Katie the Amazing Cairo Guide!

I’m sitting out on the porch, laptop in my lap, and a cool drink in my hand. The weather here has been hot and beautiful lately, and the nights are amazing. I’m enjoying a five day weekend and relishing the fact that I have absolutely nothing to do. It seems everyone we know has run off to do some kind of diving adventure, so we have the entire city to ourselves. I figure with some of the free time I have, I should catch up on the ole blog. Unfortunately, I have once again waited too long and have far too many pictures. Consider this a friendly warning that this may be a considerably long narrative, but hopefully the pictures will help break things up along the way.

So this month, I’ve become the ultimate Egypt guide. It all started at the end of March when my parents arrived. They didn’t disappoint either, as they walked through the gate of the Cairo International Airport mom did her typical "mom wave" and I got lots of mom and dad hugs along with lots of “oooing and aahhhing” over my new haircut which deserves a blog entry all it’s own. After all the fun meet and greets we crammed into a Cairo cab where dad and mom both insisted on sitting in the back with me. Mom surprised me by remaining calm as we zigzagged through traffic while her suitcase simply rested untied on the roof.

I must say my parents fared very well on the trip. While I was at school they adventured around the neighborhood and became regulars at a café called “My Day” just down the street. Dad experienced some authentic Egyptian hospitality when he bought a box of water for our apartment several blocks away from home, which fell apart only halfway there. He didn’t have to struggle long before a friendly guy gave him the sign for "wait", and promptly ran into his building to retrieve a new box so he could carry the water the rest of the way. A woman at the grocery store also helped my mom make her purchases by grabbing her hand throwing all her goodies in her basket and helping her pay at the register. Egypt, you can’t beat it.

While they were here we went to several swanky restaurants where mom and dad were brave enough to try sheesha. It's essential to the Egyptian experience considering that café’s with old men drinking tea and smoking the iconic water pipe populate almost every street corner in the city. Two of their favorites were Seqoia, a modern tent like structure that sits directly on the Nile, and Abu el Seid, a very traditional Egyptian restaurant complete with low lighting, Victorian style furnishings, and two enormous dungeon like doors at the entrance.

Insert series of sheesha pictures here.

Dad smoking Sheesha

Mom smoking Sheesha

Paul smoking sheesha

Sarah smoking Sheesha

Me smoking sheesha

The next day we wandered the crowded streets of the tent makers market, where mom discovered some beautiful hand quilted pillow cases. The man selling them escorted us up the crumbling stairs of a dilapidated building only to find a beautiful room covered from top to bottom with beautiful needlework.

Later we took the Metro to Coptic Cairo the Christian district of the city. There we stumbled through a breezy cemetery. To our horror (and perhaps a little morbid curiosity) we discovered several of the graves to be ill taken care of. It’s terrible for those buried, but it did allow us to peek inside some of the tombs, one of which contained a broken coffin and a glimpse at a real corpse, or what was left of it.


One of the oldest known depictions of the Virgin Mary. This is located in the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo. It's called the hanging Church because it's actually suspended upon ancient Roman ruins.


Pretty grave in the Coptic cemetery.


Corpse....ewwww!

Also during their stay we visited Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city, only a 3 hour train ride away. Some of our stops included the shipyards, where we admired the handiwork of the many artisans occupying the small shacks on the other side of the bay. It’s interesting considering this is one of the only remaining areas where boats are still made of wood and hand crafted rather than machine crafted with fiberglass. I also convinced mom and dad to walk through an area called Anfushi, the working class and incredibly overpopulated district of Alexandria. Dad had his reservations, but once in, people were incredibly friendly and were more than happy to ham it up for mom to take photos. Unfortunately, the experience was slightly tainted at the very end of our short walk. We were standing under an awning made from a sheet when we started hearing what sounded like explosions of glass bottles, which turned out to be exactly that. Some guy standing in a balcony above the street was frantically yelling and throwing what looked like drinking glasses. I have no idea who the glasses were really meant for, but it shook up mom and dad. Damn. I highly doubt they were directed at us, but we’ll never know.


Spectacular view of the bay with fishing boats and city backdrop.


The fruits of their labor. Fish, fish, and more fish. Alexandrians are known for eating more seafood than a hungry sealion.


View from within the shipyards.


Dad admiring traditional handiwork.


One of the many views of Anfushi.


Colorful produce in baskets.


Pigeon or rabbit anyone? Yup, that's right, they eat pigeon here. It's supposedly a delicacy, but the one time I had it, felt like it was mostly a bunch of skin stuffed with rice.

We also had a fun trip to the Pyramids, where we fended off numerous guys running up to the cab and trying to tell us they were closed, or it was a long walk and we needed a horse. The key is to be as persistent as they are. Mom really wanted to ride a camel, which we of course indulged in.


The Sphinx! It's smaller than you might think.


Family shot with our camel "Moses". Our guide was sure not miss out on any detail of our Pyramid experience and insisted on wrapping dad's head in a turban.


Mom and I chillin' on a Pyramid.

Just before my parents left, my sister flew in from Madrid. That’s right, Souder family reunion in Cairo! That day we took advantage of Sarah’s duty free capabilities and bought ourselves a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, which we promptly finished off that evening, and Paul and Dad took stock of the humidified section dedicated explicitly to Cuban cigars. It was a very jubilant farewell for mom and dad.

Sarah’s trip was fantastic. It was a lot of the same stuff I did with my parents. I mean, you can’t go to Egypt and not go to Khan el Khalili, the Pyramids, or do a day trip to Alex, but she got to experience more of the Cairo nightlife. On her first night here we took her out to Purple, a club on a boat that sits on the Nile. It wasn’t nearly as packed as I would have liked, but it was still fun and we proceeded to stay up to the wee hours of the morning. Wednesday night we went to one of my favorite night spots called the Cairo Jazz Club, where me, Sarah, Paul, and several of my friends showed up to party down. Drinks are always outrageously expensive at the club, so we always pack a special water bottle keep the evening cheap.

We also visited the beautiful green oasis known as Al Azhar park where she could admire the vastness of the city. We brought a picnic of Fuul and Tamaaya which of course impressed the curious Egyptians hanging out with their potential lovers and families. For those of you who don’t know, Fuul and Tamaaya are staple examples of Egyptian street food. Fuul is essentially baked beans (made with fava beans) served in pita bread, and Tamaaya is falafel and garden veggies with a little tahina served in pita bread. The sandwiches are a pound a piece, or 18 cents.


Sarah and I at Al Azhar Park.

After Al Azhar we made an unfruitful trip to the Pyramids. Traffic was terrible and we were already running a little late, so we didn’t make it until the very second they were closing. Sarah and I decided the long trip shouldn’t go to waste, so bargained for a camel ride in the desert. Paul was none too thrilled about the camel ride, but humored us anyway. Sarah and I shared a camel and giggled the whole way about how bouncy it was, and poor Paul got stuck on the back of the other camel with our guide…hahaha!


Sarah and I having way too much fun on the back of our camel.

The highlight of Sarah’s trip was our trip to Dahab. Faye was planning to get her advanced diving certification, so all of us jumped at the opportunity to tag along. We stayed at the Sphinx again, where a communal friend gave us a great deal on a room right next to the beach. We even had a small front porch, but no chairs; however, Sarah and I stealthily stole some from our neighbors allowing us to drink Stella in the comfort of our room. Outside of that the three days were dwindled away by afternoons on the beach, and of course, more Stella. We did get to do some serious snorkeling though. The Red Sea is known for its clear water and amazing dive sights where Europeans flock. There’s the Canyon and the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is essentially a large cylindrical area completely surrounded by coral reef that extends below for miles.


The road to Dahab through the Sinai. Lots of desert and winding roads.


All of us geared up for some hardcore snorkeling. I am the nerd wearing the snorkel mask.


Snorkel Paul!

Snokel Sarah and Snorkel Katie!


Scuba Faye!


Octopus!!!


Oh my Gawd! I can see Saudi Arabia!

I hope that’s more than enough for now, because I simply can’t bring myself to write anymore. The pictures I posted are just a few of many, so keep your eyes open. I will be posting a ton more to the Picasa album and relabeling them so people can get a better idea of what they're looking at.

I sent out a mass e-mail not too long ago, but in case I left anyone out, Paul and I have bought plane tickets and will be returning to the good ole U.S. of A. on June 2nd. I’m excited and sad at the same time. I can’t wait to see everyone back home, but I’ll miss all the amazing opportunities here.