back in cairo

I've had a busy last two weeks with the family visiting. We spent some time in Upper Egypt and on a Nile cruise (see Jessica's guest blog below), and then five days in Rome. I loved Rome, of course. Italian was not too difficult to understand since it's similar to Spanish, and the food was amazing. It was nice to be back in Europe -- and out of the Middle East -- no matter how briefly. And now I am back in Cairo, ready for the second half of my time here. It's really weird to me that I have already been here for six months.

In Rome, I half expected to have some kind of culture shock about leaving the Middle East, but I didn't really. Maybe it didn't happen because I went from one culture that is not my own to another. But I did have a few moments. Best: It was nice to walk down the street and not be hassled. I really enjoyed that more than I thought possible. Worst: Cost of living. At one point we paid 10 euros (about 14 dollars) for a cab ride, which is nothing out of the ordinary, really -- I have certainly paid that amount in Madrid and Chicago. But at the same time, I realized that 10 euros is about 75 LE, which is an absurd sum of money for a single taxi ride. To put things in perspective, for me to get to and from work for an entire week costs only 50 LE. It's moments like those that make me really love the developing world.

I guess what I am trying to say there is that living in a place like Italy would certainly be a lot different from spending the year in Egypt, but I imagine it would also be a lot easier. And where's the fun in that?

Anyway, December was full of traveling and vacations (Jordan, Upper Egypt, Rome, etc.), so I think I will be staying local in January. I have a lot of things I wanted to do in Cairo, so hopefully I will start doing some of those things now instead of waiting until just before I leave to get around to everything else.