Cairo

Exactly a year later, we found ourselves back in Cairo. This time, we were literally flying in just to attend Mona, his cousin’s wedding. We arrived on Thursday morning. Her wedding was on Friday and then we were off on Saturday evening.

T had bought us Business class tickets so that we could fly in comfort seeing that it was such a short trip to travel more than 10 hours to get to and back.

Everything felt warmer in Cairo… not just the family who were “closer” (probably because we already met last year and now feel like we “know” each other … and probably because I am now part of the family) … even the weather felt much hotter.

T had reminded me that it was going to be the hottest part of summer and that the sun would be scorching. I ended up packing only dresses, not even jeans or shorts … and even wore a dress for the long haul flight.

So anyways, I had forgotten that we were going to be in a Muslim country and that certain dress codes had to be kept in mind. On the few occasions when we actually left the house to go out, T sent me to check with the girls to see if I was sufficiently covered. Only once, Hana said to me, “if you wear this out, you will be raped!” (I was wearing one of my chongsam dresses which I obviously quickly changed out of).

Another highlight of Cairo that I had forgotten was that the weekend starts with Friday, being the prayer day for Muslims, such that Fridays and Saturdays are like our Saturdays and Sunday. And Sundays are like any normal Mondays in the world– the start of the work week.