An Independent Life Guide in Egypt
11:44It was my second time away from my family after being in a foundation programme for a year and half somewhere in north of Malaysia's peninsular. I flew to Egypt almost six years ago to achieve a dream of becoming a doctor.
"Do you think the journey will be tough?"
"Our classes will be in Arabic, right? I pray not."
"What am I doing here? I wanna go home."
Those were our inner voices when we finally stepped into Zagaziq University for our first Human Anatomy class with Dr Amira.
Funny. I am Amira myself.
I'll never forget the dark skin male cadaver that all of us frowned upon for the first time. The muscles attachments were all labelled, a few organs were stored in the jars near the said male, the head was gone. Imagine the shock of seeing a headless corpse for the first time laid on the hard-steel silver table, our reactions were pretty funny.
A friend of mine threw up. Another fainted upon the sight. A few girlfriends stepped away from the table.
But I stood strong. I find the cadaver was actually fascinating. I am not weird, am I?
Medical school is hard. Frankly speaking, I was more keen towards engineering subjects. Mathematics, Physics and Additional Mathematics were more my forte. However, I am deeply grateful for my journey of becoming a doctor. It was truly challenging.
I was so far from home.
I leaned in to my friend Piqa, who stayed two storey above my one-room apartment, and said, "You need to help me to survive the medical school." I thought of every single one of my batchmates, knowing that some of them didn't come here on their own accord. They were here because they had to.
Later, from time to time, I had spent time trekked to the top of Sinai Mountain in Southern Egypt. I visited the temples of the dead in Upper Egypt, defying any challenges that came. I sailed in a felucca down at Aswan. I specifically remember exchanging glances with a friend at Hanging Church in Old Cairo because of some people were passionately staring right at us. Is it because we wore scarfs? I don't know.
There I was, travelling around Egypt while surviving the medical school.
Sometimes, we focus on too much on the differences : mathematics only works in engineering, accountancy or chemistry only found in chemical fields. I later learned that every field complement each other or at least, some fields will. The same principle applies to our life.
The night sky is beautiful no matter what hemisphere you're in. The sunrise is peaceful as ever. The locals are kind and welcoming. We all smile when we're happy, and vice-versa.
I'm now happy being here after a rocky start few years ago. My years in Egypt are certainly the greatest adventures I ever experienced. I traversed the African continent, flew from Cairo to Durban and driving down to Cape Town, South Africa. I spent days helping in local orphanages and schools in need. My journey was absolutely incredible.
Thank you Egypt for these amazing years. Thank you friends for all of our memories. Let's survive for a little while, together.
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