After a much deserved break where I came back home to see my parents for the first time in this pandemic, I'm delighted to introduce the next  episode, focusing on a city that has been one of the bedrocks of  civilization and the largest in the Arab world - Cairo.

My friend Dr. Hagar Aly is an anaesthetic trainee in the NHS and you can  find her around theatres or intensive care, serving at the frontline  and looking after the sickest patients, exuding calm with her Harry  Potter scrub cap tied firm.

We talked about finding friends in the land you adopt, becoming a dog  person, finding allies without knowing it, cultural cheat codes and the  social pressure on being excluded. The story of an immigrant need not be  filled with allies from our own shared experiences only, there are  others who can step up and be lights in our darkness. This was a really moving episode where we also explored the Egyptian  revolution and talked about forgoing your reality, political unrest and  losing loved ones.

I asked Hagar to write down what she felt about her journey so far and  this is what she had to say:

"Gosh ! Being an immigrant. You can argue that I am always a bit of an  outsider so it was easy for me to blend into the role of being a wall  flower at best, but I admit i still struggle with the expectation that  being an immigrant I should always be aiming to please, often at the  expense of my own free time and mental health. The assumption that you  have to work harder to "catch up" even though many of us have quite advanced clinical skills makes one permanently exhausted and renders one  in a state of perpetual questioning of the value of of the gains  against the sacrifices.
I miss home, but I am also fully aware that  my version of home barely exists anymore , with so many forced to leave  and so many quick changes. your memories of home and what it means to  one but i think we are all constantly running the risk of our memories  fading by the minute and becoming ever more blurry. But in my mind, the  more I'm here, the more I can work on a new small but valuable life that  can give me a home away from home :)"

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