Picture collage taken from UW-River Falls Global Connections webpage for Journey to Egypt Study Tour, Nov. 2009.
From left to right, the pictures show previous study groups on a camel back ride to an ancient Christian monastery, posing within the Temple of Karnak, stopping in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza, and a few entering Abu Simbel, one of the temples that was reassembled piece by piece in a new location to avoid being submerged by the construction of the Aswan dam.
The above photo collage, and many like it, have made up the simple advertising campaign for the J-Term Egypt Study Tour. With enticing pictures like these, they really don't need much. However, the point is further driven home by the professor leading the tour. Each year he gives an excellent short lecture about the tour; what we will see and experience, who we will meet, how it will happen is all explained in great detail and with infectious enthusiasm.
From a more personal and slightly metaphysical perspective, this trip will truly be one of my defining experiences. It already has been.
I have always craved the adventure that traveling to far off places has. My grandmother infected me with the travel bug at a very early age and it has always itched under my skin, convincing me to try new things, go to new places, meet new people. However, for the last few years I've felt a bit stuck in my everyday routine that I have established for myself - mostly the everyday grind of class, work, and homework that are the bars of the college prison. The small adventures that I have embarked on, like roadtrips with friends or an unmarked hiking trail with Chris, have kept the hunger at bay but not quite satisfied the craving.
I need to experience something so entirely different from my norm - I feel it is imperative to enrich my education in becoming a teacher, to fulfill aspects of my personality and being, and to grow as an individual part of a connected, global community.
Also, I love falafel. ^-^
For more information on the Egypt Study Tour please visit:
http://www.uwrf.edu/globalconnections/Study_Abroad/tours/egypt.htm
