Random Egypt Stuff

Here's some random Egypt stuff:

There are high cliffs around the city. We can see them in the distance from the 20th floor apartment.We can also see the silver domes of the Citadel and the Mohamed Ali mosque next to it. On the less polluted days it appears VERY shiny. I ask our resident Egyptologist what type of geography that is and they remind me that this area was the ocean once. Those cliffs are the beach. We are living where the bottom of the ocean was! She says that we can find sea shells in the dessert! Cool!

Walking through a neighborhood I see the windshield wipers pulled up off the window. I wonder if a prankster has gone through and popped them all up. NOPE! That is done when a car is left parked for a while so that the blades do not MELT on the windshield. Of course!

We are going to the Egypt vs. Italy under 20 FIFA match on Thursday. No sunglasses allowed. I do not know why but if I figure it out I will let you know. And of course going to a game with 100,000 people should be pretty exciting too.! (See blog update Egypt 4-italy 2!)

Some elevators have no doors. They just go once you are in and you can see the wall sliding by.

Our stove is run on gas. And the gas tank is RIGHT IN THE kitchen. We turn the knob on the top to light the stove then turn it off later. I am not amused.

The twin sister of a woman I met in a coffee shop on Nantucket meets me for coffee. She tells me she absolutely does eat all the vegetables and fruits that she can find regardless of the warnings. She washes them all and then soaks them for an hour in vinegar. I might try this. We both agree that vinegar is more agreeable than the bleach/water solution. She also gives me the best tip for using taxis. Just get in, tell them where you are going, when you arrive get out of the taxi and and the driver what you think is fair. That eliminates all arguing over price. On the way home I try it and it works! I hope we can go to find the karaoke bar she has heard about! Fun!

I go to Carrefor - the BIGGEST Walmart type store I have EVER EVER been in and it is CROWDED!! Good lord !! 18 million is a lot of people!! They were ALL at Carrefor the day we went. I get separated from the group and shop on my own. I am very slow since I am so busy averting my eyes and trying to figure out the 10 digits and the price of EVERYTHING. Then I resort to just buying what I see the mommy type people buying of each item. It seems to work. Now I have my hairdryer ( mine from home blew up!) and a decent tea mug. It's the little things . . .

When anyone wants your attention they make a psssssst noise. It is very strange and when I first heard it I was inclined to ignore it as it sounds sort of like maybe harassment is next. I am slowly getting used to the idea to respond.

Our doorbell is a chirping bird! It would be easy to miss as a REAL bird. Many doorbells are the same BUT we never expected it to be the noise of the alarm for a backing up vehicle! We notice this in our 15 passenger van on a school trip! So, if you are in a parking lot and hear birds chirping - watch out for a backing up truck!!. . . . Makes sense.

Next entry HAS GOT to be about school and education and what it means to teach here. But for now I cannot begin to write it down. I am scrambling to put it all together for the start of school. I found out yesterday that each classroom will have a matron assigned to it. These women are from the lower class. Sort of like a nanny for each room I am imagining. The matron will sit outside the door of the classroom and wait for any student who may need to use the bathroom. She will bring them to the bathroom and back. She will also escort the children to get their lunch and then again outside to the buses. And . . . .well, the rest I do not know! Strange!

My head is still realing. I have been here one week and two days!