Mohammed, Nicole and I decided to take a walk to a juice shop down the street, through the filthy roads, evading trash spilled and rotting on the sides. Many men stared at Nicole and I with surprise – not in disrespect, more in wonder, a combination of surprise at the sight of something foreign...

I know that I should be overwhelmed, but strangely I am not. This morning I walked out onto the dusty balcony, all decaffeinated and groggy, but couldn’t help but feel how everything was just as it should be. I coughed instantaneously as the smoke of al-Qahira hit me, like that harsh, inexperienced...

It was good to be back in a country where the call to prayer was a part of my day. It felt like a homecoming of sorts and the excessive quiet of my Belgian life had made me forget just how noisy a big city could be. I fell into a coma-like sleep that first Cairo night but my travelling companion...