Goodbye Egypt!
It's a sad goodbye to Egypt today. I thought I would be completely ready to go but as I walked to the grocery store today and bought bananas from vendors on the side of the street I realized how much I've gotten accustomed to this city. I finally feel comfortable here and almost if I belong (although to others I look very out place as an American) and now we're leaving. I stocked up on some snacks that I know I'll be missing in India--these yummy digestive crackers and some candy, and took in the scene of Zamalek one last time. I will miss the rundown buildings that haven't been taken care of because of the rent laws in Cairo, I'll miss the hustle and bustle of the street and people that will actually stop for you to cross the road (I'm not sure if that will happen in India), the easy walk to all of our favorite restaurants, the nice people who have come to recognize us and have wished us farewell, and a lot of other things. I will NOT miss all of the stray cats, however. If I had counted from the beginning I would most likely be in the 500s of how many cats I've seen so far. There will probably be some in India as well though. There was a momma cat who had her kittens while we were here and stays in the courtyard of our dorm building, and she's the exception: she's very friendly and her kittens are adorable, so I'll miss them, a little.
Yesterday we had our essay final! It went pretty well, even considering the fact that the essay question I'd studied for the most wasn't even on the test... but we celebrated being stress-free with milk bubble tea and milky rice! We also had a surprise birthday party for two people on the trip and had a ton of cake. A small group of us took a taxi to Tahrir Square and it was definitely not what I expected. It's not a square in that it's distinguishable from the rest of the city, but it's just a section where there ceases to be skyscrapers and there's lots of traffic and it's kind of circular. But it was cool to picture all of the traffic stopped up because hundreds of thousands of people filled the area in the revolution of January 2011. We got Egyptian pizza--it was delicious! Then later that night we went on a felucca boat on the Nile to celebrate our last night in Egypt. What a great way to end the month we have here.
In half an hour we leave for Mumbai, and we'll be getting in at 7 or 8 am tomorrow morning, their time! We get right to touring and the next few days will be a hectic amount of touring before we leave the city for Bangalore. Internet will be spotty there (I think we might only get 15 minutes a day) but I'll try to keep up with the blog as best I can!
It's a sad goodbye to Egypt today. I thought I would be completely ready to go but as I walked to the grocery store today and bought bananas from vendors on the side of the street I realized how much I've gotten accustomed to this city. I finally feel comfortable here and almost if I belong (although to others I look very out place as an American) and now we're leaving. I stocked up on some snacks that I know I'll be missing in India--these yummy digestive crackers and some candy, and took in the scene of Zamalek one last time. I will miss the rundown buildings that haven't been taken care of because of the rent laws in Cairo, I'll miss the hustle and bustle of the street and people that will actually stop for you to cross the road (I'm not sure if that will happen in India), the easy walk to all of our favorite restaurants, the nice people who have come to recognize us and have wished us farewell, and a lot of other things. I will NOT miss all of the stray cats, however. If I had counted from the beginning I would most likely be in the 500s of how many cats I've seen so far. There will probably be some in India as well though. There was a momma cat who had her kittens while we were here and stays in the courtyard of our dorm building, and she's the exception: she's very friendly and her kittens are adorable, so I'll miss them, a little.
Yesterday we had our essay final! It went pretty well, even considering the fact that the essay question I'd studied for the most wasn't even on the test... but we celebrated being stress-free with milk bubble tea and milky rice! We also had a surprise birthday party for two people on the trip and had a ton of cake. A small group of us took a taxi to Tahrir Square and it was definitely not what I expected. It's not a square in that it's distinguishable from the rest of the city, but it's just a section where there ceases to be skyscrapers and there's lots of traffic and it's kind of circular. But it was cool to picture all of the traffic stopped up because hundreds of thousands of people filled the area in the revolution of January 2011. We got Egyptian pizza--it was delicious! Then later that night we went on a felucca boat on the Nile to celebrate our last night in Egypt. What a great way to end the month we have here.
In half an hour we leave for Mumbai, and we'll be getting in at 7 or 8 am tomorrow morning, their time! We get right to touring and the next few days will be a hectic amount of touring before we leave the city for Bangalore. Internet will be spotty there (I think we might only get 15 minutes a day) but I'll try to keep up with the blog as best I can!
...what an awesome experience. I have to convince Natalie to head to St.
ReplyDeleteOlaf just so we can experience the same excitement that you are having with your Global Experience. You must invite me to your home when you are ambassador to Egypt! You can see why I caught the travel bug in college and I never have stopped trying to see the world. Have a great time, keep your eyes open, and really enjoy the trip to Thailand with your Mom. See you when you get home. Uncle Bob