First day in Cairo

i just arrived yesterday in Cairo to be greeted my some very lovely and friendly AIESEC'ers. I finally met Maandi who matched me to my traineeship and it was great to thank him face to face for all the work he put in to get me here. We had a great afternoon meeting lots more of his friends and celebrating his birthday. Plus, later in the evening we took a boat, or a falukah as they are called here, out onto the Nile to view the city from the water. This was so beautiful and relaxing after a long day of traveling and the surrounding buildings were beautifully lit. The city itself is bustling and hectic and everything is open really late, but I feel fairly safe. The only real hazard I've experienced so far is crossing the street. The cars are continuous and there are few crosswalks or lights so you just "find a gap" and go!
We went to a coffeshop afterwards and smoked shisha to finish off the night and then I was taken to my new home for the next few months. I am staying at Younis's apartment in the Helipolis district with another intern. He has been so generous and his mother and sister are wonderful hosts. Also, my roomate, Akanksha, is working for a non profit group in the city and she is originally from Bombay, India. So I will have someone else to explore with, which is great news!
Today I met with the manager of the company I will be working for, Optima RPM, a marketing group. He is happy for me to start on Wednesday and so tomorrow I will go downtown to get my visa and to fill out some necessary paperwork. The company is currently working for a restaurant in the city's largest mall, City Stars. This is a huge complex with shops galore and movie theaters, the works. So, I will not have a problem shopping or finding anything, in fact, he even mentioned that part of my job will be as a "mystery shopper" who gets to try out new restaurants and stores. The added bonus is that their office is a 5 minute walk from the apartment so I won't even have to go very far to get to work. Considering how crazy public transport seems to be this could be very helpful.
Maandi then helped me to buy a phone and I returned to the apartment to find my suitcase waiting. All in all a very successful day and I've even had the time to set up this blog that I hope to update regularly. I had planned on sending one mass email at intervals however, Maandi mentioned that many AIESEC people use blogs to keep their family and friends updates so I thought I'd have one too. Of course there will also be pictures eventually, but I will probably post them on facebook.
So I am looking forward to the rest of this week and the fun that lies ahead!