Town'n It Up

So no big events this month minus the White Desert trip, which was amazing, but Paul and I are trying to save for our next big adventure to Alexandria and Siwa, so money is a little tight. I’m super pumped though since we’ll finally be doing something on our own. Everyone here is so generous we get picked up and toted around everywhere without having to do a whole lot of fending for ourselves. I swear, you can’t hang out with anyone for more than 10 minutes before they offer you a ride to somewhere. It’s great, but like I said, I’m really excited to be doing something off the beaten path. We’re going to stay in Alex for a couple days, eat some kick ass seafood, party it up in the Mediterranean, and then head to Siwa to see some crazy ruins and ride bicycles.

Paul and I have taken to aimless walks on the weekends. Our favorite thing is to take a cab to Midan Tahrir and just start walking. Last time I came prepared. We hit the rode in the afternoon with my purse stocked with a change of clothes for the clubs and a water bottle full of vodka. We meandered through Zamalech, the pretty green island on the Nile, and then got terribly lost in some part of town which I’m still not sure the name of. We picked up a Herald Tribune from the newsstand to keep ourselves updated on the withering American economy while we sipped Turkish coffee at an outdoor café. We met an interesting Egyptian engineer who has lived virtually everywhere on the planet. After a lot more walking and random stopping we found the culture wheel that promotes smaller concert venues, puppet shows, old movies, and seminars…it had some really great prints of the White Desert as well as our future destination, Siwa. Then we stumbled into Mahandaseen where we peaked in some cute shops and surprisingly hip thrift store that had a furry hat I should have bought (dammit!). Then we passed the cab the address for Abu Tarek, which we got from the perfume guys we met during a previous adventure and ate delicious Koshary. And just when we thought we were done we saw a beacon of light…a neon sign declaring ‘STELLA’! Oh it’s the little things. We walked hopefully down the dark alley to be greeted by an incredibly loud Egyptian Bartenderess who led us into a dark room with music you could barely hear yourself think over and served us an icy cold Heineken…heaven! After a few beers, the locals asked to take pictures with us, which has become kind of the norm, but they were friendly and less weird than the creepy matron at school who is always insisting that I kiss her. After a few beers, Paul and I got antsy and were debating whether or not we wanted to kick it downtown for another few hours and wait for the clubs to pick up or head home. We ended up getting even more lost and decided it was time to break out the Vodka, bought a bottle of 7up and started walking again. This time we stopped at an outdoor café and smoked sheesha while we discussed my crazy roommates and kept drinking. Then, speak of the devils, my phone started blowing up and it was Faye telling us they were all headed to the Cairo Jazz Club. Sweet, exactly where we were headed! I hit up a fast food joint and put on my dancing shoes and we hit the rode again this time with a little more bounce in our step.

The Cairo Jazz Club is my favorite bar/club so far. I had been there one other time with Faye so she could see her new guy do his DJ thing. The place has decent music played at excruciatingly high levels which leaves your ears ringing. It’s the first place I’ve seen some people that remind me of home. The place is crawling with hipsters. I was getting a huge kick out of this guy sporting the tightest pair of yellow corduroys I’ve ever seen, topped with skinny suspenders, and white sunglasses breakin’ it down on the dance floor. Yay for funky fashion! Anyway, after a lot of wiggling and toe tapping, we hitched a ride back with friends. I slept like a baby. I guess that’s what 8 hours of walking and 4 hours of dancing will do to you. All together a good day.

So this is totally out of the flow of things, but I forgot (and how could I) to mention an interesting incident that occurred during our first few hours in Zamaleck. After we crossed the bridge over the Nile, went down to walk along the esplanade underneath and got stuck at the other end. We jumped the fence and ended up on a typical downtown street where we were greeted by an 8 year old kid asking for money. This is very common, they’re everywhere. You feel bad, but there’s just too many to give to them all. A typical response is a firm “La-a Shukran” (no thank you) which means they follow you for second hoping you’ll change your mind and then scamper off to someone else. This one however decides to pull out a teeny tiny knife to which Paul and I responded with surprise and slight amusement. He wasn’t very serious, but started waving it around. When an 8 year old starts waving a knife you realize that logic has nothing to do with it, and start getting a little nervous. I think he was just messing around at first, but once he got a whiff of “the fear” he got coy about it and started getting a little closer. A loud, “get back!” and a hand raise that’s says “I’ll smack the shit out of you kid” and he ran off. Totally random and weird. I was quite amused after and kept joking with Paul that he almost got jumped by an 8 year old.

So that’s my story for now. I really do plan on writing some interesting culture stuff, but I get distracted every time I come to the Café. Thanksgiving is this weekend and we’re planning on making a feast and inviting some fellow teachers. Happy Turkey Day!!!!