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Opinions on the foreign lands in which Williams Students have studied.
=== Egypt ===
The Egyptians call their country "the mother of the world," and in a sense this is true. At times Cairo feels like the third world, and at times it feels like the first, the original, the birthplace of human civilization. Of course, human civilization behaves a little differently in a city of 17 million and can be a harsh transition after leaving Williamstown. If you don't see this coming, you're not very smart.
The American University in Cairo is probably the best option for studying abroad (at least in a traditional university setting) in Egypt and all of the Middle East (there's always the American University of Beirut, if you like to live dangerously.) For Political Science, Middle Eastern Studies, and of course Arabic, AUC can't be beat. The language of instruction is English, and the language of administration is also English, but the academic and administrational systems move at completely different paces. If you are the type to stress out about your student visa, paperwork, drop/add, student IDs, etc., then either get over it or go somewhere less interesting. Cairo pace is certainly not New York pace.
That said, for those seeking active involvement and a certain degree of immersion, AUC is fabulous. Student political groups are available for all sorts of different activities (still haven't seen the pro-Israel group, though) and athletics (at least rowing) is actually fairly involving and competitive, although certainly not at the level most are used to at Williams. Egyptians are amazingly friendly and helpful, especially if you can speak even a little bit of (colloquial) Arabic. The exchange rate is about 5.7:1 Egyptian pounds to the dollar so food is cheap; come here and find your cafes and restaurants and make yourself a regular and you'll find plenty of locals who will be happy to help you with your Arabic and give you colorful political commentary. Not a lot of Bush fans though, and again, if this suprises you, Cairo really isn't the place for you.
=== England ===
