Our first stop enroute to Egypt was London, city of palaces, museums, marble monuments, royalty, and pageantry. As we walked the city streets, we both knew it was a city we would return to.

After a sixteen-hour trip, we finally arrived in Cairo. The airport itself was very old and simple, unlike American airports in major cities at home. That is when I realized how different an experience I was about to embark on. As we went to get our visas, we had swarms of Egyptian citizens trying to help direct us to the right place. We got our visas and went to the door to look for Crystal, the cheerleading coach. As we looked through the crowd of people, we again had many citizens jockeying for our attention--offering their transportation, phone, and hotel services. The hospitality was very different from that in America, and I had spent no more than five minutes in the country.

Then, among the throng, we saw a huge "Welcome ACE" sign and located Crystal. After exchanging greetings, we headed to the taxi, where her friend Mustafa was waiting to drive us to our hotel. Crystal was so welcoming, concerned by our lack of sleep, and bubbling with plans for tomorrow's camp. We arrived at the hotel, checked in, and fell into an exhausted sleep, preparing for our adventurous week in Cairo.

A courtesy car picked us up in the morning, and we quickly learned why. As we drove to the first day of camp, I really felt as if we had traveled to a different planet. Imagine driving in New York City without any traffic laws! Well, driving in Cairo is crazy! For one, there are no traffic signals; well there are a few, but no one follows them. Secondly, there are no visible traffic laws that any driver abides by. For example, there were times in which people were driving the wrong way down a one way highway going 80 miles an hour. Thirdly, no one stays in single lanes or uses turn signals. Instead, drivers honk their horns to let other drivers know that they are going to merge over whether they like it or not. Finally, when drivers honk their horns in Egypt, it is not an aggressive signal like many times in America; instead it is the polite way of saying, "Watch out!"

Also, we quickly recognized that all of the cars in Egypt are very old. Crystal told us this was because it was cheaper to rebuild a car than to pay tax on a brand new one. I would also guess that new cars aren't very common because of the amount of driving accidents in Egypt. Every heart stopping minute, numerous people came within inches of colliding. I saw one accident where a car's whole bumper flew off, and the other driver just kept on driving. We learned that there is no car insurance in Egypt, so no one stops after an accident. The only way I can describe driving the roads in Egypt is in two words, completely chaotic, but for them, it works.

From the beginning, the Egyptian people made us feel right at home. On our first night there, Lars and I went out to dinner with Crystal and two of her friends. The meal was one of the best dinners I have ever eaten because of the hosts and because of the food. We ordered Egyptian cuisine, which began with lentil soup, a broth comprised of ground-up beef and beans. Pita bread, a flat unleavened circle, is served instead of the rolls we are used to in America. I also tried Samboosak, which are pastries filled with meat or cheese, which reminded me of hot pockets that we have in America. As a group, we ordered a bunch of food and shared it with each other. Most food in Egypt is eaten without forks or knives--everyone just picks up the food with their hands and eats it in a communal manner. Busy telling stories and laughing, no one really seems to be germ or health conscious as we are at home. Our Egyptian hosts were relaxed and carefree, and I found myself relaxing, too. Everyone was so welcoming that I actually felt like I lived in Egypt.

In America, we hear so much about diseases and tragic accidents, and we are acutely aware of hygiene and disease control. For example, we have been educated to avoid tobacco and its horrors, but in Egypt, they feel quite differently. Smoking "Sheesha" with dinner is very popular in Egypt. Sheesha is a flavored Arab water pipe, which contains tobacco. The pipe is ordered along with dinner, and each person selects a fruit flavor. The pipe looks like a large glass cylinder, which is decorated with paint. The large cylinder acts as the base of the pipe and includes a long hose with a metal tip, from which people inhale the tobacco. There is a smaller cylinder leading from the base to the top tray. The top tray is covered with tin foil where hot coals are placed on top to light the pipe, and they remain there throughout the duration of smoking. The restaurant was full of people seated next to large pipes, which were waist high, smoking Sheesha during dinner. Lars and I tried not to stare, but it was really a jaw-dropping experience.

The cheerleading camp itself was so amazing that I actually hated the thought of leaving at the end of the day. All of the girls were very easy to get along with, and we all joked and laughed so hard that my stomach began to hurt. They were all very talented dancers, picking up on the moves very quickly and constantly wanting to go on to the next section. They were also very hard workers. To illustrate, when we came, they were only working on thigh stands, and some of them could do cartwheels. But by the end of camp, each group could do a prep and all of them had progressed to cradle. Many of them could also do cart wheels, some could do round-offs, and each girl had attempted a back handspring with Lars and me spotting. This last skill was a huge accomplishment because many of them were very afraid of flipping backwards.

Another barrier to progress was the language differences we encountered. For example, some of the girls knew English extremely well, others didn't know it as well, and, surprisingly, a few girls didn't know Arabic very well. Plus, a few girls knew three to four different languages. The solution was that the girls who knew both Arabic and English very well would help the girls who didn't know English as well to communicate with Lars and me. This multi lingual experience made me want to learn other languages when I got back home.

Throughout the entire camp, while Lars and I were teaching the girls dance, stunts, motions, and material, the team was also teaching us a great deal about Egyptian culture. At lunch on the last day of camp, all of the girls taught me how to belly dance. They wrapped a cloth, which they said keeps anything from jiggling, very tightly around my hips. Then they played music on a drum and made a circle around me, clapping loudly. Before I knew it, they had me bending backwards, doing hand motions, and shaking my entire body. Finally, they all danced along with me, and we even got Lars to get up and try it. We definitely learned the most about Egyptian culture through the girls, and most importantly, the kind nature of the Egyptian people. Even though this was the last day of camp, it was not our last day in Egypt, and we didn't have to say goodbye just yet. Crystal had planned that the girls could come shopping and out to dinner with us on our last night in Cairo, which was two days away.

The biggest highlight of the whole trip for me was riding the camels to the Sierra pyramids. Crystal's friend, Mustafa, picked us up early the next morning and drove us to his friend's shop, which rents out camels and accompanying tour guides. The assistants carried our bags and served us tea while we waited for the camels to arrive. The camels, when they finally did arrive, were so much taller than I had expected. I was a little fearful of them at first but tried to remember that being on top of human pyramids that were two people tall was no different. You must climb aboard the camels while they are lying down, or you would never be able to reach them. Getting up was very bumpy and awkward when my camel finally arose with me on it. Camels rise by putting their back legs up first, so you have to lean back to avoid tumbling off the front. After Lars and I were up, the tour guide mounted his horse, and we waved goodbye to Mustafa as we headed off to the pyramids.

Along the way, we rode our camels through a small village. The town was very poor, with people walking around barefoot, and one baby even rolling around on the dirt ground. The entire village was extremely polluted with trash lying all over, and it was then that I realized you don't know how lucky you truly are until you see how people around the world are forced to live. Yet, the Egyptian people are extremely smart and resourceful people. They make paper out of plants, perfume out of flowers, and one man even used a cooking pot as a helmet after helmet laws were enforced, requiring them for riding motorcycles.

Returning to remount the camels, I was less hesitant to climb aboard, but my camel stood too quickly, throwing me off to the ground. Although shaken up, I was fine with no broken bones, but the Egyptian men were very scared for me. We carefully rode back to meet Mustafa, who took such wonderful care of us throughout our trip. He told Lars and me that whenever we wanted to come back to Egypt, to call him because we now had another friend in Egypt.

After another day of sightseeing in the museums and having dinner at coach Catherine's house, it was time for the saddest part of the trip, saying our goodbyes. We met the girls and Crystal at the "con," where the girls, being very good bargainers, helped Lars and me to get some really great deals on souvenirs for family and friends. After tea at an outside cafe in the middle of the "con," it was time for our farewell dinner at the same restaurant where we had eaten our first night in Cairo.