CAIRO - April 20

Touchdown in Egypt. As the plane hit the ground - not tarmac, mind you, but packed desert sand - we knew we were in for a real treat with this trip.

After dropping our bags at the Pension Roma hotel, we headed right out for a taste of the city. Our intentions were clear, and plans laid out for the afternoon. We were to head to Khan al-Khalili, and we knew all of the turns to take to get there, only the street signs were all in Arabic, not the nice transliterations our guidebook gave us. Our walk turned into a wander, but we had the help of some extremely friendly Cairenes at the end of every block who pointed us in the right direction.

Khan al-Khalili was a subtle reminder that we are not in Cambridge anymore. It is a HUGE market that has been in continuous use since the 1300's. Actually, huge doesn't begin to describe just how big it is. Blocks and blocks of Old Cairo are filled with cramped stalls and men hawking their goods to anyone within earshot. We barely scratched the surface after 2 hours of exploring, and hardly made it through the birthday party decoration district, the blocks of chandelier shops, alleys and alleys of old electronics, and streets filled with clothing, linens, housewares, and food. It was all a bit overwhelming, and we didn't speak much to one another all afternoon as we soaked in the smog and mayhem. 

The silence of awe quickly turned into the harumphs of hangriness* and snacktime it was. We wolfed down the most delicious shawarma sandwich, and plates of fuul and baba ganoug we have ever tasted. Needless to say, these were consumed so quickly that by the time Jillian pulled out the camera, only dirty napkins and a few crumbs remained.

As the sun set we walked a bit more through downtown Cairo, and took in the neon lit stores on Talaat Harb Sharia and ducked down a pedestrianized street littered with tea houses, small restaurants, and sheesha bars. When we couldn't walk anymore, we rested over some apple sheesha and two cups of sweetened mint tea. All over the city today, we saw men drinking tea from what Americans would consider juice glasses. They would be sitting in a shop, standing on a street corner, or wheeling and dealing in the market, all the while sipping away. 

The sweet smell of the sheesha (no, it's not what you're thinking. It's just tobacco sweetened with molasses and apple juice) fills the streets here, and it was exactly what we needed after a long day of traveling. We puffed slowly, made plans for the week, and watched the passersby sell gilted urns, cheap watches, and tissues.

Half rejuvenated, it was time for our second dinner. It just didn't seem right to only have had shawarma and not falafel. So, we feasted on fried chickpeas, a tasty tomato stew, and the most delicious hummus we have ever had.

One of the things that struck us right away, apart from Jillian's backpack arriving on the baggage carousel covered in sand, was how certain public spaces seemed to be dominated by one gender or the other. In the arrival hall of the airport, there were absolutely no women to be seen, aside from the passengers. We covered long stretches of the market with very few women and most of the cars on the road seem to be driven by men. That is not to say that there were no women on the streets. On the contrary, we found other stretches of the market dominated by women and as the sun set set and city cooled off, the streets were filled with throngs of young couples and families and mixed groups of friends out to enjoy the evening.

The people here seem spectacularly nice, aside from a few catcalls and the ogling because we are obviously so tourists. As we learn more we realize just how much we are going to have to pack into the next few days. And we can't wait.

Lots of love,
Jillian + Ari

*hangry (n.) the particular state of crankiness that results from being hungry
example: Jillian Bergman before a late dinner