Passage to Egypt

Photo courtesy of Pat McAree


Photo courtesy of Pat McAree



Gwen Cook
Critic Staff

Over Thanksgiving break 37 adventurers, including myself, went to the Arab Republic of Egypt for 10 fun and information filled days.

We saw plenty of famous sights such as the three Giza Pyramids, the sphinx and the Valley of the Kings. We traveled by plane and bus and boat to historical cities like Cairo, Aswan and Luxor. We had a very intelligent tour guide who told us more information than we could ever hope to retain. Egypt was a fantastic place for a vacation.

It was also the biggest culture shock I’ve ever received.
The four different things that I think stuck with me the most were the food, vendors, sanitation and transportation.

Egypt was the best crash diet I’ve ever been on. The food’s good but you have to do some research first. You can’t eat leafy veggies because the fertilizer is different than what we’re used to and they clean their food with Nile River water. You can’t have ice cubes because the water comes from the Nile as well. I might have gone overboard with my safety precautions by only drinking bottled water and eating bread but then again, I didn’t get sick.

Oh yea, and I didn’t have Egyptian McDonald's. If it makes you sick to eat that nasty stuff in the states what makes you think it won’t overseas?

The Nile is dirty. I never got a chance to ask about sanitation regulations but you could see there was a lack of it in many places. Like in ancient times, the Nile is their life line. Everything they do is tied to that river. I saw many people fishing, washing and drinking from the river. They were also doing this right next to heaps of trash and with a film of oil over the top. I don’t want to insult the people and make them seem like savages because they are far from it. I just think that there should be stricter regulations set in place to preserve the most important aspect of their lives.

Vendors, where do I even begin to start on vendors? They are nothing like home, that’s for sure. They get in your face and shove their wares right under your nose. They get way closer than even close friends should get. No is not a word that they accept. If you aren’t really strict with them in your dealings they’ll follow you around way past their stand in hopes that this will make you go back. I was almost pathetically grateful to get back to the states to the vendors that go out of their way to not help you. I think I can deal with that better.

I think the biggest shock to me was the transportation. Our tour guide Hashim told us that Cairo had the worst traffic in the world and I agree with him. All throughout our visit I was shocked and amazed that there weren’t more accidents. We actually were driving in Aswan and sideswiped a little truck with our big Coach bus. Our driver didn’t seem to mind and continued on at his hazardous pace.

Drivers weave in and out of traffic at an almost breakneck speed through cars, trucks, horse and buggies, and donkey pulled carts. In the cities drivers leave their lights off at night and only use them to flick at other traffic or pedestrians. If that doesn’t work than they honk their horn to warn. All through the night the sound of horns blare until you think you’re going to go completely insane.

Pedestrians are viewed as more of an inconvenience than anything else. Drivers won’t stop if they see someone crossing but will just honk their horn and expect you to get out of the way ASAP. Crossing the street is even more dangerous at night especially if you aren’t wearing reflective clothing.

Egypt was a trip that I know I’ll never forget. Not all the culture shocks were bad and I learned a great deal about their lifestyles. But after all is said and done I appreciate what I have back here at home so very much more.