Suspicious activity

So this morning I learned from my mom that my debit card was unfrozen by my bank after my mom told them that I was in Egypt and attending the TEFL program. What had happened was that my bank had noticed large transactions coming in from Egypt and suspected that it was fraud by the size of the transactions and the fact that they are coming in from Egypt. While I was unhappy that my bank didn't stop and think that it is possible I could travel to Egypt(transactions from the States should have ceased by now), I guess I am happy that my bank is trying to look out for me by freezing my card when they think fraud is involved(in their defense I never did tell them that I was leaving). However it has lead me to think about who you can really trust sometimes.

Everyone in Egypt has been really friendly so far. Sometimes though if the person being friendly is staying in front of a store or restaurant, there is always the feeling that they are being nice just so you will buy something. Some of the owners manage to come off as more sincere than others based on how much they talk with you and how desperate they are to have you come in their store. However, I still find most people in Egypt very trustworthy and hospitable.

Although we have talked to many different people, most of us on the program haven't really developed any local contacts outside of the people affiliated with TEFL. We are staying in a shared apartment that is enclosed with a gate. It feels very nice and secure but the situation seems to have a habit of pushing all the people on the program closer together while isolating us from the locals to an extent. The ironic thing is that even when walking the streets at night we feel completely safe and still talk to people normally.

The reason I am thinking about this is that meeting local Egyptians is what can make or break our time here. No matter how many monuments a person sees, they will not learn about Egypt unless they make friends with local Egyptians. This is the first time I traveled to a country without having some good friend who was there or from there. When I came I didn't know what to really expect from Egypt. But it has been amazing so far so now I just need to meet some actual Egyptians. It comes with time but hopefully that time will be short.