Showing posts with label BARELY MADE IT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BARELY MADE IT. Show all posts

Sunday, January 11, 2009

DAY 1 : LAX TO JFK TO CAIRO by Makayla Smith
















Day 1
LAX TO JFK TO CAIRO

Even though we are calling this day one, it technically counts as two. We began our journey at 4 AM at LAX, on January 7th, 2008. This New Year, for must of us, started with a journey to a new place, a new way of life, and an altogether new environment. We boarded our Delta flight to JFK and were all fast asleep. Once in New York, we took an Air Train from terminal 2 to 4. After going through security, a lot of us decided to purchase some water before the long 10 ½ hour flight….little did we know the bottles would end up costing $4.25 each! It was extremely long flight, but we made it just fine! We landed in Cairo at approximately 12:10 pm on January 8th, 2008. Right as we walked out of the airport, we were greeted by Mr. Girgis! During the twenty minutes it took to drive to the Marriot hotel, we got a taste of what Cairo has to offer. The 18 million people packed into a city right on the Nile gave it an authentic Middle Eastern “hustle and bustle” feel.

Exhausted, most of us decided to take a nap before dinner. We all met at six o’ clock in the lobby and then walked to dinner. Our restaurant, Imperial, was floating on the Nile. Mr. Girgis ordered us a variety of typical Egyptian meals….which were all outstanding! A favorite of most of the ladies was the warm pita bread. During dinner, there was live music. One man was playing an Oud, which is a large Egyptian banjo made out of wood, with four strings. After dinner, most of us walked back to the hotel because we were tired and had a long day ahead of us. As we walked back to the hotel, it was obvious how much we were all looking forward to experience this unique adventure throughout Egypt.