Hello everyone!!

Well, I'm back from Egypt! I don't even know where to start...I got back on Tuesday, but as soon as I got back I had a big family change, and I just got settled in yesterday, so this is the first chance I've had to sit down and write a little something. I'm working on my massive Flipbook update, but I'm sure everyone wanted to know how Egypt was, so I'll give you all a little preview.

First of all, I'm pleased to announce that I am currently the only exchange student to have a great tan in March. The Brazilians and Mexicans are pretty jealous about that. The weather in Egypt was great; it rained for about five minutes when we first got there, and then was hot and sunny the rest of the two weeks.

My roommate at the conference was a girl named Irina from Moldova. She got to the hotel at 2 am the day of the conference, so I woke up and started speaking rapid-fire English to her, asking her how her flight was and everything. After about five minutes of my talking, she finally admitted 'Je ne parle pas l'anglais'. Oops. I was basically like a translator for the week, which was good because my French skills have definitely started to slip since I've been here. Everyone else was more or less fluent in English, but it was the accents that were a bit confusing. Having a conversation with an Estonian, a Dane, a Slovakian and an Austrian all at the same time isn't as easy as you would think!

Our first night together, we were all introduced by country. It was a bit weird to be introduced as 'Canada' when I haven't been there in seven months. Pretty much everyone knew that I was actually on an exchange to Turkey, and I had some interesting conversations with people who had been on Rotary exchanges before, including a girl from the States (currently studying in Scotland) who was on an exchange to Izmir, Turkey 4 years ago! We had sooo much to talk about, and I left the conference with a list of cafes and restaurants that I 'absolutely, without a doubt HAVE to try while in Izmir'.

The speakers that Rotary had arranged were wonderful. My personal favourites were by a man named Massimo Latera who is principal at an International school in Egypt and by another man who has worked as a journalist in Egypt and told us about the problems that still exist with the lack of freedom of speech. As an aspiring music journalist, no freedom of speech is a frightening prospect, so it was interesting to hear about it. Other speakers talked about Conflict Resolution, Model United Nations, The Meaning and Role of Rotary, and Public Speaking. It was so well prepared, and the speakers managed to capture the attention of a group of students, even though more than three quarters of them used English as a second or third language. Very impressive!

The excursions that Rotary planned for us were absolutely amazing. We took a drive through Cairo on my first full day in Egypt, and I was wondering to myself if I would be able to see the pyramids from where we were. I decided that there was no chance of it, we were too far away, and I wouldn't even embarrass myself by asking the driver. Suddenly, from behind an apartment building, the top of the Great Pyramid showed up...As we kept driving, the whole pyramid was exposed, even though we were in the city surrounded by tall buildings. The only way I can describe seeing the pyramids is 'surreal'. They are just so big, and it makes my head hurt to think that they were built a couple THOUSAND years ago. We took a trip to go see the pyramids, and I was actually a bit disappointed when I got my pictures developed because they were too big to fit in a shot. In retrospect, I think the fact that they were so big that I couldn't even take a proper picture of

them just reinforces their greatness! We also took trips to the Bibliotheca Alexandria, the National Museum in Cairo (I saw King Tut's famous gold mask!), and Khan al-Khalili bazaar. We also took a sunset Nile cruise, which gave me a taste of what was to come...

The Nile cruise was unbelievable. At the end of the trip, I had literally been from one end of Egypt to the other. The cruise could basically be divided into two parts...The actual relaxing cruise part, and our touring part. We would wake up early (4:30 am once) to beat the heat (and crowds)and tour until lunch, return to the boat, eat, and set out again until dinner. As was the case in Cairo, we saw absolutely amazing things: The Valley of the Kings (NOT for the claustrophobic), Temple of Luxor, Temple of Karnak, Elephantine Island (the new home for displaced Nubians), the High Dam at Aswan and the Temple of Philae are just a few of the things we saw.

We had a ruthless tour guide who would yell, push, and shove in order for us to get the best view of whatever we were looking at, so things could get a little tense sometimes. Ultimately, it was because of him that we were able to see and learn so much, even if it did almost lead to a war between rival tour guides.

The actual cruise was great, too. There were loud, boisterous Italians on the boat, loud, boisterous Spaniards on the boat, and a bunch of reserved English people on the boat. Despite battles at the buffet table, we all got along in the evenings when there was entertainment on the boat. We saw Nubian dancers, played bingo, watched a belly dancer, and had a galybraya (Iwasn't even going to bother to try and spell that properly...when in doubt, spell it phonetically is my motto) party, with all the passengers in full Egyptian regalia. It DEFINITELY made for some great pictures. There were 6 of us from the conference (including me) on the cruise, and we became really close during the course of the week. We even managed to pull down the language barrier thanks to this strange language that was some English/German/French hybrid.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end....Not before waiting for 20 and a half hours in the airport in Cairo, though. Definitely a lesson in patience. I arrived back in Istanbul at 6 am, and met with the wonderful family that hosted me while there. They were like the frosting on the cake...They were so great and made sure that I made the most of my few days in Istanbul. I consider them as one of my families in Turkey, and lucky for me, the consider me to be their Canadian daughter. Now I'm back in Izmir and living with a new family in the trendiest part of town. I'm sooo happy.

Well, my 'preview' has turned into a huge novel-of-an-explanation. And there is so much more that I could say! But now for the most important part of the email....THANK YOU. A huge thank you to EVERYONE from District 7040 and Montreal-Lakeshore Rotary club. You have no idea how grateful I am for having this opportunity. I was blown away when this trip was proposed to me in the first place, and blown away when everyone started to contribute to this trip, and I am still blown away that this is all on top of . A lot of time was dedicated to making sure that I made it to Egypt, which is why I am 100% positive that I am the luckiest exchange student around, to have been sponsored by the best Rotary club in the world in the best district in the world. I am looking forward to having the chance to think you all individually in person when I get back from Canada, but for now you'll have to accept my sincerest thanks from online. Thank you again, and I look forward from hearing from you!

Take care,

Theresa Guihan

Canada/Turkey