Welcome to Egypt

Just about everywhere we go, we get noticed. I’d say it is by the color of our skin, or by our western clothing, but either way, the locals always tend to greet us. “Welcome to Egypt” is one of the most common sayings, or “Welcome to Cairo” but beyond those few words, they can’t really say much more. So usually, we just say “Hello” or “Thank you” or “Have a nice day” but sometimes, when we feel adventurous, we say “Shukran (thank you)” or “kaifa-el-hal” (how are you doing) and we always get a few random looks before they say something back, quite jumbled I may add, back in Arabic. Rarely they continue the conversation, but on the off-chance they do, we get into where I am from, what I am doing here, the fact that I live here and that I am not a tourist, amongst other things.  The people here tend to be fascinated with us (and our money) so they are as friendly as possible when they think we are in the market for, say, a car transmission or metal fencing.  Cairo is divided into many small neighborhoods which specialize in selling certain goods.  So if I wanted to buy car parts, I would head across the river to Bulaq or if I wanted lanterns, I’d head near the Citadel.  There are tons of fascinating neighborhoods which are worth getting to know, but much of the city looks the same, just different neighborhoods, selling different products.  Certain areas are nicer than others and I am sure I will be returning there and when I do return, I am sure, regardless of how long I will have lived here, that I will receive the greeting “Welcome to Egypt!”