This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2018.
Five takeaways from Lindsay's Egypt adventure.
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I'm back from my trip to Egypt.
Today.
Find out how things went with my Arabic and get five key takeaways that you can apply on your next trip abroad.
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Hey there, Aubrey.
How's it going today?
I'm great.
How are you, Lindsay?
Oh my gosh.
I am excited.
I'm back from my trip to Egypt, but I want to open the episode with a question for you, Aubrey.
Where is the most adventurous place you've ever traveled to?
What would you say?
I think...
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
And the main thing that was adventurous about it is I had a chance to ask a local like where is somewhere I should go that tourists never go, that they don't know about?
And they told me about this hike through the jungle to sort of a bay, like a little hidden beach that had amazing snorkeling.
Nobody was there.
So it felt very adventurous, very off the beaten path.
It was very adventurous.
I love it.
I love it.
Well, we love Adventure Dollars English.
How could we ever be talking about languages and cultures if we haven't had our own adventures?
Right, Aubrey?
Exactly.
It's so true.
We wouldn't have much to say, would we?
We wouldn't have much to say.
So guys, I shared with our listeners Aubrey.
I shared with our listeners about two months ago that I was taking a trip to Egypt, and now I am back.
And I am super excited to follow up with our audience and let them know five kind of takeaways that I had from my trip.
All about language culture learning business, all these good things.
Oh, I love that.
I cannot wait to hear all of it.
And I know our listeners are going to be excited because that is an adventure.
It might be somewhere that a lot of our listeners haven't been.
And just you know, a lot of you out there are looking forward to upcoming trips and travel and you're interested about business English.
So I feel like there's going to be a lot here for us.
It's exciting.
Yeah, I'm ready for it.
So guys first, before we get into it and I tell you guys, my story of what happened and what you can learn from this, I want to remind you that we have an app for all ears English.
Aubrey, what is so amazing about the app?
Yes, you guys, you can follow along with the podcast with the transcripts.
So it's the best way to listen to the All Ears English podcast.
And you can save higher level vocabulary words that we have chosen, right?
We have curated this list.
I choose the vocabulary each week.
And then it's super easy for you to go back, you know, refresh and use it.
And then you can remove it from your list once you have it mastered.
So this app just makes learning simple.
It makes learning fun. everything you can from our podcast a little bit easier.
Yeah.
So we maximize the learning, right?
We take what we listen to.
And now these are the words I'm going to learn today.
And they're always going to be inside my own personalized list.
So good.
So good.
All right.
Should we dive into it, Aubrey?
What do you think?
Are we ready?
Let's do it.
Let's hear your first tip.
I can't wait.
Okay.
All right.
So, well, first of all, I was so excited that I got a chance to meet with Ahmed and Ahmed.
So our two Ahmed one, Ahmed two, my lovely, the students who came and met with us.
We had koshari right in downtown Cairo.
Koshari is a street food and we met inside the restaurant.
It was just so cool to meet in person. our listeners, Aubrey.
So amazing.
I saw the photo you shared with the team.
They look super nice.
I wish I could have been there.
So awesome.
You got to meet a couple of listeners in person.
I love it.
Yeah.
And so my first kind of tip for our listeners is my takeaway was embrace the chaos when you travel.
Aubrey, have you ever traveled to Southeast Asia, like Vietnam before?
I can't wait to go.
That is on my bucket list, but I haven't been yet.
So when I went to Vietnam for the first time, I thought the traffic was crazy.
And I thought it was crazy that you have to cross the street without a crosswalk.
You just walk in front of traffic.
Cairo is 10 times crazier.
That's not what we're used to, right?
It's not what we're used to.
Lanes are more of a suggestion.
And the locals told us this.
People don't necessarily follow traffic lanes.
They're just purely a suggestion.
And it really felt chaotic at times.
There were times when we had to cross the street and we just had to walk.
There's literally no crosswalks.
And at times, this felt quite stressful.
But by the end...
I was just in it and I realized what I'm used to is not the norm and it's not even what's right or wrong right.
It is a different way.
And when we travel, this is just what we get.
This is what we have to be up for when we go to a new country.
Oh, I love that.
And think about pushing that to a broader perspective.
Too many of us feel like the way we think, the way we do things is right and everything else is wrong.
And if we can adjust that to just think everything is different and there is no wrong, that will improve everything, everyone's perspective on so many levels.
Yeah, it's so true.
I mean, there's always a reason why something is the way it is right for the city of cairo.
It's just so old.
I mean, that was the thing i loved about egypt, how old it is.
And you know, there's a reason why people don't necessarily follow lanes, or they use them as a suggestion, and i'm not one to judge right.
Instead, i just have to cross the street and you know, try not to die, Absolutely right.
That's the goal.
Well done for meeting that goal.
Yeah, I love it.
And so my second tip, so that is my first tip.
Embrace the chaos wherever you go, right?
And my second tip, Aubrey, is about pronunciation.
So what happened here is I learned a little bit of Arabic, as our listeners know, before I went to Egypt, but I got a little confused.
This is kind of funny, actually.
So the word 100 in Arabic is is maya okay, or is maya?
And the word for water is maya, and so i got the two confused.
And so what i was doing was i was going up to taxi drivers and i was saying maya water, i'll give you some water to give me a ride, and you know.
And, and whenever i would say mateen 200 teleteen 300, they would say yeah okay okay, that's more right.
But then when i would say maya right, i was actually saying water, thinking i was saying a hundred.
I was like, why are they getting my other numbers?
They're not getting a hundred.
What is happening?
They would look at me completely blank.
Well, and i'm curious too does that so in cairo you don't just pick up a cab and jump in, or do you kind of say how much you'll pay for the ride before they let you in?
It sounds like at least that's what we did.
We figured that was the right thing to do, And then later we found out that there's an Uber-like app that we could have been taking.
That would be more efficient.
Good to know.
But I'm kind of glad we had the experience of the taxi negotiations because it was fun and I got to use my airbag right away.
About 50% success rate there.
I love it.
And so yeah.
So my takeaway for our listeners here is check with a local if you're not sure about your pronunciation, because I did have a hunch that that was happening, right.
After that happened three, four times times Maya Maya right, I did ask Ahmed uh yo, what's going on here?
Am I saying this correctly?
So don't have too much pride to check in, absolutely.
I bet they had a little bit of a laugh about that mistake, but I'm glad you weren't able to swallow your pride right.
Be humble enough to ask like, what's the mistake I'm making?
Help me out.
Yes, oh my gosh.
Did anything like this ever happen to you?
Aubrey in French, for example, when you first lived abroad?
I'm sure
Absolutely.
I know I may have shared this before, but one time I basically said I hope this home has a lot of death, when I meant to say love, because it's like la mort, la mort, like they're very similar vowels.
And I kind of got some looks.
I'm like, okay, you just have to tell me what did I say?
What did I say wrong?
Fill me in so I don't do it again.
Oh, that's so funny.
That's so funny.
I love.
This happens as part of being humble, traveling and knowing it's going to happen to you, right.
We really need that experimental mentality.
I love it.
So good.
And my third takeaway for our listeners here is just take a moment to laugh with other people.
So the water moment is hilarious after the fact.
But there was no laughter with that.
There was just confusion.
Like me looking at the taxi guy, him looking at me with total confusion every time.
But we had other moments in which another negotiation happened and we ended up in the taxi thinking that we were on the same page of where we were going, but the driver didn't know where we were going.
So we're kind of driving along and there was one moment in which the driver called his friend to try to figure out where we were trying to go.
Right, we're driving and he's on the phone with his friend to try to figure out where we actually want to go.
And you know, by the time that happened, after we finally got off the phone with his friend who spoke some english, we figured out where he was going.
We all just burst out in laughter and it was such a cool moment.
You know the driver as well, Not just us.
We were laughing at each other together.
It was a moment of international connection.
Yes.
Right.
Human connection.
When you can laugh, when you're all in on the joke, I feel like there's nothing better to create that bond, that connection.
It's the best way to do it.
Oh, my God.
A hundred percent.
I loved it.
I loved that moment.
And I think having a keen eye for moments like that when you travel, that's what it's all about.
Right?
Because travel can be exhausting.
It can be hard if you're in a group, maybe personalities don't always mesh.
There has to be moments that you can find in your own heart and mind to really kind of relish in and really enjoy, especially with locals.
Right?
Absolutely.
Yes.
Okay.
Aubrey, I do have a fourth tip.
Are you ready for it?
Yes.
Let's hear it.
All right.
So in my mind, the sign of a good trip is coming back with more questions than answers.
Right.
So Aubrey, have you ever kind of studied the Egyptian gods and pharaohs and that kind of thing or anything along those lines?
A little bit.
Yeah.
I had an archaeology class where we talked about it some.
And then, of course, I've seen the film The Mummy.
So other than that, I have not done a deep study.
Yeah.
And so I came back with a lot of questions.
You know, for example, one question that came to mind about ancient Egypt is it's clear that a lot of these, you know, these kings, really didn't want to be uncovered.
Right, they did everything they possibly could do and their tombs are so inset so deeply into the ground and they did everything to not be uncovered.
But now we're uncovering them, and that's archaeology, that's history, that's science.
And i had a question i kept on asking our tour guides is there any part of egyptian society that doesn't like this, that disagrees with the fact that there are tourists everywhere in the Valley of the Kings right now, the fact that archaeologists are still digging up new tombs all of the time?
Is there any part of society that disagrees?
That was a big question I came away with.
And what did they answer?
I'm curious.
Did you get an answer?
He said no, but I don't know if I believe it.
Oh, interesting.
Just doesn't want the tourist.
It reminds me of the catacombs in Paris.
There are all these tunnels under Paris, just full of bones.
And I'm like, these are someone's ancestors.
I don't know if I should be taking photos and just being right up close and personal with all of these human bones.
I don't know.
Right.
Is everyone okay with this?
Is everyone okay with this?
Yeah.
There's some really big questions.
And then you know you run into questions of tourism being important for the economy in Egypt as well.
Right.
And so just more questions than answers coming out of it.
And I think that's kind of my fourth takeaway for our listeners.
You know, you're never going to get all the answers on a trip.
So make sure you're just asking questions.
And then we hope that we can go home and kind of sit in those questions.
Yeah.
Yes, absolutely.
Oh, I really wish we had time to get into all of them.
I see you've listed yelling in the street.
Is it personal?
Egypt as a colony of great But Britain, like what's the history there and how do we feel about it?
Mummification practices.
There's so much.
If someone could go to Cairo and you come home with all these things you want to research and talk to people about.
That's the sign of a good trip.
Oh, it's such a cool feeling Aubrey, this feeling that you've been out in the world and you've gotten these questions in your head.
It's just, it's so enriching, right?
To our souls.
I feel like our souls need this.
We need to leave where we're sorry, where we are from, where we are living in that moment, and get out into the world.
Absolutely.
If not, we stay closed-minded, right?
Think of all the things that opened your worldview, your perspective, broadened your horizons on this trip.
Every person, every human needs those experiences.
Yes.
And my final tip, Aubrey is a really good one, because I think this is an opportunity that I became aware of as I traveled, that every single one of our listeners could actually take advantage of this opportunity right away, and i love it.
Have you ever done an airbnb experience?
So you just mean stay in an airbnb, right?
No no no, no.
What's an airbnb experience?
No, i don't know.
So if you go on to the airbnb app, there are now experiences that you can sign up for when you travel.
For example, a cooking class um, a tour of a neighborhood.
We did an incredible food tour And our listeners from Egypt are going to know this name of the neighborhood we went to.
It's called Rod El Farag in North Cairo.
This is the most local neighborhood you could ever go to.
No tourist has ever gone to this neighborhood.
And we signed up for an Airbnb experience with a local tour guide, someone from Cairo.
This woman, her name was Maggie.
She actually had studied tourism tourism in austria and had come back and had decided she wanted to create the most local tour she possibly could food tour.
We like to do food tours when we travel and so she took us, the four of us, through this neighborhood, through the markets, to all the little like fast food shops, dessert shops.
We tried everything.
This is something that any one of our listeners could put together in their own home cities And, to be honest, you can make a good amount of money from this.
Yes, I will sign up.
I will come do it.
I want to meet you.
I want to do whatever Airbnb experience you could come up with.
Absolutely.
What a good idea.
Yeah.
It makes me wish I lived somewhere more interesting, because I don't know if anyone wants to do an Airbnb experience in Phoenix Arizona.
I'm going to move somewhere awesome. so I could do one of those.
Yeah, so this is something that, as I was coming home on the flight, I thought to myself ooh, maybe we should put together a course to talk about how our listeners could potentially put together their own Airbnb experience, right?
What are the English phrases we need?
How are we going to, for example, we did one to the pyramids.
It was actually an Airbnb experience, which wasn't as good because the English the guy's English, honestly was hard to understand.
And he spoke very fast.
And so we are frustrated with that experience.
All the other tours were incredible.
All the other experiences on Airbnb were incredible.
Okay.
And so I think that if this is something our listeners are interested in, guys send me an email at lindsay at allersenglishcom.
Let me know.
We could put together a course on this and help you get your business going very quickly.
Oh, interesting.
Did you tell that tour guide of the pyramids about Allers English?
I do this all the time.
When I was in Rocky Point, I'll meet people and I'll be like, find the Allers English app.
I'm on it.
And after I chat with them for a while, you know, and they'll be like, get our app.
Listen to the podcast.
Because it's true.
It's such a great way to learn English.
I'm a super fan, even though I also work here.
I love it.
Yeah.
I mean, I think there's a lot we could do there.
So actually Aubrey, I think what we should do is have a poll right in Spotify.
So we're going to put up a poll for today's episode.
Let us know if you're listening in Spotify, you can actually answer yes or no.
Our question is, would you like to organize your own tour or experience in your home city?
Right.
So let us know.
Yes or no.
I love it.
Awesome.
Yes.
I'm excited to see those poll results.
Um, That is a very cool idea.
And thank you Lindsay, for sharing these awesome tips that are useful no matter where you're thinking about traveling and just for daily life, right.
To expand our worldview.
Get out there and talk to people from other cultures, with others who speak English.
Yeah, I mean, I think that's a takeaway for today's episode, guys.
Every time we travel, at least in my mind.
What you're going to remember is that those human moments right
That moment of laughter when the taxi driver got on the phone to figure out where we were actually going, or the water moment, which is just more confusing.
It's the moments when we engage, we learn the language, we engage directly with people.
So go for it in your next trip, guys.
Love it.
Awesome.
So great.
So fun, Lindsay.
Thanks for joining me on the podcast today.
100%.
I'll talk to you soon, Aubrey.
Have a good one.
You too.
Bye.
Bye.
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