Meeting my first Egyptian friend

I woke up with an excited attitude. I was finally in the land of the pharaohs. Was in somewhat disbelief to my situation because this is a place you read in history books. Actually being here was a completely different feeling!

Took the stairs down because I did not have much trust on the elevator. Calling it an elevator was a stretch. It was more like an open view lift. You can see it in the picture of above. The door is where you would enter into the lift. Looking back on this experience, I was lucky this was my first African country. Other African countries have become more European-like, in terms of everyday functions and infrastructure. You get a true sense of not being in the western world here and I loved it!

Stepping outside and you smell the spices from the nearby markets. The chaos and the unfamiliarity, it was hard to not start falling in love with this place. Never had a feeling like this in another country. For some reason, I felt like I belonged. As if, I could live here and be happy. I was starting to see why there are a lot of foreigners living here.

As I was exploring, walked into a little friend. Surpised to see so many street cats. In many other countries, you will see more dogs on the streets. However, cats and donkies are what I saw over here. It’s somewhat interesting because the ancient Egyptians worshipped cats. Another example of experiencing a history book in real life.

As my day of exploring was ending, decided to go back to my hostel. Met a few people from all over the world. Was introduced to a soccer player from Gambia. He was working on his visa to go play in Europe. My new friend was at the hostel for the time of the visa process. Also met a friend from Sudan and another from Colombia. The hostel was actually a place where students that were studying in the local universities called home. It was an interesting experience.

As the sun was setting, decided to take another photo. Same spot in a different angle. This time the Cairo tower was in the background. Currently, the tallest Building in Cairo. Tomorrow was the day, I will meet up with a local human friend. Looking back, who knew that my friend would help me so much on my adventures in this country.

Thank you so much for reading! Much love and safe travels!