My First Week in Cairo...

Sabbat el khir!

Greetings from Egypt! For all of you who were worried, and I was definitely among you, I managed to arrive safely in Cairo with no luggage or flight problems. Given my track record with travelling, that's a bloody miracle all on its own. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep at all on my flight from Ottawa to London because some kid was wailing ALL night. I did manage to watch a movie though called Bandslam (no Emily, not Band sa-lam, though I'm sure your version of things would have made for a better movie), which was fairly awful but had a special appearance by JASON STREET! (Only April and Emily will understand this, so never fear if you are lost)

In Heathrow, I headed for the washroom and got changed into some clean clothes, brushed my teeth, which was awful because the taps only had hot water, and put on some makeup. Feeling much better about myself, I headed off to explore Terminal 3. It was huge and everything was expensive. There was even a Harrod's store. After exchanging $40 Canadian for £18 (already a disappointing exchange rate, I then noticed that there was a service fee of £3 and when I walked around the corner there was another money exchange with signs saying "no service fee", blast) I tried to call my parents. The first time, I severely underestimated how much it costs to call overseas (especially from an airport phone that will rip you off), so we only managed to say hello before we were cut off. Once I figured out the problem, I didn't have the right change so I had to wander off and ask people to make change. Finally I was able to call back, but it still cost £5 (so like $11) to make a 3 minute call!! I really don't understand how people live in the U.K. Then I ventured off to find some lunch - a challenge, since I only had £13 left. But I managed to get eggs on toast and a chamomile tea. Mmm it was delicious!

My tea! In England!

There was a slight delay at Heathrow because it was unseasonably cold in London and it had snowed all of three inches. This, of course, screwed them right up, but my flight managed to leave with only an hour delay. My flight to Cairo was fine, except they only had small TVs every few meters along the aisles and they played '500 days of summer', which is a fairly depressing movie so I mostly slept. What was really cool was that they broadcasted the image from a camera that must have been on the front of the plane (outside) on the TVs. So I literally saw the plane take off and land from a pilot's perspective! I couldn't decide whether it was really cool or actually terrifying while it was happening, but now that I've arrived safely, I've decided it was pretty cool.

So I arrived in Cairo and I was fairly nervous about meeting my host family. Mostly I was nervous that for some reason, no one would be there, in which case I probably would have gotten right back on a plane to come home. We didn't disembark into the airport either, we had to walk down some stairs onto the tarmac and then catch a bus to the terminal, so that was interesting. Then I got my visa and my passport stamped, collected my luggage and went through the exit...into a crowd of people! I was disoriented at first but then I saw a sign with my name on it and plowed ahead. My host mom Jill and my host sister Sarah greeted me with a kiss on each cheek, which I was told is a very Egyptian way to greet people. My response - it's very French Canadian too. For some reason, I constantly feel the need to point out Canada all the time. It's probably an insecurity from being so far away. For instance, Sarah likes Nickelback and so I say "Canadian!" It's this weird word vomit that must stop.

My host family lives in an apartment on the first floor of a sort of complex. The address is Villa 2 and I think that speaks a little more to the reality. It's an apartment, but it's huge! And because Jill's sons are off at University in the States, I get a room (including a bathroom) all to myself! It's great. They also have two cats (a kitten - Sunni and a 15 year old - Bradley) and a dog - Gizmo. The animals are really friendly and comforting being away from home. Yes Emily, I actually miss Bowie. Unfortunately, in Egypt there are a lot of stray cats and dogs that live on the street. Egyptians, who are predominantly Muslim, also dislike dogs because the Qur'an says they're dirty. So it's very unusual to have a dog as a pet and Gizmo has to be shut in Jill's room whenever an Egyptian comes over, the plumber for instance, because they not only dislike them, but actually fear them to some degree. As a result though, I can take a walk around the neighbourhood and as long as I have Gizmo with me, no one is likely to bother me.

As I've discovered, no one should come here unless they speak Arabic. For serious. Everyone says that most people can speak English, but no. It's very broken and not at all common. It's also really frustrating to get around because the streets are all twisty, generally don't have a name (maybe a number) and there are no signs (not that that would help me because they'd be in Arabic anyway). Also, maps are all in Arabic and again there are no street names so it wouldn't really help me. Essentially, I have to be literally shown how to get somewhere and then memorize the route. Taxis are hard because the drivers don't necessarily speak English and they'll try to rip you off because they can see you're a foreigner (they'll also hit on you, but that's another issue entirely); I don't know my numbers in Arabic very well yet so I can't bargain with them over the fare. I have learned how to use the subway (they call it the metro)! And I've started to take it to work on my own. It's pretty simple so I'm fairly certain I can use it to get around. But for the first week, I felt really isolated and anxious about going anywhere. You just want to hide in your room all day, but I'm learning, slowly but surely. Jill has also driven me around to try and show me the city, here are some photos:

Khoufu PyramidCity shot from Azher Park, you can really get a sense of the smog

A few other observations related to culture shock: the traffic here is nuts! There are lines painted on the road, but as far as I can tell they're only a formality. People weave in and out and cut other people off. Cars drive around with their mirrors folded in because the cars drive so close together that otherwise you'd lose a mirror (and frequently do, I'm told). There are only a few traffic lights and people park along both sides of the street so it's a tight squeeze sometimes. People often "double-park" too, where there's two rows of cars parked along the same side of the street. How the person on the inside is supposed to get out, I shall never know. To top it all off, there's no such thing as crosswalks here so people dodge cars to cross the street! Also, one of my travel books mentioned that the sidewalks in Cairo are all broken and uneven, so it advised to wear good walking shoes. Well it was right; in fact, sometimes the sidewalk disappears all together. How the locals get around this? They just walk in the street! Alongside the cars, that speed by very close to them. It's unnerving and I don't think I'll ever get used to it.

Above all, I've learned you cannot be timid in Cairo and you can't be careless. I'll just have to learn to dodge cars too. Hey, maybe by the time I get back I'll learn how to jump onto the hood of a car all karate kid style!!

Finally, I started my job two days after I got here (the work week here is Sunday to Thursday and the weekend is Friday-Saturday, which is going to take some getting used to) and it's been going well. Unfortunately, my abilities in Arabic are atrocious and I can't pronounce, let alone remember most of my co-workers' names. When I was being introduced, several of them were surprised and asked if I was Egyptian because they said I look Egyptian. When I replied that I wasn't and assured them that there were no Egyptians in my family, one man even said "You don't just look Egyptian, you have an Egyptian spirit too!" I beamed. I found out later that they just tell you you look Egyptian to be polite. Poo.

Wow! That was a long post, but I had to sum up a whole week! I'll try to post more often from now on. Also, I'm posting more photos on Facebook because there's just too many to upload here. Most of you have Facebook or access to it, so check 'em out!

Until next time, ma salaama!