A Day in the Life of a Couchsurfer

So I thought I would revisit a topic previously discussed several months back when Petro and I couchsurfed with a Chilean family back in February. A social networking website for travelers exists called Couchsurfing.com, where travelers can connect with "hosts" in cities around the world for just a chat and even possibly crash on their couch for a few nights. Crazy, right? Well, people are doing this with increasing frequency around the world and I feel that somebody has to shed some more light on this phenomenon for you. Here's my recent experience so far:

Wake up at the Berner's place in Dubai and get ready to head to the airport. Check email and see that a Couchsurfing host has replied back saying she has a friend who is new to CS and able to host. Send email to him inquiring about possibility.

Head to Airport.

On layover in Qatar, I check my email and see that the Couchsurfing host, Adham Bakry, replies that he does have a couch to crash and gives me directions to tell the taxi once I arrive in Cairo.

Arrive in Cairo negotiate a taxi to his place and hope like hell that this whole thing works out as if not, I will find myself SOL and away from the city center and all the hostels would be used as Plan B.

I get dropped off by the taxi and wander around the neighborhood a bit before finding the apartment building. Find the apartment, where there is no answer at the door and resolve to wait for awhile in the assumption that he is still at work.

Bakry's mother walks out of the adjoining apartment and intoduces herself and says that Backry will be home shortly and to make myself at home in his apartment.

He arrives not long later and after a bit of Q & A we head next door to eat a meal at his mother's place. Much like my mother would be if I had strangers showing up to crash at my place, she thinks we are both crazy but is also fascinated by the concept.

Backry is Egyptian, but through various experiences of living abroad including the States, his English is flawless--almost to the point that I forget that he is Egyptian. A photographer and graphic designer by trade, his spacious and eclectic apartment reflects his life in the arts. What is most exciting about the place is the U-Shaped couch, which is to be my sleeping quarters for the next few days. Upon seeing this grand facilitator of good conversations and sleep, I vow a U-shaped couch will grace my first permanant abode.

Bakry turns out to be super cool, relaxed, and a hospitable host. He is new to CS but already embodies the attitude that'll make him popular within the small Cairo network.

We head out to downtown Cairo on a walking tour of some of the city's drinking haunts. We later meet up with several of his friends, which allows me to be a participant/observer in a hip Egyptian hang. They primarily speak in English for my benefit although I find their Arabic exchanges to be more intriguing as it makes me cognizant of my presence in an authentic experience in North Africa.

In conversation, one of the Egpytian women spoke candidly about her mother's recent de-veiling (she no longer wears the Islamic veil). This strikes me as probably comparative in American culture to when someone's mother creates a Facebook profile.

Finally, my long day ends and I crash on the couch wondering what Cairo is going to throw at me tomorrow.

These sort of experiences are happening all over the world.

Maybe you should host?

BQ