4am Conversation at McDonald’s

I’m turning more and more Egyptian every single day. One way (see previous entry) to tell is my increasingly late nights in Cairo (and eating past midnight). I need to get myself to a gym soon or else you all won’t recognize me when I come back 

As the title suggests, I stayed up late in Downtown Cairo with my friend Ahmed. We were chilling at an Egyptian tea house, and we got real hungry. So we went to McD’s and I got a Fillet-O-Fish sandwich. It tasted just like the ones in America. Globalization does have its perks.

While we were waiting for our order, Ahmed bumped into an old acquaintance – a college friend. We were introduced to each other. This college friend of his happens to have a fiancée named Sasha.

We decided to sit together to have our late-night snack, but our meal slowly turned to a two-hour conversation. Sasha was the greatest inspiration to me since…oh, I don’t know, say Jesus. Her life pretty much tells it all.

Sasha is unconventional in every sense. Her mother is some hot shot on Wall Street, while she is the black sheep of the family, as exemplified by her desire to travel and see the world instead of taking on a job at Deutsch Bank. She does not follow rules (see her outfit...ripped leggings and tank top in downtown Cairo), nor is she one who easily backs out of confrontations in order to fight for what she really believes in (one time she got into a nasty argument with Egyptian men for debasing these women, and almost got into a fight with them before her boyfriend – now fiancé – pulled her out). I think Sasha is something that I truly want to be: one who is genuine and one who does not easily compromise her principles.

What is more is that she is the only person I have seen, in my three years since I have been at Cornell, who truly exudes a passion for what she is pursuing in life. Sasha is going to be studying fashion design at Parson’s this September. She is not planning to pursue haute couture after this and earn a big name for herself. All she wants is to channel her love for literature and politics with her passion for creating beautiful pieces of clothing. All out of love for what she is doing.

Sasha is one of the most intelligent people I have met since my three years at college. That is because she knows what life is truly about. It is not about these vain pursuits for wealth, prestige, power, or name. It is about truly living out your passion and your principles.

It’s such fresh and healthy thinking. Why can't there be more Sashas in this world?