Unexpected Egypt

I've never had the desire to go to Egypt.

Really I've never had the desire to go to the Middle East in general; anywhere European has always made the top of my list. But I've really really never had the desire to go to Egypt. Yet here I sit in Jerusalem after returning from a week in Egypt. And it was awesome.

Yes, there were a few experiences I could have done without. Like the overnight train ride in a smelly compartment that still felt dirty after we neurotically sanitized every surface. Or the "shower" I took under a trickle of Nile water in a shower spotted with what was very probably brown mold. Or the fly-infested, wet-floored, toilet-paper-less bathroom with unflushable toilets. I could have lived a very happy life without having any one of those stories to recount, and the fact that they're all true makes me cringe a little inside. (It also makes me slightly impressed that I made it through them without vomiting, though I can't pretend that I never gagged, or that I only gagged a little.)

Disgusting experiences aside, Egypt was a phenomenal place. We toured sites that I never expected to see in my life - like the Great Pyramids of Giza. We rode camels through a village along the banks of the Nile. We haggled in the marketplace for souvenirs, and in some cases got swindled by very pushy merchants. I never expected to have so much fun in Egypt.

What made the biggest impact on me even more than the amazing ancient sites - and they were amazing - was the extreme difference in culture. Our professors weren't joking when they told us that Egypt is a desert, and the people only survive because of the Nile. The Nile serves as their source of water for everything - drinking, cleaning, farming, watering animals. It also serves as their sewage system. I thought some of the streets of Jerusalem were dirty. And then I took my first shower in Egypt with water that smelled very faintly like a rusty public toilet. It was as unsanitary as I thought possible.

Yet to the people of Egypt, it's absolutely not a problem. They drink the Nile's water (which we were expressly forbidden to do with the threat of severe gastrointestinal distress as the consequence). They wash their clothes in it, make their living off it, and I even saw a few brave souls swimming in it. It's no more a big deal to them than drinking from the tap in America would be to me. I don't think it's possible to be a germophobe in Egypt.

I also couldn't believe the extreme heat. Most days it felt like I walked into an oven when I stepped out the hotel doors, and I can't say that I've ever sweated more in my life than I did in one morning's worth of touring. Getting back to my air conditioned hotel room was a necessity every day, and everyone complained heartily if the air on the bus wasn't up to par.

But once again, to the people of Egypt, the heat is not a problem. They live in it and work in it, and I'm not convinced that the vast majority has access to working air conditioning. I have no idea how they do it, especially given the amount of clothing they wear. We saw very few Egyptian women, but almost all those we did wore traditional Muslim attire, complete with long sleeves and headdress. And many of the men wore a long sleeve robe with clothes underneath. It's very impressive to observe how they live their religion regardless of their surroundings (like the 100+ degree temperatures typical of the region), but I've decided it's a very good thing I was not born Egyptian. I think I would sweat my body away.

Overall, Egypt made for a great trip. One that I'm not willing to repeat in a hurry, but that was worthwhile while it lasted.