How to send post overseas from Egypt

Today I discovered how to send mail overseas from Egypt (or, more precisely, Maadi).
I wanted to send a large envelope to the USA and had been frightened by various guide books and blogs either only talking about using FedEx etc or that 75% of mail never arrives. In addition, I had read that if you wanted to send anything larger than a letter from Cairo abroad, you needed to go to the ONE post office in central Cairo where they would open it etcetc.
This doesn't seem to be the case though, as I have managed to send my large envelope from the post office in Maadi, and although it hasn't arrive yet (give it a chance - I only sent it 4 hours ago) my fingers and toes are crossed that it makes it.

The Post Office in Maadi is beside Maadi Metro Station. There is a main door (the one closest to the Metro) and then a second door to its right, but to send mail internationally you go around the right-hand side of this building to a door beside the pedestrian footbridge. This entrance is to the PO Boxes room, but has two counters.
The staff were really helpful and spoke enough English for the transaction to take place. There are two options when sending mail internationally - sending it using "normal" stamps and "normal" mail, or using the Express Mail Service (EMS). The guy only gave me the EMS option, but to be honest, as it is a gift that I was sending, I wanted to be confident it would make it to its destination.
The main thing I wasn't prepared for was that they need the recipients telephone number. I'm still not sure what they use this for, but he wasn't happy to send anything without it. For EMS mail your envelope/package is placed inside a plastic EMS-branded envelope (that you write the name and address and telephone number (!) of sender and recipient). They then weight it and show you them sealing it and that the seal doesn't open.
I had read that you need to fill in a tonne of customs forms and that you shouldn't seal your package/envelope until it has been checked and approved. Here though he just gave it a squeeze and felt that it was material, so asked if it was a jumper (it was a cushion cover, so he was close).

My package was an A4 envelope that was a little bulked out and weighed 500g and this cost me just under 150LE to send to Florida. I was also given a little chitty with an Item Number etc which I guess could be used to track or enquire if it doesn't make it through. I will let you know when it arrives at its destination, but hopefully this will be a) soon-ish and b) in one piece and will therefore give me a lot more confidence in using post to send presents home to the UK :)