Eyes Wide Open and I Still Can't See

The other day Froody and I stopped at the local bakery to buy some bread. It was a bit crowded so I opted to wait on the sidewalk. This meant that I had several minutes of being outside and not moving, something that doesn't really happen much for me in Cairo, so I was able to look about me and soak in a bit more of my adopted neighborhood. Being on Sharia Tahrir means lots of people and many cars honking and trying to zoom past. But now I actually got to see it all as well as look UP at the tall buildings lining the sidewalks. It felt a lot like a river in a rainforest- the one place where there aren't any trees overhead which means that the sun can finally reach the ground. The city is like that, too. On the smaller, narrow side-streets it's a bit dim and the buildings are so close that looking up rarely affords a good look at them.

Why not look up more? I, for one, like to see where I'm about to place my foot so that I can avoid potholes (yes, on the sidewalks, too), manhole covers (again, on the sidewalks), trees, cats, garbage, mysterious puddles, beggars, beggars selling tissues, shoe-shiners, people selling any of the following: shoes, headscarves, clothes, sunglasses, ties, watches, pens,food. Oh, and cars. Because the sidewalks are so...full... most folks choose to walk in the street, which still requires one to keep their wits about them, as you may be run over by cars, trucks, bikes, pushcarts, horse carts, donkey carts, and motorcycles.

So, while I walk about with my eyes ever scanning the ground beneath and ahead of me any opportunity I get to raise them to the sky is usually taken advantage of. And I'm usually glad I did.

Quirks- We Has Dem

Every old apartment everywhere has Quirks. Ours does, definitely. Some of them are: 1)None of the doors close very well. 2)The showerhead and bathtub are at an odd angle, so that a lot of water shoots off our bodies and onto the floor. Meaning that 3)There is a squeegie in the bathroom we use to push the shower water into the drain on the floor. And also for 4)The washing machine drains through a hose on the floor that is very close to the drain in the floor, but not quite. 5)You have to pick the lid up off the toilet tank in order to flush. 6)The kitchen sink has no cold water. 7)The doorbell ringer sounds like birds chirping. This was done on purpose. 8)The chandeliers each have two (one has 3) different light sockets and wire sources.

But, overall, we do like our diggs. Like Froody said, everything is very conveniently located. It's a nice enough neighborhood and much quieter than downtown. I thank the embassies for that. If you're ever in Cairo, you'll be amazed at the huge (and ever growing) number of street cats. There are hardly any dogs so there's no infernal yelping and barking at ungodly hours. About a thousand years ago, the caliph Al-Hakim ordered every dog to be executed because he hated their noise! I'm sure that isn't the reason for the lack of wild dogs here, but it couldn't have helped. (I think this, and a few of his other actions, made him a pretty sick cookie.)

Another quirky thing- at Cilantro, an Egyptian chain coffeehouse, you can order an American coffee...served in a french press.

Sheesh!

Man, where did all that come from?? Let's go to what you all came here for...more interesting stuff! Pictures!!

*These pastries came from the little bakery that Froody told you about. All that for 5LE or US$1.

*Ya' know, I really love looking at the Nile. I bet the pharoh's never expected anything like these hotels!!

*Yes, this really is a sushi place and yes, we did eat there. Pricey but not bad sushi!

*View from a 4 star hotel nextdoor. The food was pretty bad,
though.

*We invited Morad and his family over for dinner. We wanted to make them good ol' American ribs but due to the existing language barrier we couldn't. It was still a tasty dinner, though.

*Spent some time in Coptic Cairo. Of course, the architecture was amazing. Inside the Hanging Church is this high altar they use during special occasions like Palm Sunday. Can you find the column that represents Judas?

*If you go to this page you can click on the movie-tour Froody gives you of our Cairo apartment.

*We are constantly discovering new mosques. We need to actually go inside one before we leave.

*Sunset in Cairo as seen from the rooftop lounge of the Nile Hilton. Yes, those are the pyramids in the background. Was a pleasant evening and waaaayyy cheaper than the Cairo Tower.

I VOTED!!!!!

Yup, I practiced my God-given right to vote! And it's still October! Many of you already know that you can request an absentee ballot so I went online to learn how to request mine. Seems some states, like California, will allow you to fax in your vote on an emergency write-in ballot if you promise to mail in the hard copy, and that's what I did! People do vote here in Egypt, but seems it doesn't matter much, as the same guy always wins as president. In fact, Morad says he already knows who the next president will be- the son of the present president! We hear about the continuing power dispute in Zimbabwe and we have seen burned-out villages- the result from Kenya's last election. There's also the protests in Thailand over their prime minister- someone died there! And yet, in less than two weeks America will have an election and emotions will run high. In two months the power will shift from George Bush to ... well, we'll see. Will there be anger? Will there be accusations of stuffing the ballot boxes? Probably. But will there be huge mobs of people raping and setting their neighbors homes and businesses on fire? Definitely not. This election and traveling have really made me appreciate all sorts of things that I took for granted.

And I can't believe I'm saying this, but God Bless America! I know it isn't perfect but I'm so glad my home is there. I'll admit, this song has popped into my head more than once this trip while talking to people and seeing how different their lives (the norm for that country) are. I thank goodness for Planned Parenthood, for pre-natal care, for welfare, for medicine that works, for tax dollars that really are at work, for free public education that really is free, for most kids staying in school through high school, for respecting ourselves and everyone else, for clean drinking water, for minimum wage, for a government that can change albeit slowly.

I truly believe in the American Dream. I do believe that anyone can have a good life if they are willing to work hard for it. I know we are not all created equal and that it's rigged so that the big guys stay big, but us little guys get a chance which is more than I can say for people living in some other free countries.

Global Economic Crisis

Ok, so according to BBC World News, CNN (internation edition), and NPR there is a global economic crisis going on. So, I'm assuming that a lot of you have or are asking yourselves "How does this affect me?" and "What can/should I do?" Well, Froody and I have been asking ourselves these questions, too. Basically, we're going to "wait and see," which seems to be very popular with everyone in the news. We are fully prepared to alter our trip, perhaps hanging out in northern Africa instead of visiting Turkey and SE Asia, or coming home a lot earlier so as to have more cushion while looking for work. We both feel pretty good that I'll be able to find a job quickly, but wonder how long it might take Froody to get hired anywhere and I really don't want to support the two of us on a teacher's salary.

On the other hand, I'm not too sure how this plays into the life of the average Egyptian. If I knew more arabic I'd totally ask someone how they felt about this global crisis and the possible upcoming global recession. As it is, I'm not all that sure that folks around here keep up on international news. (The juice-man keeps telling/asking us about Hillary Clinton becoming the next president.)I think this is just part of "being Egyptian", the whole "insha' allah" attitude that everyone here has.

Cairo Living

Well, we've been in our apartment for a week now and, no, we haven't done any "real" sight-seeing until today. But, I don't feel too bad about that (now that we've seen a sight). There's just so much to do when you first move in as many of you know. Plus, living in another country makes everyday living an adventure. Oh, I mean an ADVENTURE!!1!

List of Adventures Had This Week
1) Crossing the street- it's like living a game of Frogger each time

2) Buying produce from the street vendors. Are they ripping me off or not? Actually, they're probably not.

3)Riding the Metro. Took us a while to figure out the right exit so we don't have to cross the street every time (see #1). Also, I feel a bit weird every time because I'm one of the very, very few women in that car. Most women use the "Women Only" cars, which is very colorful and pretty as it zooms past you and then everything goes blah when the men's cars go past.

4)Buying groceries. What is in stock? Egyptian versions of American foods! How much everything really is since the blurb on the shelf doesn't match what is on the shelf about half the time.

5)Buying meat from the butcher. How do you know it's a butchery? Why, by the carcasses hanging outside, of course! We wanted to cook some ribs and serve them up to Morad and his family. You know, give them a taste of American food (to which Morad answered, "Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Hardees...aren't these American?" I sheepishly agreed and Froody said we wanted them to have real American food.)OK- so-back to the butcher who didn't speak English (natch) and had difficulty figuring out what we wanted even with a pic. Eventually, everyone figured out what we wanted and he went into the big fridge and pulled out 2.5kg of rib meat and lion (no bones) of veal. We bought 2kg of it and it was really nice. Froody thinks this can become a weekly thing: go to the butcher, get whatever loose meat he has laying around (in the fridge), and cook it up.

6)Eating lunch. Yup, it's an adventure when you A-Don't know what the heck that stuff is, and B-Don't know how much it should cost. At least it was tasty and cheap for us Americans. :-)

7) Go to the Post Office. It's adventurous when you can't find it! And we had two maps!! Anyway, ended up going to the Main Post Office instead which is a bit overwhelming because of all the windows with digital numbers over them and all the people sitting down in front of them. Are they waiting for their number to come up? Are they waiting for the window I'm about to go to? Which window sells stamps? (OK, we know the answer to this one now.)

8) Standing in Line. Not sure what it is, but Egyptians have no sense of the "queque" that we westerners have. Yeah, there's a "line" but older women seem to have the right to cut right to the front of the line! And, when your turn is next, there's no sense of personal space and the person behind you will crowd and get in front of you if you're not aggressive. And once you're at the window the people directly behind you are now right at your elbows (srsly, I'm not kidding) and some even have their money out and in the window! And you're still waiting for tickets or change!!

9)Driving in Cairo. We definitely aren't ballzy enough to even dare to imagine driving in this crazy city. I thought Nairobi was bad. Still, Cairenes do seem to follow a couple more driving rules than the Kenyans, but,...sheesh! You have to see it to believe it. For instance, at night, they don't turn on their lights. They do drive with the running lights on and use the headlights to warn other cars and pedestrians of their approach. During daylight hours the horn has this job. They also use their turnsignal for things other than turning corners. And they have a total disregard for the lines in the road. Basically, the road is going to have anywhere from 3 to 5 lanes, depending on how busy it is. I've even seen roads hardly big enough for one car fit two cars!! There's no real speed limit, either. If there's no one in front of you, you can floor it!

Killing Time in Cairo

Well, well, well. Froody and I have now been in Egypt for about 2.5 weeks, yet I feel as if we just got here. One reason is because of Ramadan. During the month of Ramadan all good muslims are fasting during the daylight hours, which means a lot of shops and sites have strange hours and good luck finding cheap, local food. Also it was frikken' hot so we were not motivated to do much during the day anyway. However, the nightlife during Ramadan cannot be beat. The streets are (finally) full of people, all the stores are open, as well as all the coffee houses and juice bars. (yah, yah, I know I blogged it before, but whatever.)

So, yesterday we FINALLY ate food at a locals-only type place. No, we don't speak Egyptian yet (class hopefully to begin tomorrow more likely Saturday), but the waiter was very nice and by smiling and pointing we got some fuul (mashed fava beans with onions and flavor), falafel (not what they call it here, but can't remember the real name), some sort of eggplant stuff, and aisha or pita bread. We also had a side of cucumbers and tomatoes and pickled veggies which Froody didn't like but I find OK. The waiter asked us if we wanted Pepsi and we said, "yes," and he served us nice, cold Sprites. I guess "Pepsi" is the general term for "soda". Dinner was spent at a kushari place which serves only kushari (very easy to order!). Kushari is made up of short macaroni, noodles, rice, lentils, fried onions, and a choice sauces: tomato-y, garlicky, and spicy! In spite of (or because of) the inordinate amount of carbs this was a very filling meal and very tasty. Tonight we stopped at a fried food stand that showcases all sorts of fried fishes, shrimps, and pigeons. We got whole blackened fish that came with pita bread and more pickled veggies. We got it to go and looked forward to more tasty egyptian food, but that fish was a lot of work! The black stuff just got everywhere and the veggies were really salty. :-( Luckily, we had bought some tomatoes and cucumbers at the street market yesterday (man, a smile and pointy-finger really go a long way in this world!) and we each enjoyed this makeshift salad. (BTW- one kilo of tomatoes set us back 2 LE, about 45 cents!)

Now it is evening and we walked around a bit. I got a deck of touristy playing cards, the kind with pictures of ancient Egyptian gods and stuff, and we made our way to this internet cafe. Cairo is chock-a-block full of internet places and you can smoke in all of them! We're thinking of getting satellite TV, mainly for the American football and BBC news, but I think know that I'll like listening to well-spoken English.

The Color of Cairo
Cairo is the color of dust. Each building is a different shade of something that isn't brown. To me, brown is a very solid color, warm and soft, but that doesn't describe Cairo. Sometimes, while I'm waiting for a break in the traffic so that I can cross the street, I'll look up and find that I can see through the layers of dust, all the way down to the building's original beauty: a mosaic, a reference to pharonic times, wrought iron vines, art deco lines and curves. Through all this grime emerges the imposing bulk of the mosques, the only things enhanced by the dusty environment. It's as if the dust emphasizes the details, making the delicate structures appear more solid and allowing the minarets to pierce through the haze.

The true color of Cairo is carried by it's women. I love how the women are drenched in color from head to foot, the colors layered expertly on each other. These colors undulate, moving between headscarves and long, flowing skirts. Even those who are all in black have a sparkle of sequins about them.

No matter how they are covered, the women's personalities still shine through. I've seen women in full veil laughing with each other and cuddling their children.

I wish I had new pix to show you, but Froody hasn't found fast-enough internet to upload them yet. :-(

Hurghada and the Red Sea

Just got back from a week at the Red Sea. We shared a flat with our Egyptian family and, for the most part, had a good time. We didn't do too much together, which was sad, but Froody and I had are hearts set on doing a lot of snorkelling, and they didn't. We did all spend an evening in the desert on safari, which meant riding quads across a wasteland. Really. Egyptian deserts are not at all like California or Arizona desert. It looked like the surface of the moon. This desert was in the shadow of the Red Sea Montains, hugely tall and jagged-y peaks, like Mordor. Really.

OK, back to the safari. You ride the quad to a "bedouin village" which, in reality, is a desert theme-park. I expected to learn a little bit of the bedouin lifestyle, but instead you go there and do some desert-y stuff, like climb a sandy peak to watch the sunset, ride a camel (for all of 2 min), drink bedouin tea (tastes a lot like egyptian tea), ride your quad in a circle, and then eat lunch. The food was pretty good. I think if I knew ahead of time that the safari was I would have enjoyed it more while I was living it instead of in retrospect. But, riding the quad at night back to the beginning was pretty sweet! Especially when the crescent moon and stars showed up.

But the most frikken' awesome thing was the snorkelling!!1! We went with two different organizers. The first called Prince Safaris and it really was the cheapest snorkel trip out there. For about 20 LE each we got on a boat (with 40 others) to some nice snorkel sites, gear rental, and lunch (if you were quick; they ran out before we got ours). The ride out was rough and several people hurled. :-( But once there it was calm enough. Froody and I kicked out away from the boat to the main reef both times so we were pretty much left alone. Most of the other tourists (German and Arabian)stayed very close to the boat,but there was plenty of fish for everyone to see! It was amazing. I wish I had the words to describe it for you. Clear water. Warm sea. Hard and soft corals. Every kind of fish: Angel, Butterfly, Trigger, Wrasse, Parrot, Damsel, Pipe, Puffer. And, several species of each kind! I felt like I was seeing famous celebrities in person- so many fish I had seen dead, floating in preservative, or alive and in small tanks, nothing like being in the ocean right along side of them. Our second trip with Aquanaut, a very good outfit, it felt like being on a dive trip at home it was so well run. For starters, it left ON TIME and not 45 min late. Plenty of food. All staff spoke English. Nice gear. And it only went to sites depending on weather, not to some pre-arranged-must-be-followed itinerary. We had perfect weather so the sea was nice and calm. And again, the skin diving was amazing. Heavenly? yes. I had to keep from crying I was so happy to be somewhere I never thought I'd go. The dive guy said they rarely got Americans as it's so expensive compared to the Caribbean, and it's true. Even Froody loved being in the water here. AND, he said if we go again (in December! cross my fingers!) we might even go DIVING!!! Though I will admit, there isn't much more you can see diving. We saw everything, even lion fish and a beautiful file fish that hung out with us about 2 m below the surface. Again, I wish I could tell you about the clouds of black stripey sergeant major fish and cardinal fish and half-and-half fish. Each fish was like a work of art (hello, picasso trigger fish), really, and just when I think you couldn't do more to a fish, there would be one with a crazy tail or freaky color mix.

My kind of heaven. I was sad that day, knowing that it was our last snorkel and that we were going back to Cairo the next day. The good thing was knowing we were going to our own apartment. We are ready for all the freedom that entails, our friendly hosts notwithstanding.