Every two weeks we have a meeting to discuss problems with the program, suggestions, issues with our life here in Egypt, etc. and I had been debating whether or not to bring up what happened after the soccer match during today's meeting because I really didn't want to dwell on it any more than necessary. But it turns out that in response to recent events, Nehad, Khalid, and Lizz had planned ahead of time to talk about sexual harassment. I think that the meeting was really useful, and we came to several important conclusions. First of all, cat calls on the street are one thing, but the physical touching that Carolyn and myself experienced, or the public exposure that other girls in our group have been experiencing are NOT okay, and should not just be dismissed as "normal" occurrences here. These occurrences have lasting effects on us. One point that kept coming up in the discussion, is that, yes, it is important to take preventative action to make sure that these things don't continue to happen, but at the same time it's even more important to show sensitivity to what we are going through, to acknowledge that each of us females has a different daily experience, and that each of us react differently.

I also didn't know how many people in our group had read this blog, and I just want to say that I really appreciate everyone who talked to me about it. Even the smallest acknowledgement helped. I think that the other girls and myself really feel like we have American and Egyptian "brothers" now in the program. And if at least one good thing can come out of this, it's that I feel like we are becoming closer as a group.