The beginning is the end is the beginning...

Hello everyone,

     Truth be told, this is actually my first blog, and although I realize the number of them out there at this point is getting ridiculous, I've been asked to keep some sort of formal account of my upcoming adventures in Egypt to share with friends and family back home. Additionally, I would also like to use this space as a soundboard and exchange of sorts for future travels/work/research on and in the Middle East. That being said, I hope to update this post regardless of where I am. The Arab World is too fascinating for how little we as Americans know about it. This past year, I learned for the first time that the Middle East's literary tradition dates back to before 500 A.D., an age which far swamps the great ancient canonical works in our own language, such as Beowulf or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I was blown away that, although I've been to school for 17 years now, I had never learned anything about Arabic Literature. Back at Bucknell University, I looked up Naguib Mahfouz, the great Egyptian writer of the 20th century who had won the Novel Prize for Literature, and, as chance would have it, he passed away just the day before (August 30, 2006). However, although Bucknell at that time was just beginning an Arabic program, no one seemed to even acknowledge the passing of one of the Arab world's most influential and prestigious authors. It was at this point that I realized the travesty of ignorance the world in general holds for Arabic Literature, and was resolved to study this little-known area of the world and its literature. The title of this blog, ChitChat on the Nile, is actually a title of one of Naguib Mahfouz's books, which portrays high-class society in modern Egypt. Thus due to my passion for Arabic Literature and my upcoming journey to Egypt, I only thought it proper to use this literary reference as the title for this memoir/reflection/study of a webspace. Please let me know your thoughts and curious musings, as indeed I will attempt to share my own as well.