After our walk, Steve had to leave for some appointments, among them his piano lesson. I prepared myself for Amr\u2019s wedding, picked up the rental car, picked up Anna, one of Amr\u2019s friends, and we drove to the wedding at a venue on the lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Amr\u2019s bride is American, the wedding had a majority of American guests and some Egyptians from Amr\u2019s side. The ceremony started in joyous and classy fashion. My heart melted to the words of their vows and I truly wish them a prosperous life with never-ending love. I mingled with other invitees and introduced myself randomly. \u201cThe world is too small,\u201d I said when I met Sayed, another Egyptian doctor who used to live in the same building as my late grandmother!
I was seated at a table with other epileptologists from Amr\u2019s department in Harvard\u2019s Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital. Eating, socialising, and dancing to Western and Egyptian songs concluded the beautiful event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The next day Steve had to leave early for a sewing lesson. It is impressive how many things this man is still learning. I had my breakfast in a nearby caf\u00e9, then decided to visit the Museum of Science<\/strong>. A big building full of creative scientific experiences that would delight the most apathetic child. I roamed around avoiding stepping on the thousands of children that filled the museum with their accompanying adults and felt slightly overwhelmed with inspiration. Ideas for art projects that include scientific principles always excite me, knowing that I will only manage to realise a few of them in my lifetime \ud83d\ude41 I had no plans for Sunday. So I joined Steve and his friend Linda at an estate sale \u2014 which is practically when a family is leaving a house and selling everything: furniture, books, etc. Everything has a price tag, and you roam around and buy what you want. I went to the book section and bought a couple of books from the intriguing collection of what seemed to me to be a remarkable family. \u201cThe Lost Art of Healing\u201d was written by Nobel Prize winner Dr. Bernard Lown, the man who invented the cardiac defibrillator. On Monday morning I put on my suit and went to Brigham Hospital to spend the morning in the Epileptology Department. I had agreed with Barbara, the head of the department, to shadow there and see how things are done. I wanted to get a feeling of how things are done in a Harvard hospital. I attended a consultation with a patient with her, a meeting about functional neurological disorders (she is the president of the International Society of Functional Neurological Disorders), and exchanged a few questions about how epilepsy is diagnosed and our corresponding institutions. Another interesting episode in my Boston chronicle, and I have to say \u2014 how we do things in Z\u00fcrich is not bad, it is not bad at all.
I grabbed a bite and decided spontaneously to attend an improv theatre show. Improv theatre is one of my favourite hobbies from many years ago and is again a place that never disappoints for some laughs and creativity. During the show, the actors asked which guest thought he came from the furthest. Egypt (or even Switzerland) was obviously further than New Jersey. They asked me a few questions about Egypt and I shared with them that Victoria\u2019s Secret has many branches in Cairo since a few decades ago. They used my answer to generate a hilariously improvised show including King Tut wearing lingerie and an actress who had a bra branded \u201cKing Tit\u201d hehehehe.
After the show, Steve and I went to a free jazz concert in a nearby local church. It featured a mix of Black and white artists. Steve mentioned that this is not very common, and that the music scene in Boston is unfortunately often segregated. Steve offered to host me for two extra nights since we got along very well. I was thankful for his generosity and company.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/adham.elshahabi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/162F9CD0-1705-4662-AAE3-78E401CF1AB8_4_5005_c.jpeg\")
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Steve and Linda dropped me near Harvard Square where I visited the Harvard Art Museums<\/strong> and roamed around different Harvard buildings. It felt somehow surreal to be there, where some of the greatest minds on the planet existed\/exist. I wondered how it is to live here. What kind of interactions do you have with people in the bakery or in the canteen? What kind of conversations do you start or overhear in a bar? A kind of self-sufficient and auto-stimulating environment?
I went for the famous lobster sandwich and oysters for lunch, then took my newly acquired book and went to a Harvard common area, sat among students and scientists, and hungrily devoured the pages; learning, being inspired, and thinking about the chain of events that led me to this moment. The butterfly effect. Was it deciding to Couchsurf? Or contacting Steve? Or deciding to join the estate sale? Has another sequence of events, in a parallel universe, led to an even more enriching experience?
Steve went to donate platelets (would he please stop making me feel useless to society??) and afterward we met at an Egyptian restaurant where I introduced him to Koshari, Mahshi, Hawawshi and other typical Egyptian dishes. We split again so he could go with a friend to another jazz concert, while I intended to go to a bachata party \u2014 only to be overpowered by the sweet tiredness of jet lag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/adham.elshahabi.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/81FC919B-D122-4950-81AA-E9727EB43E9F_1_105_c-edited.jpeg\")
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Probably one thing that caught my attention was a wall with \u201cBest Teacher of the Month,\u201d where some doctor was awarded this title for his teaching activities. This reminded me of that rewarding American work culture that is almost absent in German-speaking countries. In Germany and Switzerland you only get letters of warning and lists of shame, listing doctors who are late in delivering patient reports, while good doctors (or other workers, for that matter) never get any recognition.
So this is a shout-out to anyone who managed to read until this line: please use positive feedback at least as often as you use negative feedback, whether in work or in a relationship. We need a stronger positive-feedback culture.
I grabbed a quick lunch, went to Steve\u2019s place, picked up my stuff, and headed to the airport where I would fly to Miami. I\u2019m done with this Boston cold weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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