Egypt: Mother of the World مصر: ام الدنيا

People ask me all the time. It's a standard small talk question. It usually comes right after "where are you from?" "how long have you been here?" and "what are you doing here?"
So. Why Egypt? 
Egyptians usually ask this question with a look of concern, as if I'm lost, as if I'm not aware that there are plenty of better paying jobs in the states, not to mention the luxuries that the US provides in comparison with Cairo. Oh, I'm aware, don't worry. Foreigners usually ask this question with a look of confusion, since they just received my answer to "what are you doing here?" which was a drawn out shoulder shrug and look of confusion on my own face as I slowly shook my head saying "I don't know, right now I'm teaching English. Kind of learning Arabic. Not sure."
So. Why Egypt? 
Usually I give some logical answer. I studied Arabic and African Studies, so this is a natural cross over. I want to work with resource sustainability, such as the water of the Nile. I don't want to spend winter in Northern Michigan, there's a lot of snow there. All of these are true. But they don't hit the heart of it. They don't explain why I choose to live in Cairo. This polluted, dirty, stressful city. Where I blow black snot out of my nose. Where I get harassed in the street. Where the power gets cut off when the city is using too much. Where I have to go through a police checkpoint everyday on my way home. Where I can't wear shorts. Where traffic makes you crazy in the head.
So. Why Egypt? 
It's really hard to explain what fascinates a person with a place. I actually can't put my finger exactly on the reason why I'm so attached to this complex capital, but I know it is more emotional than a logical motivation, more rational than a romantic heartthrob, and more concrete than some soul-driven whim.
Looking back on my first half-year here, I think the best I can do is say that Cairo makes me feel alive. It's a very real city. With very real people. With very real struggles. With very real joys. All in a constant state of movement: flowing, jolting, and bustling all around and over each other. There is no escape.
Or maybe Cairo makes me feel very real, by having to face all of my insecurities and struggles day in and day out. I showed up with little to no plans and less funds. I had to adapt or die, and by die I mean go home. Really one of those "finding myself" experiences, or whatever bullshit travelers like to call it. But the crazy way I came was worth it, because I have had an experience here that could never be replaced.
Apparently, one way to really see a country is to show up with basically nothing. Then you rely on the people around you to connect you with who you need to be connected with, show you how to live like a local (meaning, not spend the money in your little wallet like a tourist), and make friends that are really friends. Like the friends that you actually spend all your time with.
So. Why Egypt.
Because this is what it's like to live in Egypt, at least in the small window of it that I've seen.
To be in Egypt is to be connected to people. Even though to some level I will always be an outsider here, the people around me have done their best to naturalize me. I have been welcomed into homes, where I eat with the family on a regular basis, see their routine, see their arguments, see their celebrations, see the kids and pets grow.
I have been welcomed into friend circles that are real. Through all of my job changes and commute changes, my friends have provided a constant for me in my routine. We have our spots that we hang out, a simple phone call is all it takes to find out where the gang is. Sometimes that isn't even necessary, you can just show up.
We're a ragtag group of young professionals, recent graduates, and soon-to-be graduates. Mostly Egyptian but some foreigners are deemed cool enough to hang. We just sit at the cafe, smoking shisha and drinking tea as people come and go, bonding over our shared confusion about what to do with our lives. It's really an incredible thing to have people that you see almost on a daily basis, and enjoy seeing on a daily basis. To get out of the house and spend time with people.
To live in Egypt is to find beauty in things that are not necessarily beautiful. Like a microbus ride in the middle of the afternoon, going up the ring road and thinking how beautiful those dusty palm trees are against the hazy blue sky, ignoring the piles of trash in the ditch and instead enjoying the pop Arabic music blaring as you whiz through traffic, past taxis, motorcycles, other buses, trucks with piles of produce and maybe a donkey cart.
To live in Egypt is to stop thinking about how different the little things are and start taking them for granted.
That the women I hang out with in their homes rush to cover their hair before answering the door.
That every pizza is served with ketchup.
That I use my phone by buying credit from a convenience stand.
That I can buy four pounds of strawberries for a dollar.
That the weekend is Friday and Saturday, not Saturday and Sunday.
That nothing starts on time.
That Nescafe (powdered coffee) is not considered coffee. Someone can quit drinking coffee (Turkish coffee) and still drink Nescafe.
That the building of my bar is half as old as my native country.
That the city is up late.
That I never hear the first call to prayer unless I am going to bed past four am.
That there will always be beggars to supply me with tissue or matches for one pound.
That I will never vacuum while I am here, only sweep. And sweep I must.
That I am always arguing with my doorman, because just my existence as a single girl living alone is culturally inappropriate.
This is life. It's only foreign if you think of it that way, and I don't want to, because this is where I live.

I don't know how to tell people that I just have this feeling that I'm supposed to be here. I have a special contentment here that I haven't been able to find anywhere else.
My obsession with Cairo does not make me believe that it is the greatest place in the world, or that everyone should love it as much as I do. No, it only confirms my belief that everyone should chase after the place that most fascinates them and calls to something inside them that they can never put a finger on. It could be Beijing, or Chile, or Ireland, or even the same street you grew up on. It doesn't matter where, just that you embrace the place that makes you crazy in the head to think of leaving it.
So. Egypt.