So last semester we enrolled in a class of our choosing at the University of Alexandria (this class is in addition to the study abroad program we are with). When it came time to take the final for the semester, we all piled into a large auditorium style classroom, with multiple classes taking tests at the same time. The teacher for our class was giving instructions for the test as if he was drilling soldiers.
"Answer only one of these questions! Only one! If you answer more than one, I'm going to take the first one on the paper and grade that one and not even look at the other!" A moment's silence as he paced between the aisles, or up at the front of the room. "I said answer only one! Is that clear?! Do not answer more than one! It won't help your grade in the slightest. Answer the question you think you know best." etc., etc..
At one point a student entered the room, but somehow he did not enter correctly. I'm not certain the logistics of that entrance but our teacher was not happy with it at all. By this point though the student had already taken a seat and had his papers but that didn't stop Mr. Hussein from raising his voice once again. His voice was so loud, accusatory, and aggressive I was convinced something had actually gone horribly wrong. He finally ordered the student to walk back to the door and enter the room again properly (I'm still not certain the logistics).
I was convinced at that point that a dark cloud would be hanging over the space for the duration of the test and thought to myself that there is no way I could handle such treatment. I decided I would have sacrificed my test grade by walking out on the test if I were that student. To my surprise though the teacher cracked a joke, the students started laughing, and the unfortunate student who had become an example for the class, in the midst of his returning to his seat, broke out in smile as if he had understood what the intent behind the whole charade from the beginning. In fact it seems everybody seems to have understood what was going on in some weird Egyptian cultural sense of humor way. No hard feelings remained.
When Mr. Hussein, eventually made his way over to me during the test, as he was making his rounds, he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, read a few of my answers, explained a word in one of the questions to me, smiled, and spoke softly. I noted the stark difference in his actions and words with me.
There is yet another, incident I want to share.
Our Egyptian roommate is a student in the college of dentistry. At one point he had lab which he entered without wearing proper attire. This apparently did not impress the instructor one bit and he let our roommate know about it in front of the other students. Well, our roommate, feeling it was the thing to do, talked back to the teacher and this only angered the teacher further. He ended up getting kicked out of class.
Turns out that class was pretty important for his chances at graduating and the only way to enter the class again was to apologize to the teacher. Most likely this apology needed to be made publicly, in front of the other students. Eventually, our roommate succeeded in entering the class again although I'm not sure exactly how he apologized. In any case though, the situation angered and saddened him greatly at the way the teachers are able to act as they please, bordering on corruption and egotism in his opinion, without any consequences while the students are mere pawns without any power of their own.
As I was speaking with a fellow tenant in our apartments he told me a story which, although we were speaking on another subject, helped explain to me this relationship between Egyptians and authority. The story goes something likes this and takes place in Dubai:
A high ranking official's son attended school and used to beat his classmates. The teacher complained to his father about these manners. The father in return asked a question: "Who is he beating? Citizens or those without citizenship?" The teacher replied, "The citizens." His father replied that this was within his rights then as it is necessary for the leader of the group to put his people in line, but it is considered a lack of manners to beat one's guests as those without citizenship would be considered.
Apply that to how the teacher treated me and how the other student and our roommate was treated... I found it a helpful comparison at least. I should hope it elucidates something for you as well.
(p.s. - I don't have time to proofread this post. Please overlook any mistakes if you would.)
"Answer only one of these questions! Only one! If you answer more than one, I'm going to take the first one on the paper and grade that one and not even look at the other!" A moment's silence as he paced between the aisles, or up at the front of the room. "I said answer only one! Is that clear?! Do not answer more than one! It won't help your grade in the slightest. Answer the question you think you know best." etc., etc..
At one point a student entered the room, but somehow he did not enter correctly. I'm not certain the logistics of that entrance but our teacher was not happy with it at all. By this point though the student had already taken a seat and had his papers but that didn't stop Mr. Hussein from raising his voice once again. His voice was so loud, accusatory, and aggressive I was convinced something had actually gone horribly wrong. He finally ordered the student to walk back to the door and enter the room again properly (I'm still not certain the logistics).
I was convinced at that point that a dark cloud would be hanging over the space for the duration of the test and thought to myself that there is no way I could handle such treatment. I decided I would have sacrificed my test grade by walking out on the test if I were that student. To my surprise though the teacher cracked a joke, the students started laughing, and the unfortunate student who had become an example for the class, in the midst of his returning to his seat, broke out in smile as if he had understood what the intent behind the whole charade from the beginning. In fact it seems everybody seems to have understood what was going on in some weird Egyptian cultural sense of humor way. No hard feelings remained.
When Mr. Hussein, eventually made his way over to me during the test, as he was making his rounds, he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, read a few of my answers, explained a word in one of the questions to me, smiled, and spoke softly. I noted the stark difference in his actions and words with me.
There is yet another, incident I want to share.
Our Egyptian roommate is a student in the college of dentistry. At one point he had lab which he entered without wearing proper attire. This apparently did not impress the instructor one bit and he let our roommate know about it in front of the other students. Well, our roommate, feeling it was the thing to do, talked back to the teacher and this only angered the teacher further. He ended up getting kicked out of class.
Turns out that class was pretty important for his chances at graduating and the only way to enter the class again was to apologize to the teacher. Most likely this apology needed to be made publicly, in front of the other students. Eventually, our roommate succeeded in entering the class again although I'm not sure exactly how he apologized. In any case though, the situation angered and saddened him greatly at the way the teachers are able to act as they please, bordering on corruption and egotism in his opinion, without any consequences while the students are mere pawns without any power of their own.
As I was speaking with a fellow tenant in our apartments he told me a story which, although we were speaking on another subject, helped explain to me this relationship between Egyptians and authority. The story goes something likes this and takes place in Dubai:
A high ranking official's son attended school and used to beat his classmates. The teacher complained to his father about these manners. The father in return asked a question: "Who is he beating? Citizens or those without citizenship?" The teacher replied, "The citizens." His father replied that this was within his rights then as it is necessary for the leader of the group to put his people in line, but it is considered a lack of manners to beat one's guests as those without citizenship would be considered.
Apply that to how the teacher treated me and how the other student and our roommate was treated... I found it a helpful comparison at least. I should hope it elucidates something for you as well.
(p.s. - I don't have time to proofread this post. Please overlook any mistakes if you would.)
Love your posts, they never fail to amuse me.
ReplyDeleteThis, however, saddens me a little. It's an unfortunate fact, heard it from many of my Arab friends- wish things could be fairer to all and people didn't misuse their power...
From Scotland :)
Yea, respect here generally seems to be a one way street: from bottom to top. As a guest here I don't feel like I should speak out too much, but I've gone over what I would say a hundred times if the chance ever arised - of course the imagined chances never seem to turn out like the real ones.
DeleteSo I heard Aberdeen is like the Harvard of Scotland. How veracious would you say that report is?