My Memorable Encounter

There are many memorable encounters and experiences that shaped me into the character I am now. Reflecting upon the many foreigners I've met throughout my life, the one I remember the most is Hasna - the girl I have met during my hotel internship in Egypt.

It was March 2009 when I received a word from the teacher of my Secondary School of Hotel Administration, that I would be invited to take part in their internship program. With more than 100 student from all over the world, I started my monthly practice in Cairo. I was extremely exciting and I felt that it was the key to building a successful career. As it turned out not only was that experience a great job opportunity, but also wonderful occasion to meet new people and assimilate with different culture. As it was my first faraway trip, my culture shock experience was very intensive. Besides all of the vastly cultural differences: the sound, smell and new sights, it was my exposure to another level of poverty that hit me the most. There are suburbs as Garden City or al - Zamalek, where wealthy send their children to private schools and universities abroad. Yet not far from these affluent neighbourhoods, a significant number of poor Egyptians live in squalor, with inadequate access to health care and education. One day I was invited to the home of Hasna to meet her family. The first of many such invitations but by far the most memorable. To my surprise I was not greeted with the usual "ahlan, ahlan" with food being shoved down me and a barrage of questions about where I'm from and how much I like Egypt. This family was quiet and completely unexcited to see me. The youngest son - Hasana's brother - lay in a bed. The father asked me without even greeting me, how much money I had. At first, I thought he was being rude, but quickly the mother using basic level of English explained to me that her family had no reason to be happy, as "their son had a sick heart and will die soon". I was shocked, as I did not realize that Hasna - who I met every day - lived in such conditions. I later discovered through someone else that this boy could have been helped with proper medical care, but it was beyond this family's financial capacity to pay for it. Looking back in retrospect, The T- shirt I was wearing that day when I visited them, cost me the equivalent of at least a month's rent to that family.

All in all, after this visit I have learned several valuable lessons. Firstly, I understood the importance of learning languages. Until you can truly connect with people from another culture, you will never fully grasp the struggles that people all over the world go through. Moreover, as a future teacher I have to remember that each child is brought up in different social background. It is necessary and important to treat all pupils equally, as every child has the same right to learn whether is rich or poor.

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