Super stoked to share some of my favorite moments from my trip to Egypt. My journey began on March 8th, as I traveled from Atlanta to New York on a connected flight to Abu Dhabi. When I landed at JFK, I quickly discovered that my flight was delayed by two hours. I grew nervous because I had a three hour layover in Abu Dhabi until my flight to Cairo. This was my first time flying Ethihad Airways and I was concerned by the lack of customer service. After six hours of waiting for an update on my flight status, the agents finally told us the flight was cancelled due to technical difficulties. I was pissed. However, I was grateful that the airline discovered an issue before we took off. That night, I slept at JFK, made friends with a girl from India who currently lived in Jersey and another girl from Brooklyn. Thankfully, I was able to get on the next flight to Abu Dhabi at 2pm the next day. The journey there was not fun. 13 hours to the middle east. Then, another three hours to Cairo. I was beyond tired when I reached Cairo on March 10th. However, I was so excited to be reunited with my girls (Megan, Tikeila, Chrissy and Qiana) at our hotel. Immediately after I landed, I bought a visa and set up a cab with the airport. At that moment, I knew this was about to be an experience of a lifetime.
Out of all my trips, this journey has been the most influential. I was inspired as a human on so many different levels. It was not a race thing or a money thing, it was tradition and compassion. Complete strangers were helping us cross the street, ordering our food in Arabic, giving us gifts and paying for our food. All of our tour guides allowed open conversation and answered every question we had. We learned that Egypt was 92% Muslim and 8% Christian. The Muslims don't hate Americans, they dislike our policies. The women cover in all black and only expose their eyes because they believe no one is worthy enough to see them other than their husbands.
It was amazing to be a part of another culture for a few days. I had the chance to see and process the everyday hustle in Egypt. Everything in Egypt is made in Egypt. They are hard working people. They are also very humble and generous.
