Why Egypt is Cool – Part 2:

It is surrounded by history
Egypt has the great pyramids, numerous ancient tombs and temples, Mt. Sinai (allegedly), the Nile River, the Red Sea, and some ridiculously old churches and monastaries, not to mention tons of ancient relics and manuscripts. Many stories in the Bible took place here, and Egypt played a major role in the history of Christianity.

You are a novelty here
If you are a foreigner living in Egypt, you get noticed by the locals. Possibly just because they think you’re rich and that you’ll send some of your money their way, but it’s also possible that they are curious about you and are interested in your customs and ways of doing things. Maybe you are an opportunity for them to practice their newly learned English phrases. Or Maybe you’re just neat to look at because they’ve never seen anyone that looks like you. Either way, living in Egypt you get noticed.

McDonald’s is better here
I just had a Double BigMac. That’s right, four patties. Do they even have those in North America? And another thing: the burgers here look like the burgers in the pictures and on the commercials! In Canada I see commercials with these tall burgers packed with lettuce and meat and other juicy stuff, but when I go and order that burger, I get what looks like a road-kill. So disappointing. Not here, though. I have to smoosh these burgers down so I can get them in my mouth! Mmmm mmm.

The weather is nice
Yes, it cools down in the winter and feels quite cold to me, but the truth is, the coldest it’s been is about 10 degrees Celsius. I can count the amount of times it has rained since I’ve moved here on one hand. It’s practically ALWAYS sunny out! There is virtually no humidity. Summer days are in the high 30’s or the low 40’s.

I sometimes find money in my bags of chips
Twice in a row I opened a bag of chips, and sitting among the chips was a crisp new bill.
Sure, the bills only amounted to about 75 piasters (3/4 of a pound), but it’s the principle that counts! I got money when all I was expecting was chips! Besides, a bag of chips only costs one pound. And since I didn’t even buy the chips in the first place, I was actually MAKING money by eating them.

Egypt is Not Driven by the Clock
Egypt did Daylight Savings Time at a different time than the rest of the world. Sure, this is kind of annoying, but it’s also pretty cool. Imagine if North America tried to pull that off! You’d never hear the end of the complaining. When Egyptians say things start at a certain time, they are usually just making a suggestion. There are two things I have noticed that actually follow the clock: movies and trains. Trains always leave on time, and movies generally start on time (even early on some occasions).

Lots to see and do
There are countless things to see around the country of Egypt, and even in the city of Cairo itself. I still haven’t seen a few of the major sights here such as garbage city and the cave church. Aside from just sightseeing, Cairo is a huge city and pretty much always has something interesting going on in it. There are opera houses and all sorts of performing arts centers. There are tons of interesting restaurants each with their own styles and ambiance. And once again, everything is generally quite affordable.