International Hamburgers

Trip Start May 31, 2007
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62
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Trip End May 20, 2008


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Flag of Egypt  ,
Monday, October 8, 2007

On the 5th, I arrived exhausted back in Cairo from the Red Sea, I wandered over to the American University area and walked into McDonald's...because so many restaurants are closed during Ramadan.  I ordered my dinner and stood in the dining room and there was no place to sit.  I looked around, the locals looked at me, looked down and it was an entirely awkward moment.  Being a single woman, its highly unlikely that any men will let me share their tables and the few people sitting at their empty tables waiting for their families didn't offer up.  So I just stood their for a few more minutes until a middle aged man and a younger man offered me a seat at their table.  Many people raised their eyebrows but at this point I wasn't picky.  Contrary to what is socially acceptable, I took the seat and it turned out that the two men didn't know each other either, they had just decided to share a table too.  We all sat, eating our American meals, discussing religion and politics, business etc. one guy was Armenian Christian, the other was Palestinian Muslim and then there was me...  We adjourned to a nearby cafe and finished our discussions over coffee and then I went back to the hotel. As the evening closed, it was inevitable that one of the men decided that since we were close in age that we should be married and that he would be calling my father to discuss the prospects!  After, running out of polite euphemistic terms of denial.  I looked him straight in the eye the offer but no thanks!  This dampened his spirits quite considerably but he accepted my denial and wouldn't let me pay for my coffees.   We said our goodbyes and I headed back to the Hostel.

On the 6th I moved over to the Capsis Palace Hotel (the term 'palace' used loosely) where Intrepid had put me up an extra night before the Egypt tour started so I would be available for any coordination stuff prior to the tour.  It turned out that I didn't get my Lybian Visa so I am on what will be an amazing trip all around Egypt before flying to Tunis and then Djerba in Tunisia to meet the rest of the "Cairo to Casablanca" folks to finish out the tour.  Saw that Michelin pulled all of its employees out of Algeria yesterday on the BBC World...I have been assured by my North Africa leader, Karina, that Intrepid will get us out of Algeria if it gets unsafe...there's plenty to see in Morocco if neccesary.  The Egypt group is a good one, mixed ages and I am sure that we will have a blast.  Our leader is a local Egyptian named Mohammad...not hard to forget : )

I am still having major Sawa Camp withdrawal symptoms.  I will definitely be back there as soon as I am able...perhaps in the Spring.  Surprisingly I am finding little spots of interest in Cairo, a fruit market, back alleys with interesting cafes etc to keep my spirits up before leaving on the overnight train to Aswan this evening with my new group.   I have also been enjoying the A/C and lots of movies on channel 2 MBC.  Watched the Anniversary Party, so LA, and the Coneheads and a few other brain numbing blockbusters.

It's a bit overcast and cooler in Cairo now.  Still very smoggy and dirty but much easier to endure in the more reasonable temperatures.  The sounds of cars honking incessantly continues...
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