rules are made to be broken

---

i'm enjoying my last day in Cairo and i can't believe i've been here for already 2 weeks. time is passing by very quickly in Cairo. i could actually live in this country, Cairo is such a city of contrasts, they tell you how things must be done but if u look closely, everybody is doing what they want.
as an arabic woman, u're supposed to have at least your head covered, most of them do, but go to clubs or shopping malls, and it's worse than in England, Egyptians girls really let their hair down, a bit too much sometimes, according to the people i met. you can find girls with tiny skirts, full make up and no scarf.
everything is hidden, you would think woman are not free to do what they want, that's wrong, most of them are more powerful than their husband, at least inside the house. things are not always the way they seem...
Cairo is such a great city, it depends which neighborhood u go, and it looks like u're in Europe. people are very nice, always welcoming you in their country and trying to speak your language.

on thursday night we had planned to go to Luxor for the weekend. i really really wanted to go there but it's a 10h train journey. it took us all day with my friend to decide if it was worth doing all this way just for 2 days but when we went to the station to buy the tickets, there were no seats left and i was disappointed. so it was nearly 8 and we were supposed to go somewhere, anywhere in less than 2 hours.
we the decided to go back to the Red Sea in Hurghada but it's full of english and russians, so i'll pass. we the decided again to go to the Sinai on the beach opposite Jordan and Saudi Arabia. by now it was 10, we had no plans and u need to remember than in Egypt you never stress. something will always come up. and it did. a friend of my friend's boyfriend invited us to his house on the Mediterranean Sea. it's 150 km west of Alexandria and although i wasn't too excited to swim in the Mediterranean, we've got it in France, i have to say that's one of the nicest beach i have ever seen. the water was turquoise, the beach was deserted, it was really really beautiful.
this is a place for the rich Egyptians for their holidays. there's such a massive contrast between the class. some people earn about 15 pounds a month. you can even rent a house in Cairo for 1.50 pounds a month.
back in Cairo on saturday, we went to the souk. now that's an experience. it's realy big and youcan really buy anything. i drove them all mad, always haggling and trying to get my way and my price.which i did. i think they just wanted to get rid of me!! and i also did some hennea on my hand and leg, although i didn't wait long enough to dry and it now looks funny.
my favourite thing to do in Cairo is the felluca ride on the Nile. it's so peaceful and relaxing, you feel like u're in another city. and we also went on a 'disco boat', it's very popular among Cairenes, i was the only white and people were just staring non stop. it's a small open boat with lots of flashing lights and they put Egyptian music very loud. there's an egyptian song i really like and we starting dancing, people couldn't believe it. it was so funny to see their face.
it's very rare to see tourists in the street, most of them come with a tour, they take pictures and go back to their comfort. sometimes, for the whole day i was the only white in the streets trying to talk to people, even though i'm rubbish at arabic. but i'm sure i could learn, it's easy to pick up words.
sorry for the pictures, but computer here are very slow and i couldn't even put one. but i'm back tomorrow, rrrrr so will put them from london. if i ever come back. with the sun all day every day is very tempting for me to stay here. ..

---

Comments

[Lee Ann]

So envious...
hey marjorie, I'm so glad you went and it sounds like you had a really great time!! Can't wait to see more pictures! So when are you coming back to the states?! I know its so much more expensive to some here, but I'd love to see you again!

[Jackie]

Always knew you had a bit of Egyptian blood in you...knew you would beat them with the haggling!Glad you are enjoying it so much.Most blonde girls I spoke to said Cairo was a nightmare.Shows that you are now a master traveler!I'm waiting to see your pics, it sounds awesome.Now ven I want to go there and I've never been to keen on Egypt!