drink from the nile

There's a saying in Arabic that "one who drinks from the Nile comes back to the Nile." It takes only one look at the murky waves of the Nile to hope this is mere metaphor, but that doesn't make it any less true. Two Americans I know here (both in Cairo through AIESEC) were supposed to leave shortly, one this week to get a job, the other in August to go back to college. Instead, both decided to stay; the college grad will find a job here instead while contemplating grad school, and the other will take classes at the American University in Cairo (AUC) for the semester. In general, many of the people I know in Cairo have stayed much longer than they intended to -- the city has that effect on people, that they want to keep coming back.

So far I like the city a lot, though I don't think I have quite yet attained that level of love. But it's reassuring to know that soon, I might.