At first, they told us that we would leave in a couple of hours, but when a couple of hours passed and there was no update, the crowd started to get riled up again and accused the airline workers of lying to us. We demanded to speak to their chief, who said that we would know for sure whether or not there was a plane available for us in a half hour. In the mean time, he provided us with food from Burger King because everyone was hungry.
As we ate they informed us that they had done they’re part and the only thing left was for Egypt’s airport to give the okay for the small Turkish airlines plane to land at their airport. When we finally got the clearance from Cairo International Airport, they printed up new boarding passes and we left for the waiting area. After about two hours, we boarded a small plane to Egypt that only flew for two hours.
Once we landed in Egypt, we got our visas and then headed to baggage claim. When I got there, I was thankful that both of my suitcases were there. However, everyone else was upset to found out that their things had not arrived. Another classmate, Leandra, and I were the only ones to get our luggage. Everyone else had to file a baggage complaint. When we finally left the baggage claim, we met Abduh outside. Some of us went in his car and some of us took a taxi. The taxi driver asked for LE 140 for the drive from the airport to our hotel (Horus House Hotel) in Zamalek, but we were all thinking that he was trying to rip us off because Abduh never mentioned having to pay the driver. We called up Professor Sullivan and had him speak to the driver and learned that he was not supposed to ask us for money.
Once we had all that cleared up, we headed for the airport. As I sat in the taxi, I realized how much Egypt reminded me of my home country of Pakistan—the traffic, the billboards, the people on the street, the dilapidated flats. Although I was tired, I was happy that I at least had my luggage and that we were finally going to be able to go to our hotel.
When we got to the hotel, I met my roommate Noureen in the lobby. I first went to my room to drop off my stuff, and then met up with Noureen and a couple of other students who had arrived before me for breakfast. As we ate, we talked and introduced ourselves and shared our airline ordeals.
Professor Sullivan was going to give a tour at 11:00 and then at 2:00. I decided to go to the 2:00 so that I could shower first, since none of us stuck with Turkish airlines had showered in three days. When I saw my hotel room, I was happy that it was a decent room, and I was especially satisfied with the bathroom—my fear for living in a hotel mostly had to do with having a small dirty bathroom.
So after I took a shower, I met up with the 2:00 group as Professor Sullivan gave us a tour of the area and showed us where we could exchange our money, eat, buy groceries, and do our laundry. For lunch, I had koshery, which was a mix of rice, lentils, and pasta, and not only was it delicious, it was very affordable (only LE 3!!) After the tour, I just went to my room and collapsed on my bed, since I hadn’t slept properly for the past two days.
My roommate woke me up at around 6:45 to go out for dinner, even though I wasn’t hungry. We went with Professor Sullivan to a Western-style restaurant called Crave, where I got the chicken soup. At first it tasted good (maybe because I was just so hungry), but then it began to taste too salty. I paid for the overpriced soup and then left.
As I laid back down in my bed at the hotel room, I was just glad to finally be in Egypt and to get this show on the road!!
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