1. People bathing in the same water that they brush their teeth in, drink, do laundry, dispose of trash/waste, and scatter human ashes (India)
2. Being asked for bribes by the people who are supposed to ensure you aren’t being asked for bribes (Egypt)
3. Men walking around the streets (uniform and non-uniform alike) sporting machine guns, AK47′s, and rifles (Africa, Middle East, India)
4. Men killing live sheep, skinning them, and hanging them on hooks in the road… right next to the vegetable stand (Syria)
5. Magnificent new high rise buildings right next to war-torn shot up, bombed and burnt buildings (Lebanon)
6. Small children wandering the streets like packs of wolves wreaking havoc during school days and on school hours when they should be learning (Tanzania)
7. Ordering and eating a full breakfast for $0.04 (India)
8. The inside of a hippo’s vicious mouth up close and personal or being run out of camp by elephants for that matter (Botswana)
9. Driving full speed into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the highway (Uganda)
10. People sharing the small amounts of food they’ve been given with others even though they themselves haven’t eaten in 5 days (Kenya)

It was nearing 3:30am when we woke up in Terminal 2 at the Cairo Airport. We had used the past three hours to sleep in one of the lounges during the first half of our overnight layover, but we were told that each visit was limited to three hours because “this lounge is not a hotel.” Needless to say, our time there was up, so we headed over to Terminal 3 where we would be departing six hours later. By 4:00 am we had arrived at Terminal 3 via an airport bus that required us to pass through security before entering the next terminal. The place was dead. There was no one around except for two security guys at the x-ray machine. Chris and I dumped our bags on the conveyor belt and passed through. As always, we expected to have no issues as we had scanned them several times in the past 24 hours. The guy in charge was no dummy though. We were all alone… just the four of us. He saw us and requested to look through Chris’s bag. He began digging and halfway through the backpack, he looked up at us and quietly requested we give him and his friend some money or “baksheesh” as they say in arabic. Are you kidding me??? Chris responded nicely saying he didn’t have any money to give him. He continued digging and then took it a step further and requested to see Chris’s shoulder bag. He opened it and pulled everything out only to find Chris’s money belt. Go figure. The security guy swooped upon the money belt like a hawk, unzipping the main pouch to see about $25 US dollars. Chris quickly grabbed it, zipped it up and said “Sorry, I have no tip.” The guy persisted with his hands still over Chris’s unzipped, scattered bag. He requested money from Chris, then me, then back to Chris. I stood there in horror feeling extremely vulnerable by this corrupt official while Chris proceeded to decline his request nicely. Finally, the guy could see it would not be easy to convince us, so he zipped up Chris’s bag, and asked again. By now, Chris was already putting on his backpack. Chris gave him a firm no this time and we took off up the stairs. Phew! Luckily the guy seemed new at the whole corruption game as it could have ended much worse.

Chris and I took 8 flights in a row to begin our journey in South Africa. One of the flights left us with a 13 hour layover in Cairo. Chris’ friend Hatem lives in Cairo and kindly picked us up from the airport, took us to lunch, and then back to his place to hang out until we had to be back at the airport to check in for our next flight. While it seems like no time at all, Egypt made a lasting impression on me from the very beginning.

Hatem took us to an amazing traditional Egyptian restaurant where we ordered enough food between four of us to feed a king and his castle. Upon leaving the restaurant, we were trying to back out of a small alley while playing chicken with other cars, pedestrians popping out of nowhere, donkeys pulling watermelon carts, and city buses. We finally made it out of the alley and were driving around a crowded Giza when I realized that there were no stop lights in the city…or street signs for that matter.  To make matters even more stressful, men, women, and children were dodging in and out of traffic with no crosswalks in sight. In Egypt, the driver does not slow down for the pedestrian. The pedestrian slows down for the driver. It must have been perfect timing because as I stared out the window I saw a bus driver stop his bus, grab a crow bar from under his seat and jump out into oncoming traffic chasing down another man. It didn’t take long before he had tackled him to the ground and started beating him with the crow bar. I couldn’t bear to watch, yet some how I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the scene. It looked as though the man being beaten had tried to steal something and was getting punished for it. The country obviously takes stealing very seriously.

On the way to Hatem’s house, we stopped along the side of the road and viewed the pyramids from afar. They were magnificent! After snapping some photos, we drove the final stretch over to Hatem’s house. He introduced us to the rest of his family (his wife, kids, parents, sister, and nephew) and we all sat in the backyard drinking tea and fresh juice. He and his family were lovely. They were extremely hospitable, entertaining, and informative.

Driving back to the airport, 10.5 hours later, Hatem explained that Egyptians do not use headlights at night as they feel it is rude to blind other drivers like that. Additionally, the police do not perform safety checks at night so there were vehicles driving at excess speeds, no headlights, and pedestrians still dodging in and out of traffic. I am used to structured roads and traffic lights. I am used to pedestrian cross walks and donkeys being ridden on back country paths. I am used to seeing crime scenes only on TV.  Cairo opened by eyes to a new way of life. A life that works for the Egyptians. Instead of continuing to fight it, I decided to accept the lifestyle for what it is and find beauty in the chaos. And a beautiful chaos it was. More to come in two months when we spend substantially more time in Egypt…