AFS Egypt Tour 2025

AFS Egypt Tour

~Jade

During my exchange study tour in Egypt, I have learnt a lot more about the history and the traditional cultures of Egypt, and experienced a lot of new intriguing and awe-inspiring things, such as riding a camel and visiting the pyramids. These experiences have had a profound influence on me, shaping my worldview, and teaching me new things.

On the first day when we arrived in Cairo, we stayed in the Pyramids Park Resort Hotel. My first look of the hotel completely blew me away, the entrance was shaped like a pyramid and the interior is stunning. It had golden statues of ancient Egyptian kings and gods, and in the middle above the reception, a huge golden head of the Sphinx. We rested for the night because of the long flight.

On the second day, we had the welcome orientation, which consisted of us meeting volunteers and staff from AFS Egypt, and learning the rules we had to follow. Afterwards, we finally met our host families. My host family was very easy-going, amiable and affable. They were very welcoming to me, sharing about their culture and letting me try their homemade traditional food, allowing me to truly feel at home.

The third and fourth days were the weekend for us to spend with the host family as the weekend for Egypt was different from Hong Kong, on Friday and Saturday instead of Saturday and Sunday. The host family made me delicious meals of Egyptian traditional food. One that I particularly enjoyed was called macarona bechamel, which was mainly made of penne pasta, ground beef and bechamel sauce. The aromatic, savory ground meat was layered with the tender pasta, crowned by the velvety and sumptuous blanket of bechamel that was baked to a golden crust , creating a luscious and opulent harmony of textures and flavors.

On the fourth day, we first visited Saint Samaan, The Tanner Monastery. We visited two monasteries there. I was extremely impressed by the people who built them because both were built underground, with the space inside carved out. The first one is the largest underground monastery built there, used for holding masses until this very day during the winter, able to seat thousands. The murals painted on the walls were very detailed, and had an underlying meaning hidden in its contents. The second monastery was used to hold masses in the summer as it was too hot to do so in the first one under the suffocating heat. Inside the monastery, there were many huge stone carvings on the wall, each depicting a story that taught an invaluable lesson. The guide was very helpful, filling us in on the history of the monasteries. After the visit, we went to play on the zip line there. The people in charge helped us put on the safety gear and led us up to the zip line. I was the second one to go and the experience was exhilarating. For a moment, I felt the adrenaline rush through me like I was actually flying in that split moment. We had lunch together there to support local eateries. We then went to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. The museum exhibited things from the prehistoric period to the Archaic period, showcasing the development of the ancient Egyptians throughout the years. The most important part of the visit was seeing the mummies. We entered an underground section of the museum, where all discovered mummies were kept. The tension in the room was so palpable that it became suffocating. Visitors were terrified by the eerie sight in front of them and the unearthly silence just fueled that feeling, but they were also attracted to it because of the arcane nature of mummification and its obfuscating and venerable history. The phantasmagoric displays of the mummies led me to think it was all a dream to be able to see the mummies in real life, along with the somnolent ambience that made it easy to lose track of time. Even after I left the museum, the indelible memories of the mummies still lingered in my mind.

On the fifth day, we went to a sustainable farm to learn more about its workings. The farm used solar panels to generate energy for the entire farm, and animal waste as fertilizer for the vegetables grown there. There were many kinds of animals and vegetables there, with cows, chickens, ducks, sheep and many others, while mint and other kinds of spices and vegetables were grown. The most memorable part was when I got to hold a baby chick, the feeling of it on the palms of my hands was weirdly comforting. Afterwards, we had a lesson in folklore which was where we learnt a traditional dance and played a game to deepen our understanding of sustainability.

On the sixth day, we finally went to see the long-awaited sight, the Giza pyramids. The elysian landscape of the desert was stunning to me with the sun shining bright that day. We had a guide to bring us around and the first pyramids we saw left me speechless. The stupendous size of the pyramids left me in pure shock, and the monolithic structure was a testament to the architecture of the ancient Egyptian civilization. I have read about it in books before, but seeing it before my eyes was a completely different experience with a very different sensation. The guide told us more about the history of the pyramids and rules that were made. I learnt a lot from her, as the books did not depict the history of the pyramids with a lot of specific details. We went closer to the pyramids and decided to try to ride camels. The tour guide gave us tips and helped us arrange it. When riding the camel, I took in the beauty of my surroundings from a high place, feeling the history surrounding me. After the rare experience, we went to see the Sphinx. As we got closer, I felt like the Sphinx was alive, with its transfixing gaze holding many timeless secrets, along with its mysterious history surrounding it, emitting a sense of uncertainty. After the once-in-a-lifetime experience, we went to the AFS office to cool down and take our second lesson on folklore to sharpen our skills and our dance moves, and take our second Arabic lesson, learning more words and finally being able to communicate our daily needs.

On the seventh day, we went to village dedicated to recycling and reusing. There we saw people using what we thought of as trash to make beautiful new things to sell. They would make new paper and use it to make gift bags after giving it a new pattern, and use glass to make exquisite gifts. We were extremely attracted by the products they made and bought a lot of things there. After lunch, we went to a famous street full of history called Moez street. It had many different historical landmarks including a castle for royalty. It was really intriguing to see and learn about its ancient history.

On the eighth day, we visited the newly opened museum, the Grand Egyptian Museum. There were 12 galleries in the museum and each one was dedicated to a certain time period and a certain theme. Everything there was new to me and I took a lot of photos and videos of the exhibits, because of how beautiful and exquisite the exhibits were. I loved to learn about their social system because it really piqued my interest. After we left the museum, we went for a boat trip on the Nile, where our host families joined us. Everyone had a lot of fun, chatting and enjoying themselves, with a soothing environment surrounding us. The sun shone onto the river and reflected the light, creating a serene atmosphere and sight, capturing everyone’s attention.

On the ninth and last day of the tour, we went to the AFS office. We first had the lesson on folklore, where we practiced and tried on the dresses we would be wearing for the performance later that night for the end of stay orientation, then for the cooking lesson. We went to the nearby local supermarket and got the ingredients for the food we would be cooking and some souvenirs. We then helped the main chef make a traditional dish. We all had a great time, happy to have been able to help out. We then ate the lunch we helped prepare and met new people who also came here for a study tour. Afterwards, we took our last Arabic lesson, taking an exam and with everyone passing successfully, and finally recapping everything we had learnt. Then came the end of stay orientation, we all gathered at the office, in one of the bigger meeting rooms, where we did the dance performance for the host families and I was one of the two lucky ones to be chosen to share my testimonial to the people there. We all had a great time and had music from both cultures, Egyptian and Hong Kong style music, while giving our thanks to everyone involved to make this study tour a success, including all of the AFS staff and volunteers and our respective host families.

Finally, it was time to leave. On the tenth day of our study tour, our host families drove us to the airport there and we said our goodbyes, before departing for Hong Kong.