I Went to Egypt to Study Arabic, And All I Got Was This T-Shirt?

Imagine it. You decide to head to Cairo for a semester or year to study Arabic and other subjects, only to be caught up in a small revolution and the cancellation of classes. It can be an exciting time. It can be a frightening experience, too.

Imagine meeting on the Nile island of Zamalek, and listening to Lisa Anderson, the American University in Cairo’s new president, about not knowing when classes would resume or getting tuition refunds. Worse,… it can be awful when your home university tells you that they aren’t going to accept credits if the classes are postponed.

But at least 21 students, though, decided to transfer from their Egyptian programs to programs of study in Israel. Masa Israel Journey arranged for nearly two dozen North American students to cross the Suez Canal to Israel to continue their Arabic language studies. More than half the students chose to enroll in and get credits from The Rothberg International School at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The others chose programs at the University of Haifa and at Givat Haviva’s Intensive Arabic Semester. The students hailed from Princeton, Vanderbilt, Michigan State, Allegheny, the University of California system, Elon, and other schools. Masa Israel Journey coordinates over 160 programs of study in Israel.

The University of Haifa went so far as to offer a special orientation to the students and even meet them at the airport. What? Now that is service! Plus, I hear they also will throw in a t-shirt.

Now, with regard to those students in Tripoli….