Overall Thoughts on Egypt

Coming into Egypt, I really had no idea what to expect. I knew that they were poor and I knew that it wouldn’t be clean. So many kids complained about Naples while we were there. Now Naples looks silly in that regard. There were a few places like that in China, but for the most part, China’s pretty clean, and it smells good. Not always the case in Egypt. Still, everywhere you go there, you have to remember that you’re walking on the land of the pharaohs, and the same places that people like Cleopatra, Hatshepsut, and Tut walked. Of course, we didn’t go to Luxor, but that just gives us another excuse to go back again.  ☺
It’s interesting to see how the people act in Egypt. Everyone is someone else’s brother or uncle. The people are very friendly, and while they may be shooting cat calls at you one minute, they might also give you the best advice the next. There’s a lot of anti-American sentiment, but at the same time, we never felt threatened and we actually got a lot of wonderful help and conversation from a lot of different people. I loved Egypt. I liked the people, and I liked the history. Going into the Egyptian Museum was intense for me after learning about all of these things for so long. That’s the thing about this trip, there’s so much history. We’re not used to that in the United States because we don’t have a lot. Places like this have changed the shape of the world. They’ve changed the way that people developed and lead the world in innovation at different times in the past. It’s humbling.
Ali really made our trip. Though we were a little weary the whole time we were with him, he really made Cairo an enjoyable experience. We tried to thank him profusely at the time, but I hope he really understands how awesome he made our experience. I loved Cairo, and while I probably wouldn’t go back, I have fond memories without a doubt of the place. The Nile was incredible. The Pyramids were incredible. The Camels were great. The whole experience was over the top.