Cairo

Sabah El Khair from the City of a Thousand Minarets!  I am in Al Qahira, a noisy, bustling, historic city along the banks of the timeless Nahr Al Nil.

Hanaa Soudan, my Egyptian sister, has helped me find just the right apartment, located in the very heart of it all. I can gaze down busy streets, elegant buildings, cars winding their way around, people hurrying to work, or merely standing under a shady tree to chat and smoke.  A gas station is right below with a great view of cars being serviced. It serves as an important landmark for me as I weave my way through Kasr El Nil, Bab El Louk, Mohamed Mazloom Streets.  A car dealership and a restaurant take turns to share the space. While new cars line up in the daytime, the restaurant claims the street in the evenings with Cairenes relaxing together with food, drinks and shisha.  Even a TV is wheeled outside for additional entertainment!

Egyptian Arabic is the lingua franca, and I realize my first assignment as a language learner has to be mastering Arabic numbers.  Learning new vocabulary is hard! Most prices are displayed in Arabic numbers, and most shopkeepers assume I understand the language! I’m getting by with holding up fingers, or writing numbers in the air, or just misunderstanding and depending on the change I receive back! 

Another language used here is traffic honks and beeps.  The intensity of sound can mean anything from “Right behind you!”, “Out of my way”, “Watch out” or any communication about stopping, slowing and speeding!  Crossing a street sometimes involves walking through moving traffic, while trying to make eye contact with drivers, and holding up one hand – “Wait, I need to go across!”

The Egyptian Museum is on Tahrir Square.  Here you can walk through centuries of history within a few galleries. Tutankhamun’s gold mask is far more resplendent than you have seen in photos.  Egypt's female Pharaoh, 3,500 year old Queen Hatshepsut lies silently in state.  What were her thoughts about leadership, power, equity, and love? While it is sad the royals have been removed from their original resting places, it is truly remarkable to view them face to face!

Ancient Egyptian, Turkish, French, British and American influences create an amalgam that is truly unique to this corner of Africa! Excited to be on this Egyptian journey of a lifetime!

Go figure!

Fresh fruit on my street

Bread seller closing up

MacDonalds

Family Photo with the Pharaohs

Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Busy streets

Al-Nour Mosque

City Stars, the gigantic mall

Sunrise over the city

View from my windows

With Hanaa Soudan at American University of Cairo