Reflecting back on my 3 trips to Egypt & Jordan

Having been to Egypt 3 times, I've been very interested in the Cairo protests (perhaps beginning of a revolution?). Although the protests in Jordan aren't getting nearly the same news coverage as the protests in Egypt, Jordanians have also taken to the streets for the past 3 days demanding that their prime minister resigns.  For example, check out this article about the Jordanian protests.   I've been to Jordan 3 times too.  Other than Israel & Mexico, I've been to Egypt and Jordan more frequently than any other country.

Although I haven't been to either country since 2007, I am particularly compelled by these protests given my travels in Egypt & Jordan.  I feel connected to both countries and have an understanding of each country's culture - as much as an American Jewish tourist can have.

Both countries are so so different than the U.S. You literally cannot walk 10 feet in Jordan without seeing pictures of the king EVERYWHERE.  It is a poor country, the cars are older, the houses mostly look run-down  The major city of Amman is overcrowded. 

The biggest tourist attraction in Jordan is Petra, the home of the famous rock architecture and the rock Treasury.  Most Americans have seen it in the Indiana Jones Last Crusader movie or in Arabian Nights.

Rock Treasury in Petra

Jordan is a country of contradictions as well. It was extremely common to see a fully covered woman on the beach with her young children in bathing suits. Unlike Israel, where observant men dressed as modestly as women, most the men on the beach dress like any westerner would. 

When we were last there 3 years ago, we spent a few days relaxing at a Red Sea resort in Aqaba, Jordan.  The hotel was a gorgeous 5 star resort - that was about $50/night. 

We were literally 500 feet from the Israel/Jordan border abutting the Israeli Red Sea resort town of Eilat - where the same type of hotel would have easily been $500/night.  Shows you the difference between the western Israeli economy and the struggling Jordanian economy.

When we were there in 2007, we flew from Aqaba Jordan to Cairo, Egypt.  We were very nervous when our hotel assured us that we should leave at 8am for our 9am international flight on the day of our departure and the airport was at least 20 minutes away. We arrived at the airport with 30 minutes to spare and ended up making it through intense security in about 10 minutes - a far cry from airports in the U.S. While checking in for our flight our passports were checked no less than 6 times each, including before our van even entered the airport. Despite this intense security, only Brad was required to pass through a metal detector. I was instead just lightly patted down in a separate booth used for all women travelers - apparently they don't feel that females are potential terrorists.

The flight from Amman was interesting, they had a horrible snake movie on the tv the entire time which was not so pleasant. It's also such a contrast from the states where someone who dresses typically "Middle Eastern" attracts significant attention in the post 911 world, whereas we Americans stood out the Royal Jordanian flights. 

But, it was much better than the 12 hour bus ride that I took from Eilat to Cairo when I was in college (and had no money).  The bus ride had no air conditioning, not enough seats for the passengers, no ventilation, and was just plain miserable.  I spent the final 4 hours of the bus journey sitting in the aisle.  Flying was MUCH better!

When you arrive in Cairo, you are immediately struck by 3 things.  First Cairo is a HUGE city of 22 million people. Second it is an incredibly poor city, one of the poorest I've ever visited. Unemployment is routinely above 20% (unless of course you ask the government for their number which is allegedly 9%. Yeah right).

Third, the drivers are terrible. Lane markings are ignored - they are more like decorations on the road, street lights are never used and really are just suggestions and horns are used all the time. Even the worst American drivers are highly skilled as compared to Egyptian drivers. Friends have asked me if I think it is safe to visit Egypt.  Security wise, Egypt is normally very safe to visit (except of course, right now).  The scariest part of Egypt was crossing the street - it felt like a game of frogger.

The second time I was in Egypt was in college.  While studying abroad in Israel, some friends and I decided to spend a few days in the Sinai Peninsula for a weekend and climb Mount Sinai.  However, we were dumb college students and really had no plan for getting to Mount Sinai once we crossed the border from Israel into Egypt.  Thinking back on this story now makes me shudder at my incredible stupidity - and marvel at my naive trust in strangers.

After going through customs, we met a man at the border who had a van and would take us to Mount Sinai for a good price.  Sure, we said, and hopped into his van.  On the way there, he said he was hungry so we all stopped for a big dinner...at his brother Mohammed's house (everyone there is named Mohammed. It's like Matt in the U.S.).  So, we ate at his brother's - another stranger - and kept going.  Because of the heat during the day, it is best to climb Mt. Sinai in the middle of the night.  When we arrived at the base of the mountain, our driver said "I know a man named Mohammed who has many camels, he will bring you up the mountain for a good price.  Just leave your bags in my van and I will meet you here in the morning."

Being the incredibly dumb students that we were, we happily agreed to hire Mohammad AND LEAVE OUR STUFF IN HIS VAN.  Seriously, what were we thinking???

Mohammad and his camels brought us to the top of Mount Sinai which had snow on the top and was freezing.  We tried to sleep in our sleeping bags fully dressed but were too cold and mostly just cuddled together to stay warm until the sun came up. It wasn't until we were halfway back down the mountain on the way back to the van when someone in the group said, "Uhhh, guys - you know, I'm wondering if leaving our stuff in the van was the best idea? Think it will still be there?"  Honestly, it wasn't until that moment that we even considered that the van driver could have taken off over night with our stuff.  Did I mention that we were insanely stupid 20 year old travelers?

Amazingly, our van driver, whose middle name was Mohammed, was at the base of the mountain waiting for us with breakfast and all of our bags!  Our trust had paid off - but in retrospect, what were we thinking.  I can't help but wonder if our trust would have been the same a year later after September 11th.  I feel like September 11th changed our perception of trusting foreigners, especially an Arab Middle Easterner.   Obviously, I should never have been as trusting as I was - but it's pretty amazing that I felt like I could trust him - and he proved me correct. 

Shortly after that trip, we went to Cairo where I've been twice - again in 2000 and then in 2007.  I have fond memories of taking two dinner cruises on the Nile River with dancers and music.

Nile River at sunset, 2007

Dancer on the dinner cruise - I'm sorry, but on what planet is this guy "straight"? 
But, people are not really allowed to be gay in Egypt.

I always have fond memories of FAVORITE Egyptian dish called koshari.  It is a vegetarian meal made of lentils, pasta, rice, garbanzo beans, onions, and a sour tomato sauce - quite fabulous! The Egyptians really enjoy their chick peas - they call whole chick peas "hummus" and they are fond of chick pea soup (which was actually disgusting).  Egyptian street vendors sell a wide variety of juices - including a very sweet sugar cane juice. 

I hope that the protestors have respected the amazing Egypt Museum which is in the heart of Cairo.  It is probably the largest museum I've evern been in and houses artifacts dating back over 4000 years of Egyptian history. It is truly remarkable how well the many sculptures, paintings and other artifacts have held up over thousands of years. The detail work and colors used are unbelievable and I remember leaving the museum even more impressed with Egyptian history than when we arrived.

Egypt Museum, 2007

On two visits to Cairo we went to the Papyrus Museum (in 2000, we bumped into Barbara Bush Sr - wife of President Bush and her family in the Papyrus Museum and in the Egypt Museum, I think their security guards thouht we were stalking them!) and learned about the ancient Egyptian process of making paper from the papyrus plants that grow in the Nile.

And of course, I pray that the Pyramids are undamaged from the demonstrations. The Pyramids were much bigger than I had anticipated. The largest of the pyramids took over 17 years to build and is constructed by over 2 million blocks that were floated up the Nile River from southern Egypt. They truly are a wonder of the world.  The Sphynx are actually smaller than I imagined.

Brad's camel was a little too friendly and kept trying to kiss him!

Sphynx

 
And we learned to make proper Middle Eastern pita.  Sorry, but American pita bread is pathetic compared to Middle Eastern pita. 

Learning to make pita bread.

When I first visited Egypt in 2000, the Egyptian people loved Americans and loved President Clinton.  Despite Clinton's close ties to Israel, they felt a strong kinship with the U.S. and great respect for our country.

In 2007, things had drasticaly changed. Our tour guide talked at length of America's diminished reputation in the region. He said this was due to both the war in Iraq, President Bush's perceived arrogance and America's strong support for Israel. We found it interesting that he viewed Arafat (who was still alive at the time) with great affection and Abbas with great disdain. We did not tell him that we had just spent 2 weeks in Israel and my cousin serves in the Israeli military.  While we didn't share his sentiments, we found the healthy exchange of ideas to be valuable and insightful. At the end of our day our guide thanked us for the discussion and debate.

Finally, I will never forget the Cairo airport.  Hands down, it is the worst airport I've ever been in.  We arrived at the airport 3 hours early to catch our flight to Greece - which should have been plenty of time to get on an international flight.  WRONG.  It is truly a mystery how to navigate the airport.  The signs are not in English and any time you stop to ask an airport official for help, they would only offer information if you paid them - and even then the information was often wrong. 

I had printed my boarding pass from the hotel computer so I didn't have an actual ticket - just the paper copy of my ticket.  Apparently, this is unusual in Egypt and they wouldn't let me through security without a ticket - and didn't understand that the print-out WAS my ticket.  Frantic and running out of time, I desperately created a fake ticket through elaborate folding of another piece of paper and after realizing that the security guard couldn't read English, I pointed at certain words on the page and insisted that those words indicated that it was my ticket.  With minutes to spare, I barely made my flight.

Egypt and Jordan are countries rich in history, archeology, culture, and mired in politics of poverty.  I pray that the Egyptian & Jordanian people are able to find leaders who will take care of the millions of people who struggle to make ends meet amidst rampant inflation, corruption, and unemployment.  I look forward to taking my sons back to Egypt & Jordan on future trips and continue to watch the news with great interest and concern.