Last boat from Cairo

Our last night in Cairo was interesting. We headed off to our new favorite restaurant with the large white tent. Kai had mentioned that maybe we should take a light jacket. We didn’t. When we arrived at the restaurant it was interesting to see how many people were wearing full winter parkas, gloves, scarf’s and turtleneck sweaters. I was amazed. It was around 14 degrees outside. That night the temperature dropped to 12 degrees. This was winter in Cairo.

In the restaurant we finally decided to participate in the local pastime of smoking Shisha. It was an interesting experience. It involves smoking a molasses tobacco, which has been flavored, through a glass structure which is filled with water. The tobacco is not tasted, only the flavor is noticed.

I, as always, try to watch and learn from the locals. I like to see what customs and traditions they have between each other. I found that it is very interesting that in Cairo men, like in Sudan, walk arm in arm (not hand in hand like Sudan) and that when two men meet, if they know each other, they kiss each other on both cheeks. When I man meets a woman it is customary only to shake the hand. So men kiss men and women kiss women. Men walk arm in arm with men and women with women. The interesting think that shocked me was that Cairo actually has a special police unit whose job it is to find gay Egypt men and arrest them and make their life very difficult. Very interesting for a culture where men walk arm in arm and kiss only other men and not women!

Our host met us the next morning to take us to the airport. He said we are lucky to be flying as the weather reports are calling for a sand storm to hit Cairo in the next 2-3 days. They come about once a year and cover the entire city in a thin layer of dust and sand. I had heard of them in Khartoum and they are known as a Haboob. The storm is being tracked as it traces across the Great Sahara Desert.

I talked to our host about the driving in Cairo which is chaotic at best. I asked about the pedestrians that cross the highways. He said it is no problem. In Cairo if a car strikes a pedestrian on the high way they do not get in trouble. It is considered the pedestrians fault. I did notice that throughout all of Cairo the cars have the right of way NOT the people crossing the street! I have to admit we ran many times to get out of traffic as it sped towards us.

When the plane landed in Khartoum and the captain made an announcement there was cheers and clapping from the passengers. I didn’t know what was said because it was in Arabic. Then it came over in English “Welcome to Khartoum where the local time is 630pm and the Temperature is 41 degrees! Now I know why the people were clapping. When I got off the plane the heat hit me like a wave. My eyes felt like they were melting.

The next morning as I headed to the UN Airport I noticed the sky was grey. As the sun came up I discovered that it was not grey but brown. The sand storm had arrived in Khartoum. Several flights were cancelled but mine got off the ground. As we flew to Damazin I noticed that the sand storm was quite high and was covering most of Sudan. Often you could not see out the plane windows. In Damazin and in Kurmuk the sky was clear and the sun was hot. Kurmuk had been having a little more of a heat wave. Last week they were getting up to 52 degrees.

On Friday morning I woke up to fine the sky very brown and the sun was not visible. The sand storm was here. Everything is being coated in a thin layer of dust much like talcum powder.

I have found out that another Canadian will be coming to Kurmuk to replace me in about a week. I have also counted that I have only 19 days left in Kurmuk before I begin my out clearance procedures.

I am looking forward to home.