They will visit Egypt as student ambassadors
By:John Patten
Five students and four teachers from Hillsborough schools will be visiting the land of pharaohs and pyramids next month as part of the People-to-People Student Ambassadors program.
For now, they are busy making preparations for the trip to
Egypt, including a recent meeting with Egyptian Consul Wliad Shamseldin at
the Neshanic Reformed Church.
The consul met with students Christel Arribe, Crystal
Coddington and Wayne Staats, students at Hillsborough Middle School, and
high-schoolers Shaina Beutin and Melissa Ann Kull, along with their parents
and the families of 30 other students making the trip to share some
important information about Egypt.
Mr. Shamseldin assured the students they would be able to
find McDonald’s or Wendy’s restaurants in Egypt, if they chose, since
"Egyptian children like hamburgers, too."
That’s not to say the students won’t be encountering a
very different society when they arrive in Cairo on July 20. The students
were warned about "traveler’s sickness," and told to drink only bottled
water and to avoid fruit such as apples and watermelons, which contain
unpurified water and can make travelers sick.
And the trip counselors Hillsborough teachers Kathy
Perl, Bob Fenster, Jim Lattanzi and Erin Bauersachs warned the girls
they will need shorts that extend below their knees and dresses that cover
their shoulders.
The New York-based Egyptian diplomat made the trip to
Hillsborough on June 9 at the request of his boss, Egyptian Ambassador
Mahmoud Allam, who had been invited to meet with the students by Shaina
Beutin in April.
After signing up for the program, Shaina began educating
herself about Egypt and decided the best source of information would be the
Egyptians. So she contacted the embassy in Washington, and was subsequently
invited to attend a special showing of artifacts from the palace of
Cleopatra held in Paterson at the end of April.
Shaina went to the presentation and met Mr. Allam, and the
two quickly established a special friendship. The ambassador agreed to meet
with the students, but had to ask Mr. Shamseldin to fill in for him when
diplomatic needs interfered.
The families of the travelers met to discuss security
precautions and traveler tips with the students, in addition to the
opportunity to hear Mr. Shamseldin. Ms. Bauersachs, a veteran of
People-to-People trips, helped the students begin thinking about the special
challenges of traveling to an exotic locale like Egypt.
But that didn’t seem to concern any of the students or
their parents, who all expressed confidence in the program.
"I have faith in the People-to-People program," Donna
Kull, whose daughter, Hillsborough High School student Melissa, is traveling
overseas for the first time, said. "I know they will take care of the kids."
Crystal Coddington’s mother, Bonnie, agrees the program
offers a safe way for the children to visit other countries. Crystal is
making her third voyage with the group this year, after visiting Yosemite
National Park two years ago and Europe last year.
"The People-to-People program is really good about that,"
Ms. Coddington said.
The purpose of the trip, however, is for the students to
learn more about other cultures, and those set to leave next month have been
eagerly learning as much about Egypt as possible.
"The pyramids are going to be amazing," Melissa Kull said.
"I just want to see it (Egypt). I’ve seen it in movies and it’s really neat
to be able to see it."
Hillsborough Middle School seventh-grader Christel Arribe
is also anxious to see the famed Pyramids.
"We’ve been studying Egypt for a year," Christel said.
Wayne Staats, also a student at Hillsborough Middle
School, knows what he wants to see Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, where
treasures and mummies have been discovered.
"That’s where a lot of treasures and the tombs are," he
said.
The trip will take them to those places, as well as Luxor,
El Gouna and Aswan, traveling by train and on a Nile cruise ship.
The students are required to write an essay about their
experiences upon their return, with high school and college credits awarded
to them for their studies. Shaina plans to do her essay photographically,
capturing her experiences with the lens of a camera.
The students have a few weeks left before they depart for
the Egypt, which may be just enough time to find those long shorts and
sleeved dresses.