Got your attention with the title huh?
She's quite a beauty, and we have a long history going as well. I first met her my first week back in Egypt in January. I was walking down the street outside my apartment talking with an Egyptian guy I know who works parking in the area. As I was standing there, out of nowhere this little old grandma wearing all black comes over and starts yelling at me. With an iron-like grip she grabs my arms and starts pushing me away yelling "Get out of here, get out of here" in Arabic. It was love at first sight.
I returned to my apartment love-stricken where I explained the situation to my roommates, who started cracking up. Apparently, they too had previously had an experience with this beautiful toothless lady. They had previously been sitting at a cafe down the street when they saw a guy in a wheelchair rolling past them at high-speed. Soon afterwards, the little old lady was seen chasing him down the street with a large stick. A few minutes later, they returned going the opposite direction.
After hearing about how the guy in the wheelchair had clearly insulted such a sweet old lady, life went on for a few weeks and I didn't see my true love. A few weeks later she surprised me again with her classic iron arm grip from behind. Same situation, talking to a friend when she starts yelling and pushing me down the street again. I was kind of annoyed this time as I was in the middle of drinking my juice at the juice stand, but I complied as I really had no choice.
And then yesterday, it all changed. Cupid was working overtime. I was ordering a new phonecard at a kiosk on the same street when out of the corner of my eye, I saw her. Four foot six, wearing a blue higab, a toothless beauty. I saw her saying something and pointing at me out of the corner of my eye. I was getting ready to run should she pull out the large stick again.
She started talking to me in her sweet melodious voice, something about my Swedish friend who keeps walking around with a big hole in his pants. We spoke a bit in my poor but improving Arabic, and then she said it, "Bahabak" "I love you". It was like sweet music to my ears, no more would this crazy old lady chase me down the street threatening to hit me with a stick. No more would I have to run in utter terror as the love of my life chases handicapped Egyptians and foreigners at all hours through the streets. I am in love. She said she loves me.
I just hope she remembers me tomorrow.
Cairo is hands-down one of the safest cities in the world to live in. Excluding the real-life game of frogger when crossing the street, it's amazes me how secure and welcomed I feel here.
Sunday night, after working my way down by plane from Eastern Europe I arrived in Cairo International Airport at 2:15 am. After clearing customs with my visa and grabbing my bags, I cruised outside to get a ride home. Taxis at the airport are relatively expensive for the city, since the airport is a ways from the center of town. I found bus number 400, hopped on with a bunch of Egyptians and we started flying down the highway... at least until we got a flat tire.
We pull off the side, 3:30 am at this point, while some fellow Egyptian travelers wave down a minibus. We pile in (reminds me of a joke about Guatemala, "How many people fit into a Guatemalan chicken bus?... One more", the same applies here). I have my big hiking backpack fresh with my clothes from the States which my Dad brought over, and a laptop computer. The big bag goes on my lap, the laptop on the lap of the guy next to me, and we cruise to the center of downtown Cairo.
Me and my friend have a running competition of seeing who can get home from the airport for the least amount of money. Taxis cost about 50 pounds (9 dollars US)... at this point I'm up to 1 pound, I'm doing pretty well. It's now 4:30 am, the morning call to prayer is beginning to echo in the distance as I'm walking around Cairo in the dark, by myself, as a foreigner carrying a big backpack and a laptop computer. In all honesty, I wouldn't have wanted to be in that situation anywhere else, but Cairo. I eventually give in and catch a 5 pound cab to my apartment in west Cairo putting my total at 6 pounds... so I lost, the record is 3.5 pounds. Next time...
The rest of the time with my brother and Dad in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, and Poland was great. After seeing the small town my bro lives in for the Peace Corps., my Dad and I made a quick stop in Sofia before catching a flight to Bratislava, Slovakia and then a train to Prague. The weather warmed up a bit so we were able to tour the city, hit the sites, and of course drink some quality Czech beer. From there we moved on to Katowice and Krakow, Poland where we saw some old friends from our church. It was a whirlwind three days, but definitely worth it.
By the end of the trip I was itching to get back to Cairo. Something about this place just draws me here. This is beginning to sound like a government-sponsored tourist advertisement... but the Egyptian people are hands-down the most friendly, loyal, and hospitable people I have ever met in any of my travels. They make this crazy city feel like home.
Interspersed are some random pictures from the last few months here. Thanks for all the loving from back home.
