Welcome to The Odyssey Live Chats from Cairo, Egypt! Several high school students, ages 13-17, will be joining us live from Cairo, along with Trekkers Kavitha, Jasmine, and Monica.

<Moderator> Welcome to the World Trek Live Chat!

<Moderator> Kavitha and Jasmine are with us - as well as two students from Cairo. Dahlia is 14 and in 9th grade. She's from America, Lebanon and Egypt. Hye Jin is 15 and she's from South Korea - although she lived in Hungary for five years, and now Egypt for 3 years. They're looking forward to answering your questions - so keep sending them in!

<GDOD (CHICAGO)> What kinds of things to you like to do?

<Hye-Jin> I like to take walks in a quiet peaceful forest, (there really isn't one here) and I like to chill with my buds and write poems in my spare time.

<Dahlia> Well I like to do a lot of different things.. Umm I love acting, dancing listening to music and I love all kinds of sports especially Track and Field. That's my fav sport.

<Connie (Oceanport, NJ)> Dahlia, What was hardest thing to adjust to when you moved from America to Egypt and/or Lebanon?

<Dahlia> Well it wasn't really hard for me cuz I was born in th e states and then directly after two months I travelled to Egy pt at 52 days old so it wasn't really a hard adjustment for me .This is my home..

<Sharon (Billings, Mo)> What are your favorite foods to eat - do you prefer American or Egyptian food?

<Hye-Jin> Well, I prefer American but I like some Egyptian foods ...I like Korean food too! I live off of it actually.

<Kavitha> Does your mom make kim-chee?

<Hye-Jin> Yes, my mom makes kim-chee, (which is a Korean spicy cabbage food thing a ma gig.)

<Dahlia> I would truly have to say neither cuz my fav food is Italian!! Its kind of a different twist.... I especially love pasta, I go crazy over pasta... But I also like different kinds of Egyptian and American foods too..

<Linda (Oceanport, NJ)> Hye-Jin, what type of poetry?

<Hye-Jin> I like just free verse poetry...I write when I can about whats happening in my life or what I'm thinking about.

<Jon (Oceanport, NJ)> Are the classes and schools co-ed (boys and girls together)? What are your favorite subjects?

<Hye-Jin> The classes and schools are co-ed and my favorite subjects are Science, English, and Choir.

<Dahlia> Yes they are co-ed all of them. My fav subjects are Drama, World Cultures, and I like science a bit and physical education.

<GDOD (Chicago)> What kind of sports to do you like?

<Hye-Jin> I like volleyball and I really enjoy climbing. And hockey is one of my favorites...

<Dahlia> I like lots of sports. But my fav is track and field. I loved that sport. I also like soccer, basketball, hockey, swimming, and handball.

<Jennifer (Billings, Mo)> Do you travel around Cairo by yourselves?

<Dahlia> It depends where in Cairo. But if I'm in the school area or the area where I live then I travel around by myself. I have a driver because I live so far away from school so I get to travel alone to most places.

<Hye-Jin> I usually take a cab if it isn't downtown, but when I do get pretty far from where I live, I usually take my driver with me.

<CJ (Oceanport, NJ)> Do you smoke Tobacco? Because the other Egyptian boys we talked to said they do.

<Dahlia> No. I don't smoke tobacco, even though it is a really popular thing to do here.

<Hye-Jin> I don't. I'm not really into that stuff, but some bud s of mine do smoke shishaa(water pipe)

<Todd (Billings, Mo)> What do your parents do? Because you moved around a lot and stuff. Was that hard?

<Hye-Jin> My dad is the chairman of Daewoo Motors, and we live overseas because of him, my mom is just a mom. I've gotten use d to moving around, losing friends is hard...but making new ones isn't. I love moving around because I love seeing the world's beauty.

<Dahlia> My dad is a publisher - he owns two publishing companies one here and one in Lebanon. My mom is kind of an assistant to my dad and they travel around the world a lot.

<Jade (Oceanport, NJ)> Are marriges pre arranged or can you choose?

<Dahlia> Well it really depends on what class you live in here. If it is the low class and the villagers have mostly pre-arranged....But most of the time depending on your family you can choose.

<Hye-Jin> Some are pre-arranged but then again there are ones that are not pre-arranged.

<Monica> I have a question. Do you two think that there's a separation between Egyptians and other foreigners in your school? or does everybody hang out together?

<Dahlia> Yes there is a huge seperation, the Egyptians are totally isolated in their own group and the rest are divided into their own group. Our school is all about cliques.

<Hye-Jin> Oh yeah~!Big time. The Egyptians just hang and chill with other Egyptians but they do sometimes chill with us. We have a lot of cliques and groups in our grade.

<Dahlia> I wish everyone would hang together, but I'm buds with mostly everyone.

<Hye-Jin> But it's gotten better since Middle School...we all grew up I guess.

<Everyone (Oceanport, NJ)> Our school has cliches too.

<Dahlia> That's good to know that we ain't the only ones with cliques in this world.

<Monica> I think every school has cliques.... but it's good when somebody can interact with all different people, instead of just one clique...

<Kayle (Oceanport, NJ)> Do you go out at night with your friends on the weekends?

<Hye-Jin> Yeah, we do go out at night...we're not complete bozos ...hehehe, and we usually go out on Thursdays which is our Fri day.

<Dahlia> Yes I do all the time in fact. It is a neccessity to life! I go out mostly on the weekends and me and my buds usually go hang at someone's house listening to music and watching movies....

<Hye-Jin> Unlike the system in most countries, we have Friday and Saturday off. Our school days are Sunday through Thursday.

<Dahlia> Also we go out to resturants and the movies, sometimes we go on feluccas, boats across the Nile river.

<Lizzy, Compton CA> What do you think about all of the tourism?

<Hye-Jin> Well, I guess that tourism is a big part of Egypt. For example , after the terrorist attacks about three years ago, it'd be so rare to see tourists around here. It does get pretty busy around here, and when tourist seasons come around, it's crowded.

<Dahlia> I think that tourists are good and bad for this country. first of all it is a major source of money for the Egyptians.... the con of tourism is that it is ruining some of the gorgeous amazing nature in this country like the Sinai it has amazing beaches and oceans and is really clean, but since so many tourists are coming it is ruining this.

<Connie (Oceanport, NJ)> School is about to end...the buses are pulling in front of the school. I want to thank you so very much for taking the time to talk to my students. If you'd like to send us email, please don't hesitate. Just email it to cfalvo@exit109.com. Teacher--Connie Falvo http://www.oceanport.k12.nj.us

<Dahlia> OK cool thank you for giving us the privelage to chat. I'll keep in contact.

<Moderator> Well, our time is up. Thank you to Dahlia and Hye Jin for answering questions - and to all the students out there who did the asking. Join us again, with more Egyptian students on Monday morning Oct. 29

<Moderator> Happy Thanksgiving!