Dear Egypt, Thank you! Until We Meet Again! With Love, Nick

For those of you who were around as I was planning this journey around the world, and with me as I was getting ready to leave, you know that I was really nervous and anxious about travelling to Egypt. I even at one point was considering changing my flights to cancel that part of the trip. I went back and forth on how many days to spend there. Originally I thought one week, then as I did some research found that I would need at least two weeks. As my fear kicked in, I reduced it to twelve days. I wish I had given it a month, at least. As you have read, the sights are spectacular, the rich history amazing, the mosques and churches stunning, but what is most beautiful about this country is the people. With the exception of my crazy taxi driver in Cairo every other person I came into contact with was nothing short of amazing. Looking back on it, even the cabbie was ok though. From the moment I arrived it became immediately apparent to me the passion with which the Egyptians go about their lives. Everywhere I looked in the streets there was some interaction playing itself out like a dramatic scene from a movie, whether it was trying to park a car, dodging traffic to cross the street, purchasing a newspaper, or simply enjoying a cup of tea. The other thing that struck me only a few days into this part of my trip was that everyone was smiling. Here I was, in a very poor country (average annual income is $4,000US) and not one person on the street passed by without saying hello, smiling, or at least casting a friendly nod in my direction. Outside of Cairo, in most cases people who knew a bit of English would stop me on the street and ask me where I was from, ALWAYS followed by a smile, a thumbs up and an emphatic, “… ahh America, very good! We love America!” This generally would lead to questions of where I have been in Egypt so far, where I was planning to go, recommendations on where I should go, and usually followed up by a handshake, a friendly look, and a warm “welcome to Egypt my friend, I hope you enjoy”. I couldn’t take a taxi without getting an unofficial tour of the city, always given with a huge smile and even larger sense of pride. On more than one occasion I saw groups of small children playing soccer in the streets or in front of a mosque. Sitting down for dinner I was almost always surrounded by large families, using their hands to both eat and talk, sharing food, smiling, laughing, hugging, and simply just enjoying life. Walking down the streets late at night I would pass groups of young people joking with each other, constantly tugging at one another, pushing and shoving in a playful manner, and again smiling. It seemed as though no one noticed that they were poor, and if they did, it didn’t seem to matter. For they knew that that had each other, they had their history, their customs, their beliefs, and most importantly they had their happiness. I have to admit, that initially Egypt was overwhelming. All the signs are in Arabic, most people don’t speak English, there is no order to the way they drive, form a line, and someone is constantly trying to sell you something or get you to pay for some sort of service. However, if you slow down, look around, and get to know the people, it all starts to make sense. All along the way if I opened up and gave the people a chance they went out of their way to make things easier and to help me out. Egypt will always be at the top of my list of favorite places I have visited, and I look forward to the day I will visit again. In a way, I guess this is my unofficial thank you to the people of Egypt for taking such great care of me, creating such a warm and hospitable environment, for opening my eyes to a new culture and way of life, for always smiling, and for simply being the wonderful people they are. Shukran!