The one thing you can't get used to in Egypt is the relentless poverty. Even India didn't leave such a depressing impression on me. Everything here is amplified by the general sense of incompleteness—endless dirt, plastic bags constantly flying through the streets, and half-finished buildings pretty much everywhere. The latter is actually a local hack to avoid paying property taxes. According to the law, they only start collecting money after construction is finished.

You can only escape this reality if you stay within a hotel resort area by the sea. Cairo doesn't have any picture-perfect tourist enclaves. Some interesting spots are tucked away in extremely poor neighborhoods. For example, the Monastery of Simon the Tanner sits on the outskirts of the City of Garbage Collectors. People there sort through mountains of trash with their bare hands. They literally haul waste from all over the capital and recycle it. Despite how awful this system is, the efficiency is impressive: 85% of waste gets reused. When you walk through the neighborhood, you're often hit with the stench of garbage. Except these are residential streets, not a recycling facility.

Surprisingly, there aren't that many aggressive beggars around. In almost a week in the city, only once did someone approach me asking for money. Far more annoying are the souvenir vendors at tourist spots. The longer you refuse, the more the prices drop. $3 for a stone scarab quickly becomes $1 for three. I don't buy though, not because it's expensive, but because I don't need it.

Being aware that you have a plane ticket home in your pocket makes the experience easier to bear. The locals live like this their whole lives.