Life in Cairo
Mini-profile of Rawan Rashad
Rawan is one of the warmest, welcoming and affectionate people one can meet. She is a 19-year old Egyptian girl who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia. When she graduated from high school, she and her family decided to move back to Egypt where she is currently continuing her education at American University in Cairo (AUC). Even though she spent a significant part of her life in another country, Egypt was is and always will be in her heart. “We have so many places to visit and things to do, and there is the aspect of having my family members here so it’s already my home,” says Rawan about Egypt. She used to visit her home country every year for a month in the summer and going back to her life in Saudi Arabia was always a challenge. “I’d always tell my parents I don’t want to go back because I’d miss my family in Egypt. But when school starts and I see my friends I forget about it,” Rawan says.
Rawan attended an American international school in Saudi Arabia which is also a country of diversity. People from countries like Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt go there to seek better job opportunities and this is how Rawan’s family ended up there. However, Saudi Arabia is much more segregated, closed off, and duller than Egypt. This is another reason why Rawan is happy to return to Egypt for a long period of time.
Now she is pursuing a double major in Business and Mass Communications. As a child, Rawan always had a dream to be a TV show host, so this is why Mass Communications studies seemed the right choice for her. However, her dad persuaded her to study Business too since she needs a more substantial major. “We have this notion in Egypt that if you’re not an engineer or a doctor, you’re basically not doing anything of value,” explains Rawan. Apart from her studies, she enjoys sports activities like cross-fit practices and she is part of the rugby team. “I’ve always been an athletic person and I used to play basketball. But when I came to university, a friend of mine told me I should try rugby and it was the perfect match for me.”, says Rawan. Apart from enjoying different sports activities, she also participates in The Good Program club whose participants visit different orphanages once a week to spend time with the orphans and teach them different things.
Rawan manages to stay closely involved with the community, even though she lives off-campus with her parents. “In our culture, the parents are responsible for the kids not until he/she turns 18 like in foreign cultures but until this kid gets married,” she shares. If you don’t get married, you are not expected to move out either and your parents are obligated to pay for your education. “That’s the culture in Egypt. Here you would be frowned upon if you live alone when you’re still in university. It looks bad.” However, after graduation Rawan plans on moving out of her house, getting married, and work in the Marketing industry for an international company. Until then she has two more years of college life at AUC where the community is more international and diverse than anywhere else in the country.
When elaborating on her life path after college Rawan shares another curious insight about the culture in Egypt: “It’s the same for every Egyptian girl. You graduate, you get married and if you’re privileged enough to work, you work.”
___________________________________________________________________
Vesselina Tasev is a Journalism and Mass Communication student at AUBG. She loves meeting people from different cultures.
