Cairo

And my love-hate relationship with it.

Yes people, welcome back to The Weekly Beginner! Today is a Friday which means that I get to spice up your day with yet another weekly post. You’re welcome.

Today’s topic is about Cairo, a city I’ve resided in since the summer of 2016. It’s safe to say that I’ve experienced quite a lot. A shit-load actually. Nearly 7 whole years. Anyways, let’s dive into my likes and dislikes of this wonderful city (sometimes shitty). Since I’m an optimistic, positive, great human being we’ll start with my personal advantages. Let’s weigh out the pros, and cons. Two pros, and one con.

If you’re an Egyptian, and you’re reading this, take everything with a grain of salt, please? Actually I don’t care, I’ll speak my mind regardless. Who am I kidding? I’m clearly out-numbered here.

Pro : This city literally never sleeps.

I mean it doesn’t matter if it’s 4AM or 12PM there’s people constantly outside. I’m actually curious/concerned about how on earth they just pull of all-nighters on a daily basis. Hustle culture at its finest.

Personally I grew up in Birmingham, England and it was definitely not as busy. I lived in a rather quite neighborhood (kind of depressing actually). It’s a pro for me because I love the hustle and bustle of the city. It boosts my energy. This is probably a disadvantage for a lot of people as well.

Con : Transport & Traffic

Don’t even get me started on transport in Cairo. I probably should’ve dedicated the entirety of this post to transport in Cairo, but you’d probably be depressed afterwards. It would have been an extremely negative post, trust me.

First of all, PUBLIC transport. Absolutely horrifying. Horrendous. Shambolic. You name it. It incredibly filthy hygiene wise. I feel like I’ve been sent back 90 years behind. The buses here are ancient man.

Also the bus/taxi/Tuk tuk drivers are extremely rude most of the time. They’ll try to rip you off as a foreigner. I don’t blame them though, they’re in a tough position financially. The problem is they literally PACK people on the bus, even if it’s already full to the brink.

The buses don’t have a certain schedule, and there’s no checkpoints. You have to scream at the TOP of your lungs, for the driver to pull over at your destination. This is unpleasant for me since I’m a university student who takes public transport 5 days a week. Stress. It’s cheap though, so that’s a plus.

Let’s give a quick mention to the driving laws here. Pretty much non-existent. People just flipping speed like there’s no tomorrow. Good luck crossing the street.

Pro: Night life

The night life in Cairo is stunning. The city really come alive after dark. Whether it be summer, or winter, I love going out to have fun here. The vibes are amazing here, and like I mentioned earlier, hustle and bustle. Egyptians are very social people, so I always manage to converse with a random stranger. They’re very extroverted.

In summer, going out during the day is a death wish. With boiling temperatures, people usually stay inside. It’s just too hot here man.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, you already know the drill 👇🙄