Our last full day in Cairo…in
Egypt…on our trip…Wow! Time goes
by fast, but also, I feel like we have been traveling for a really long time!
After
we ate our breakfast this morning, we met with Antony, the British guy who we
were going to go to Garbage City with. We all jumped in a taxi together and
when we go to “garbage city” you could tell we were there. It is a place in
Cairo where a population of Coptic Christian have been giving the “task” by the
Cairo government to collect, sort, and recycle all the garbage in Cairo! This
is basically a slum where people are living in piles of garbage. The men
usually go throughout Cairo in either carts driven by donkeys or by trucks to
collect the garbage. They then bring it back to the “Garbage City” on the
outskirts of Cairo, where it is sorted into piles, MASSIVE piles! One building
is full of cardboard, another plastic bottles, another clothes. And on and on
it goes. Garbage, garbage, garbage. We walked through narrow streets, lined
with garbage. Children walk bare foot and play in the garbage, dogs, cats,
donkeys roam the streets. Groups of women sort through the piles. It’s a pretty
sad place, definitely an eye opening experience. I don’t think I could ever
live in a place like this, unless completely forced to!
We
had lots of kids coming up to us. Some asking for money, some just wanting to
say to the apparently “weird white people” for walking through their very
dirty, smelly and disgusting streets. We had men and women greet us. Some
weren’t so happy that we were there, but for the most part, we received kind
greetings. One boy shouted words you wouldn’t want to repeat at us when we told
him we had no money for him. He turned and started running as he yelled these
words, obviously aware that they were words you shouldn’t say!
I
felt a little awkward wondering the streets. I felt compassion and pity for
these people, but also at the same time relieved that I didn’t have to live in
conditions like that. You would be dirty and smelly all the time!
The
nice thing about this area is that it is a “Christian” district. Coptic
Christian. So the women are free to have their heads uncovered which meant that
I didn’t feel as “immodest’ with my head uncovered. All of a sudden though as
we were walking the streets it turned into the Muslim area, we could tell only
by the women because now all their heads were covered. It was like we crossed
an invisible line that went from the Coptic Christian area to the Muslim area.
We
went to a famous church in the Coptic Christian area. It is literally build
into the rock mountain. It was pretty cool. There was a smaller church, and
then another big one. The big one was built coliseum style. There were cool
carvings on the “cave” walls, pictures of Jesus dying on the cross, rising from
the dead and so on.
After
our time in Garbage City, we went with Antony to this restaurant close to our
hotel where they serve a traditional local dish called Kushari. It is like a
layered meal. It starts off with rice, then noodles, then lentils, chickpeas,
tomato sauce and fried onions. It was good. I added a bit too much hot chili sauce
to mine though! Spencer and I shared a cold rice pudding dessert.
Back
at the hotel we enjoyed a cup of tea and crackers with Anthony before he headed
off. We spent the remainder of the afternoon in the hotel.
We
went to GAD again for dinner. They seem to like the fact that we keep coming
back! Tomorrow night will be our last time, just before heading off to the
airport! We stopped to get some sweets after dinner….. I know we sound like
pigs!....Have to indulge a little bit before our year without sweets….No, I am
kidding, I am sure we will for sure have sweets in Tanzania!
As
for our last night in Cairo I am pretty sure I will be glad we are going, but
all in all, it hasn’t been too too bad! We have had some good days, just
wondering around. But to leave Egypt, I think I am ready for that. I am done
being overly hassled, lied to, taken advantage of. Not to mention, I am pretty
sure I have probably inhaled enough cigarette smoke that is equivalent to me
smoking about 20 packages of cigarettes a day! I am almost deaf from the
incessant, blasting, obnoxious car horns that are always honking! I have almost
got hit by a car every other time I cross the road. To go out walking the
streets basically means going through a giant obstacle course as you avoid
donkeys, vendors, cars, people, carts, and other random objects on the
sidewalks and roads! So I am glad to leave all this behind. Hopefully Tanzania
isn’t as bad! But no matter what, I am sure we will enjoy our time!
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