Wrapping Up

Upon returning to Cairo, we spent a little less than 24 hours before being whisked away via EgyptAir to Abu Dhabi. Talk about culture shock. The change from dry heat to barely breathable humidity, from dirty, dusty concrete buildings to shiny and clean metal skyscrapers, from crowded streets to empty highways, from the Flamenco Hotel to the Intercontinental. Treated luxuriously, I was profusely thankful for Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak's generosity in providing us with such wonderful accommodations. After the initial shock of the luxurious treatment we were to receive for the next five days wore off, I began contemplating what we were doing here. Details, as per usual, were vague leaving me to wonder what to expect.
The next 3 days ended up being the most mentally rigorous on the trip thus far. Under the vague cover of women's issues, I chose to join the "education" group. Somewhat distracted by the incessant photographing and videotaping, our group was left somewhat in the dark, trying to address THE most important sub-topics under the umbrella of "Education." After a few hours, a couple observations came into focus, not only in regards to women in education. Concurrently looking up governmental policies on education in both America and the Middle East, my mind wandered to my group's earlier discussion. I almost laughed as I realized how similar we were in our working habits. On the coffee breaks, I talked with some of my American friends and my observations became even clearer. Regardless of what country we were from, all of us felt stressed, which led to frequent tangents in conversations. The apathy I see in so many college students (myself not necessarily excluded) pervaded borders as the excitement to work on this project slowly dwindled. On another note, we were able to diffuse respective assumptions about each other's cultures, or at least try to. Not only was this an opportunity to learn about the programs and policies regarding women in the Arab world, I learned a significant amount about women in my own country, information talked about but which I had not been able to fully comprehend. More importantly, I believe, I was able to see firsthand that despite major cultural and religious differences, students my age are very similar in many ways.
This dialoguing is one of the most important aspects of the trip. My generation has a lot of problems to deal with in the near future. I truly believe that making international connections at this point in time with students our age is one of the greatest benefits we will have in the future. This type of networking connects the youth of my generation on a personal level, allowing for relationships to develop between nations, perhaps helping better understand the problems of our generation.
*****
After the final presentations were given and reports handed in, I was caught up in a whirlwind of traveling and personal reflection. The last 48 hours of the trip were both the most confusing but the most reflective days; with flights at 3 or 5:30 in the morning and a severe lack of sleep, the fact that the trip was over began to sink in. Although I have physically returned home, my mind remains in a constant flux of reflection, replaying memories and readjusting perspectives.