I Live in a Lava Field

I have never lived in a big city. I've lived around them, I've visited them, I've never lived in one. While it doesn't have giant steel skyscrapers, Cairo is a big city. There are 7.772 million people in 453 sq. km. I really like the idea of a big city. I really love the noise and all the cars on the street at all hours of the night. I like the way that while we were landing, Cairo looked like a lava field. If you don't know what a lava field looks like...

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Okay, no imagine the orange is yellow lights. That's all I saw from the sky.
This is what I found when I tried to find what I was looking for a picture of it, but yeah.

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Anyway, it was unbelievable. And very scary. My town in California is 1/100 the size in population and 1/7 in the area. There is just a lot of Cairo. Also, lots of people think it's really dangerous blah blah blah. 

One of my things on the Egypt Bucket List was being comfortable with the public transportation. I took a taxi by myself twice today. I even hailed the first one on my own too. 

So first, I flagged it down. Then I tried my best to say Ain Shams University in Arabic (gam3at ain shams). He nods and I get in. Then, he says good morning. Turns out his English is really good. This takes a little bit of the edge off, but I'm still alert. He was really nice, and continued to talk to me and welcomed me to Egypt and just continues to prove to me that Egyptians are the nicest people in the world. Anyway, I'm not nervous, uneasy, or any of the other words that mean the exact same thing I learned in English class. 

I kinda know my way around. I mean, enough to walk from the side the taxi drops me off at City Stars to the other side where I live because I can't direct them. That gives me more time to familiar myself, take a nice walk, and get some fresh air. I also know landmarks to make sure that the taxi is indeed taking me to Ain Shams or City Stars and not somewhere else. 

Fireworks and parties across the street don't even phase me anymore. I really feel like I have a grasp on the place I live. And I cannot even begin to explain how this makes me feel. I can even understand Arabic, not a lot, not every conversation, but enough to feel... I don't know... proud? Maybe?

More pictures from ASMUN (the main reason I feel so comfortable in my own city):

Life is really good. Stay beautiful.

Byeeeeeee

Corie.