The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The hotel is sold out and full of European's on Spring Break. Tour buses and tourists are everywhere and in the middle of all of this are myself and two co-workers. I think we're the only three people here not going to sightsee. This morning the guy brought my coffee and asked what I was doing today. I could only look at him and say "going to the office." There's not much he can reply to that and the reply was, "it's a good day to do that" and I guess it is. Cairo is a city where there is an amazing disconnect between the life of a tourist and the life of a citizen. The parts of town where I'm working are all geared to locals and not a souvineer shop exists to remind you of the outside world. I walk through piles of trash, avoid the donkeys, and hope to not get hit by a reckless driver as my daily existance. I practice the art of dehydration in order to avoid the water in most places. Diet Pepsi in a can is my friend. Bottled water, unless bought in a store has to be carefully examined to make sure the seal is intact, otherwise you have tap water in a bottle. Tap water in hotels is treated so heavily with chemicals to make it safe, that between the taste and the effect of the chemicals on your stomach, it's best not to drink. As usual, my pants are quite loose around my waist after two weeks on the road.

So what's going on? In Egypt, life revolves around Egypt and you don't get the political realm of the Arab world as the everyday topics. People are talking about the rice and wheat shortage, the rising price of food and oil, and work. Less of a focus is regional conflict, China, the US, and I've gone a long time without a Britney update. Thank goodness when I get home I can get caught up on US life by watching BWE!

Today is Day 15. I'm over the travel slump and I see the end in sight. Two more Egypt days, two Lebanon days, and then one really long travel home day/night/day.