my last night in Cairo

Last night was my last night in Cairo. I was so tired and really felt like I could have just gone to bed at 6pm, but our hotel in Cairo was not really a place you want to just hang out and I didn’t want to eat dinner there and I felt like since it was my last night I couldn’t NOT go out! So Katherine and I decided to take a cab to the Al Ghouri Complex, which was kinda near downtown to see a free show of Sufi dancing, or the whirling dervishes accompanied by live Egyptian music. We thought the show started at 8pm, but then we got there and turns out it starts at 930p because of Ramadan.
Oh yeah, that is what I kept forgetting to blog about… It’s Ramadan! It started last Thursday and it has been very interesting to be here during this time. If you don’t know about Ramadan, go read a freakin’ book, I’m not trying to explain it all now, but basically people fast and pray all day, and then eat and drink and sort of celebrate at night time. When we were in Luxor, our guide couldn’t eat or drink all day and he was explaining things to us non-stop and we were walking around and it was sooo hot and you could see him struggling to just swallow. I felt so bad for him. But really he could have broken the fast because they make exceptions if you are traveling or working or something, but he didn’t want to. And then at sunset he was off for breakfast, as they say, and then you’d see him like an hour later and he was so happy and like a totally different person. When we were in Edfu, we saw these guys pushing and shoving in the street and I think it’s because people are hungry and they get sort of cranky and testy in the middle of the day. Most people just try to sleep during the day if they can, although some people also spend all day in the Mosque praying. And it screws up the time of everything. All the museums close at 2pm during Ramadan and at sunset, when everyone is eating the streets and shops are deserted. Also, we saw this in Luxor, but they do it all over, the rich people during Ramadan will prepare huge meals for all the poorer people in the neighborhood and at sunset they set out big long blankets and tons of food on the street and anyone can come and have a meal. I wanted to take a picture, but I thought it was probably rude so I didn’t.
So anyway, we got to near the Al Ghouri complex and found out we were 1.5 hours early for the show. Actually, first we tried to walk up into a Mosque, like right at prayer time, and this guy was like nearly laughing at us, and I asked if we could go in, and he was like, “no wai”. But he was really nice about it and pointed us to where we were really trying to go. Everyone immediately asks where you are from when you first meet them. And when I say California, they either say, “welcome to Alaska,” which I totally don’t get. Or they say, “USA #1,” which makes me laugh every time. Or they just say, like American is good or something like that. I’m always trying to tell if they are serious or joking, but I can’t. I think they are serious, but I don’t know. Anyway, so we walked over to the building where the show was and there were a bunch of people outside, and we asked this man if we were in the right place and he said yes, but that the show started at 930p. So I asked him if he could recommend a restaurant in the area and he got so excited. He led us to this little pizza place with like 4 tables where the guy made pizzas from scratch for us. The guy sat with us during dinner and turns out he is a French professor and was so excited to sit and talk with us. Then after dinner he wanted to show us all around the neighborhood. The took us down all these little alley ways and showed us where they were making shoes and handicrafts for the market, like little ebony and mother of pearl boxes and these things made out of camel bones. It was so interesting! It was things we never would have seen or found on our own. I was a little nervous a few times, because I had no idea where we were or where he was leading us, but he seemed really nice and we just sort of went with it. Then he brought us back to where the show was and it was so freakin' cool. The music and drumming was really good and the dancers were just amazing. This guy twirled in a circle for like a half and hour straight. It was really just a show with actors, they weren't really Sufi's or whatever, but the music very authentic, and it was such a cool experience. After it was over, our new friend helped us get a taxi back to our hotel. I was so happy we decided to go out and that we got to do something cool on our last night in Cairo.
This morning I woke up early to come to the airport and I'm glad I did because this place is a mad house. But I did find the Starbucks, lol. I knew there had to be one here somewhere. So I'm sitting in the airport with my first latte of the trip, enjoying the free wifi and waiting for my Egypt Air flight to GVA and then BA to LON.