Leila Wahida fee Misr (first night in Egypt)

I am extremely exhausted...so please bear with me as I struggle through this post...


Oh my goodness, so last night, around 11:30pm Cairo/Alexandria time (for all of the confused people out there that is 7 hours ahead of Texas time and the same time as my boyfriend in France...finally), my family and I made it to Alexandria. The length of the trip was purely and completely exhausting. However, the flight wasn't that bad. The food that EgyptAir served was quite delicious, and I got to practice a little of my Arabic with the flight attendants. I think most of them were surprised that I could speak Arabic, so it was a very cool moment for me. Granted, my Arabic is,was, and will remain (at least for the time being) limited for a while, but I seem to be making progress. What I found really interesting was the fact that several Muslims prayed on the plane during the prayer times. I got to see two gentlemen sitting across the aisle from us take part in their religious ritual--they took of their shoes, stood, sat, and prayed steadfastly once in the afternoon and once again when the sun was setting, which might I add, was a pretty breath taking experience (the sunset). 

This is when I knew there was no going back...

This one's for Andrew and Amy: the little box on the lower left hand corner
is a woman signing in Arabic! I don't know why but it made me think of you
guys and I had to post it!

I kind of felt like Jasmine and really wanted to play with the clouds
as the Eye of Egypt/Pharaoh head watched over us in the sky

Samak (fish) wa hobs (bread) wa salata (salad) wa kak (cake)

 When we arrived in Cairo, it was already dark. The airport was really nice compared to some of the other airports I have been in, and the people where really friendly. From there, we waited (aaaaand panicked a little bit) for our luggage to arrive. Afterwards, we were picked up by a private van-sent from the conference where my dad and his partner were presenting-picked us up and drove us another 2.5hours to Alexandria. I was pretty tired to so I tried to sleep most of the way. However, we did stop for a quick snack, and I must admit that my first meal on Egyptian soil was not bad at all. It wasn't authentic food, but at least I can say we ate at an authentic chain food Egyptian restaurant at a gas station where all Egyptians stop when making the same trip we were about to embark on...

Fries and Shish Tawook Diet (I guess like a chicken sandwich...and trust me, there was
nothing "diety" about this meal) from Cook Door

On our way to Alexandria, we got to see some really cool things and hear about some of the historical and cultural aspects of Cairo. I kept a running list of everything we saw and talked about so that I could post it for you guys. Sadly, it was really dark outside and our luggage was a bit muffled and shuffled, so I wasn't able to take any pictures of any of these places. Inshallah (Allah willing--a typical Arab Muslim saying), I we will be able to see Cairo during the day and I can take pictures.

1.We got to drive by the Election building where elections will be held soon. It was completely surrounded by the military with heavy machinery, but it was still neat to see the place where a new Egyptian history will be unfolding soon

2. Many of the houses  have influence  from French, British and Italian architecture because of the colonial powers 

3. Cairo has an uncanny resemblance to Mexico City...except that all the signs are written in Arabic lol

4. I didn't think this was possible, but I saw 3 men on the back of a motorcycle

5. We were able to drive by Mubarak's old palace, which until recently was closed to the public. After he left, it was left open (somewhat)

6. Since elections are coming up soon, there are campaign stickers EVERYWHERE

7. Speaking of resemblances, one particular strip in Cairo resembled Avenida Reforma in Mexico City and/or The Champs Elyse...there is also a Carrefour here!!

8. We drove past the 2nd biggest soccer stadium in Africa

9. There is also a really neat Memorial that was built to house all weapons used by Egypt when trying to regain the Sinai region  from Israel in 1973 when President Sadaat was in power. This was kind of a neat thing to see because I have done so much reading about the 6 Day War and the 1973 war...this is also a very important part of Egyptian history, so Tarek and our driver told us that these dates are engraved into their hearts, minds, and souls.  

10. There are Christian churches all over Egypt--this is because Egypt has the largest population of Coptic Christians (and Christian population in general) in the Middle East. Egypt is also one of the only places you can hear the Azaam (call to prayer of 2 mins) and church bells at the same time or in the same place. 

11. Mcdonald's delivers here... and is super expensive...

12.The Rowing Teams of Egypt us the Nile as their race way...how cool is that? 

13. Egyptians will sometimes leave their car doors open with no hand breaks  on so that the cars behind them can move their care if other drivers want to pass parked cars, especially cars that are double parked 

14. Finally, I have been learning that there are some crazy driving rules here in Egypt. Actually, I should that in reality, there are no rules here (much like in Mexico), so people who are not used to mass chaos on the roads might be a little traumatized at the beginning...fearing for your life is not uncommon either. More on driving rules later...

My family and I are staying in Tarek's (my dad's business partner) old apartment in Alexandria while Tarek and his wife Carly are staying next door with Tarek's brother, sister-in-law and niece. When we arrived, Tarek's sister-in-law Ala (prounounced Ala-uh) and his parents were waiting for us. The homecoming was really very warm, and even through my exhaustion I was able to experience the Egyptian hospitality I have heard so much about. After our long exchange of greetings and initial conversation, Tarek's mom announced that she prepared a "light snack" for us. I can honestly say that my first home-cooked Egyptian "snack"/meal sent me straight to Heaven and back. There was sooo much food and it was all sooo delicious. If we hadn't been eating at 12:30am, I might have eaten a lot more than what I devoured last night!So, after a very long journey and endless hours of traveling, we were able to get a few (and by that I mean more like 3-4) hours of sleep. I will save the adventures from today (Thursday) for a later post. 

Where can I even begin...well how about I go from left to right?
bowl 1: I can't remember the name but it was like baklavah stuffed with beef instead of  honey
bowl 2: dough/bread with cheese inside (soo good)
bowl 3: beef (delicious) with chips (also interesting...reminded me of the different flavored chips in France)
bowl 4: same as bowl 1
bowl 5: vegetable salad (fresh!)
Also, note the scattered platters of cheese (my all time FAVORITE thing in the world thanks to La France), bread, and olives

So with that, I will end your misery and save you from this very monotonous post. I apologize, but it has been a very long 72 with very little sleep. Tomorrow morning (inshallah) I will be able to post about today's events and show you more pictures! But for now, I will say ليلة سعيدة or good night, and until tomorrow! 

Ma-Salama and peace be with you

مع السلام

Welcome to  Egypt!