Insider

The past few days I've had several run-ins and conversations with someone I might now title friend. He's here doing a Master's degree at AUC and focuses on the democratization of Egypt. Exceptionally interesting.
But that's neither here nor there.
You realize he's a bit different when he mentions his place of residence, Haram, which lies well past Giza (and the pyramids) in a very local part of town; foreigners don't really roll here and some source of street cred is pretty necessary. He spends his slow days in a galabeya drinking tea with the shopkeepers and maintains the utmost respect for their way of life and mentality; no alcohol or ladies have stepped foot in his house. While most others were out travelling and/or partying for Eid, he sat around a fire in a village, listening to the Elders' concerns and thoughts on the upcoming elections. He then presented his findings to colleagues (including Egyptians) in his program. He even has a recorded Muslim Brotherhood rally on his phone.
It's refreshing to see someone commit so fully to understanding the region he may eventually be advising policy for. While on the topic of language study, he explained his pursuit of mastery something like this:
You know, Arabic is hard. It's a bitch! And sometimes I question why I kick my own ass so bad to learn the language. I mean, look at Professor _____ (forgot the name). He was at Camp David, sitting next to Sadat (and so and so), on the National Security Advisory Team, helping negotiate the peace.. and he doesn't even speak Arabic. It just goes to show, you can get that far without even knowing the region's language. But then I go home, and hang out with Islam or sit with the guys drinking tea and only Arabic is spoken. Here none of that matters and all the work finally starts to bring the gold. I study Arabic for the times with my friends. I study it so I can express myself.

That's how it should be done.