Hi everyone! I've made it my full time commitment to learn Egyptian Arabic (not MSA) over the last months, with daily practice over Skype with Egyptians, and am now at the stage where I can handle myself pretty well. I've applied for my extended tourist visa at the embassy entirely in Arabic and it was a fun chat (I'm in the middle of Brazil right now).
I arrive in Cairo at the start of January, will stay there for 2 weeks, and then am pretty open to suggestions. This will be my first time ever in Egypt.
For the first 2 weeks after Cairo, I was thinking of spending one in Alexandria, and another somewhere relaxing near the coast, and then spending the second month proper travelling, since I'll have fixed any issues with the language in the major cities with lots more practice and would be better equipped to go further. My priority would be to meet interesting people, and of course see some nice sights.
I'm not so concerned about avoiding the tourist trail (things are visited frequently for a good reason), but I'd like to know what the best way to take advantage of speaking the language would be, to save money and have a more authentic experience? What kind of people should I go out of my way to meet, and what do you recommend I do for my time there? Open to suggestions!
Advice appreciated, thanks!!
