Seif Bassiouny, History 150 Spring 2017, Conducted by Charlie Tinsley, March 24, 2017.

A. This interview was conducted in person. When transcribing the interview, I tried to only keep the relevant information. Setting up the interview consisted of Seif and I arranging a time where we both had time to sit down and talk. We held the interview in his basement dorm and used my phone to record the interview.

B. Seif is currently attending JMU on a student visa from Egypt. He comes from a middle-class family of 5.  Seif’s goal is to obtain a business degree and pursue an investment banking career back in Egypt of Dubai.

C. In 2011 there was an Egyptian Revolution. Millions gathered to protests their countries then current economic state. The president during the time, Hosni Mubarak, was considered corrupt and not fit for leadership so the people wanted him to step down.  One of the first protests took place on an Egyptian national holiday, but later called “day of rage.” Police and civilians were resorting to violence because of the great political unrest. Eventually, the president did step down and the people of Egypt have started to rebuild their nation.

Kanalley, Craig. “Egypt Revolution 2011: A Complete Guide To The Unrest.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 30 Jan. 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

“Timeline: Egypt’s revolution.” Timeline: Egypt’s revolution – Al Jazeera English. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

D.  Transcription-

SB: My full name is Seif Tarek Ibrahim Bassiouny Abdou and it’s not very common in America to have a long name like that because I have my grandfathers name and father’s name and two family names. I grew up in Cairo, Egypt and I just moved here last year, my freshman year of college. I am going back to Egypt of college.

CT: Why did you come to Virginia?

SB: It happened a month before school started. I saw an ad in the newspaper about an agency to apply for school over in the states. I thought ok let’s give it a try. So I went for an interview and talked with a representative from JMU. I was accepted and decided to go to JMU.

CT: So why the United States over another country?

SB: The United States has a stronger economy, more developed, one of the leading countries of the world because of the education system. I want to learn, see their lifestyle and a bunch of different stuff. Because a lot of people from Egypt go to Europe so when I’m applying to jobs, it wouldn’t have really stood out to people in Egypt.

CT: What degree are you trying to obtain?

SB: I am trying to get a degree in economics and finance.

CT: What do you want to do with that?

SB: I want to go into investment banking. But I’m going to intern as an investment bank this summer. (In Egypt or Dubai)

CT: Can you describe your family?

SB: We are a family of 5. My dad sends medical equipment to hospitals and my mom is an accountant. My younger sister is still in school and my brother is getting his bachelor degree in college right now.

CT: Have they ever been to the United States?

SB: Yeah we’ve all traveled to the US every year because my dad has a conference in Chicago.

CT: Can you describe the economy in Cairo? 

SB: It’s been facing some dire restraints, it’s really been going down lately. The Egyptian pound has just been floated. It shows how much the economy was struggling and they had to take like extreme measures to try and fix it and bring potential investors from abroad and have Egypt be cheaper to open up tourism more and stuff.

CT: Can you describe the revolution in Egypt?

SB: We had a revolution in 2011. We forced the step-down of our president because he was in power for 35 years. It was a dictatorship more or less. Egypt was very segregated like you were either like part of the more affluent/less affluent group, there was no in between. And after we had the biggest revolution in history. The Muslim Brotherhood came into power. They were actually elected, but some say it was rigged. Then the revolution happened and we forced the Muslim Brotherhood out of power. And we elected a new president CC.

CT: Can you describe more in detail how there was segregation?

SB: You would literally go to the Four Seasons, one of the most expensive hotels in the world, and see right next to that see homeless people lying around. Literally to the right. I remember there was a man there and he was just homeless and lived in his own little cottage thing. That’s how big the gap was. The more affluent people had drivers and maids and nannies and stuff and pay them probably less than minimum wage which you could barely live on. And the people paid less then minimum wage were probably considered like middle class. 

CT: Describe the revolution.

SB: There were like protests and riots and 30 million in the streets. There were like two places that…a place called Tahrir Square which is were most of the protests took place and another place Hadayuh, where people protested and all the news was broadcasted from there.

CT: How did this affect your families life?

SB: Because it got too violent at one point, you could feel the tear gas while you were sitting at home. So you would just start tearing up. I remember there was this one time…right outside of my house there’s a main road and there was this car that was stolen once and this car came down being chased by cop cars and they were shooting guns outside of the car window and one of them hit our window at home. Another incident was when I was 12 and I remember me and my neighbors…it was very chaotic and everyone had escaped from prisons so we had to go stand in front of the house with guns so people would not break into the house. We called Legenchables which meant like civilian checkpoints. Where if you’d see a car passing by we would stop it and check for their license and ID to make sure they weren’t prisoners. It had to be done because they had just escaped prison and they were out to kill cops. That was when we hit rock bottom. That year I think I went to school for half of the year and the rest was just all online. We could not go to schools because it was so unsafe. You’d hear of school buses getting stopped on the way to school.

CT: Can you describe your immigration process to the US?

SB: I had to apply to the F1 or student visa and book and an appointment. But before I did that, I had to get a CEVAS registration form and take a bank statement and valid passport and official acceptance letter from the university. I go to the Embassy and have an interview with me and let me know if I’m denied or accepted. I was accepted and go the visa for about 5 years. I don’t know if it’s competitive or not for the visa, but the people in front of me had their visas rejected. I’ve had it two times before so I just had to renew it, making it my 15th year.

CT: How is the education in Egypt?

SB: I would get more out of school coming here (US). We have an AUC in Egypt, where I would’ve gone to if I had not come to the US. It’s still an accredited school, but the education here (US) is better.

CT: Did you have culture shock living here alone?

SB: It wasn’t culture shock as much as it was a shock from living alone and moving from having every sing person I know to knowing no one here. Culturally I was “adjusted.” Fraternity’s were a culture shock.

CT: What are some of the big differences you’ve noticed since living here?

SB: It’s mind blowing to everyone here if you have a driver or a nanny. They think you’re super rich, but it’s normal. Integrity really. Even students in class here, if there’s no teacher in the class, students aren’t willing to cheat. Also, how people dress here. If my (girl) friends came to the bar with us, they would have to wear pants and shirts to cover themselves while in the streets and then get to the bar and take everything off because if not, they would be harassed. Where everyone is the same social economic class/ same open mindedness. A female is expected to cover their bodies wrist to ankles. It’s mostly ignorance though. People are convinced that if a woman is wearing less clothing then they want a man to tell her something. I am blaming it on ignorance because when we had the president for 30 years, the public education system went down the drain and those people do not know how to read and write. Harassing girls is another part of ignorance. 

CT: Are women and men equal in your culture?

SB: I wouldn’t say that in terms of our culture. I have completely different views from people who live in Egypt and those views are shaped by me living here and when I was back in Egypt I was interacting with a lot of internationals so I don’t have the Egyptian insight. I know in really poor areas, husbands beat their wives, and women are forced to wear hijabs and women aren’t allowed to work. That’s the mentality in poor areas.

CT: How is the community of Egyptian students at JMU?

SB: I met an Egyptian family here at the mosque, my first week at JMU. This family invites me out every month to have lunch with them and call me every once in a while.

CT: Do you in a sense feel American?

SB: I don’t feel American, but I feel Americanized. Especially because of joining a fraternity.

CT: Would you ever want to live in America full time?

SB: I wouldn’t want to, to be honest. My country is rebuilding right now and if I came here (US) and got a good education and don’t go back and help improve my country, that would be selfish because I got the opportunity and chance to live a decent life and I should help out those people.