The Egypt we don't study at school

by João Pedro Costa Faustino (Brazil)

I didn't expect to find Egypt

Kids study the history of the world and of their home countries at school. I assume this is how it works in most places and this is definitely how it happened to me when I was younger. I studied the ancient history, middle ages, contemporary history, world wars, and eventually moved on to the discovery and colonization of what is now known as Brazil by the Portuguese empire. Naturally I've been through the rise of the Egypt, hands down one of the most iconic locations in the popular imaginary, but it had never been my dream trip. I had never pictured Egypt as the magical, dreamy place some people do. It all changed, though, when I decided to pick Damietta, in Egypt, for my first international trip, on a six-week volunteering experience. As weird and reckless it sounds to pack my things up and to go to a place that barely had a Wikipedia page on my language, I decided to give it a shot and see what was in store for me. This Northern port city, where the Nile River and the Mediterranean Sea meet, is home to many volunteers from around the globe who work on their projects on weekdays and visit other regions of the country on the weekends. Indians, Brazilians, Colombians, Mexicans and Croatians were put together in accomodations in Ras El Bar, one of Damietta's main neighborhoods. Seeing the Pyramids, going to cities such as Aswan, Luxor and Alexandria, camping at the Saara desert, these are the main attractions of the country, but this unlikely group of people would meet on the local mosque on a daily basis to take buses downtown Damietta, only to find out this city had its' special thing too. Damietta holds a very old-fashioned aura to it, which provides an experience that a big, modern city Cairo would never be able to. The cultural shock is inevitable. Bus drivers and passengers agree on the ticket price before any silence trip, with the Koran playing on the radio, until a lady in a full black burqa breaks the ice by saying a subtle but warm "welcome to Egypt". Alcohool is not sold on regular stores, so young people find entertainment on cafés where they smoke their shishas and have their hibiscus tea. Restaurant and market attendants try their best to help the foreign group understand the prices since the Arabic characters can not be Google translated. Every night ends with a walk by the beach until a lighthouse, a monument that marks the point where the Nile meets the Mediterranean. I ended up finding in Damietta, not in Aswan, Luxor or Alexandria, a place to call home. Egypt is the whole package for a travel lover: magnificent landscapes, outstanding temples, the uniqueness in their history. It is the ultimate experience for anyone who is willing to explore the unknown. But an open heart is also ready to let in the every little place and story, including those we do not hear at school. I would love to see the Pyramids again one day, but I do not miss the Pyramids like I miss the calm of Ras El Bar streets.