In Cairo and Loving it

Hey everyone, so I am officially in Cairo and have been just taking in the experiences as much as I can. This city is so beautiful, amazing and crazy all at the same time. The first night was just getting into the Cairo and getting settled. I got a phone and did some Egyptian pounds and then took a walk around the area of Zamalek and truly realized where I was, everything is very foreign yet somehow strangely familiar and makes me feel like I'm at home. Everyone here is from so many different places, one of my roommates is from Sweden and the two others are from the East Coast and I have met people from all over the world here.

Last night I ventured out with my roommates and people I have met here and enjoyed Turkish coffee in Zamalek and walked through the Island here just enjoying the sights. Later that night we all went on a Falluca ride on the nile which runs straight through the heart of downtown Cairo and you can see everything lite up at night. It was a very sobering moment to be sitting there eating Egyptian desserts and looking around at the city alive at night and knowing this is my home for the next 10 months, I feel so fortunate to be able to embark on such an amazing adventure.

It has been very interesting to experience Cairo during Ramadan as well. Everything is shut down during the day for the most part and the people are very quiet and peaceful because no one is able to eat from sunrise to sunset. That has made it particularly hard to experience the culture and food here during the day but at night the city comes alive. After the Falluca ride we adventured out into the night and went to a hotel hookah bar that sat on the roof top and overlooked the city and listened to live music. I have had some very funny and interesting things already happen to me and I will be posting stories of them as I keep track and relay them to everyone.

Alright its time for a bit of rest after a long day at the campus orientation and only getting 3 hours of sleep the night before (Yes mom and dad I know that is not very responsible but I am in Cairo for the experiences as well as learn and school has not started yet and yes I promise to make smart choices and be safe). I will post tomorrow to let everyone know how orientation is going. Salaam!

En route to Cairo!

Just a quick update here from Austria, hooray for free wi-fi! Just landed in Vienna and I am sitting in a nice little boutique coffee shop called Starbucks here in the airport waiting for my plane to board. No matter where I go you will always follow me Seattle. My excitement level went through the roof when I got on my plane in DC, all of the Stuarts were speaking in German and it just became a little real for me that I was about to enter a completely foreign world.

A nice fun fact for everyone to know, contrary to popular belief I am actually traveling with someone. His name is Randy the Reindeer and he will be my little partner in crime for the next 10 months. Here are a couple of photos of Randy, one while he is quietly sleeping on the plane. My parents and I decided that it would be a good idea to take a stuffed animal of his choice with me and have him travel with me so I could show my brother Daniel all the places I have traveled.

Alright well off to the gate to my final destination! See you all soon.

The Beginning

Welcome to my travel blog!

I swore I would never do one of these things but I caved. I will be posting this with experiences, pictures and thoughts about my travels for the next year while I study abroad in Cairo and travel around the world! Maybe you will be apart of them.

Enjoy,
Tyler