Cairo All-Stars: Megan

"Now I know where I can hide..."

Anyone that comes back to Cairo on not once, but twice in the span of six months deserves to be unequivocally included in the list of Cairo All-Stars. Cairo, and Egypt, can be punishing to say the least. When you exhibit the qualities to handle said punishment in your first tour of duty, leave for a time, and then come back to receive even more punishment, there is no question that you own the city. And I would say Megan does own a little piece of Cairo. She has earned it.

My relationship with Megan started before I even arrived in Cairo. I was told that she would be my roommate along with Tom Gara. Lucky me. Putting up with Wisconsinites isn't exactly on a Canadian's list of recreational activities. Megan was made acutely aware of that, in a jesting fashion of course, to which she replied that I must pass a test to be her roommate. When I got to Cairo, everything fell through. Megan and Tom couldn't find a place that suited their standards. How unfortunate, but we did still end up living together in the end.

I can thank Megan for dragging my starving self to Cairo's cool places during Ramadan. My most vivid memory being the stampede at the Friday Market in the City of the Dead. While Simon and I couldn't prevent Megan being grabbed, we did put up a solid wall that prevented us all from being crushed by the raging crowds. And all before breakfast.

Megan was also a great drinking buddy. Famous for her "purse whiskey," she silently moved her way around parties and got specific people really drunk. Tom would know a little about that, and so would I. We also had countless nights at El Horeyya (only the most legendary bar in Cairo) drinking cheap Egyptian beer and eating whatever it is that they give you for free. We were in there so much that the staff would say hi to us on the street at random hours if they happened to see us.

When Megan was forced to leave her apartment, her and I went on the hunt for our own place. What we found turned out to be a place that has now been lived in by trainees for a year. To quash any rumours, we were introduced to the other apartment tenants as brother and sister. It was then that I was convinced maybe Megan really was a long, lost sister.

Now Megan lives on a houseboat. If that's not looking down with disdain on the city, I don't know what is. I would say foreign women in Cairo should seek to emulate Megan's attitude towards the city. Cairo may give tough love, but I'm pretty sure Megan sends it right back (along with a shot of duty free whiskey). Then again, why would she waste her good stuff in that fashion? It belongs in her purse.

See you in Turkmenistan?