Drive Like An E-gyp-tian

So, today was my first time driving in Egypt, and let me tell ya.... it was unnerving. However, I enjoyed every minute of it! My adrenaline was working overtime!! You drive at your own risk here. If there are four lanes, six or seven cars will squeeze across. Forget staying within your lane. You make up a lane. Speeding? Go as fast as you want! Stop lights and stop signs? Naaah. Just go through without hesitation. One way streets? Fuugetta 'bout it! People will drive both ways. Turn signals? Ha! Y' gotta be kiddin' me! A funny thing is that at night, Egyptians do NOT like driving with their headlights on. Some do of course, but ones that don't will honk and motion emphatically with their hands to let you know that your lights are on. Yes. They actually remind you to turn OFF your lights at night. How kind. LoL. Another observance is that pedestrians have NO right of way and they will cross a busy highway with no fear. They run across dodging fast going traffic. You've got to be ready to zig zag around them, the cars crowding around you not adhering to their lanes, and the mopeds that will come out of nowhere and zip to the right AND left of you. If you miss your exit, you can't just take the next exit to turn around. You have to drive 20 miles before you find an exit with an overpass to get yourself back to where you need to be. So, there's that pressure to add to your list of driving don'ts. LoL. Most of the drivers are men, but every once in a while you'll have local women driving. The ones that follow Islam devoutly will wear full body burkas (voluminous outer garment that covers head, face, and body). The only body part exposed will be eyes, as gloves will be worn too... but driving past these women who have only two little eye slits to see through,while their enveloping burkas block their peripheral vision... does NOT give you a warm fuzzy when you drive past them. And don't EVEN get me started on the donkey carts! However, I made it through rush hour... and hopefully, with each drive I will gain more confidence and ease. Despite the "controlled chaos" of today's autostrada circus, it was a lot of fun and I look forward to my next driving adventure. I just hope that I'll be able to adjust back to the tamer driving conditions of the good ol' US of A when I return.... "Officer, whadda ya mean I ran a red light and passed 12 vehicles while going the wrong way???" LoL.