Advertisement
Published: September 8th 2006
Edit Blog Post
The view
My first dawn in Cairo, from my balcony It has been less than a week since I arrived here and already I have begun to fall in step with everyday life here. Currently I am lounging on a couch in my favorite spot here in Maadi, drinking an iced tea and escaping the unforgiving desert heat. Oh, and enjoying the free wireless internet of course.
Cairo has been as crazy and hectic as I have been informed, the people as friendly and unpredictable, the traffic as horrific, and the air... don't get me started. I am actually looking forward to inhaling the sweet, sweet smog of Los Angeles once again.
So my apartment here is nothing home to write about, but by Egyptian standards, I know I am rather privileged. Anyway, we are having cleaners come by the flat later today and repairs are being made to our bathroom and walls, so it shouldn't be too bad. Concerning my work here, I learned yesterday that I have been given the Kindergarten class to teach. Kindergarten! We were all vying for that spot, so I am pretty happy with it. Another friend Mallory also teaches Kindergarten, and our lessons and the procedures are completely different from everyone else's.
Jonathan's view
This is what Daniel gets treated to, in stark contrast It will be a lot of fun.
Speaking of fun, let me get started on what I have been up to since coming here. So Sunday was rather uneventful; Daniel and I arrived in the afternoon and came to my apartment, went out with a couple of the other teachers, and rested from the long trip out here. Monday, we lugged his bags downtown as e was to stay with a friend of his, and we wandered around for a while with Heather, another teacher here. Both Heather and I were on a quest to find decent bedsheets, and we roamed the streets to no avail. We were taken to a perfume shop by a man whom Daniel vaguely knew, and were treated to our first taste of Egyptian hospitality (and hibiscus tea!) The owner of the shop was very welcoming and friendly, and did not once try to sell us any perfume.
Afterward, Daniel and I parted ways, and Heather and I braved the trip back to Maadi via Metro. We somehow found our way back, met Mallory (Heather's roommate) and were taken out to Carrefour, which is a large mall out here. We were able to
stock up on some much needed household goods and clean bedsheets, which was a relief. Later that night, a few of the girls and my roommate Katharine were planning on going out, and I figured why not? I had been pretty beat the night before, but I was not about to pass up an opportunity to come out and check out the Egyptian nightlife. We checked out the Cairo Jazz Club and watched a great band play, danced, and had a pretty good time. At about three we sped back home along the Corniche in a particularly aggressive taxi watching the crowds of people milling about alongside the Nile. The city really is more beautiful at night.
The next day, Heather, Mallory and I decided it was time to check out the pyramids. We made a quick stop to the mall beforehand and picked up some pretty scarves, and flagged down the first taxi we saw. After confirming we wanted to see the pyramids-- "Giza! Pyramids! Sphinkies!" we climbed in. Fast forward half an hour later. We are driving in congested traffic, having seen the pyramids outlined in the distance not seconds before, and driving
away from them at
The Shot
Quintessential tourists an alarming speed. We figure maybe our driver is taking a shortcut, and say nothing as we drive through back alleys throbbing with the noise and stench of people selling any and everything they can offer. At some point, the man stops and spits out some rapidfire Arabic, repeating the word "Dokki" over and over. Communication is terrible, and he waves down the first man he sees on the sidewalk, asking if he speaks Engleezy, to which the answer is no. The next man speaks a handful, and we are able to gather that our driver has taken us to Dokki because we told him to, and to take us to the pyramids, it will cost us double the price we originally negotiated. What?! After the headache, we resign ourselves to the fact that we are foreigners and this should be expected, and we decide to sit back and enjoy what was left of the ride. The sun was going down and we just wanted to get there.
So we're back on the main road, the pyramids once again in the horizon, and a man on the sidewalk asks us if we're going to the pyramids. Here, we make
Felucca
Hey guys, I'm on a boat in the middle of the Nile river, just hanging out... the fatal mistake of making eye contact, and he proceeds to climb into our car. Next thing we know, our driver takes us down the shadiest alley full of horses and camels. He stops, we jump out, throw him money and expect him to leave, but he hangs around and that's not even the end of it!
Ugh, so long story short, we ended up riding camels into the sunset. We were the only ones in the desert, wandering up the backside of the pyramids, the wind blowing the first fresh air we'd been able to breathe in a while. At one point, we ran into some guards that presumably told us to leave, but our guide slipped him a roll of bills and we continued on our way. The guide and our camel boy Abdul handed us the ropes and we then attempted to steer ourselves back! Mallory's camel Michael decided to run off on his own, the poor girl bouncing uncontrollably on his back. It was pretty funny to watch, and no harm done. So, even though we were scammed left and right (we were even taken to a perfume shop right after our trip, and let's
Shutterbugs.
They really, really would not leave me alone! not even mention the man "giving" us sodas before we started!) our adventure ended up working out perfectly after all.
Mallory and I went out after that, me still stinking of camel. We checked out the Hard Rock, which was rather swanky and expensive, but fun. We finished the night off with a walk along the Nile and went home.
Since that day, I have ridden a felucca down the river, found myself in an even sketchier alley, and crashed a wedding. Here's a tip- Egyptian kids love having their picture taken, so once you start, you will never stop. It was cute, but I got over it after an hour of them pestering me to take more pictures of them.
...And that is how I found myself onstage before hundreds of hot and sweaty dancing people kissing a bride and groom.
Egypt is wonderful. And there is still so much left.
I will have more pictures up here soon. On this computer there's still no way to transfer pictures over from RAW format, but I'll figure it out. I miss you guys and I love you! Email is really the best way to get a hold of me right now, so I'd love to hear from all of you.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.087s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 11; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0392s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb