"Welcome to Cairo", a phrase that I've heard at least a hundred times in the three or so days I've been here. It gets thrown around a lot: traffic; welcome to Cairo, sweating your ass off; welcome to Cairo, something or someone is late; welcome to Cairo. Despite what many have and will say, Cairo is a pretty amazing city.
On Tuesday I woke up in Wadi Mousa, Jordan and had to get my ass to Amman, the capital for my flight that went to Cairo. Turns out the airport is not actually in Amman but about 18 miles outside of the city, common theme for much of the world it seems. I wanted to take the bus but the bus driver said I would have to wait two hours for other people to show up, and that he wouldn't go to the airport. I'd have to walk 2 miles, no thanks. So I took a taxi and probably got ripped off, oh well. I got to the airport with a lot of time and just sat around reading my book on Egypt. Boring story short, got on the plane 45 minutes late because well middle east time is slow. The flight was super short, only one hour, and didn't fly over Israeli airspace likely on purpose.
Once in Egypt I was in for a hell of a ride, literally. Marnie set up an American University in Cairo driver to pick me up, who was nowhere to be found for awhile. But he spoke no English, so I couldn't talk to him at all. The ride from the airport to Marnie's apartment was one of the scariest of my life. I thought we were gonna hit someone or get hit every 10 seconds. No traffic lights, few stop signs, and lanes on the road might as well not exist! Cairo traffic is legendary too, cars all over every street. I made it there in one piece though, and we hung out on the roof terrace of the building for the night. It was awesome.
Yesterday I was a bum and slept until like 1pm, I loved it haha. When I woke up I went downtown to Tahrir Square, yes that Tahrir Square, to see the Egyptian Museum. God what a place! Thousands of years of history all thrown together with few labels and little rhyme or reason, but that's part of what makes it cool. I hired a guide to show me around, and she was extremely helpful and funny. She asked me weird questions though, like "do you have a nickname for Obama?". Seeing tons of artifacts from the time of the pharaohs was really mind blowing. The best part though was to see actually mummies, I saw king Ramses II! Pictures are not allowed but I did manage to get this one covert shot.
After the museum I tagged along with Marnie and her co-workers farewell dinner with their den mother of sorts. Could have been awkward but everyone was really cool and it wasn't. The main reason I wanted to go was the place is called "Carnivore", yeah my kind of place. Slabs of meat are thrown on your plate one after the other before you can even finish what is in front of you. I had beef, chicken, turkey, ostrich, veal, lamb, and probably something else too. The restaurant is on boat that sits on the Nile too, just a really cool experience. No pork though unfortunately.
Today Marnie's friend Mohamed took me in and around Islamic Cairo. I saw many mosques built during the Abbasid, Mamluk, Ottoman, and even contemporary periods. The idea that some of these mosques were built more than a thousand years ago and still stand and are still in use is mind boggling. What's more is that they are considered "new" in this country! Williamsburg seems kind of weak in comparison haha. I really enjoy Islamic architecture, and it doesn't a whole lot better than here in Cairo. Perhaps Mecca, Damascus, and Jerusalem rival Cairo, but much of what's here is unique and not found in those other cities. I can't really do a good job of describing how beautiful and awe inspiring these structures are so you'll have to just look at the pictures.
Tomorrow I'm off to Alexandria, and I'm really excited. This city better live up to it's namesake!
On Tuesday I woke up in Wadi Mousa, Jordan and had to get my ass to Amman, the capital for my flight that went to Cairo. Turns out the airport is not actually in Amman but about 18 miles outside of the city, common theme for much of the world it seems. I wanted to take the bus but the bus driver said I would have to wait two hours for other people to show up, and that he wouldn't go to the airport. I'd have to walk 2 miles, no thanks. So I took a taxi and probably got ripped off, oh well. I got to the airport with a lot of time and just sat around reading my book on Egypt. Boring story short, got on the plane 45 minutes late because well middle east time is slow. The flight was super short, only one hour, and didn't fly over Israeli airspace likely on purpose.
Once in Egypt I was in for a hell of a ride, literally. Marnie set up an American University in Cairo driver to pick me up, who was nowhere to be found for awhile. But he spoke no English, so I couldn't talk to him at all. The ride from the airport to Marnie's apartment was one of the scariest of my life. I thought we were gonna hit someone or get hit every 10 seconds. No traffic lights, few stop signs, and lanes on the road might as well not exist! Cairo traffic is legendary too, cars all over every street. I made it there in one piece though, and we hung out on the roof terrace of the building for the night. It was awesome.
Yesterday I was a bum and slept until like 1pm, I loved it haha. When I woke up I went downtown to Tahrir Square, yes that Tahrir Square, to see the Egyptian Museum. God what a place! Thousands of years of history all thrown together with few labels and little rhyme or reason, but that's part of what makes it cool. I hired a guide to show me around, and she was extremely helpful and funny. She asked me weird questions though, like "do you have a nickname for Obama?". Seeing tons of artifacts from the time of the pharaohs was really mind blowing. The best part though was to see actually mummies, I saw king Ramses II! Pictures are not allowed but I did manage to get this one covert shot.
After the museum I tagged along with Marnie and her co-workers farewell dinner with their den mother of sorts. Could have been awkward but everyone was really cool and it wasn't. The main reason I wanted to go was the place is called "Carnivore", yeah my kind of place. Slabs of meat are thrown on your plate one after the other before you can even finish what is in front of you. I had beef, chicken, turkey, ostrich, veal, lamb, and probably something else too. The restaurant is on boat that sits on the Nile too, just a really cool experience. No pork though unfortunately.
Today Marnie's friend Mohamed took me in and around Islamic Cairo. I saw many mosques built during the Abbasid, Mamluk, Ottoman, and even contemporary periods. The idea that some of these mosques were built more than a thousand years ago and still stand and are still in use is mind boggling. What's more is that they are considered "new" in this country! Williamsburg seems kind of weak in comparison haha. I really enjoy Islamic architecture, and it doesn't a whole lot better than here in Cairo. Perhaps Mecca, Damascus, and Jerusalem rival Cairo, but much of what's here is unique and not found in those other cities. I can't really do a good job of describing how beautiful and awe inspiring these structures are so you'll have to just look at the pictures.
Tomorrow I'm off to Alexandria, and I'm really excited. This city better live up to it's namesake!
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