Cairo

Cairo is completely different than what I expected. The greater Cairo region consists of five towns that have merged to become one big metropolis. It is the largest city in Africa with a population of 22 million people, and has the worst traffic of any place I have ever been. The river Nile runs through the center of the city, everything is covered in a thin layer of desert dust, and all the cement buildings have a washed out beige or gray look to them. There are people everywhere, still on the streets late into the night as a normal bedtime for Egyptians is 2:00am. The main streets are filled with old, rusting cars while the side streets have a mixture of cars, people milling about, people atop animals transporting goods, or animals pulling carts filled with anything from fruit to porcelain toilets. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to anything going on, and it gives a visitor the feeling of pure chaos.

The country is 90% Muslim, so all the women at least have scarves on their heads and had their arms and legs covered completely. Many wore traditional black robes and dark scarves on their heads, and about 10% of the women we saw on the streets had full-out burkas with only their eyes showing. Many of the men also dressed in traditional clothing, with long robe-like dresses and small hats atop their heads. We stuck out like sore thumbs in our sundresses, and especially I with my blonde hair. I thought we would be ignored as Egypt gets a lot of tourists, but I don’t think they’re used to young, pretty girls coming to see their country. We were hassled, hollered at, and followed by vendors at every stop. I learned long ago that the best way to get rid of unwanted attention in places like this is to completely ignore the people rather than tell them you’re not interested or to go away, and it seemed to work for the most part.

I discovered upon first arrival in the country that men and women are not regarded as equal. Our driver met us at the airport, and offered to carry both bags of the two boys I was with. They both denied his help, saying they could carry their bags themselves, and he didn’t offer too carry the bags of any of the three girls. I took it upon myself to tell him he could carry my bag for me, and I think he was a bit taken aback.

A final note about Egypt in general is that everyone in the tourism industry expects to be tipped for everything, and they are not afraid to ask for it. While in the States or Europe tipping is expected in certain situations, it would be considered rude to verbally ask for the tip. In Egypt, the service people have no qualms about demanding a tip and get angry if you don’t give them one even if they provided you a service you didn’t want or ask for.