Flying to Egypt

Our flight got changed quite a few times, so our flight that was supposed to be on Saturday was now on Friday. This meant that I had to run out of school an hour before it was actually over. When we got to the airport to go through the line, Jessie and TJ got through, but my name was not on “the list”. This apparently meant that I had to go upstairs with Henry (the expeditor who was supposed to be helpful) to the Ethiopian Air office. With an hour and a half left for our flight we entered a packet office with people yelling at each other about their place in line. At this point I thought there would be no way I would make the flight. Henry didn’t help either because I stepped to the back and he pushed his way to the front making everyone mad. Not sure how much he fit his job title of “expeditor”. But, if it weren’t for the fact that he was pushy I might not have made the flight. Basically the airline informed me that my ticket was canceled because I didn’t re-confirm it, although I had confirmed it by phone and by internet and had the confirmed printout, but that didn't seem to matter. As the time for my flight neared, they informed me that they could get me to Ethiopia, but that the flight from there the Cairo was full. I wanted to fry harder, but I had to take that for now. Then, I was allowed to check in. Luckily, the lady at the desk printed me boarding passes all the way to Cairo and checked my bags all the way. This really helped when we got to Ethiopia and I was not in their computer either. The man had to take my ticket away and luckily came back with it in time for the flight. I didn’t feel relaxed until after our layover in Sudan when I was sure that no one would bump me from my seat. Very stressful trip, but as always in Africa, it all worked out.

We arrived in Cairo around 4:00AM and headed to the hotel to sleep. At 2:00 we were scheduled to meet the infamous “Alaa” who scheduled our trip. We met another man who worked at the hotel and found out that he had been writing the emails to us, not Alaa after all. He just signed his name. Apparently that’s just how it works. Then, when we met Alaa we handed over lots of cash to him and just hoped it was all lagit. Friends from AIS had booked their trip with him last April and everything worked out, so we just had to trust that. He costs less then half of anything else that we could find to book. Alaa made fun of Jessie and I and acted like we didn’t know what was going on. Jessie and I have found that this is how most men treat us here. We were trying to get simple information such as flight departure times and hotel names and could not believe his reaction. Luckily, he will not be our guide for any of our trips. Once we get our tickets from him tomorrow that should the last time we have to see him.

Later that night we went to a light show on the pyramids. It told some interesting Egyptian history and was amazing to walk through the darkness and then have the giant pyramids appear out of know where. Other then that it was pretty touristy. I still can’t believe how close the pyramids are to the city. I guess I had pictured them out in the middle of the dessert somewhere far from everything else.