History from the Land of Everything - EGYPT

You must be wondering why I am writing this article for the first time to describe a trip. You must be also wondering why I titled the article this way, The Land of Everything. Well, let me tell you a story, a story of a big fan of travelling and adventures. Let me tell you why and how I fall in love with Egypt and what changed in me after that trip.

Many times, things happen to us for certain reasons. Either bad or good, they come for a certain lesson that we learn at the end. For that, I have been learning since I released my consciousness and eagerness to grew up. And, travelling is my best corner for that learning. For countless reasons, I have been travelling and growing up through what I see, touch and breath. Going back to these many times, Anas, a dear friend and a man of his word, a representative of Föreningen Framtidståget invited me to participate in an Erasmus+ Project in Egypt knowing that I will not miss the opportunity. I ended up packing my bag with no great expectations, travelling alongside with three crazy Moroccan creatures, Umaima, Oumnia and Youssef. We started our craziness the first moment we hit the road.

     Umaima on my left, Adam, Youssef, Fahd, Anas and Oumnia. Moroccan team plus two representative of Sweden.

I still remember the first look Malek took on us and me specifically, calling ‘Abdurrahman’. It was a warm melting sunrise at the arrival gate of Cairo airport. Malek was a total stranger to us since we did not arrange the meeting before our arrival. Umaima was quite annoyed when we caught Uber, speaking to me in Spanish wondering if Malek is the right guy. I could easily silent all the sounds around the car and focused on the sound of Egypt. The sunrise, the sky, the birds, the aeroplanes cloudy tracks, the old-fashioned cars and the very attractive buildings.

The Uber driver seemed to like our Moroccan dialect when we spoke, so he added Egyptian music on our ride’s background all along the trip to our hostel. We had 20 minutes there to leave our luggage and start our breakfast with A’ich Bread, Foul Modamas and Kouchary tea. We run to tile the streets of Waset El Baled (Downtown Cairo) to find a completely different system of cars, motors, micro-buses, tuk-tuks, buses, and people running all over the streets and directions. Literally, it was 2 million cars hitting the streets of Cairo as they do every day. The funny part for us was following the path of Malek trying to cross the venues in front of hundreds of vehicles; you must be brave to do that.

We ended our first tour staring at the Nile river and sniffing the smoky air coming from both Cairo and Giza, where you can notice the fog coming out of air pollution. Imagine that you come from a city where the wind never stops and you are facing the Atlantic sea every day, and the population is only 120 000 people, to be in the middle of 20 million people where the sea is impossible to be. I really needed a deep sleep at that moment, telling my mind to chill out, there is another great day to come.

I discovered later during the project that Malek is such a great company and a skilled leader. He turned to be our best friend, he is part of Have A Dream, the hosting organization.

I felt completely inspired by every single thing I saw in Egypt. I got energy from everything. I was more attracted to people’s smiles and talks. I sensed a grand floor of love between friends, families and people. I could feel a warm feeling between themselves. I saw how people could be happy even if they have nothing. Their richness is spiritual. On the other side, I was touched by the faces of misery meeting me from time to time. I never forget this specific energy. It touched my heart, my mind and my soul. A combination of both happiness and misery. Black and white. Strong and weak. High and low. Noisy and silent. Love and depression. Full and empty. Rich and poor.

Another attractive thing was the number of military bases and police forces all around the city. Near banks, churches, mosques, synagogues, stations, museums, streets, markets and governmental buildings. They were kind to my questions when I needed help. Among them were many youngsters.

You must be hangry if you wonder to have a walk-in town, the food is so tasty and sometimes spicy. So far, Egypt has the most delicious food, juices and deserts I ever tried. You can get full with only 10 Egyptian pounds. In our Youth Exchange, no one could resist the food’s taste. It was outstanding. And for the record, the best mango juice I ever had in my life was there in Khan El Khalili. Candies, cakes, biscuits, sweets and many mushy things were easy to find.

    Al Azhar Mosque

The Erasmus+ Youth Exchange: Fly to Volunteer was also a great occasion for divergent cultures and experiences to meet and coexist for a week. They were participants, whom I call friends now, from Egypt, Morocco, Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. They brought very rich cultural and professional backgrounds to the learning mobility platform. I learnt from every single person. They coloured my spiritual puzzle with love and diversity. Our humanity brought us closer to share our stories and happiness with everyone. Some of us shared music and other shared dances. I was very honoured to share a public event with more than 600 Egyptians interested in Volunteering. It was a close look at how active the civil society in Egypt and how eager they are to try new things and to bring dynamic change to their realities. The majority were girls, very powerful and intelligent females. We had an opportunity to present our Moroccan culture through food, clothes and songs. Youssef and Oumnia were very good at singing and playing music, they caught the silence of the whole event. Umaima was the best promoter of our culture, she was telling funny stories about Moroccans in a Syrian dialect to local Egyptians. I must admit that she had a good Kaftan outfit.

Next to us was an organization that we surprisingly worked with the following day. It was a visit to a sportive institution meeting with parentless children. It was a very emotional two-hours. However, we enjoyed our seconds with many children, I remember teaching some of them a bit of acrobatics and human pyramids with the help of Youssef, Hayde, and Umaima while Oumnia was holding in her hands a lovely girl. Other national groups were integrating the kids in animated games and energizers. It was the best moment seeing everyone having the best day ever. We received a huge number of laughs and words from the kids. They made us shed tears at the end of the session, Umaima was crying and hiding her tears with a big smiley red face.

I dreamed myself in the Egyptians Pyramids doing a backflip weeks before my trip. So, it was a must do thing to jump over the cliff in the Panoramic area. This also represents how my trip made me fly over the pyramids with no fear to what will happen next, the important thing is to enjoy the present moment with every second, love life and share a big smile with everyone around me. It was also a place of great meditation and inspiration. There I could understand the greatness of human beings and how we can make miracles, the same miracles standing in front of me. If these humans could make three miraculous pyramids centuries ago, what can we make in the centuries to come? It also reveals to me a big understanding of our possibilities to achieve our dreams. If we work hard and efficient, we can make our own miracles. Our miracles could be big or small, but they always reflect our achievements. Coming all the way from a tinny town in Morocco to do a backflip in the heart of Egypt was my favourite miracle. Space makes you realize the great power that comes through your body from the sand, the sun, and the wind. Such a holy destination.

At the same time, we had very fruitful sessions facilitated by the very active and happy Yuliya from Föreningen Framtidståget. She was very intelligent in enriching our learning outcome throughout the presentations. The YE was very well organized and managed by all partners. The Egyptian team never hesitated to make it easier for us to be locals too. I salute their sense of help and cooperation. I believe this is how leadership should be. There were many people from behind the scenes who made the project successful, I hereby would love to thank all the women and men who were preparing our breakfast in the hostel, who were cleaning the venue before our sessions, who were bringing chairs and tables every moment we need them, and who was serving our food in every meal, you are our angels.

Actually, the experience did not end in Cairo. Thanks to Salma and Remon, they made us a warm visit to show us their beautiful city Alexandria, where I actually had the best seafood soup, grilled fish and toasted Gambary (shrimps). Old fortress and long coast saluting the Mediterranean Sea. A waiter wanted to engage Oumnia from Youssef because he likes how she spoke to him. The never-ending sunflowers seeds. The Moroccan family from Casablanca that lives there. The mixed juice. The station emotional meeting. Remon’s house and his mom’s cake. Alexandria deserves another story and another chapter that I will keep to my memories for now.

We left the city wanting to stay longer, I did not get enough of the seconds of life there. I loved the country. Everything Egypt has to offer me, was a long page of a book. A book that does not have an end or a beginning. It makes us very short and tinny in front of a large and huge history written by the walls, corners and streets of Egypt. History from the Land of Everything.

Egypt is the beginning of something big to come. Today, I am eager to read pages of all books, of all histories and of all countries. I find my heart in travelling and in order to explore myself, I need to explore other places and other histories. 

Credits: Photos taken by HAVE A DREAM (Moustafa al-Etreby, Mahmoud Abd Elmageed, Salma Osama...), Youssef Chghaich, Umaima Serroukh

Written by: Abderrahman Assorhani

11-03-2019 Larache, Morocco