Alhamdulillah

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which means.. "Praise be to God", a phrase spoken in just about every sentence in Arabic!!!

I arrived to Cairo, Egypt and around 10:30 pm.  I was meeting Dave at the airport, along with a tour leader who was helping coordinate our trip for the next seven days...Yosef, a young Egyptian, picked me up at the gate and then took us to the flat we were staying in.  It was so dark, but Cairo looked beautiful at night...all the mosques were lit up, Arabic music blasting from cars all over the city...and the Nile...oh the Nile, just glimmering all night long under the city lights.

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So Dave got us major hookups!  The surgeon he was working with in Athens happened to have a flat in Cairo that he inherited...and handed over the keys to us for the week...The flat is located in Zamalek, a little island steps away from the city center, with balcony overlooking the Nile.  My jaw dropped when i entered.  It was a very old, but spacious and traditionally decorated Egyptian flat.  I spent the first hour standing on the balcony looking out at the city! There are boats that sit along the river and have several restaurants, so we decided to try one for our first night...we went with the traditional Egyptian place on the boat closest to us..called Pasha, pronounced "Basha"...the arabic language doesn't use the sound "b" or something...it's complicated. Dinner was pretty good, and then we decided to walk around Zamalek a bit.  We were in contact with someone living in Cairo, a cousin of our friend Tarek (from Wayne)..and she offered to lend us her cell phone for the week...so she was meeting us back at the flat..when i had the worst experience ever..

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Mom and dad dont' freak out...but while Dave and I were standing outside waiting for Shereen to come by with the phone...a man standing on the street flashed me...repeatedly!!!  He would flash me when dave wasn't looking ..and then cover it up when he looked our way..I was totally disgusted, horrified, violated..you name it!!!  Unfortunately, it tainted my first day in Cairo...and made me completely dependent on Dave, because I refused to go anywhere alone at that point!  I got passed it over time...but still every time I walked out of the flat i thought of the incident...ick!

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The first morning we had a free day in Cairo.  First thing was to buy a map..I get kind of obsessed with directions in a new place..but later was told by Yosef that no one uses directions like north south east west...it's all landmarks, and no one really has a clue what it looks like on a map...but still I found comfort in my Cairo map...kinda like Joey on friends in his map of England :) We first went the Citadel, where the highest mosque of Cairo stands.  Like the tour books say..it's magnificent form afar...beautiful architecture, with huge domes and tall columns surrounding..but pretty simple up close. as we walked in..a man decided to help us out with an explanation in English which we were delighted about...(but duh! of course it wasn't for freee...i love how people give you there service without you asking for it..and then ask for money!)  But anyway, it was a good explanation..and although he totally tried cheating us in to playing 20 U.S. dollars a piece for a 5 minute tour...he had some good words. I felt guilty bargaining in a mosque, but I was forced! The best story about the mosque is that right in the middle of the courtyard, there is a large, tacky, and unfit clock tower.   Apparently there was one of the Kings of France at the time asked for a deal...they wanted to obelisk that originally stood in the courtyard, and offered to give the clocktower...sadly it was a horrible deal, as the clock tower never worked from the beginning..chumps!!!   I was laughing really hard..because that obelisk that they took stands in the Place de la Concorde, one of my favorite areas of Paris!

After that we decided to walk through the famous market, Khan el-Khalili.  This place is pretty famous for its rows of markets and small souvenirs..but it was just not my thing...very crowded alleys, full of overpriced souvenirs..where the store workers literally pull you in to their shops...One of them whispered into my ear "by this belly dancing outfit, your husband will never leave you"...weird!!!!

Walking through the city reminded me a lot of Mumbai, crowded, mostly men walking along the street during the day..drivers honking in the endless traffic, but of course a much stronger Islamic air.  Almost all women are veiled, and the older women usually covered entirely, with only their eyes showing.  I was surprised with myself because on the first day I actually had culture shock...which I didn't expect because I thought after several trips to India you're desensetized to almost everything..not true!  But in the end I got over it..and was actually happy I experienced it...I mean, it was my first time in the Middle-east...of course I was gonna have a bit of a shock!  and that's why Im here anyway :)

We spent the rest of the day hopping from sight to sight...all unique in their own way, but mostly mosques.  Shereen (Egyptian contact) was so hospitable, and decided to send over her driver for the second half of the day...so in a nice air conditioned car, we got a driving tour of Cairo... By evening time, we were starving..and the dinner cruises on the Nile were highly recommended...so we decided to go for it..in the end it was alright, pretty touristy, and went by fast...it included dinner, and a belly-dancer, and by the time we wanted to step out and get a good look at the river, the boat was ready to dock again... Anyway, we decided to call it a night after the cruise...the next morning we were off to see the pyramids...see next blog :)