“Be careful crossing the fuckin street, the guy in my class from Egypt said 6 people die a day from car/road incidents. You probably have never seen anything like just crossing the fuckin street there...but you will be ok, you are a seasoned middle east/ shit jumping off traveler!!!”
…says my friend Ayan. So you can only imagine why it took me a good 15 minutes to cross the small street from the InterContinental hotel to the ledge overlooking the Nile.
Egypt is a seminal point in my travels for a plethora of reasons. When I was younger, I’d always hoped to visit exotic lands..such as Egypt. I imagined going to the pyramids of Giza, riding camels, and interacting with the locals. It seemed like a near impossibility. And here I am in Egypt. Never had I imagined I would be here..alone..on my Arab adventure after working in the region for a summer. Secondly, I was meant to go to Egypt in March, with a class. I spent days organizing speakers in Egypt..and an equal of amount of days fixated on the revolution erupting in Tahrir Square. Which ultimately canceled the trip, for obvious reasons.
I am so fucking awesome at making travel plans. I was in…
• London during the 2005 train bombings
• India during Lashkar-e-Taiba’s 2008 Mumbai attacks
• Israel this past week when terrorists hijacked a bus near the border of Egypt
…and now in Tahrir Square, filled with army tanks, policemen holding rifles and shields, all in the center of the city. I have never seen an army tank in my life. It is quite disturbing. What the hell am I doing here? The taxi driver gave a nice commentary as we drove through the city to my hotel. We passed by Mubarak’s palace, his son Gamal’s former mansion, and Mubarak’s office that was torched by protestors.
I cautiously walk out of the hotel, asking the reception many times if it’s safe for me to walk around. I slowly approach Tahrir Square. I randomly meet Yousef, who can easily tell that I’m a tourist. We starting talking about the revolution, how his cousin died…how he is sad, yet proud that his cousin gave his life for democracy. As I was about to bid my goodbye in search of a place to eat, he invites me to iftar with his family. Him and his brothers own several stores near the hotel, and I just couldn’t say no. To think of how much this country has been through, and people are still so hospitable.
I spent the next day visiting the pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, and Memphis. We drove through the street in front of the Israeli embassy, which was lined with protesters wanting to oust the Israeli ambassador to Egypt. Israel had mistakenly killed several Egyptian officers at the border in its mission to capture the Palestinians who had attacked a bus in Eilat just days ago. My heart skipped a beat. “Don’t worry, the protests have nothing to do with us” says the tour guide. Either way, I am still uneasy trying to drive through a crowd of rowdy protesters. Not wanting to leave my hotel, other than to go on tours or meet friends, I found myself at a lounge with folks who were introduced to me by a friend in Dubai. May and Yasmeen made me feel at home, and I let go of my nervousness for a few hours. Foolishly I assumed that every Egyptian youth was in support of the revolution, yet May did not support it. My curiosity was sparked, yet we could not get into the details of her stance, as Yasmeen was a staunch supporter of the revolution and had spent days in Tahrir Square, and we did not want to start an argument.
…says my friend Ayan. So you can only imagine why it took me a good 15 minutes to cross the small street from the InterContinental hotel to the ledge overlooking the Nile.
Egypt is a seminal point in my travels for a plethora of reasons. When I was younger, I’d always hoped to visit exotic lands..such as Egypt. I imagined going to the pyramids of Giza, riding camels, and interacting with the locals. It seemed like a near impossibility. And here I am in Egypt. Never had I imagined I would be here..alone..on my Arab adventure after working in the region for a summer. Secondly, I was meant to go to Egypt in March, with a class. I spent days organizing speakers in Egypt..and an equal of amount of days fixated on the revolution erupting in Tahrir Square. Which ultimately canceled the trip, for obvious reasons.
I am so fucking awesome at making travel plans. I was in…
• London during the 2005 train bombings
• India during Lashkar-e-Taiba’s 2008 Mumbai attacks
• Israel this past week when terrorists hijacked a bus near the border of Egypt
I cautiously walk out of the hotel, asking the reception many times if it’s safe for me to walk around. I slowly approach Tahrir Square. I randomly meet Yousef, who can easily tell that I’m a tourist. We starting talking about the revolution, how his cousin died…how he is sad, yet proud that his cousin gave his life for democracy. As I was about to bid my goodbye in search of a place to eat, he invites me to iftar with his family. Him and his brothers own several stores near the hotel, and I just couldn’t say no. To think of how much this country has been through, and people are still so hospitable.
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