Egypt- day 1 and 2

Sorry- these are all a little jumbled! :)This is a pretty weak shot, but it was from our hostel

In the mosque with our head coverings

The streets of Cairo- Talaat Harb

The Al-Ahazar Mosque

Inside the mosque- men studying the Koran

The final product of our henna

Our favorite restaurant!

Delicious tomari and lentil soup at Felfela's

Fishawi's Coffee house

The tourist side of Khan-El-Khalili

The oldest stall/business in the market...the Fez hats!!! too cool

Kelsey and I enjoying our Turkish coffee and hookah

My trip to Egypt was definitely the most unexpected part of my adventure here in Africa. My friend Kelsey and I decided to seize the carp during our break from school before exams and I am so glad we did! We were there for seven days and six nights and it was the perfect amount of time- not too much, not too little.

After a wonderful red-eye flight to Cairo, we arrived in Cairo Friday morning. It worked out great because the hostel we stayed at picked us up at the airport sans-cost so we weren’t completely confused straight out of the gate. We stayed at the Ramses II Hostel (catchy, huh?) and it was on Talaat Harb St. right in the heart of the city. It was a ten minutes walk from the Nile as well as the Egyptian Museum. We were on the 12^th floor and you should have seen the view from the balcony! Pictures just don’t do it justice.

It was such a bizarre feeling being back in a city. I’m pretty sure my experience would have been completely different had I been coming from America going to Cairo. I was in awe of all the tall buildings, highways and central buzz going on all around me. I was just used to a different pace and feel it was a different kind of shock I was in, because I was pretty well prepared for the culture having been in Ghana for awhile now, but the city just took me aback. The language was also a different kind of barrier. I really enjoyed trying to speak Arabic but I think I was the only one because everyone else just looked at me like I was a big weirdo. I could have sworn I was saying everything correctly but apparently not J I also think I’ve rediscovered a passion for languages that I have forgotten- I really enjoy learning and speaking them (although some people rather me not, ha).

The weather in Egypt was INCREDIBLE and such a nice change from the humid, grueling heat of Ghana. There was a nice breeze and so wonderful. But we just settled in the first day, got our bearings, and there was this really cute movie theatre next to our hostel and so we ended up watching a movie (in an actual theatre!!) that night- I think it was ‘21’. It was funny how many English movies there were, and then they just added on subtitles.

The next day we went to this huge bazaar called Khan-El-Khalili. Little to our knowledge, there are three sections to this bazaar: the Egyptian market, the Turkish Market and the Tourist market, and our taxi dropped us at the Egyptian section. This means that this is where everything is produced and a lot of buyers buy things in bulk to sell elsewhere. We got this feeling soon as we continued to walk and saw no other outsiders. But then we were sent an angel in the form of a guy named Hamesh. He was a student at the University in Cairo and was studying English. So he pretty much took us around the Egyptian market, got us good deals and was our tour guide and friend for the day with out asking for a thing! It was so nice and refreshing to meet someone like that. Before we crossed over to the dark-tourist side, we were able to go into the Al-Hazar Mosque, which is the oldest in Cairo. It wasn’t too big, but it was just incredible but at the same time a little heart wrenching, to see this awesome place of worship. We wore head coverings and were able to walk around while the people inside were studying. It was almost completely all men, and Hamesh told us they were all studying the Koran. It was really interesting and the mosque itself was beautiful.

When we went to the tourist side, I’m so glad we did because we happened across this really neat coffee place called Fishawi’s and before that had a delicious falafel sandwich-yum! Fishawi’s is the oldest coffee house in Cairo and it was my first experience with Turkish coffee. I am no expert so I have no idea how they make it that way, but it’s A LOT thicker and there’s this sludge-remainder at the bottom. Despite my description it was delicious. We also had hookah while were sat there and then a lady came up and gave us both henna on our hands. Yes and yes!

After a little more meandering, we headed the direction of our hostel and grabbed some dinner at this really quaint restaurant named Felfela’s. I had lentil soup with bread and falafel, and Kelsey had this amazing dish called tomari. It had rice, noodles and this delicious read sauce. Everything tasted amazing and it was the perfect ending to a great day.

Sorry I’ve written a novel. In between my studies this week, I will be sure to write about the next couple days. Three more exams to go…wooo! Take care to all and I miss you!