I flew from Rome back to Cairo. Unfortunately, I still had to make my way back to Alexandria. There were three options: 1) Get a cab from the airport to the train station and ride the train for about three hours to Alex, then get another cab to the place where I'm staying. Estimated cost: $25.00. 2) Pay a taxi driver to drive me all the way back to Alexandria. Estimated cost: $60.00. 3) Catch the shuttle bus to terminal 1, and get the bus back to Alex, then a cab to my temporary flat. Estimated cost: $8.00. The bus is the slowest, but cheapest way. I didn't care how much money I spent in Italy...but for some reason I nickel and dime myself to death when I'm in Egypt. Decision: Take the bus.
It didn't seem at first that it would be too bad. Yes, I was the only woman on the bus, let alone the only Westerner, BUT that's when I realized we would be enroute to Alex as the sun was going down. Since it is Ramadan, (for those of you unfamiliar with this Muslim holiday) that is the time when everyone is allowed to break the fast. (Muslims fast from sun up to sun down during Ramadan).
I didn't think this was a big deal, our bus driver stopped the bus, some guy got on and offered everyone figs and everyone took about 30 minutes to eat. Fine. Except when we stopped for a SECOND time. I have no clue why, and apparently neither did anyone else on the bus. After about 30 minutes some guy got up and started yelling at the bus driver. The bus driver yelled back and mentioned something about 10 o'clock (is that when we will get back to Alex? My plane landed at 3!) and finally got back in the driver's seat and we were on our way.
This is the Egyptian way of doing things as will be evident throughout the duration of this blog.
We DID finally arrive around 10pm...an American woman (at this point I only knew her as "The Cat Sitter") and her husband picked me up (thanks again!) got me some McDonald's (cut me some slack, everything else is closed) and I got home. Why is everyone so amazed that I ride the bus? Maybe I don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss.
Cairo from the air (and this is the less crowded part of the city).
It didn't seem at first that it would be too bad. Yes, I was the only woman on the bus, let alone the only Westerner, BUT that's when I realized we would be enroute to Alex as the sun was going down. Since it is Ramadan, (for those of you unfamiliar with this Muslim holiday) that is the time when everyone is allowed to break the fast. (Muslims fast from sun up to sun down during Ramadan).
I didn't think this was a big deal, our bus driver stopped the bus, some guy got on and offered everyone figs and everyone took about 30 minutes to eat. Fine. Except when we stopped for a SECOND time. I have no clue why, and apparently neither did anyone else on the bus. After about 30 minutes some guy got up and started yelling at the bus driver. The bus driver yelled back and mentioned something about 10 o'clock (is that when we will get back to Alex? My plane landed at 3!) and finally got back in the driver's seat and we were on our way.
This is the Egyptian way of doing things as will be evident throughout the duration of this blog.
We DID finally arrive around 10pm...an American woman (at this point I only knew her as "The Cat Sitter") and her husband picked me up (thanks again!) got me some McDonald's (cut me some slack, everything else is closed) and I got home. Why is everyone so amazed that I ride the bus? Maybe I don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss.
Cairo from the air (and this is the less crowded part of the city). 
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