part at the folks who are funding you to be there. Show them that DukeEngage makes a difference in the lives of the folks DukeEngage helps, and in the lives of the Duke students involved. To do that you have to do more than describe the apartment, the American food, the nightlife and the sights. Tell us through your actions and interactions why DukeEngage is important.
Thank you so much for your input. As one of the DukeEngagers, I think I can speak for the whole group when I say that we really appreciate constructive criticism, and agree with many of the points you brought up. Luckily, we are now beginning to really settle in and get to work – we’re currently putting together posts by all t he groups explaining the five separate projects working with refugees through St. Andrews and what little work we’ve begun. Unfortunately, I think we’ve been assuming that most people reading our blog already know what we’re doing here (like our classes, our various volunteer projects, etc) so maybe one of us will write a post discussing why exactly we’re here and what exactly we’re doing.
ReplyDeleteYour post came at exactly the right time, because we are now moving from the “touristy, adjusting to a new place” phase to the “let’s get our job done” phase. Unfortunately, this also means that we’ve had less time to do blog posts, because we’re dedicating our time to homework and lesson planning. The reason this first week has had little discussion of our work through NGOs is because we really haven’t done much work with them yet – so far, our time has been filled with adjusting and orientations with the organizations, not actual volunteer work. But I really hope that the next week or so of blog posts will address all of your concerns, and please post again if you have more ideas of where we can improve!
To answer your more direct questions: we are studying Arabic – 4 hours a day, 4 days a week. All of us are at different levels of Arabic, but we have all taken at least a year of Arabic at Duke. We do have homework (lots of it). We are all trying to speak with Arabic speakers in Arabic, as we go to shops and restaurants, but some refuse to speak Arabic to us even as we answer their English questions with Arabic. Also we have been speaking mostly in English at home, mostly because we are all at different levels and because it would be detrimental to the planning we’ve been doing at home for the volunteer work if we tried to explain those plans in Arabic. But we’re all hoping to speak more Arabic at home as we get more used to using Arabic every day. The environment here, I feel, has been really supportive as we all encourage each other in our Arabic skills.
As for our NGO work, I will make sure that there is a post put up soon that’s explaining exactly what our work here is. Hopefully that future post will answer those questions.
Thanks again!
That is great! I know we will all look forward to hearing about it!
ReplyDeleteHey all--I've really enjoyed reading your blog. And while I agree some with the "touristy" issue, I have enjoyed feeling your enthusiasm for the things you're seeing and experiencing and, I confess, I've even enjoyed some of the "touristy" updates on food, transportation, and the like. But I do find myself wanting to read more along the lines of Brendan's reflections on the eagerness of the students you're working with to learn and the likely hardships they face in the future (the flower unaware of coming winter). I would like to read more about your critical reflections on what you're seeing and doing: what are the social and cultural factors at work shaping the hardships your students face? what does the work you're doing there mean--to you, to the students, to the big picture? what are you conflicted or ambivalent about and why? You know, just thinking a little deeper.
ReplyDeleteBut overall--I'm really enjoying following your postings and your experiences and I appreciate very much the time and energy you're putting into your blogging--because I know how hard you're working at the NGOs and in Arabic and I can only imagine how exhausted you must be at the end of each day when you sit down to blog. Keep up the good work.