Sorry about the lack of updates recently – now I’ve moved out of the hotels I’ve been hopping between, I’ve lost a reliable, constant internet connection. That should change soon, though, once we’re allowed to use the university’s computers.
Anyhoo… yes, I’m now in an apartment in Alex, living with Josh, also from Durham. Bizarrely, neither of us expected there to be any other Durham people on this course… says something about the organisational skills of Durham’s Arabic Department, methinks. We’re living literally 5 minutes away from the faculty, in an apartment block behind the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the new Library of Alexandria). Very convenient, if a little shabby.
The TAFL (Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language) course started on Sunday, with a couple of days of induction, form filling and administrative stuff. Then yesterday, we started two days of revision – most helpful when the only Arabic we’ve looked at since late May was for a resit (which, incidentally, I passed). Tomorrow we have a test to judge our level of Arabic, to make sure we’re placed in the right level teaching groups. For some reason, a lot of people are obsessing over this test, really worrying about what happens if they don’t do well. Judging from what I’ve seen of the students from other universities (Manchester, SOAS, Westminster, Bremen, etc), they’ve got nothing to worry about. Besides – this isn’t a pass/fail test, and nothing is set in stone. I’d rather do fairly badly in the test and be put in a group that reinforces some of the things I’m not sure about than be put in a group in which I struggle to keep up.
So… that’s my life at the moment. Back at university, in a foreign country. That’s all I can think of for now. I have a couple of fairly interesting (and witty, I think) posts on general Egyptian life saved on my computer, which I’ll post when I get an opportunity. Suffice to say, the drivers here are absolute nutters.
