Cairo

Egypt is a crazy place. It’s been a few days now and I feel like I’m just starting to get used to the culture shock. Simple things like walking down the street feel as if you are in another world. The majority of the women here have their faces covered, and they look down if you make direct eye contact. The people are extremely friendly, but that’s because most them want your money. Beware any ‘free gifts.’ But, at the same time the people are very genuine if you get past the business-portion.

Crossing the street is worse than Napoli, it’s very similar to frogger- a skill in itself as there are no lanes, traffic is insane and nobody uses headlights. So much worse than TJ!

Cairo is a very poor, very dirty city but it still has its charms. The Nile shines like an emerald amidst all the blaring horns and sandy gusts of wind; it’s full of fertile, green scenery, but if you turn your head slightly it’s desert again- amazing! The bazaar is… bizarre (or Khan al-Khalil, as it’s called). It’s so huge and full of so many things that I think it would take some time to find the really good stuff (black market). The shopkeepers will say anything to catch your attention, even straight-up openers like: “How can I take your money?” It’s great. The bartering process is fun but oh so tedious, these guys really take their business seriously and will rip you off (and have). But, at the same time it’s really cheap here if you keep the conversion rate in mind.

We went to the Egyptian museum, very cool. We saw some mummies, all kinds of sarcophagi, artifacts and hieroglyphics, etc. Oh so cool.

The food here is mostly meat and bread. We only drink bottled water, no ice and no uncooked vegetables, but there are all kinds of Kebab’s with chicken or beef. Egyptian tea is really nice and so is the juice. We all tried this fabulous sugar cane drink that was divine (although Jim didn’t like it).

It’s so great being with the J’s. More to come..