Egypt! - El Fin! - Travels Without Trepidation

The Best Way to Spend My 30th Birthday

My bday began at La Rose Spa. I was delighted to find a female-owned, female-only spa in Cairo on Facebook before my trip. Google Translate came through and helped me change all of my correspondence with the spa from English to Arabic, and I scheduled my appointment a few months before I came to town (#TypeA). I booked a 30-minute facial, one-hour massage with rose oil, and a traditional Moroccan bath in their hammam (steam room).

HONEY! Let’s talk about the cultural experience that was had during my Moroccan bath for a moment. I went into a private steam room, and the tiles were this beautiful combination of cerulean, burgundy, marigold, and chartreuse. I thought that I was being adventurous by just wearing my bikini, but when my scrub attendant came in, we got…very personal, lol! She didn’t speak English, and I didn’t speak Arabic, so our conversation went something like her pantomiming clothing removal, and me blushing and shaking my head while motioning with my hands and mouthing, “Um…just scrub AROUND my bathing suit, ok?” And she nodded, and then pressed her lips together into a -__- expression, grunted, and then four seconds later, gently took my arm, helped me balance enough to stand up, AND PROCEEDED TO DISROBE ME! I was shy and awkward for a half-second and then thought, “Oh well, she’s seen alllllll my goodies now.”

Finally, I let myself relax and embrace the full body scrubbage. After the steam/scrub/mask process, a glowing new layer of skin was revealed, and I felt refreshed.

Which is great…because I spent the next 6.5 hours in a car racing around Cairo attempting to buy baby formula from 7 different Egyptian pharmacies, half of whom thought that I was going to resell it on the black market (Is this even a thing? I’ve heard of some odd black market offerings, but baby formula though?)

Let me explain: For my 30th, I decided that I didn’t want all of the gifts. I wanted to gift other people. Well before my trip, I researched ways that I could be a blessing to folks in Cairo. I found an orphanage in Maadi, a Cairo neighborhood, that serves children from birth until they are two years old. They are connected with other orphanages and foster placements in Egypt, and it felt like a good way to give back. Thanks to my very generous and supportive family, friends, and colleagues, I was able to raise over $300USD for the cause. The director of the Centre for Abandoned Children shared a story about one of their boys via our chats on LinkedIn. The baby was lactose intolerant and in need of a special soy-based baby formula, which was more expensive than the general formula that they use.

This pulled my little heartstrings in so many ways. I have Crohn’s disease, so if anyone knows what it’s like to have digestive issues and weird dietary preferences, it is I!

I had this wad of cash with me and felt like I should be shimmying somewhere in a video next to Rick Ross:

But after buying cases from the first two pharmacies, I still had plenty of funds left. We called different places, and drove around the city to basically buy out all of the Isomil Soy Infant Formula that was in stock. I had to use this picture several times, because apparently the name of the item didn’t quite translate well in conversation…

So at around 6PM, we got to the Centre. I took pics with the staff, but for understandable reasons, could not take photos with the kiddos. I did get to meet Little Mr. Lactose Intolerance, and he was, of course, adorable! I told him that I understood his pain, and that he was going to be okay. He didn’t understand me, because he was like…8 months old. But I know that he felt my support ;-).

That night, my tour guide, driver, and a few of their friends surprised me with dinner at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the pyramids. We watched the light show, and they gave me several gifts, including a cake!