Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Back to Cairo

There is a saying in Egypt that anyone who has drunk from the Nile, is fated to return to the Nile again.. I didn't quite drink from the Nile (if I had I might have been permanently unable to go anywhere), but yes, did wet my feet on a number of occassions and left with a wrench when we had to!

But it would appear that even getting your feet wet, works just as well!! After a gap of two years, we are heading back to Cairo, with a sense of excitement and anticipation on our part, and, a lot of trepidation on part of friends and family who are not quite sure whether they should commiserate with us or congratulate us, lol!

My folks are clearly worried, some close friends even wanted to know if we had completely lost it, other polite ones murmured a congratulation after a brief shocked silence (:-)) and some, who are adventurous like us, promised to visit us soon!

I for one, am quite excited! Egypt is going through tumultous change - how often does one get to be part of, and, see history in making? I am keen to see if there is really a difference in Cairo before and after Mubarak.

As for Cairo being dangerous, if you have lived in Cairo, and spent time amongst the Egyptians, you would realise that Egyptians are by nature not violent people. Excitable yes, emotional, absolutely, but violent? No! I think in the history of revolutions, relatively peaceful revolutions like the Egyptian one, can be counted on fingertips.

So my bags are packed, am ready to go....

6 comments:

Padmini Bhat said...

Hello Manisha,
i moved to cairo last year, and as a part of research before moving here from india i came across ur blog...and indeed it was of a lot of help...!!! since then, i follow ur blog...today read that u are moving back to cairo... good to hear that...!!! ...Welcome back...!!!

Manisha said...

Hey Padmini,thanks so much.. quite looking forward to being back.. I have some really happy and fond memories of Cairo!

I am so glad that the blog was helpful! Hope to start blogging again once I am back tho I must admit, I never thought that I would :-)

Where in Cairo do you live?

ahmedthatsit said...

Welcome back, as we say here "u gonna light up our place"...nawarty el makan

Simona said...

We hope you will have a great stay in Cairo once again! And tell your beloved not to worry! The situation is pretty much safe as long as you keep an eye open (e.g: do not be in the street during curfew times), and you can experience a new atmosphere in the country!

Enjoy :)

amir said...

Hey Manisha, your blog is really interesting especially the restaurant reviews and I was wondering did you check out www.elmenus.com it's a resturant menus directory currently covering Cairo and you might find it useful on your food explorations :) check it out and would like to hear your feedback on the contact form in our website

Manisha said...

Hi Amir, thanks so much... will check the site out and get back... :-)

My husband and I are foodies and am sure this would comein really handy!!