The flight was easy. Arriving was easy. We paid $25 for visas when we entered Egypt. Customs was easy. When we were waiting for our baggage, we met a man with a sign stating my school name. We soon met a handful of other teachers who were just as eager and tired as we were. Some were traveling solo, others with spouses and kids. All of our baggage arrived unscathed! Once we all gathered our luggage, and e were all shuffled off. Before we left the airport we stopped at the duty-free store. In Egypt (outside of the airport) alcohol is hard to come by- especially international alcohol. It was recommended to us that we stock-up and get what we could. We were thankful for this tip! We got our goods and were again shuffled out to a bus where we were transported to the hotel. 

We stayed 2 nights at the Holiday Inn at City Stars in Heliopolis. It was a very nice hotel. There we were greeted by more staff from the school and had the rest of the day to relax. We were advised to stay up past 9:00 pm to overcome our jet-leg. We enjoyed the pool, got refreshed, and met up with some other teachers for dinner. There was a great Indian restaurant connected with the hotel called Indira that we went to. Martin tried Egyptian wine- it was pretty terrible! The food was good. Something to know here is you have to specifically order rice here- it doesn’t come standard with the meal like we are used to. There’s already a language struggle between the Americans at the table and the Egyptians serving us. It is not advised to drink the water- it is highly chlorinated, so everywhere we go we drink bottled water. This is uncomfortable for us because typically Martin and I never buy bottled water. At dinner they served a fresh mango juice that was amazing. Overall dinner was a success. 

We then wander the mall. This is the biggest mall I’ve ever been in! It has 2 cinemas, an amusement park, and tons of stores and restaurants, and it reaches many floors. We got lost. The mall was packed with people. Lots of couples out together, lots of teenagers. Most of the women wear head-scarves, but not all. Martin and I are definitely the minority. Everyone is well-dressed and modestly-dressed. The shops are similar to what you find in the states. The restaurants too. There are a few Starbucks around the mall- are you surprised? The security at the mall is intense- everywhere really. When you walk in any building you have to go through security and have your bag scanned.

While at the hotel we got to know more of the new teachers and their families, as they trickle in from the airport little by little. There are 60 new teachers. 60! It was quite overwhelming for me because I like to say hi to everyone and try to make connections. Everyone here has such fascinating stories and it’s a shame I can’t hear them all! Honestly- my background story doesn’t even compare to most of theirs. Most of them have been world travelers/educators for many years. But I am learning that even though I lack the rich travel background, my teacher education and pedagogy practices are top-quality and I have a lot to contribute in that regard. I am thankful for that.

I enjoyed my first sheesha (hookah). This is a huge part of their culture. People smoke sheesha everywhere. It made me cough. Ha! I tried the apple flavor. The waiter was really excited to teach me the proper way. 

We found a great Egyptian restaurant in the mall- Abou Shakra I think it was called. We both had pigeon. This was a new experience! Also tried Turkish coffee- it is so good- flavored with cardamom and other spices. It’s very small- like the size of a shot of espresso, but is so complex in flavor.

 Martin and I also walked around outside the hotel- this was a bit scary for our first time. The traffic is so crazy. There aren’t many rules on the road. Sidewalks also don’t always exist, so sometimes we were walking amongst the cars. As cars would enter parking structures for the mall, security guards would walk around the car with their dogs. It didn’t look like the dogs were working too hard. They had big smiles on their face, tongues hanging out. One woman even asked if her infant could pet the dog… I didn’t think that was supposed to work that way… The dogs are just happy to be out an about amongst people. 

Martin and I were so thankful that we had picked out an apartment online. That meant we didn’t have to spend all of our time running around neighborhoods looking at houses in the heat. We got to move into our place right away. We were nervous though because we had heard some people were disappointed with their flat when they saw it in person…