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.
5 comments:
For a minute there i thought you were describing my flat! LOL I loved the line in one of your earlier posts, "Cairo is the colour of dust." A lovely turn of phrase that describes the city exactly. :)
Welcome to Cairo!!
Hi! I followed Cairo typ0 over here. Welcome! Great post on quirky old apartments... we have a fairly new apartment and it is darn quirky too. What? You want boring?? :-) I wish I had drains in my floors... I'm envious... it would help prevent floods when the sinks won't turn off or the washing machine goes insane again. (note the use of the plural..)
Hey! Cairo Typ0 and Connie-welcome to my blog! I think you are the only non-family/friend who's read this. :-)
cairo typ0-thanks for the compliment on the phrase. i was going for "poetic" that day.
connie-i am very thankful for that drain! Wow, you have a new-ish apartment?
It's about 12-14 years old - or so I've been told - but newly renovated. A blessing when we arrived here when my daughter was just a 18mo and into everything!
i don't know how old ours is. are you still in egypt?
Post a Comment