Experiences in Egypt

[JeanneVictoria 55]

Don't know if this has been a topic before, but would love to know what experiences you have had with your visit or visits to Egypt... are they memorable, not so memorable, funny, exciting, etc...

My memorable things : Meeting Wael for the first time, Cairo, riding on the train, going to Alexandria for the first time on the SuperJet, first taste of falafel, first taste of tahina, the pyramids, the Egyptian museum, first experience of Ramadan, the small feast, listening to the prayers, the street vendors selling their goods, the donkey's pulling their carts

Funny things: Egyptian people eating pizza with a knife and fork and adding ALOT of ketchup (only in Egypt), Wael's neighbors waving and sending kisses to me from their balconies, talking to me in Arabic like i understand, people trying to figure out what country i'm from (most think Russia or Italy), waiters can't believe I help them clear the table, Wael's parents wanting me so much to eat MEAT and i'm vegetarian as it's hard for Egyptians to believe that in the world there is some people who don't eat MEAT, the wild and crazy rides in the taxi's, watching Adel Emam, Hani Ramzi and Ahmed Helmy in funny Arabic movies, Wael going with me to the salon where ONLY WOMEN are allowed (he feels so strange but i assured him he is doing a duty translating)...

Exciting places : The great Pyramids (AWESOME SIGHT), the Library of Alexandria (absolutely beautiful) Egyptian Museum ( could live in this place), Mohammed Ali Mosque Cairo, Cairo train station, Stanley Bridge in Alexandria...

Exciting things: seeing the old Omar Sherif movies (what a handsome man), walking along the sea road in Alexandria, shopping in Carefour, people watching at coffeeshops, Egyptian weddings...

Food : Best in the world!!! The vegetables, fruit, coffee, tea, soup, seafood (especially the fish and eggplant cooked at the sea) mahshi, falafel, ice cream, popcorn at Raml square...

People : At first I couldn't get used to the stares but now everyone knows me and they are such wonderful and caring people. They are nice and extremely friendly...

Not so memorable : Tourist police not so friendly at the airport, wild taxi rides, the BIG feast with the slaughtering of animals, my mosquito bites ( don't know why they like me, but for the 4th time here in Egypt they still attack my legs until they find another tourist), the green soup doesn't like me, car horns, loud music blaring from the cars or motorcycles...

Hope everyone will share their experiences and will be helpful to others who haven't had the chance to come yet...

[ya falaha! 0]

Egyptian food is the best in the world? I beg to differ. Sorry. I'd agree if you said Lebanese or Syrian.

[doodlebug 3]

My memorable things : Riding on the train in Alex with the door open and seeing people standing near the door!!! Fearing for my life in the taxi and actually preferring the mini-busses because I felt safer! The heat and humidity of Alex. Having the mini-bus driver blast the Quran the whole way from Cairo to Alex and back. Hearing the call to prayer....I miss that.

Funny things: Me on a camel. Granted I wasn't laughing till after I stopped screaming and got down from it but his sisters still crack themselves up when he tells them the story.

Exciting places : The nile river. I really didn't get that excited over the pyramids.

Exciting things: Egyptian weddings. We saw a lot of these on New Years on the bridge along the nile.

Food : not best in the world imho but I loved the falafel, basbousa, mashi and koshari. I missed coffee and milk in a big way though. (normal milk not milk that just got out of the cow that you have to boil)

People : So many people!!! I kept thinking of that movie Soylent Green the whole time I was in Alex.

Not so memorable : The blood on the streets after they sacraficed all the lambs. blech!!!!!! Also the gurgling noise that they made when they were being slaughtered outside our flat.

[MelindaandTarek 0]

Great thread! Oh there are so many things - most memorable is of course seeing Tarek w/my eyes for the first time - cant quite put that one into words - my time in Egypt was the most amazing experience...the ppl were so nice - my soon to be mother and father in law were so loving and I felt right at home - - I love Alexandria and spent most of my time there...walking by the sea, sitting in a cafe, call to prayer, the museums, Alex's library, bridge in Alex, oh so many things...

Some funny moments - crossing the Street in Alex - hello - oh my - I would just close my eyes and Tarek would say - when I tell you to run run - and this is the only way I could do it - just thinking of it now my heart is racing...of course once I got to the other side safely I was cracking up at myself..and I am sure I must be a sight...haha...

Learning or attempting to learn to dance - this was hysterical - - my sister-in-law (Nicraguan) is an amazing dancer and has taught me some moves since my 1st trip to Egypt - anywho....

Oh there are so many more memories but I have to leave for work - - I hope others will share and I will have many more in November........

[Sameh and Keri 0]

Don't know if this has been a topic before, but would love to know what experiences you have had with your visit or visits to Egypt... are they memorable, not so memorable, funny, exciting, etc...

My memorable things : Meeting Wael for the first time, Cairo, riding on the train, going to Alexandria for the first time on the SuperJet, first taste of falafel, first taste of tahina, the pyramids, the Egyptian museum, first experience of Ramadan, the small feast, listening to the prayers, the street vendors selling their goods, the donkey's pulling their carts

Funny things: Egyptian people eating pizza with a knife and fork and adding ALOT of ketchup (only in Egypt), Wael's neighbors waving and sending kisses to me from their balconies, talking to me in Arabic like i understand, people trying to figure out what country i'm from (most think Russia or Italy), waiters can't believe I help them clear the table, Wael's parents wanting me so much to eat MEAT and i'm vegetarian as it's hard for Egyptians to believe that in the world there is some people who don't eat MEAT, the wild and crazy rides in the taxi's, watching Adel Emam, Hani Ramzi and Ahmed Helmy in funny Arabic movies, Wael going with me to the salon where ONLY WOMEN are allowed (he feels so strange but i assured him he is doing a duty translating)...

Exciting places : The great Pyramids (AWESOME SIGHT), the Library of Alexandria (absolutely beautiful) Egyptian Museum ( could live in this place), Mohammed Ali Mosque Cairo, Cairo train station, Stanley Bridge in Alexandria...

Exciting things: seeing the old Omar Sherif movies (what a handsome man), walking along the sea road in Alexandria, shopping in Carefour, people watching at coffeeshops, Egyptian weddings...

Food : Best in the world!!! The vegetables, fruit, coffee, tea, soup, seafood (especially the fish and eggplant cooked at the sea) mahshi, falafel, ice cream, popcorn at Raml square...

People : At first I couldn't get used to the stares but now everyone knows me and they are such wonderful and caring people. They are nice and extremely friendly...

Not so memorable : Tourist police not so friendly at the airport, wild taxi rides, the BIG feast with the slaughtering of animals, my mosquito bites ( don't know why they like me, but for the 4th time here in Egypt they still attack my legs until they find another tourist), the green soup doesn't like me, car horns, loud music blaring from the cars or motorcycles...

Hope everyone will share their experiences and will be helpful to others who haven't had the chance to come yet...

oh yeah, I remember having different kinds of Egyptian pizza. The way they make Italian pizza is a little different but good my favorite is still PIZZA HUT! oh, seeing my new extended family (in-laws) and friends putting ketchup on there pizza is one of the strangest things. Egyptian food is not my favorite BUT.... I do love a couple Egyptian things.... Mashi & meat pockets.

PEOPLE: Everyone here in Egypt is so hospitable... when you visit someone's home they automatically give you a drink and/or feed you. When I return back to the states, I will continue that custom of serving someone a drink when they come to visit us.

I agree with you on the Egyptian police.

Most homes here in Egypt are lit with floresant lighting. Im very sensative to floresant lights. I get very bad eye strains if Im under them or in my eyes for only an hour or less.

I know they are more energy efficiant but oh well.~Keri

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

The Good Times

The beautiful mandala in the American Embassy in Cairo.

The early morning walks to the bridge over the Nile and nearly all the city is slumbering.

The window shopping.

The Citadel

The Pyramids

Pizza Hut and McDonald's deliever

Chinese food isn't bad

The grand theft auto taxi rides

The woman telling me I was beautiful as the moon

The young man shouting towards me, "Take care of our tourists for they are our guests."

The big picture windows of the old buildings

The shisha and tea at the hole in the wall cafes with his friends

Playing pool at the military building when it was only us there

Mohamed Abu-Traka making a score and the crowd cheering at the cafes viewing the soccer games.

The Temple in Luxor

Running into other Americans at the western bathrooms

The movie theater

The warm water of the Red Sea

The not so good

Being sick nearly the entire time I was there

British Air losing my luggage for two weeks

The slow taxi drivers who drove beaters that broke down

The dirtyness of the streets

The miles of burning garbage that children played in near their unfinished red brick homes that we saw while coming back from Giza

The cows in the middle of a metropolitan city

Having my first real culture shock

Military with M-16's at nearly all corners

What is up with that ketchup and hot sauce not only on pizza but everything it seemed like?

Edited October 9, 2007 by OlivianWaleed

[deadbird 2]

Oh there is SO much!!! If I were to write it all I could write you all a novel.

Nothing beats seeing Ramy for the first time in 5 1/2 years and the first kiss we had that night

I loved going for walks in Cairo at night......never had to cross the really busy streets though...we just walked until we found an underground tunnel because Ramy didn't want me to cross the street. He was really protective of me the entire time I was there--when we were at the supermarket he wouldn't let me go put something away that was 5 aisles away...and just when I thought he would let me go put something back, I would come to the aisle and he would be there waiting for me. lol

At the supermarket, did anyone else notice the huge golden aisle of vegetable oil? (We went to the supermarket at the bottom of the City Stars Mall so I didn't go to any other supermarkets....that mall is so massive but when you compare it to the Cairo Mall, it's a whole different world.)

Not so memorable--seeing a horse with a cart fall in the street and seeing it get whipped as he got back up. Ramy's family laughed at me when they saw how shocked I was..I was just like "Oh no, that horse is falling!" -whip- "Oooooh....K."

[Cheryl & Medo 3]

THE BEST STUFF

1) HE FIRST TIME I SEEN MEDO AT THE AIRPORT.

2) SNEEKING THE FIRST KISS IN THE CAR ON THE WAY TO OUR FLAT.

3) THE PYRIMIDS COULDN'T GET ENOUGH OF THEM. AND THE NIGHT SHOW WAS AWSOME

4) THE DINNER CRUISE ON THE NILE FOR NEW YEARS

5) WATCHING MEN CARRY BOARDS FILLED WITH BREAD ON THER HEADS RIDING A BIKE

6) FAMILY'S OF FIVE ON A SCOOTER

7) THE MUSEUM'S AND ART MUSEUMS

8) THE SHOCK ON MEDO'S FACE WHEN HE SEEN HOW MUCH I COULD SPEND IN CARFOR

9) HOW NICE THE CITY STARS MALL WAS

10) THE GRILLED LAMB (GOD I MISS THAT)

11) THE CAIRO ZOO (getting to hug a baby lion and hugging a elephant)

12) RIDEING A CAMMEL

THE NOT SO GREAT STUFF

1) THE WAY THEY TREAT ANIMALS THERE ( i wanted to take the wip to the owners)

2) THE BLOOD SPILLED ON THE FLOOR WITH THE DYEING LAMBS IN OUR BUILDING

3) THE POLUTION AND GARBAGE IN THE STREETS

4) THE TRAFFIC (OMG)

5) NOT BEING ABLE TO KISS MY HUSBAND GOODBYE AT THE AIRPORT

6) THE LOOK ON MEDO'S FACE WHEN I HAD TO LEAVE