I wrote this at the tail end of my Cairo adventure, but didn’t post it because I thought it was petty. Then I realized this information would probably be helpful to those thinking about attending next year, and that was more important that anyone thinking I was a bitch. Hope this helps!
……………………………………
I am finally on my way home and all things considered, I had a really great time. It is likely that I will attend next year, but I wanted to write some practical information for people thinking about going in the future. It’s a very long journey and my patience was tested numerous times in ways I didn’t even expect. The problems started even before I left, when I first registered online. The travel company, Lady Egypt, responded at first saying they didn’t know what I was talking about, then they wrote back and said that they figured out and would confirm with me by email shortly. I never received that email. Even after I emailed them back numerous times, logged onto their site and left messages with their online “help” center, emailed the festival, emailed the promoter, called the Lady Egypt office in Cairo and talked to a man who said that over 700 participants were expected but that I was absolutely sure to get an email confirmation…I never ever heard from them. It wasn’t until I emailed the hotel itself that I finally got some answers. Even though they never told me, Lady Egypt had made a reservation in my name on the correct dates.
I got picked up by Lady Egypt at the airport without any problem, and although I really didn’t trust them in the beginning, they did in fact get me registered and to and from the airport as promised. Some of their staff were really nice, and some were really not, but I understand. They had a difficult job and plus they already had our money. Why would they want to be polite or helpful? If it were possible not to book through them, I would do that. I only went on one of their excursions, which was a shopping trip to the Khan il Khalili, and although they had promised a guide and help navigating the Khan, all that happened was we got a ride there and a ride back. Oh, but there was a guy in the car who was armed, so I guess that was supposed to be worth it. After all, he was super cute.
The Mena House Hotel is beautiful, but not in the building where some of us were housed. If you can swing it, try to stay in the main building. Fuck the “Garden View” rooms. Bring earplugs. The walls are very thin and they talk. The French guy and the Algerian guy had loud European/Middle Eastern sex all night in the room next to mine. Do not leave valuables in your room. I didn’t, but I found a weird cleaning rag in a zipped up suitcase of mine that I did not pack in there, so I can only assume someone was dusting inside my bag. Nothing was taken, but everything of the remotest value was locked in the safety deposit box at reception, which is free. Their website says they have broadband internet in their rooms but I did not have it in mine and I don’t know anyone else who did. This all sounds nitpicky but please remember this hotel is really expensive, which does not become clear once you get there and assess all the “hidden charges” you have to pay.
We were in Giza, which is a good hour away from downtown Cairo, and it is hard to get there without some hassle. If you want to catch a cab, go outside the gates of the hotel and negotiate one on the street. It helps to know some Arabic and try to go with at least one other person. I also have the vague notion that you can get a male guide from the hotel to go with you, but I am not positive. The cabs that can actually come into the gates of the Mena House have a license to rip you off and will take you to jewelers and perfumers you didn’t ask to go to. You might be forced at gunpoint to buy a really ugly necklace.
Try to bring as much food and water with you as you can. The food at the Mena House is not good, but we were isolated, so that is all we had, and I was sick almost every day. The breakfast buffet is basically breakfast with botulism bacteria on the side and everyone suffered from it. The lunch buffet they have set up for the dancers is even worse, with baklava made from rancid butter and uncooked spaghetti. They figure since we are too weak and tired from dancing and jet lag to fight them they can get away with it. The food in the restaurants and the room service is better, but very expensive. If you get diarrhea, which is inevitable, drink some karkaday, which is an Egyptian hibiscus drink that will bind your bowels, not your feet. The water is grossly overpriced at a whopping LE13 a bottle, which costs LE3 just outside the gates of the hotel. Don’t even try to eat at the opening and closing night galas. The same awful food, but now everyone is tearing at it like wild animals. People push and fight in the buffet line and you are better off eating before and maybe having dessert there.
Speaking of wild animals, I actually saw a jackal by the swimming pool, which I thought was cute, but if you are afraid of them, be wary. Also, take some insect repellent with you. I only went one day without it, and I got a massive insect bite that looked like I was growing a third breast out of my back. The dance room floors are really dirty and hard to dance on, so bring shoes, and if you have them, a few pairs to rotate. There are beads and coins and carpet nails and pull tops from aluminum cans that can and will get embedded in your feet. I can’t say enough about ibuprofen! It really helps.
The classes are three hours long and I am not used to that much activity. Also, I took two classes a day, which was too much. I loved all the teachers, especially Morocco, Soraya, Raqia Hassan, Dina, Mona Said, Kamal Naeem – but get there early enough to stand in the front because people crowd around the teachers and you cannot see anything. The shows at night are great, but the contest made me uncomfortable. A lot of people see sequins and automatically think “Pageant!” and so there are lots of 13 year old Russian and Brazilian girls with scary stage moms creating a very ugly scenario.
It sounds like a bad time, but it really isn’t if you are prepared. I am a much better dancer for going, and I got to see amazing stars that I’ll never see anywhere else. I learned to appreciate dance in an entirely new way, and that is priceless.