Day 2

Hi all-

Another big day in Cairo. The kids and I woke up at 11am (but getting better about the jetlag). I think Joe is mostly over the jetlag. He managed to get up at 8:30 and call to cancel the repairman. Wouldn’t you know that something else broke virtually the minute he hung up…oh well.

So the 2 well-intentioned parents drug their kids away from their “bunny castle” and “very important video games” to go exploring the neighborhood. It was around 12noon when we got out. It wasn’t a full block and Virginia was begging (whining) to go home. We were so irritated. I mean, here we are in Egypt and we are sitting in an apartment???? Aedan knew better than to whine but I could tell that Joe and I were the only ones on the same page about the exploring. Of course, we were going the completely wrong way. I have no idea why we can’t find ANYTHING here. I think I mentioned no street signs and you can’t exactly ask just anyone for directions for the language barrier. We ended up almost inside an Islamic School which was kind of neat. It was set up really different than an American school…all one big room. Maybe they were having an assembly or something.

Anyway, Jenine (the provost’s wife from yesterday’s post) came by and we walked to the “shopping district” of Road 9. It is only about a 10-15 minute walk from our apt and a nice walk at that. I was hoping to do more shopping. I was literally faint with hunger. I mean, we have rice here but I am too hot to cook it. We needed food.

I can’t really describe Road 9. Those of you familiar with DC might liken it to 8^th St or H Street (before gentrification). Parts of it were like Eastern Market. There are some vendors selling fruit and others selling vegetables (few sell both and all get miffed if you show up with a bag from another vendor so you have to kind of hide other purchases and they pretend not to see). There is an open-air rotisserie for chicken and lots of little food stands. There are antiques and wood carvers. It’s a little dirty though and pretty chaotic. I was surprised since this is supposedly the American Market. I mean, I didn’t see any other Americans there and there was nothing American about this market. Janine seemed to think it quiet and quaint. At least I think that is what she said over the roar of the outdoor subway and people screaming pleasantries at each other in Arabic. There was a little of everything there though…reminded me a bit of the beginning of Aladdin when the vendor has a table of kitchen items, then snake stuff, then finally lamps….I have no idea how they cram so much stuff into those shops. Peanuts tumbling after spices, followed by an odd iron and then hand crafted earrings. It was kind of cool though and I am excited to go back when I can poke around a bit. The only trouble is that I am not willing to take the kids unless I know where I am going and I don’t want to go alone. Since Joe and I don’t yet have anyone to watch the kids I have no idea when we are going to go and without going, I have no idea where I am going to get stuff, like toilet paper (such as it is) or toothpaste, etc. I guess we are going to either deal with the corner store (nice but pricey) or hire a car for the day to take us to Carrefour (the French Wal-Mart if you can believe it!). Still, I remember being overwhelmed early days in DC. I say to myself that it is so much different with the kids because Joe and I could literally live off almost nothing. Still, this is the next challenge for me….get to know Egyptian culture and Arabic well enough to feel comfortable in the “American shops”….something to aspire to in the next month or so.

Joe and I also realized that we do need a nanny/housekeeper or at least someone who can come a few days a week. As many of you know, we go back and forth on this. On the one hand, it is oppressive and just plain wrong that by accident of birth, I am able to hire a “servant”. I mean, a well-paid servant earns about $400 a year for full-time work. It doesn’t seem fair. On the other hand, we need help and they need money. The food packaging looks totally different here and there is almost no English. I have no idea what we are buying most of the time. Right now, we are living off airplane peanuts and goods supplied by the university but God forbid we actually need something. We want to try to get to know Egyptian culture but have no idea how to do so because we get lost right outside our front door. Babysitting is not even a concept here so it is unlikely that Joe and I will get time to go to his university functions without help. Bottom line: everyone has help. I am just not sure we are “everyone”.

I returned home heavy with heat exhaustion and a kilo of apples (sounds like a lot but it is about 5 apples) and cookies for the kids. I thanked Jenine profusely for her help. I mean, I never would have found Road 9 without her. She treated me to a few essentials that we need such as bug spray and a lesson about what to do when the power goes out. I thought about how nice she was and how lucky I was that she was so generous with her time.

I returned home to a message that my friend from yesterday (Maria) called inviting us to Maadi Club for dinner. We had planned an after-dinner cruise on the Nile (followed by a serious look for Starbucks) but thought this a better offer. I think I may have told you that Cairo has almost no public green space….like actually nowhere for the kids to play. I mean, no front yards, no concrete alleyways, nothing. At least in NY and DC there are rooftop decks, etc. Here…nothing except CAC and the Maadi Club. As Maria’s guests, we were allowed a look-see (6 hours worth). Maadi Club is much smaller than CAC but has a nice, clean, large playground and a decent pool. Depth was still 3 ½ feet but kids were allowed floatation devices, toys, and there were chairs for relaxing there. The kids swam for 2 hours and Aedan and their 6 year old became the best little buddies. It was really sweet since I still think of Aedan as having difficulty making friends. Anyway, we all had dinner at the Club. It was like the Denver Country Club in this way with good service and quickie grilled food outside (with a more diverse menu inside). Virginia asked for a hot dog which they actually had (pork and everything) and Aedan got some macaroni and cheese. I treated myself to a burger with cheese…the most protein I could eat in one sitting…my meals of pasta and cornflakes leaving me that carbohydrate empty-full feeling for too long. Joe had two beers with David, Maria’s husband. The kids ran around with all the other foreign nationals until the sun went down. It was a great night. Joe really wants to join the club. It is pricey but they do offer a temporary membership and I am thinking we will join. I am a tiny bit hesitant though. I know from my study abroad experience how easy it is to fall into the “keep life as it was in America” trap and never get outside your comfort zone. I am afraid I might be tempted to just walk and stay there all day rather than make myself learn Arabic and interact with real Egyptians. On the flip side, this is a big change for us and I realized today that I hadn’t seen the kids truly happy since we left the US. It was just so relaxing to be there. I wasn’t worried about the kids getting run over by a car or about the water they were drinking or about anything. I was relaxing with new friends and laughing about crazy things that happened in our days. Through this prism, I was able to laugh at my own insecurities and formulate a plan to start tomorrow anew. How much is this worth to me? How much do I push through to make myself soak up all that I can about Egypt?

Anyway, I’ll choose to take it for what it was…a great evening. Tomorrow we will start again. Perhaps we will find our way to some sort of market tomorrow and perhaps we will get lost again. Maybe we will make it to the Nile…surely we can find that J I guess I’ll just have to soak it in….this is why we arrived early.

Lots of love….

Ashley