Thursday, August 30, 2012

Things I Have Learned in Egypt


The more that you read, the more things  you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.
-Dr. Seuss

No matter how cool your clothes are and how much you fan yourself, you will be constantly sweating. It's hotter than heck there! In fact one of the days it was over 125 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't know if you heard me, but it was 125 degrees of miserably hot weather! No matter how much water you drink you are still sluggish and dehydrated? (Future reference for those going, make sure you take electrolyte packets you can add to your water!)

Egyptian drivers are crazy! Half of them do not use headlights, road lines have no purpose, and traffic laws basically mean the same thing to them as telling a little kid not to have fun at Disneyland! Even after having spent several hours in a bus or car I am still not used to it! I certainly am glad I am back in the US with our traffic laws, and believe me I never thought I would say that!

Just by being from America Egyptians automatically love you and assume your name is Shakira! I don't know how many men we had tell us I love you or I have been waiting for you my entire life. We even had a few of them ask to be our boyfriend/husband and were disappointed to hear about our fake boyfriends we had back home. "Oh you boyfriend a very lucky man."

All of the staff at the hotels, restuarants, and sites were very helpful. Even when you are those two American women who lost their luggage (which we were referred to as) and need to use the phone or get a taxi out to the airport. I was amazed that even though I could tell that they were getting annoyed by us at times, they still were very helpful and always happy to "serve" us as they called it. They were such wonderful people!

Egyptians never sleep! Whether you are up at 3 am or 11 pm there is always people up and moving around. you could tell the signs of exhaustion on the reception committee's (they were the ones you went to if you had any kind of issue) faces, but they always greeted you with a smile and were happy to help. When I asked one of them if they ever slept he said, "Not too much, maybe from 5-10. We are too busy living our lives to spend lots of time sleeping!" Man what a great outlook. If I wasnt slightly addicted to naps that would be a great thing to pick up on.

Egypt time always late. If you're on time you're early and if you're late you're on time. The entire congress and tour things were constantly running late. It got to the point that us Americams would show up exactly when it was supposed to start and still be super early!

For those of y'all who aren't country or do not know what a steer blower look likes you probably won't get this so feel free to skip this one. The best way I can think to describe this is by simply saying... You might be country if the first thing you think about when you see the hair dryer is... steer blower!

To follow that up with... You might be a tourist when you compare all your egyptian experiences to Sex in the City 2! For those of y'all who have seen the movie you would be pleased to know there are several similarities to the movie!

While we are talking about being an American, I came to the conclusion on this trip that I am a spoiled brat from being raised in America. Some of the simple things we take for granted every day, others across the world don't have! It is really sad that I had to travel half way around the world to truly see how abundantly blessed I am. I am actually going to write a blog later on about some of the little things we realized we were truly greatful to have, so stay tuned. In the mean time take some time to thank God for all your many blessings today!

Sorry it is taking me so long to update the blogs, but unfortunately school has to come first!

Hope y'all are having a great week lovelies!

2 comments:

  1. I am loving it and I will be waiting for the rest...An older reception committee guy (friend of Mohamed el zarie)

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  2. Love this, Lauren! Excited to hear more about it.

    ~Tiffany

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