Day 1: Cairo

I’m in AFRICA! I still can’t believe it. I’m on my 3rd continent for this trip! For the past couple humanities classes we’ve been studying about Ancient Egypt trying to learn a something about what we’re going to be seeing over the next week and a half. Personally I think we do a little studying to justify the traveling. But we just keep that thought to ourselves. Then we had our orientation about our trip and by the time it was all done I wanted to run outside, grab a taxi, and head for the airport. FORGET clothes! I was patient however and now I’m here!
Here’s a little background for you. Cairo is the biggest city in Africa, home to about 18 million people. They say that 1 out of every 4 Africans live in Cairo. To put it in perspective it would be like 78 million people living in New York. I’m not entirely sure what all I’m going to get to see while I’m here but I know that the Pyramids are on our list, Luxor, Karnak, Alexandria, a cruise down the Nile, and a camel ride… Just to name a few.
Our flight to Egypt was relatively uneventful but once we got here that’s when the excitement really started to set in. In Greece, it still feels a little like you’re in America. Granted, everyone is speaking Greek, but there is still a fairly American feel to it. When we landed in Egypt and stepped off the plane onto the tarmac I truly felt like I was in another country for the first time. Most of the women wear head coverings and both men and women wear traditional Egyptian clothing (long outfits that resemble dresses.) Needless to say I get stared at A LOT! We get stared at a lot in general because we’re American but with my hair color my head might as well be on fire for all the attention I feel like I’m drawing.
One of the number one rules over here is for the girls NOT to make eye contact. Apparently it’s very suggestive. I’m really having a hard time with that because I want to look at my surroundings but if you so much as glance in a man’s direction they go out of their way to make eye contact with you. When we finally made it through customs (got a really cool passport stamp by the way!) and were making our way out to the bus we had to parade through a large group of Egyptian people, mainly men. and I felt like I was an exhibit in a circus. Egypt is BEAUTIFUL but I definitely feel like a stranger. Once we were on the bus I thought, FINALLY! I’ll be able to look at the people. So I was looking at one of the military men (which are ALL over the place) and he gave me a head nod, flashed me a smile and a huge wink. It was at THIS point I realized that the windows were NOT tinted and why making eye contact might not be such a great idea.
Other cardinal rules over here are: NEVER EVER EVER drink tap water. This also means no vegetables, fruit, juice or anything that might have tap water in it. This is supposed to prevent you from getting sick but from what I’ve heard almost everyone does anyway. From what I’ve seen of Egypt already though, I will take being sick if it means getting to be here and see all of this. For example, on our way to the hotel we say the Great Pyramids poking out along the skyline.
Now I know I’ve talked about the drivers in Athens being bad and I didn’t think it was possible to get much worse… Until I came here! They do not have defensive drivers. They believe whole-heartedly in the saying the best defense is offense. Just about anything goes on the road. Essentially the bigger your vehicle, the more right-of-way. There’s everything from big tour buses, to donkey pulled carts. The dividing lines on the road are more for decoration than anything. We were on what should have been a 3 lane road and there were about 6 lanes of traffic. Only they weren’t really in lines of any sort. It makes driving in Dallas or Houston, under-construction, during rush-hour look like a cakewalk. Here an example… On the way to our hotel some car tried to make a u-turn into on-coming traffic and our bus hit the car. But over here the driver we hit won’t sue. Basically they say hi, bye, have a nice day and don’t get mad at the person who hit them. They believe that God will take care of the damage. So basically God is their insurance policy. I found this HIGHLY amusing. The headlights over here are also pretty sweet. Lots of them are different colors, like blue and red. Sometimes you’ll see a car whose headlights change colors from red to green to blue to purple.
I can’t WAIT to get out and start seeing everything. Some of the boys have a “bet” going on (more of a contest) to which one has the closest guess as to the number of pictures I’m going to take on this trip. The guesses range anywhere from 1500 to over 2000. Don’t worry I don’t think it will be quite that many but on the other hand it might because we’re counting every picture I take, not just the ones I decide to keep. Who knows? I’ll let you know who wins.
Can’t wait to put up pictures and let you know what’s going on in Egypt!
Love you all!
Rebecca
P.S. We don’t get to go anywhere without an armed escort. (He carries an uzzie) So don’t worry. I’m perfectly safe and having the time of my life!!!!! Oh, and I think there’s more danger that I come home with an Egyptian man than a Greek man. Egyptian guys are VERY cute! Just kidding. I’m planning on going back to Greece, 100% single. But it sure makes sight-seeing a whole lot more interesting!

PIctures for Day 1 and 2: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004564&l=68afe&id=1523040053