hommos heaven

I got back from Kisumu nearly 2 weeks ago, attended one of our increasingly pointless and mildly insulting MSID seminars, spent a week with my mommy (!) traveling around Kenya, relaxed in Nairobi for a few days, then booked it to the Africa that isn't really Africa to spend a week with my friends Jesse and Anna. Yes everyone, I'm in CAIRO, EGYPT!

I have wanted to come here ever since I was little and my parents would tell me stories about their honeymoon here. I've had visions of camel markets and pyramids for years...and now I'm finally here...and it lives up to all the wonderful things I've heard! This entire year has been full of "OH MY GOD" moments. On a daily basis, I sit back and think to myself "am I really here?? Is all this really happening to me??" And then I jump off the Victoria Falls bridge or dive into Lake Malawi or ride up to the Pyramids of Giza on a camel, and I realize it's all true and I'm so incredibly lucky to be here. (Legit, I just got shivers writing that sentence!)

Anyway, Cairo is a very cool and surprising city. Egypt being really part of the Middle East, not Africa, it's quite modern and westernized in a lot of parts. Of course, there is still the grinding poverty of old Cairo...but what I've seen is NOTHING compared to sub-Saharan Africa. And many parts of Cairo actually remind me of a cross between Chicago and New York, so that should give you an idea. I ate at a restaurant last night that had the most indulgent sushi and hommos I've ever tasted. Of course, I may just be deprived most of the time and impressed by everything, but it was a gorgeous location (right on the Nile in these huge, clear tents) and I left feeling like I would BURST. Amazing.

Cairo was designed by Napoleon to look like the Paris of the Middle East, which I personally still think it does, though admittedly a more delapidated and dirty version. But my viewpoint on "dirty" has been radically altered this year. Jesse told me that most of his friends who come to visit are coming from the US or Europe, and they are absolutely disgusted by what they see. Hey guys, toughen up! As long as there's a roof over your head, food to eat, and clean water to drink...what's a few cockroaches, some peeling paint, and a street full of trash? People really need to get some perspective. Come visit me in Kenya sometime.

So far, I've spent most of my time here relaxing in Jesse & Anna's HUGE apartment in Zamalek--a new, ritzy area of Old Cairo. It's beautiful here and I'm feeling so rested and pampered by their lifestyle. We've been going out and enjoying the crazy nightlife here...and I FINALLY get to revel in the fact that I'm 21! Egypt is the only country in the whole world, besides America, with an enforced 21 age-limit. I walked up to these huge bouncers the other night and handed over a copy of my passport with no fear. It felt incredible. It also helped that I'm a girl and was wearing tight jeans and bright red lipstick. Poor Jesse, who is also 21, wasn't allowed in!! So of course we moved to another location and I whipped out my (fake) bellydance moves. Thank you Chanel and Tamara...2 years of watching you both dance holds me in good stead here!

It hasn't been all clubbing and fabulous meals though. I am indulging in some amazing cultural experiences too. We went to Khan al-Khalili, an open-air tourist market where there was a bombing 2 weeks ago. We climbed to the top of a minaret at a mosque in Islamic Cairo, with Anna and I both in purple-flowered burqas (NOT flattering, btw). Yesterday we went to see the Pyramids of Giza, and I rode a camel and nearly had a heart attack looking at these huge monuments from the ancient world. I have been lucky enough to see many amazing sights in my life: the great wall of China, the Taj Mahal, Victoria Falls. But none of them have ever struck me the same way the Pyramids did. I don't know what it was about them, but just seeing them looming in the distance as we drove up made me want to cry.

We were going to visit the camel market today and see how many camels I'm worth compared to my mother's worth 23 years ago (lol, mom). But we overslept and didn't make it, so that'll have to be on my next trip. Tonight we go to see the Whirling Dervishes dance and tomorrow I'm going to hit up the National Museum before I fly myself back to Kenya. It's been an amazing few days and I know I'll be back here in the future. Now I'm going to get back to figuring out how many more places I can visit before I leave in 3 months! Right now, I'm hoping for a week-long trip by myself to Rwanda. I am dying to visit Petra, Jordan after hearing all of Jesse's stories, but that may not be possible. We shall see.

Love you all, miss you! XOXO