Heathrow Airport
When we got to the airport, right outside the gate, my mom and I noticed how many people were traveling abroad, specifically from Africa and Asia. We saw so many people; it was only 4, almost 5, in the morning. Did we have to tussle with British airport staff about the jab? No, so I’ll stop writing about it. Did they care in Egypt? The woman who looked over our papers barely even glanced at them and waved us on through. But before we get to that. The Heathrow airport has multiple terminals and even a train ram connecting them if I remember correctly. There was a Harry Potter store, which I did not go through because I am not a huge fan of Harry Potter. It’s cool and all, but I was never too into it.
I remember being a little astonished by the beauty of some of the British women, though I didn’t say anything because I was with my mom. A lot of the airport staff appeared to be from Southeast Asia, but they spoke with perfect British accents. Whatever that means. They were also very polite and lovely. We ate at a Starbucks, and I remember a lot of the nearby stores sold high-end fashion clothing and items in addition to wine and liquor. We waited a few hours, I want to say, before our flight departed. I remember we did see one woman who would be on the trip with us. She was from California. I don’t think we spoke to her right there and then. My mom and I were still a bit tired and were ready to rest. Rest? Not in this trip! In Egypt, you could spend a lifetime and still have more secrets and mysteries to uncover. It is a true archaeologist and anthropologist’s paradise.
Now, this plane to Cairo was a bit empty. Too empty in fact. The first plane was huge and so lovely from which we flew from Philadelphia to London. The British flight attendants spoke in the most wonderful of accents and were so lovely to interact with. I still remember the big, bright eyes and smile of one of the attendants. Which is odd, am I remembering that correctly? Because we had masks, but I guess she exuded so much joy and hospitality, my mind remembers it as such. The second plane, we had good flight attendants too, but my mom and I were so annoyed at their accent. I think it was a Liverpool accent, but oh my goodness, they spoke in the worst of high-pitched tones. It was awful, haha. The Egyptian waters, they gave us though, were amazing. They didn’t give us as much food on this flight as on the first, even though the trip from London to Cairo was still quite a long way to go still.
When we got to Egypt, it felt real. Not surreal, no real. Like wow, we made it! We’re here. Let’s get right into it, shall we?
Ahmed and Egyptian Hospitality
The Egyptian people rely heavily on the tourist sector. According to a man I met on the Nile River cruise we took on a Steigenberger ship, Egypt’s economy is made up of 40% from tourism alone! So when COVID happened, it hit the people of Egypt hard. We didn’t have much trouble making our way through the airport. We got our visas stamped on our passports, and we got to the security checkpoint where they ask you, “Why have you come here?” If you travel a lot, you know what I am talking about. We didn’t have to say much, as Ahmed, one of the representatives from the tourist agency Mayk works with, signaled us over after speaking Arabic with the man at the counter. Ahmed speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and probably other languages I didn’t find out about. I would later meet his cousin, who reminded me a lot of my friend Mehran.
Outside the airport, Ahmed had a van ready for us to take us to the Steigenberger hotel which has an amazing view of the pyramids! Our driver was a big bald Arabic man who spoke no English, but he was extremely friendly and courteous! There were two women inside the van already. They were both sisters. One lived in Miami and the other lived in Columbia. I am a bit embarrassed to share this, but I thought the older sister was the mom of the younger sister. Yikes! We didn’t talk too much on the way to the hotel. We were all just so shocked at how aggressive and “bad” the people of Cairo drive. What is amazing though is people do not crash, yet they will literally break in front of a car a few centimeters away from their rear bumper. Even the people, when they would be crossing the streets, they somehow would walk into traffic and not get hit. No joke, I tell you.
The people also do not wear seatbelts as much as we do, or so I noticed. The awesome driver I mentioned, he wasn’t wearing one, and he offered me to sit in the passenger seat next to him. So, I did! I felt strange, but I think I decided not to wear a seatbelt like he did. I put my trust fully in this driver I had just met. The man would point out all the mosques in the city, but he called them “mesquites”. I think that’s how we would pronounce with our letters. When we got to the hotel, we offered to tip him, but he refused. This would be the last time in the next two weeks the people of Egypt we would encounter would turn down a tip.
A difficult circumstance for many of those people. I will share what I can with as much compassion as I can, for most of us here in the States will never truly grasp what those people have to go through.
