Egypt

It turns out I am thankful for Mexico. I used to think Mexico was kinda dodgy, dirty, smelly, polluted, and people harrassed you to buy stuff. All that changed when I stepped out of the van into Ciaro. We shuttled into our hotel at 4 am, took a nap till noon, and then went out to "see the sites". Instead, Ciaro wanted to show us itself. Ten minutes into our taxi ride I begin to feel nauseous. Not just from the driver who made Paris look like a childs game, but rather like I was overwhelmed. I didn't really notice the tears coming down my cheeks, as I watched women bob around in veiled secrecy dodging our taxi, dirty kids playing in broken down bulidings, arab men grinning and winking at me-and all this from the 'comfort' of a taxi. I just let a prayer drift to God, and He really answered when I felt a rush of peace that took me through the whole day.
We stepped out of the taxi to see the Citadel, a castle, which overlooks most of Egypt. Right away we had our first experience with egyptian hospitality/haggeling. A nice man waved us into a temple on the side, and as he proceeded to show and tell us little facts we both gave each other a look.He wanted money. Much to our delight, he left us to wonder ourselves, only to shortly come back, and ask us to pay for our unwanted tour. We just gave him 5 Egyptian pounds, which is about $1. We turned to leave, and he said, "you pay for temple too". I laughed and said "No, we already paid at the front" He smiled and said ok, and let us go.They will try and get away with anything that might earn them a buck or two. One week so far and aleady I have learned:
What they teach at Arab schools from the tender age of 5: (Trust me the worst ones are the sweet children!)
~Give people a tour and them make them pay for it afterward.
~Give them a cardboard fan to use inside a hot, hot temple underground, and then charge them when they try to leave.
~Hop into the background of their picture, and charge them for being in their picture
~Hold out your hand, like you want to shake hands, and then don't let them go until they give you money
~Try to charge them for looking at whatever it is you're trying to sell.
~Nag. Nag. Nag. Don't give up.
~Take a simple eye glance at your merchandise to mean they want to buy it.
~Don't list any prices so that you can charge locals one price, tourists another, and the real easy ones triple that.
~Even if you agree on a price for a taxi ride, try to change it during the ride. You can blame it on traffic, weather, time of day, whatever you can think of.
~Nag. Nag. Nag. They love it when you follow them down the whole block asking you to buy something.
~At a restaurant, when you over charge them, or hand them the wrong change back, just play dumb. Then, go over the top being nice to them, trying to prove you were not trying to rip them off, just to make them feel bad.

Ciaro.
Just one city in Egypt, which so happened to be the first we visited, and the biggest and craziest. Next we went outside the city to see the Pyramids. Pretty cool what they were able to accomplish so long ago, and the fact that something that old is still around. We boarded our camels, which is no easy task.You have to hold onto the pole in the front and the back because it stands up first with its front feet, which lurches you forward. Then, it pulls out its hind legs and thrusts you back. After that, its smooth sailing. Besides the awful gurgling noises they make when you try and make them stand up and sit down, they are cute. Their long legs and long eyelashes are fun too. Later that day we visited a perfumery, and learned just how it's made and why its better than our alcohol laden perfume back home. That was all good and well, but how would I get that good stuff when we left Egypt? So, I bought my first souvenir of the trip.

more soon...