Student to Student

Go with an Open Mind

By Dirk Padfield, Penn State Univ.

I spent my first day in Egypt reading novels in my dorm room because I was too afraid to venture out into the streets of Cairo. The other American students had not yet arrived, and I felt that my Arabic was inadequate to communicate with Egyptians. When I finally did leave my room, I went to Pizza Hut for dinner.

Ten months later, on my last night before leaving Egypt to fly back home, my Syrian friend Moez and his family joined me in the taxi to the airport. We chatted easily in Arabic. At check-in, the airport security guards appeared suspicious when I answered all of their questions in their own language. Perhaps they thought I was a spy. But they eventually allowed me to board the plane with my luggage laden with Arabic dictionaries, newspapers, and pictures from my travels in Egypt, Jordan, and Israel.

During the months in between, I learned to be less stressed by time schedules after witnessing the carefree nature of the Egyptians as they sat on their porches and in cafes smoking water pipes and talking with their friends for hours on end. I learned what it really means to be poor as I visited my friend Moez in his basement home where he took cold showers from a hose attached to the sink faucet. I learned about the selflessness of people who worked long hours each day for very little money but who would not think twice about asking you to share dinner with their family. I learned about my own spirituality when I saw how Muslims stopped their cars on the street when prayer times arrived and bowed their heads to the pavement in worship of their God.

As I think about all of these things now, I wonder how I could have better prepared for these adventures abroad. What should I have done differently to have benefitted more from the experience?

My answer is quite simple: Nothing. I can say this because I went abroad with an open mind, ready to shed my prejudices and inhibitions in order that I could be immersed in a way of life, a religion, a culture so different from my own. Looking back, I realize that an open mind is the best equipment for anyone who wants to live or study in a different land. Apart from some essential aspects of the language and culture, most of the things you will need to know you can learn once you arrive.

Now that I am back at Penn State, I recall the apprehension I felt when I first considered the prospect of studying abroad. Because my major is electrical engineering and the American Univ. in Cairo does not offer that major, my advisers recommended that I not study there for an entire year. With careful planning of class schedules and courses, however, I have been able to make up all of the courses I missed while studying abroad. I will be finishing a major in both electrical engineering and international studies in four years. Studying abroad was certainly not an impossible feat, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

With my background in Middle Eastern studies and engineering, I plan to return to the Middle East to work as an engineer after I graduate. The experience in Egypt served not only to introduce me to an entirely new way of life but also evoked a great desire to continue my travels and experience other cultures and languages. I know that as long as I take with me the quality of openmindedness the doors of hospitality will open wherever I go, and I will be prepared for anything I may encounter.

DIRK PADFIELD spent a year in Israel after high school doing voluntary service at the Baha'i World Center. There he became interested in the Arabic language, which eventually led to study in Cairo during his second year at university. Along with a major in electrical engineering, he will graduate from Pennsylvania State Univ. with a degree in international studies with a concentration in the Middle East.