Picking up from yesterday –
So, the main reason I even went up Alexandria is because if I was going all the way to Africa for the first time, I wanted to scuba dive in another continent.
Also, just in general, if I’m going to a country with water around, i wanna dive.
I heard the best diving is in Dahab, but with a 4-day trip, the time constraints were kinda hard (since Dahab is farther). So, Alexandria it was.
I was told they would pick me up in the morning and take me to the dive place.
That’s super nice of them – picking me up from my hotel.
I’d been warned many times that Egypt is a Muslim country and you’re gonna wanna cover up.
But I was leaving early in the morning before anyone was really awake. And I figured, “it’s just the scuba people, and obviously we’re all gonna be in swimsuits. So, I’m just gonna wear my swimsuit and a towel wrapped around me. I’ll jump in van/car/whatever, and then as soon as we get to the dive shop, I’ll put on a wetsuit. I won’t really be anywhere out in the wild where I’m being sort of ‘revealing’.”
Welp.
I was wrong.
They were waiting in the lobby and I walked outside with them, thinking we were about to get in a vehicle, but no.
When they came to “pick me up,” it was a guy who was going to grab an uber, but I guess had trouble finding one at that time in the morning.
So, they walked me across this super major busy street to where we could try to hail a cab.
And cars were honking like wild, and men were hollering out of their windows. I felt preeeeeetty uncomfortable
And it was sort of crazy, because I didn’t even think I was showing all THAT much. I had a giant towel wrapped around me. From my knees to my underarms were covered in towel. (And I obv had a bathing suit on beneath that, which you could see above the towel.)
But in Egypt where I never saw women showing skin (or hair, really, and of course I wasn’t wearing a hijab to go scuba diving), I was like giving a show I guess, on the side of the road.
Then we got in this JANKY cab where like the seatbelts were broken and the seats had padding come out of them. And the cab driver was seemingly saying stuff about me just based on his inflection and looks and hand gestures, and the person who came to pick me up verified the guy was talking about me and what I was/wasn’t wearing.
And then we finally got to the scuba shop, and this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.