Cairo, Egypt

(This post is titled “Cairo” but it actually briefly covers my experiences in New Cairo, Giza, Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada, and Sharm el Sheikh as well. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a blogger at the time of this trip, and I did not take/label enough photos of each specific city, so a lot of it blends together in my mind. Most of my time was spent in Cairo with family, or New Cairo with a friend. I spent roughly 1 month in Egypt.)

I have a love/hate relationship with Cairo, and Egypt in general. Going there was a once in a lifetime experience (literally. I’m not sure that I would ever go again.) I saw so many unbelievably incredible sights. I saw some of the wonders of the world. I took a cruise on the Nile, I rode camels in the desert, I visited famous Mosques, I touched real hieroglyphics and I got up close and personal to King Tut in his tomb.

And here’s the incredible part. Some of this would have never been possible if it weren’t for warm hearted Egyptians who hosted me, or smiled and urged us to explore. Everywhere we went, we were more than welcome, and saying that we were Lebanese was always met with “a7san nas” (Those are the best people!) It was wonderful to feel such Middle-Eastern pride in a world that’s so outwardly xenophobic. It was nice.

Though it may not be fair, the Egyptians got the lowest entry price for everything, followed by anyone from the middle east, and then everyone else in the world has to pay the standard price. This was for everything touristy, museums, tours, etc. Maybe even more that I’ve forgotten. Sometimes the difference between Middle Eastern price and everyone else’s price was pretty drastic, which I think pissed off our Spanish travel partners. But for me– my Lebanese passport came in very handy.

I can’t explain what I did not like about Egypt without giving a bit of background information. I took this trip during the Egyptian revolution. Tensions were high. The Egyptian people had a lot going on, like dismantling a regime. During this time, my mother, who loves all things political and is filled to the brim with Middle-Eastern pride, spent every second she was conscious soaking in all of the media coverage on the revolution. She could not believe anyone around her could discuss anything else. Eventually, it became too much for her to simply not be in Egypt, so we packed out bags. I told everyone I was going to protest at Tahrir Square, and we were off.

We bit off more than we could chew. We thought that because we were Middle Eastern and we spoke Arabic, there was no way we’d experience any culture shock. We were from Lebanon, after all.

This was ignorant and false. They are two completely different countries, with completely different cultures. It is widely known that Lebanon is one of the most lax Middle Eastern countries, that it’s a “party country,” that it’s a bit westernized, and that Beirut is “Paris of the Middle East.” That, combined with growing up in Michigan with only occasional visits to my home country, proved Egypt to be more of a 4 week intensive than anything else. Egypt was more like a completely foreign land with vague remnants of my culture that I could see if I squinted really hard. Of all the places that I’ve visited, and I’ve visited many — I was met with the most culture shock in Egypt.

Why?* (And, please, keep in mind that what I’m about to say is based on my experience during the revolution. I have spoken to Egyptians since who say things have improved.)

Because I found it to be a sexist place.* I can’t speak on the laws, because I have no idea if there is a legal system in place to support this, but I can speak on the struggle my mom and I faced culturally. If you don’t wear a scarf, you’re still expected to be dressed extremely modestly no matter the (scorching) weather. Shorts, tank tops and wife beaters are highly inappropriate, and though maybe no one will actually say anything, you’ll be stared down. My mom and brother are both runners, and my brother was able to run on the street freely without issue, while my mom had so much trouble she quit trying altogether, killing her spirit for the rest of the trip as she paced through the apartment trying to release some of the energy she had. Being young, I was seen as “marriage material,” and I was proposed to, or inquired about very seriously,  at least 10 times during the month. I was 19. The proposals were from men as old as 40. Most of these inquiries went to my brother, even if I was sitting right next to him and could hear everything. Catcalling is the worst I’ve ever experienced, to a point where I felt the most unsafe I ever have in my life. I was wearing shorts while walking to the beach one day, and I felt like a raw steak dangling on top of a pit of hungry tigers. With tears pooling in my eyes, I ran to the nearest woman I could find and asked if I could walk with her.

In the end, my feelings on the country are mixed. Getting to see all the history so up close and personal was an invaluable experience I’ll never forget. I’ll even say that bursting my western bubble was important. I grew, and I learned. That’s what you’re supposed to gain from traveling. It’s not all picnics under the Eiffel Tower (well, unless you’re me, and you do actually move to Paris.)

Here are my tips for Egypt.

• Be prepared to hear the call to prayer 5 times a day, depending on where you’re at. It was of course beautiful; However, I will not say that the 5 am call to prayer was always what I wanted to wake up to.
• I wish I could remember the name of the tour company we traveled with, but we paid just a few hundred bucks to be transported all over Egypt (at one point our bus broke down, and they even upgraded us to a flight for our trip to Sharm El Sheikh, free of cost.)
• Go to Sharm El Sheikh. I would say the best city combo if you don’t have a bunch of time is Cairo/Giza for the pyramids and the Sphinx for cultural experience, and then head to Sharm to kick back on the beach with a drinks and experience the paradise. This gives you the best of both worlds.

I have so many photos from this trip because I was there for so long.

From the day we went to see the Pyramids of Giza

Pepsi

From our cruise on the Nile River

A random Camel we met, named Casanova. I loved him.

*I cannot say if my experience had to do with being there during the revolution, or if it is the norm in Egypt.

*In a world that’s so xenophobic, I struggle greatly to criticize my Arab brothers and sisters. I feel that the knowledge presented, though an accurate representation of my time in Egypt, will be misconstrued and used against muslims in a general sense that’s inaccurate.