Bismillah
We arrived in Cairo on British Airways, which I must say was one of the best flights I've ever flown on. As we looked out the window, we saw Al Kahira- Cairo, the Conquerer. The bright lights glittered invitingly.
The airport reminded me alot of Karachi airport, but with fluorescent lights. Instead of the Karachi burning-garbage smell, it had an irritating, spicy smell( we have no clue what it was). Going through immigration was easy, alhamdullilah. It was after immigration that the trouble started.
As we left immigration, we came to the last checkout of guards. Infront of the guards, a large, owl spectacled man with a black suit, and red tie began to quickly ask a surge of questions.
"Who are you?"
"Ameer Farooq, and my brother,"(Ameer was talking to all airport people).
"Who are you?"
"Uhhh... Ameer Farooq."
"I see, I see....where are you staying?"
Ameer was starting to get panicked, "We're actually not exactly sure. We still have to find a hotel."
At this oportune moment, a sly faced guard, barely twenty, starting clicking ominously.
"Ttttttutut..."
"Is there someone waiting for you?"
"Tttttutut..."
"Yes. We do..."
"How long are you staying."
"Tttttutut..."
"3 months."
"How long?"
"Ttttutt"
"3 months."
"Ah,"said the man, looking at us hard,"2-3 weeks?"
"No! 3 months!" exclaimed Ameer. At this moment, the guard fell over in a heap of laughter.
"Do you have someone waiting?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, good. Enjoy. Welcome."
Alhamdullilah, baggage was easy to find. The man from AlDiwan, true to that email we recieved, did not speak a word of Englisheya. Luckily, we were able to give him a general indication that we were from Canada.
They dropped us off at the street Abbas Al Akkad at the Dar-AlKashfi Hotel. Farooq bhai had told us, "It's not like the Sheraton", which puts him in the competition for big understatments of the year. Since we did not pay them immediately, they took our passports for security. While Ameer understood what was going on, I was sure that it was all up. No passports, it was 1:00 in the morning, the non-English speaking person from Al Diwan left, and they took us to a room in an elevator you could fall out of (think 1930's). The room, alhamdullilah, was not too bad, and the gingersnaps saved our life...
Okay, Ameer wants to write about the next day in Cairo.
-Mustafa
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Please check your e mail also.
Abdullah is drinking Peach Passion as we read your blog and he says it's as if Momma is in Egypt with Ameer and Mustafa instead of being here on the bench with me drinking peach passion.
Tell me how your first class was?
Did you find a laundromat?
Dada and Dadi are going to phone you this evening. They asked for your number. Everything is fine here, alhamdulillah. Abu and I are getting a distinctly different feeling about our lives... as if we have passed into the next stage of something. But it's a happy sappy kind of feeling mixed with "udaasi" and happiness that both of you are learning and doing well, alhamdulillah. For me, I realized that the river that leads to the Pharoah's house is an eternal river that every mother who believes has to encounter.
What did you have for supper today?
Have you played soccer yet with Mido?
Did you find someone to clean your "shaqqa"?
Did you find a fennec fox? If you did not... how about a Nile Crocodile?
Are the dogs as bad as described by earlier travelers?
Post a Comment