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| Birthday cell phone self portrait |
Wednesday the 14th of November was my 38th
birthday. Although there was nothing special about the day, it was my first
in a foreign country and that makes it memorable.
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| Ethan in his Galabeya |
I’ve started spending my mornings at a preschool with 2 and
3 year olds. As I was walking there I was thinking that this was my first
birthday outside in a t-shirt and bare feet seeing flowers and
green leaves. The air was a pleasant 23 degrees with a high of 25. I spent the
morning cutting, pasting, playing, singing, reading, dancing, cuddling,
painting, colouring and wiping runny noses. Ethan wore his galabeya to
school and I let the 2 year olds take a few photos with my point and shoot camera.
At 1:30 I went to costa coffee to
pick up my new favourite coffee – a mocha with skim milk then headed home to
relax. At 4:30 I met Mike at Cilantro
for another coffee. (Two in one day! What was this, my birthday?) At 5:30 we
headed across the street to Deb’s place for drinks (Deb is a teacher at the
school). She was trying out a new Egyptian wine and I really liked it! Becca
met us there. She stayed after school to play tennis and took the late bus
home. For dinner, we decided to try an Egyptian restaurant that was recommended
to us by another teacher because it had a nice atmosphere where you can sit
outside and order a beer. Unfortunately because the 14th was the eve
of the Islamic New Year, no beer was being served. BOO No drinks at the restaurant on my birthday.
Disappointing. I did have a very good
meal with enough left over for lunch. Becca enjoyed hers. Mike wasn't especially excited about his meal and his body rejected it at about 3am. We
won’t be going back there any time soon.
Thursday was a holiday! I lazed around the apartment
catching up on some TV shows on-line. (specifically Parenthood, How I Met Your
Mother and Modern Family) Mike wasn’t feeling the greatest and he had a pile of
report cards to work on. By about 4:00 Becca and I decided we needed to get out
of the apartment. I haven’t gone to a movie yet in Egypt so we decided to go
out for dinner and a movie. “The Words” was playing at the Bandar Mall in
Maada – fantastic. A movie at the closest theater to us in English and one
that both Becca and I thought we’d like to see.
The Bandar Mall isn't a real “mall”. It doesn't have stores.
It has 2 restaurants, a café, an arcade, a kids center and 3 movie screens. One
of the restaurants was a Chili’s that I was looking forward to trying. They
advertise margaritas and I LOVE frozen strawberry margaritas so this was going
to be my birthday drink. We picked up a
cab very quickly. We could have walked but because I’d never been there before
and it was already dark at 5:15 we thought it best to take a cab. It cost all
of 6LE to get there ($1). Becca and I were seated at a table right away at
Chili’s. It was a nice atmosphere with lots of people around and music playing
in the background. Our waiter was really nice, and as most waiters do here – he
gave Becca a LOT of attention. Guess what? - they had the margarita mix but no
alcohol. So I ended up with diet Pepsi.
Oh well – strike 2. Our food
was delicious.
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| Deep fried cheese with dip |
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| Brownie with ice cream |
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Casadia with
rice and beans |
After our meal we went upstairs to the movie. The movie theater was freezing. It was the coldest I've been here – even colder than the
passenger waiting area in the Sharm el Sheikh airport. Movies in Egypt have 10 minute intermission. It gave us an opportunity to get a box of popcorn and warm up a
little. The movie wasn't fantastic but I enjoyed being at a movie. Jeremy Irons
was excellent – he was my favourite part.
On Friday Mike was feeling more human again. After a day of
report card writing he was ready to get out. We booked a “driver” to go to the
largest mall in Egypt, City Stars located in Heliopolis. Heliopolis is on the
other side of Cairo. We read that this mall is super-sized with lots of
selection and Becca was excited to go.
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| View of the front doors from the car window |
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| Inside the mall |
It took about 35 minutes to get there. The mall was as
expected – huge, clean, expensive and full of Egyptians. We noticed very few
expats, not nearly as many as we see in Maadi. Becca was happy to see stores
like American Eagle (where she bought a shirt and scarf – NOT on sale) and
H&M (where I found a top that was on sale). We ate dinner at Ruby Tuesdays
(where there isn't any alcohol – Strike 3; I give up). The mall was so big we spent most of our time
just wandering around to see what was there.
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| At Ruby Tuesdays |
When we got home, the screen man came to put screen in our
living room and dining room windows. The air is cool enough now to turn off the
air conditioner and leave the windows open.
The screen is necessary to keep the flies out. Flies in Egypt stick to
you. They’re awful. It's always a bit of a challenge when a worker comes to the apartment. They don't usually speak English. It's a good chance for me to put some of the Arabic I've been learning to use. And if all else fails, we call the landlord who speaks English and he will talk to the worker.
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Becca's favourite
homework spot |
Saturday was Becca’s day to finish her homework. Mike and I
bought some groceries and had them delivered.
My Arabic class is in the afternoon. (Saturdays from 4-8 until
Christmas) Mike finished his report cards and Becca skyped with Brianna while
she made supper. (Mashed potatoes might be her new specialty).
It was a nice weekend! Turning 38 wasn't painful at all.
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| Report cards due on Sunday |
And now for another side of reality:
Unfortunately we saw some of the dangers of Egypt in the
past few weeks through events that happened to school staff. The school
electrician was killed crossing the road. (Mike was told by a fellow teacher
that 13 people a day are killed in Egypt trying to cross the road.) One of the
young female hall monitors was hit by a molotov cocktail during a street fight.
She was just an accidental victim in the wrong place at the wrong time but she
now faces expensive plastic surgery.
http://chemistry.about.com/od/firecombustionchemistry/a/molotovcocktail.htm
Here is a map from our building to Zamalek. Sequoia is at the very tip of the little island.
Later on, the ladies in the group decided that they would
purchase some Dahab pants (see picture) but after at least half an hour of
trying on pants and then trying to agree on a price, they left empty-handed.
The talks between the NHL owners and the players’ association would pale in
comparison to these pants negotiations. We did return the next day where the
pants were purchased for the original asking price. Score one for the
Egyptians. Mike decided he wanted to purchase a souvenir, something that really
captured the essence of this great country, “the cradle of civilization”, with
its marvellous history of Pharaohs and pyramids ---- so he bought a t-shirt
with a picture of a camel smoking sheesha on it.
