Picking up from yesterday –
I did mention to them that I don’t have a lot of clothes that actually cover me head to toe, and so really all I had pants-wise that was acceptable in Egypt was one pair of black pants. And it was oh so hot.
So, they also took me to a store where I bought 3 new skirts I liked in different colors.
(To my knowledge, they got a kickback on anything I bought at any place they took me to, as that’s the gist of how Egypt works. And I actually think that’s maybe part of the reason they didn’t want to go to the Africa Safari Park place, because that’s like a main tourist attraction, not a little mom & pop place, so I don’t think they would get a kickback on that? Anyway, whatever. Maybe I’m too paranoid, or as we’ll see from what a mark I was on this trip, I’m never paranoid enough.)
Aaaaaaaaaaaanyway, I get back to the hotel.
He asks me at some point if I liked the tour and I’m like “yep, great, thanks!” because I don’t want to cause trouble, or get a woman in trouble. Like, realistically it wasn’t great. I felt super pressured at the perfume place. They blew off the idea of riding around the safari, even though I was supposed to have the car for a day and we got back early enough (and they picked me up late enough) that we definitely should’ve had more time. I didn’t like how there had to be a huge discussion about masks, after they’d already agreed to it prior to me booking the day (because I always asked before I booked or paid for anything, as being with guides who wore masks was very important to me).
So then after I try to put on a smiley face and not complain at all, the woman sees me again and is like “are you happy? [The guy] says you look tired. And I’m like “all is fine. I’m fine, thanks.”
I dunno. There’s like this super pressure to be happy all the time. A running theme of my trip to Egypt is that I’m always depleted by the time I get back to the hotel, because a) it’s super hot and b) it feels like over and over people take me on tours full of pressure and not adventure, but then ask me 14,000 times if I’m happy because they’re obsessed with being happy, but they don’t do anything to really make people happy – or at least that was my experience on this specific tour, but we’ll get to that more later.
(Oh, also, one random thing. So many people tell you to say you’re not American, because they say it opens up a lot more issues for you. Everyone’s always like “if the cops stop you, say you’re Canadian.” But like… then what am I gonna do, if they ask for my passport?!)
So, anyone one other detail of the day, I tell the hotel guy I want to pay for everything before I check out. I just want to get it all done now, because I’m not gonna have access to any more cash. (And this tiny place of course wants me to use cash.)
I still haven’t exchanged all my Euros, because some places take Euros in Egypt, and there’s an exchange fee and everything. So, it’d be easier to not exchange it all, if I don’t have to.
So, me and the guy who runs this hotel sit down and he does the math of my nights of stay, the guide/driver from Alexandria, and the car ride to the hotel from the airport, and what the car ride will be back. And I verify “we haven’t forgotten anything, right? I want to make sure I’m fully paid.”
He says out loud everything one more time. It includes everything for the stay, including getting back to the airport. We convert part of it to Euros (to get rid of my Euros). We’re looking at it on google conversion. We count the Euros and Egyptian pounds together, out loud. We agree he has all the money for my entire stay, the drive from Alexandria, and the airport rides to and from. Everything is good. And then I’m in my room for the night for sleep and zoom class.
[I bring up this money story because it will be important later. Obviously, as I’m sure you can see, something goes wrong. Don’t worry. It’s not as bad as you think. But it’s not the best.]
And this is where I’ll pick up soon – after we get through stuff about undergrad graduation!