Top 5 things that i have learned in Egypt :)

Today I'm going to write something related to my favorite country (next to my own:D) in the whole wide world, Egypt.

 I have visited Egypt 3 times so far, and I can't wait for my next visit, i'm having travel fever, but unfortunately i didn't manage to go yet this year :( ... 

1. Walking across the street (and this especially refers to bigger cities, such as Cairo) 

If u're from Europe, as I am, and if u go to Egypt for the first time, u'll be surprised to find out that there

are no traffic lights there! Yup, that's right, and actually there are not much traffic signs, not as i recall... 

There are some Zebra crossings, but not even close to what u'd be used to in Europe... Though, honestly, there is not much use from them, so you need to be really adaptive to cross the freaking road.

Let's say there is 15 million of cars in Cairo ( and i believe the number is even bigger), sometimes it can be very tough.

( photo taken from google, credits to whoever has taken it :) i guess E. Corbero as photo says:D)

What u should not do : 

Wait for car to stop, cos it ain't gonna happen' :)

What u should do: 

Be brave, and just start moving slowly across the road, step by step, and most probably no car will run over you :p 

Since i've been doing that in Cairo, i do it more often now in Croatia too (even if police catches you in doing so u get some fine, but this happens so rare cos their presence on streets is very rare :D)...

Now i feel so confident and i cross the road even when cars coming, standing on the half way waiting for cars to pass and i must say it's been very efficient and time saving skill :) .

2. Talking to people won't kill you (talking to strangers)

One of things i picked up from Egypt, and i really like is that people in Egypt talk...

Now u might  think- duh stupid, people talk everywhere... And oh yes, they do, but Egyptians talk to everyone. If Egyptian enter taxi, he will probably say his whole life story to taxi driver (what he does for living, where he lives, how many siblings he has, even what's his favorite freaking meal). If u stand on the street and someone stands near you, you will most certainly end up talking. Everyone is so friendly, there are no awkward silences. If you are Egyptian and you enter small shop u'll end up talking big with the worker or shop owner... 

Opposite than in Egypt, people don't do much that here. U might wait 20 mins for bus everyone will keep quiet, except eventual old person, or maybe just nervous one that will complain about it. But still everyone else will most probably be quiet.

3. Valuing food

Here, as much as in rest of Europe or America, when you eat, you put things on your plate, if you can't eat anymore you throw them in garbage...In Egypt people take their food seriously. One won't get up from the table until he finishes his food. One will finish his food even if it means one shall explode. 

And pleae note, Egyptian meals are not like meals here much... It is consisted of  several sequences, and each sequence will probably be big as your normal lunch back at home....

(Photo taken from here :) )

One day i was eating with my bf at Gad, Egyptian food restaurant chain, and we couldn't finish it so my bf told the waiter to pack it so he can give it to someone!!!When we entered taxi, he gives it to taxi driver and at first i felt quite embarrassed, what will the taxi driver think. If u did this in Zagreb, he would probably get offended or something. But taxi driver took it instantly and said 'shokran',which means thank you in Arabic. Food that is left after lunch (untouched of course, cos everyone eats from his plate lol) is often given to those in need, because in the end there are many poor people there, and that respect for food is really amazing, wish people act like that everywhere in the world.. :)

4.Handling prices

During your stay in Egypt, you will have to gamble least once. If u go with touristic agency, your tour guide will tell u it's part of tradition and people might even get offended if u don't gamble. :D Well yes it is part of tradition, and it's considered completely normal, but i'm pretty sure people will be very happy if you don't gamble and they're able to earn couple more pounds, hehe. 

Before i went to Egypt, i never gambled in my whole life. Sure i know people who do, my mum does on certain occasions, but such occasions are rare, and it's very unlikely you'll succeed to achieve much better price anyway. I always found handling very uncomfortable and was too shy to do it, but i most certainly don't anymore hehe. 

U MUST HANDLE! seriously!!! 

For example, u might ask about price for some freaking necklace, and the seller will tell u it's 100LE, and afte 10 minutes you will walk out of the store with only 20 LE less in your wallet. 

Also, prices got up, and it's not due to inflation/or bad political situation in country. 

There are rich tourists that buy everything at the price seller offers first, so it makes sellers less likely to sell u for lower price, but everything is possible with little bit of charm and patience (sabr!).

5. Every girl is beautiful

During my staying in Egypt, it was really refreshing how little people care about beauty norms that are forced upon all of us through magazines, television and so on. To any girl that has a low self esteem i'd recommend a visit to Egypt immediately! Same as every girl, i deal with certain self esteem issues when it comes to the way i look, and I swear i feel so much better about myself since the first time i visited Egypt. Arabs are very outspoken when it comes to flirty, and same goes with Egyptians too. Often very romantic and very nice on worlds. Sure there are guys who will flirt with women just because she is European and they wanna piece of European cake aka visa or anything, but most of guys really feel honestly attracted to any type of girl. No matter if u're too skinny, bit chubby, have dark or light skin, blond, brown or any other hair color, in their eyes you are beautiful. 

At first, and i feel very bad about it, i couldn't help myself but to comment all those couples, very handsome Egyptian guys with girls i didn't find even bit attractive... But honestly, since then i grow to think of everyone as beautiful as well...  Every girl deserves a little dose of love from Egypt, so i strongly recommend, yalla, go to Egypt and enjoy ;) .


Thank you for reading, Neli :)