Cairo, cruising the Nile, changing my perspective

As a person who had never left the country, I had no idea what to expect when I boarded my flight to Egypt. I knew I would seethe historical monuments, explorethe cities and trynew foods.

What I did not expect was how traveling to a new country would change my perspective, push me outside of my comfort zone and make me more grateful for the life I have. Exploring the rich culture and historical roots gave me experiences of a lifetime.

All I knew about Egypt before I left was about the ancient pharaohs who ruled the land and the vast treasures and monuments they built. Seeing the pyramids for the first time was breathtaking, and the size was absolutely incomprehensible.

From my travels within the United States, I’ve seen the sheer size of the skyscrapers in Chicago and the intricacy of architecture in Washington, D.C. However, the monuments in Egypt vastly overshadowed everything I ever experienced. The pillars and columns have stood for thousands of years, and each one tells a story. From the story of creation to beliefs about the afterlife, each scene was delicately carved, assembled and painted to show a clear and concise narrative.

Although I expected to be awestruck by the monuments, I never expected the modern cities to give me a new perspective on life. While Egyptian cities may not appear glamorous, they contain something I’ve never seen before: a rich culture and history.

When visiting Cairo, we found that some of its newer parts were still hundreds of years old, which is something we don’t have much of in America. To me though, the most important aspect of the cities was the people.

Most people now stay connected through social media, online games and texting from inside their homes. Seeing kids playing in the streets, men talking on the sidewalks and women cooking together and laughing was a very new experience for me.

It's hard to imagine what my life would be like without a smartphone in my hand all the time, but I saw how connected these people are without needing to use them. Seeing how connected their communities were through culture and practices changed my perspective on how important human interaction is in everyday life.

Another thing Egypt helped me learn is it's okay to be out of your comfort zone. Sometimes you must try new things or work hard to get to the good moments in life.

I had no idea what to expect from the food in Egypt, and there were a lot of new things I had to try. I had never had lamb, sea bass or duck, but with each new food I tried, I grew to love the Egyptian cuisine.

Apart from trying new cuisines, I also tried other things that I never thought I would be able to do. If someone told me I would have to ride on the back of a camel or crawl through tunnels in an ancient pyramid, I would have called them crazy. However, each new experience showed me that sometimes you have to climb a little higher to see the view.

Lastly, I never imagined how much I could learn from just visiting a new place. Most places I travelled to have been for the experience. I never realized that by truly living in the moment and paying attention to the world around me, I could learn so much about history, culture and life outside of my own.

Cruising the Nile showed me how important resources are, seeing the monuments taught me to understand history and religion and seeing the mummies taught me to make the best of my life so that I could be remembered in the best way possible.

Each new thing I saw helped me grow to be more grateful and present, and these experiences are going to stay with me for the rest of my life. As the plane left Egypt, I reflected on everything I saw. I realized I was leaving not only with memories but a completely different understanding of the world.