SIDE NOTES FROM THE ROAD

Egypt

Side notes we compiled along the way.

·         Pepto Bismol is my best friend.

·         Deoderant is awesome and more people should use it.

·         Miriamism: We are dropping pounds like crazy. (And by pounds, she means Egyptian money.)

·         Because we are American, every time we travel with a guide we need a security escort. They are packin’ like you wouldn’t believe. Today we had Ahmed, and he escorted us through Khan el-Khalili (the shopping area) and made sure we were not harassed.

(Miriam with Ahmed at the coffee and sheesha house)

·         Miriamism: My toots are uncommon (tutenkhamen).

·         I think people who have a problem with Muslims need to have some time for self-reflection. From what I have learned and seen of the Muslim religion in Egypt, it is very peaceful. They are willing to help you no matter what. Yes, there are religious extremists, but there are also Christian extremists, and more wars were started on behalf of Christianity.

(A Muslim woman in reflection at the Mohammed Ali Mosque in the Citadel)

·         Miriamism: Egypt is where our cars come to die.

·         They are trying to build new apartment buildings so fast to keep up with the ever-growing population, and they don’t seem to care about precision. We watched them throw mortar on the bricks and plop the brick down on top of the wall willy-nilly. No scraping the mortar off, no lining it up with the brick below it or to the side of it. Some of the walls have little holes where they didn’t even bother putting bricks. One building is leaning so heavily it looks like the leaning tower of Pisa. And these buildings are 10-15 floors high…

(Not sure if you can tell, but this is the leaning tower of Giza)

·         Our guide and security guard refused to sit in the back of the van with us (I think they were nervous to sit with us), so all three (driver, security, and guide) sat in the front of the van. Hilarious looking from behind.

·         Don’t lie and say you’re married. Or if you do, be prepared for a barrage of questions (how long have you been married? Do you have kids? Why don’t you have any kids? When do you think is a good time for a woman to have kids?...and then they suggest certain oils that will make my husband bigger and longer and draw pictures to demonstrate…)

·         Miriamism: How could they lose these?! (Exclaimed at the Karnak Temple ruins that were buried under sand for thousands of years.)

·         Egyptian men have a strange love for Celine Dion, Whitney Houston…and Michael Bolton.

·         Do most of your shopping at the airport. The stuff is real, the prices are fixed, and most things are cheaper than what you can bargain down to in the souqs.

·         Miriamism: The best Egyptian drivers are driving cabs in New York City. (and that's scary)

·         If you plan on flying Egypt Air make sure to tell them your food preferences before you fly. On both flights they ran out of beef and chicken by the time they got to us, leaving only fish (which neither of us eat) so we were starving by the time we landed.

·         Remember to get bug spray. While eating dinner outside, the bugs decided to make a meal out of us. Miriam seemed to be the delicacy on their menu as she has 75 bug bites from her shins down to her feet (!!!). I am not even kidding. She just counted—60 on one leg alone.

·         Egyptians are very proud of their new country and love to talk about it. It’s absolutely fascinating. I wish them luck on creating their new democracy.