How to describe Cairo? It is a truly fascinating place.
The first thing that might strike a visitor is probably the heat. Over 100 every day since we got here (convert to Celsius, I don't have the brainpower)...it drains you.
You have to constantly fight to stay hydrated and to keep your kids moving so they don't melt into little puddles on the sidewalk.
Next would be the overall look of the place. If you are a fan of Star Wars it is visually reminiscent of Tatooine, Anakin and Luke Skywalker's home planet. Everything in shades of brown to off-white. Understandable for a hot desert climate.
Harder to understand is the overall initial impression of untidiness, even filth, that the place makes on you. Assaulting your skin with pollution and dust, your sense of smell with the aroma of woodsmoke or perhaps even dirtier things burning...your eyes with the piles of trash and rubble and crumbled rock everywhere.
And assaulting every sense including your own of decorum and order... the flies. Like Mexico City, the undeniable sense of vitality underlying it all, the millions of people each making their own individual way, somehow scraping out a living...unlike Mexico City, not amidst islands of green or the not infrequent splash of wealth.
Yes, the occasional 2-seater Mercedes but far more often the Donkey-powered cart or the horse-powered trash truck.
The writing everywhere that you cannot at this point hope to comprehend, a cursive language in a thousand different fonts and variations, the letters read from right to left, the numbers from left to right.
The people...so many, men with dark blemishes on their foreheads, permanent, pigmented, from hundreds of thousands of separate instances of placing their head on a mat to Mecca, to Allah. 5 times a day, every day, without fail.
An initial sketch
Greetings - My experience of Cairo
Loool, can't stop laughing..... 
Well said (y)
i agree
Its not that hot usually. Its a heat wave. Remindes of a texan friend of mine. We were at the western desert in the winter. He was in a t-shirt. He was uttering one sentence while shivering like mofo "this egypt, its not supposed to be that cold". So be aware weather is normally ok year round with infrequent heat and cold waves.
Regarding Arabic writing, i think its very exotic. I have attended galleries dedicated to arabic caillegraphy. Very pretty.
I do admire the hustle and bustle of millions trying to get by daily mostly hand to mouth.
If you want to interact with these people (they are alot of fun and very intellectual) try the down town local cafes and yes you can even grab a cold beer there. You will find artists, writers, philosphers, normal people all very poor but you will have the best laughs of your life. And if you mingle it can be an eye opening experience.
Regarding dust and dirt nothing 6-7 showers a day can't cure 
.
And if you get sick from it all book a ticket to elgouna on the redsea and have a vacation like a boss.
Be open to the new experience that cairo delivers Dont shy out. Otherwise you will go back home after your year or two here saying the same exact words you stated in your orginal post.
Good advice Scot34. I intend to follow it!
Very literary, yet very accurate description of the first impression Cairo gives you However, as Scot34 pointed out, there is more to it. There's a lot of green areas in Zamalek and Maadi, and the "splash of wealth", there's plenty of that in Cairo Festival City, in the 5th settlement. Lots of things to discover... Good luck, Cairodoc!
To me Cairo is truly fascinating too, full of beautiful friendly people and so many things going on all the time. Cairo is a city that never sleeps and to me it is an amazing place. I love the pace of life there, so slow like tomorrow it will get done lol. I love the khan el khalili bazaar with all its wonderful things.
I love Egypt so much and I truly believe that it gets into your skin and it's a place that makes its way into your heart and stays there, but you have to make the effort to get to know Cairo and it's people and customs otherwise you will never truly experience it.
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