Missing Egypt

About a month or so ago, I went on the first out of three seminars to Egypt more specific Cairo, with nine other Danes, that changed me and my perspective of life in many ways.

I became a part of this project to begin with, because I wanted to learn more about the Middle East and the people who live there and because I believe that Human Rights are human rights and should be obligatory in every country in the world.

I do not consider myself a prejudiced person. I believe that I am open to many things and I accept many ways of living. But before travelling to Cairo, I did worry a tiny bit about how understanding the Egyptians would be of my way of living and dressing.

After returning home from Cairo, I can now officially cast that tiny prejudice away for good. The Egyptians we met at the first seminar were friendly, open-minded people and even though some were more religious than others, we could still discuss touchy subjects, without totally disagreeing.

I have learned so much from my first contact with people who live in the Middle East, people who live in Egypt. I have been positively surprised at how friendly they all seem to be, even random people we met on the streets of the busy Cairo.

It's normal for tourists on holiday in a country they've never been to before, to take pictures of everything they see that exites them or fascinates them. On the days where we were discovering Cairo by foot, there were actually local people who wanted to take pictures of us! Now that was definitely something, and in a way very flattering.

Cairo was a wonderful city. Full of life, full of people. Of course there were also a lot of poor people on the streets. A sad thing indeed, and hopefully a problem that the government is trying to fix on some level. No person deserves to live their lives on a street. I was also surprised at how many children were working on places with lots of tourists. Also a problem I hope the government will at some point try to help prevent.

Yes, Cairo was definitely a positive experience. I can't want to go back this May. The main reason for my exitement is to see all the friends we made at the seminar, but also to experience a big city that on many levels is so much more rich than Copenhagen, so much more full of life and diversity.

Only one thing scares me about Cairo: the traffic, which I highly doubt I'll ever, ever get used to!

/Maria