1. Don’t mistake the first ‘no’ for the final ‘no.’ Knock on other doors.
2. Bug spray can only do so much against the mosquitos if you’ve got a couple stocks of sugar cane sitting under your bed.
3. Forget the sand, it’s the red gravel that will get everywhere.
4. Falafels in Egypt are made with green beans (as opposed to the chick peas they use everywhere else in the Middle East).
5. When you need to dig a hole, find a shovel. Assuming, of course, you don’t have access to an excavator. If you had that kind of technology, why would you ever reach for the shovel?
6. It doesn’t snow in Egypt, even in winter, but the sandstorms are brutal.
7. One of the largest churches in the Middle East was carved into the side of a cliff face by 90,000 Coptic residents of a neighborhood in Cairo infamously coined, “Garbage City.” The streets earn their moniker.
8. According to at least one six-year-old with a very healthy imagination, the rampant “brainwashing” epidemic can only be cured with a little ketchup in the ear. The same source might also recommend Nutella spread over a purple cabbage leaf for lunch.
9. The dog will be the first to notice the rat living in the base of the water filter. If you can ignore the barking, you can ignore the rat. Drink bottled water.
10. When you’re in rural Egypt, the rest of the world won’t always wait for you. Shaun White will still win his third Olympic gold medal in a high-stakes third run down the superpipe whether or not you have the ability to see it.
11. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. (Psalm 37:3)
