A Beautiful Cairo Morning

Unfortunately more hassle came from the Indian Embassy about my visa, and after yesterday's Battle of the Travel Agents, I decided that it was too late to visit Alexandria. Which is too bad, because I felt done with Cairo and ready to move on. But that's not possible until Thursday, when I should finally get my visa.

I hardly slept last night. Why? Because every time I turned off the lights, the bedbugs came out. And every time I turned on the lights, the mosquitos came in. So I obviously need to get some bugspray tonight.

But there is a silver lining: I took the opportunity to walk out to Al-Azhar park to watch the sun rise this morning. I'm glad I did.

As the sun broke over the park, old people took their place on mats to begin to pray toward Mecca. Starting in the east, cries of of Allahu Akbar jumped out from mosque to mosque and spread across the city, until it surrounded me on all sides. It was almost overwhelming.

After the community prayer, the streets were empty and the market stalls were quiet. It was a beautiful, peaceful Cairo morning.