The 21st was one of our longest days here so far. It began with a 7:45 wake-up, followed by an on-the-go-pita-bread-and-jelly breakfast. Sound appetizing? We walked to Noel and Rachella’s house, and then together walked to Kimo Market, where we got on the bus to Carrefour.
The bus left at 9:20. On the bus, Elyse (a returning teacher) asked what was on our lists. I showed her mine, and she read the whole thing aloud, which I did not love. She gave us advice on what we should be able to find at Carrefour and what we could get cheaper elsewhere.
When we got to Carrefour I was pleased. It is in a mall-type setting with a Radio Shack, a Cinnabon, a few cellphone stores, some clothes shops, etc. Carrefour itself is easily the size of a Super Wal-Mart. We stopped at the cellphone store first. Every phone was expensive. A Blackberry cost $600, and the cheapest phone there was $50. This was without any cameras or internet downloadable applications. We ended up getting the cheap phones.
At Carrefour we started looking for the things on our monstrous list. We ended up with three carts full of stuff. We bought our microwave, which the funny little salesman told us was “Black and Decker. Is better. You buy, you get present!” There was a gift with purchase—a small casserole dish. We got a lot of basic supplies, but here are things I couldn’t find: shelf paper, picture hangers for concrete walls, an oven thermometer (my oven has no temperature markings of any kind!), anything solid-colored (everything has goofy patterns all over it, much like Hong Kong), hand towels, storage baskets, and bedding. After we finished shopping, a few returning teachers helped us get our stuff onto the bus assembly-line style, and then the bus drove us home.
Once we got home, the assembly line started again, and our bawa’ab and his family helped us get all our stuff inside. We got home around 2:00, and we had not eaten lunch or fed Luke.
After we dumped our stuff, we set out to find a grocery store. We met an American lady who helped us find Seodi Market, which had a lot of recognizable brands. A box of Kellogg’s cereal cost $8 (US). We bought more pita bread and hummus so we could have inexpensive lunches, and we tried to find the Egyptian equivalent of basic stuff so that we could save money. It helped to have lived in Hong Kong—I’m not as picky about having American brands of stuff as I was when we first left home.
We had our first meal in our dining room—a lunch of peanut butter and jelly—at 3:00 that afternoon. While we were eating, Luke pointed to Jason and very enthusiastically said, “Are you happy?” Jason answered “Yes!” and then Luke repeated the question to me, and I said “Yes!” We asked him if he was happy, and he said “Yes! I like Luke’s house in Egypt!” What more could we ask for?
Later that afternoon Luke got a nap. While he was sleeping we got ready to go out on a felucca. We’d been invited to go with some AIS teachers so that I could meet Jewel, a former AIS teacher who is now staying home with her 18-month old son. While we were getting ready, the air conditioner guys arrived with an AC unit for Luke’s room. They brought the wrong one, though, so they were supposed to return with one that fit. We thought we weren’t going to get to go on the felucca. We talked to the landlord, who told us to give the key to the bawa’ab and lock up all our valuables and jewelry! That was comforting! However, when we got home Luke’s AC was in and all our stuff was still present.
We had our second interesting taxi ride on the way to the felucca. We told the driver to take us to TGIFriday’s on the Corniche (along the Nile). Again, he nodded as if he understood. He got us to the Corniche, but couldn’t find Friday’s. We had to call our friend Debbie on the phone, and she spoke to the driver and helped him get us there.
The bus left at 9:20. On the bus, Elyse (a returning teacher) asked what was on our lists. I showed her mine, and she read the whole thing aloud, which I did not love. She gave us advice on what we should be able to find at Carrefour and what we could get cheaper elsewhere.
When we got to Carrefour I was pleased. It is in a mall-type setting with a Radio Shack, a Cinnabon, a few cellphone stores, some clothes shops, etc. Carrefour itself is easily the size of a Super Wal-Mart. We stopped at the cellphone store first. Every phone was expensive. A Blackberry cost $600, and the cheapest phone there was $50. This was without any cameras or internet downloadable applications. We ended up getting the cheap phones.
At Carrefour we started looking for the things on our monstrous list. We ended up with three carts full of stuff. We bought our microwave, which the funny little salesman told us was “Black and Decker. Is better. You buy, you get present!” There was a gift with purchase—a small casserole dish. We got a lot of basic supplies, but here are things I couldn’t find: shelf paper, picture hangers for concrete walls, an oven thermometer (my oven has no temperature markings of any kind!), anything solid-colored (everything has goofy patterns all over it, much like Hong Kong), hand towels, storage baskets, and bedding. After we finished shopping, a few returning teachers helped us get our stuff onto the bus assembly-line style, and then the bus drove us home.
Once we got home, the assembly line started again, and our bawa’ab and his family helped us get all our stuff inside. We got home around 2:00, and we had not eaten lunch or fed Luke.
After we dumped our stuff, we set out to find a grocery store. We met an American lady who helped us find Seodi Market, which had a lot of recognizable brands. A box of Kellogg’s cereal cost $8 (US). We bought more pita bread and hummus so we could have inexpensive lunches, and we tried to find the Egyptian equivalent of basic stuff so that we could save money. It helped to have lived in Hong Kong—I’m not as picky about having American brands of stuff as I was when we first left home.
We had our first meal in our dining room—a lunch of peanut butter and jelly—at 3:00 that afternoon. While we were eating, Luke pointed to Jason and very enthusiastically said, “Are you happy?” Jason answered “Yes!” and then Luke repeated the question to me, and I said “Yes!” We asked him if he was happy, and he said “Yes! I like Luke’s house in Egypt!” What more could we ask for?
Later that afternoon Luke got a nap. While he was sleeping we got ready to go out on a felucca. We’d been invited to go with some AIS teachers so that I could meet Jewel, a former AIS teacher who is now staying home with her 18-month old son. While we were getting ready, the air conditioner guys arrived with an AC unit for Luke’s room. They brought the wrong one, though, so they were supposed to return with one that fit. We thought we weren’t going to get to go on the felucca. We talked to the landlord, who told us to give the key to the bawa’ab and lock up all our valuables and jewelry! That was comforting! However, when we got home Luke’s AC was in and all our stuff was still present.
We had our second interesting taxi ride on the way to the felucca. We told the driver to take us to TGIFriday’s on the Corniche (along the Nile). Again, he nodded as if he understood. He got us to the Corniche, but couldn’t find Friday’s. We had to call our friend Debbie on the phone, and she spoke to the driver and helped him get us there.
The felucca ride was awesome. A felucca is a traditional Egyptian sailboat. It has
no motor, one sail, and is sailed by one man. Each boat holds probably 15 people comfortably, and has a large table inside. You bring your own food and drink and enjoy the sunset on the Nile. We all met in front of Friday’s and then went down to the dock and boarde
d the felucca. There was an interesting mix of people on our boat. One couple was just in town for a week, as part of their six month around the world tour. They were headed to South Africa next. The others were teachers and administrators from AIS, as well as Jewel, the former teacher turned stay-at-home-mom. Someone brought margaritas and salsa—nothing like a little Tex Mex to make a girl feel at home! The Nile flowed pretty slowly where we were, but the breeze was really great that evening. We sailed for two hours in cool weather. The banks of the river were full of green vegetation and interesting buildings. We saw the Coptic Church which is supposed to be the site where Mary, Joseph, and Jesus crossed the Nile. (“Maadi”—the name of our part of Cairo—literally means “crossing”.) Luke loved looking into the water, counting boats and fish in the Nile. (We did not see any actual fish, though.) I loved telling him that this was the river that baby Moses floated down, and which Mary, Joseph, and Jesus crossed.
All in all, the ride on the felucca cost 60 pounds for two hours—or $12. That included a very generous tip. Jason and I ended up paying the equivalent of about $4. That felucca ride was my favorite part of being here so far. I have a feeling we’re going to be frequent visitors to the felucca dock!
d the felucca. There was an interesting mix of people on our boat. One couple was just in town for a week, as part of their six month around the world tour. They were headed to South Africa next. The others were teachers and administrators from AIS, as well as Jewel, the former teacher turned stay-at-home-mom. Someone brought margaritas and salsa—nothing like a little Tex Mex to make a girl feel at home! The Nile flowed pretty slowly where we were, but the breeze was really great that evening. We sailed for two hours in cool weather. The banks of the river were full of green vegetation and interesting buildings. We saw the Coptic Church which is supposed to be the site where Mary, Joseph, and Jesus crossed the Nile. (“Maadi”—the name of our part of Cairo—literally means “crossing”.) Luke loved looking into the water, counting boats and fish in the Nile. (We did not see any actual fish, though.) I loved telling him that this was the river that baby Moses floated down, and which Mary, Joseph, and Jesus crossed. 
All in all, the ride on the felucca cost 60 pounds for two hours—or $12. That included a very generous tip. Jason and I ended up paying the equivalent of about $4. That felucca ride was my favorite part of being here so far. I have a feeling we’re going to be frequent visitors to the felucca dock!
No comments:
Post a Comment