34: Egypt, USAID, and Me

AKA, the trip that I received a crash course about how US diplomacy really works.

Me and some of the kids from a village near Alexandria, Egypt. 1985

If you have been paying attention or are a new reader of my interestingly weird life, I chose to attend boarding school in NW Colorado. One of the greatest benefits of being accepted to Lowell Whiteman School was how the school escaped the dreaded Spring Mud Season by sending the students and teachers to various parts of the globe.

I did not attend LWS for 9th grade, but my sophomore year foreign trip was to England and Scotland, my junior year was to Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands (which I wrote about in chapters 8, 9, and 10), and my senior class went to Greece for 8 weeks. Once we knew which country we were going to (other choices were Australian/NZ, or Tanzania, my math teacher contacted his Dad, who oversaw the US Agency for International Developement (USAID) in the Middle East and Africa and asked to stay with him and his wife before meeting the class in Athens. In order for the school to look the other way, since he would not be flying with the class to Athens, he was told he had to take a student with him. AJ and I had a mutually respectful relationship. For whatever reason, he asked if I would be interested in going along with him. After getting past my severe mistrust when someone invites me anywhere I do not know much about. After making sure my parents were ok with it (I didn’t ask, as much as tell them that I was heading to Cairo first and here is the flight info) since they would be footing the bill, everything fell into place.

Back in chapter 24, I told you how I met a woman during my sister’s Bat Mitzvah. My parents needled me to go talk to her, and they made sure she knew they had a son. OY! Why is Matchmaker, Matchmaker playing in my head? What “Alice” never knew until recently is that I did not have “meet a nice Jewish woman and marry her” on my list of life goals. I had dated a handful of Jewish girls and realized that without definitive proof that I was Jewish, as my adopted mother swore up and down she knew for a fact to be true, yet also vehemently states that she knows absolutely no other information regarding my bio-mom. No, the woman I would eventually marry and raise two incredible children with was not Jewish, nor did I ever ask her to convert. Nor did she ever attempt to convert me to her religion.

I left for Cairo two days later. Met up with AJ at JFK, and we flew to Cairo. His dad had a driver pick us up in a “reinforced” SUV, and if we had security in other vehicles, it wasn’t obvious. As we were about to drive on yet another bridge across the Nile that did NOT have any type of lane dividers painted on the surface, we were instructed to hand our passports to the front. Immediately after the bridge, we arrived at a 10-story or so building with Israeli flags out front. I asked what this building was, and AJ’s dad said, “either the most secure building in all of Cairo, or the easiest target”. There were no actual markings on the building, but due to the security, I’m pretty sure it was a consulate or annex of some sort. Directly across road was a mosque announcing afternoon prayers. I was in both heaven and a very strange place at once.

AJ’s dad and wife lived on a higher floor within the building, and even after I asked again if this was a consulate or annex, I never received a firm answer. His dad boasted about various projects that we (US Government via USAID) were supplying different countries that he oversaw. Over some food and beers, we figured out our itinerary for the week. After being assured that I was safe to roam as much as I wanted, I just had to remember I had to go through security when I get back. Even if there is an emergency, I stop and show the guards my passport.

There was a water taxi stand near to the building and I took full advantage of the very inexpensive mode of transportation. Since it was dark by the time we got out of the apartment, AJ and I decided to just take the water taxi (really a ferry that held 40/50 people) to the Hilton and Sheraton. This was the most Western part of Cairo and a good starting point, especially at night. AJ kept up with me for maybe an hour before taking the water taxi back.

I roamed around aimlessly. Had a couple more beers and some lamb kabobs and just enjoyed talking it all in. Learned what a bidet was at the Hilton when I had a call from nature. Hey, there’s a first time for everything, right?

Over the next few days, we explored the city some, and of course, the Great Pyramids of Giza were one of the many stops, as was my just roaming around what they told me was the largest souq, or open-air marketplace, in Cairo. On a less dusty day, you could make out the pyramids from the apartment’s balcony. I even thought of walking to them, but yeah, they were too far to walk, even for me. Oh, and the souqs, yeah, straight out of the very stereotypical lens of Indiana Jones and countless over American-made movies, only with way more dust.

Let me digress for a moment. Cairo is in the middle of a huge desert. Add in a constant breeze, and that fine, powdery sand sticks to everything. Sure, the low humidity was nice, but seriously, I would take a shower, and as soon as I was outside, a fine layer of orangey dust would start to envelope me.

So, yes, the souqs were quite dusty and crowded. I was loving life to a point. Dinners were almost always at a restaurant, some Western-styled ones, others, we pretty much made our hummus. Again, I loved every minute of it.

On roughly the third night, we attended a very laid-back cocktail party and got to hear some incredible stories about USAID around the world and places for me to go in Cairo, and if I needed company or an interpreter, I would have someone assigned to me. You have to remember, back then, I was very tan, with nearly white sun-bleached blond hair, and in shape. During the cocktail party, you could feel an undercurrent