Cairo

Cairo, “land of the mummies,” ground zero of the Arab Spring. Sitting on the bridge known for the video of the riot truck running over protesters, it's bumper to bumper traffic, incessant honking, a non-stop swarm of humanity. Brown, dusty, hot, alive with a constant hum of humanity.

A mosque rises next to rows of the ubiquitous cinder block housing, dull but effective at combating the constant fight against an exploding population. Advertisements of western-made amenities overlooking a constant flood of election banners. Teams of youth walk the streets, most likely many of whom are responsible for the downfall of a once vaunted security apparatus, an event that shocked the world.

Busy 8 lane highways flanked by tiny attempts at road-side convenience stores. A couple sitting on their 10 story balcony drinking tea, under a canopy of tangled electrical and TV cords as convoluted as the political system.

Everywhere you look, people are busy. Working, buying food, driving home. These are the people that brought down the Mideast's supposedly most firmly-entrenched political system. A people tired of revolution and wanting to regain a semblance of stability, some are anxious, others are increasingly hopeful, that the recent elections will produce positive results.

This is real humanity, not a Saudi investor's pet project of building an artificial city along the sea to coax more tourist dollars. Everywhere you look, there is no shortage of political graffiti, Islamic slogans, and unfortunately, trash. And lest one forget, the Great Pyramids overlook the city, reminding you that this is, in fact, Umm ad-Dunia, Mother of the World.

It's not pretty, but it is colossal. East meets West, Islamic meets secular, rich meets poor. Certainly, dichotomizing leaves major societal elements out of the discussion. But it is hard to completely encompass exactly what is Cairo, Africa's largest city.