Hi all-
Today marks one week in Cairo and what a week it has been. Already we have made a few friends, sort of learned our way around (well, not really) and joined a couple of local clubs.
Since I last wrote, the kids and I joined the CSA (Community Services Association) which gives us privileges to basically borrow English-language books and DVDs, sign Virginia up for ballet class, and just generally hang out at the coffee shop (with wifi!). We also bit the bullet and got a 2 month membership to the Maadi House which we are really liking. Aedan is working towards passing his swim test (25 m swim followed by 1 minute treading water in the deep end followed by an 8 ft dive to retrieve a penny from the bottom). Virginia can now swim half a lap unassisted. We have found someone who will give them swim lessons but Aedan seems not to need them now (following his friends around has improved his swimming markedly) and Virginia probably needs a little more time to adjust to her surroundings. There are a lot of very well educated expat spouses here that are bored (must not have young kids!) and give lessons in almost anything for almost nothing. It is great! For example, the swim teacher is a pediatrician whose wife is head of the USAID office here. He can’t technically practice medicine in Egypt so is giving swim lessons (he was a member of the US National team apparently) here. Pretty cool, huh?
We’ve begun to understand some of the local customs. For example, we know what the heck that guy hanging around the door of our apt building does. He is called a Boab and in exchange for free housing for his family, he guards the entrance to our building, picks up our trash to give to the Coptics to sort and sell, and runs errands for us. Egyptians treat him (and all Boabs) terribly yelling at him to fetch this and fetch that. The thinking that is that he was born into a lower caste-like and therefore he is there to serve them. With relief, I have noticed that even the Americans here who have “gone native” do not treat people this way. Pretty crazy.
We are starting to get used to the traffic and that cars (not pedestrians) have the right of way. We had a close call with Aedan who was a little far away from us. I shrieked bloody murder and the cab did swerve away from him. Ugh! Ever since then, Aedan stays close and our guardian angel is taking a well-deserved rest.
We are starting to learn the littlest bit of Arabic. I know the numbers and the names of a few things we need. Joe knows another few. I plan to kick it into gear in the next few days. Honestly, I have to get better at Arabic. Even the people that speak English well can hardly speak English. Cultural concepts are hard too…like when you tell a waiter “can you please bring my check…no rush”, he doesn’t understand “no rush”. He will literally run to serve you. Anyway, a couple more phrases would go a long way although I have to say that Aedan still leads the family in sensing the right thing to do and then telling us what to do (like “mom give him a tip” or “mom, the taxi driver wants us to show them on a map where we want to go”
I am also starting to get exactly what I should pay for stuff….everywhere it is “as you wish”. So like I go to buy a coke at the stand in front of my house and I ask the price (unmarked) and he says “as you wish”. I mean, I have no idea how much a coke costs here. It turns out…about 1LE (18cents) which is great because it is cold and in the glass bottle and you get to drink it with a bunch of people laughing and have a great time (even though you have no idea what they are talking about). Still, the whole pricing thing can be frustrating because there are certainly expectations and those seem to vary from vendor to vendor. Who (in the family) should negotiate also varies from vendor to vendor. Some vendors will not deal with a woman whatsoever unless I am alone with the kids (no choice for them). Some vendors give me a much better price than Joe. Sometimes it is better to say that you live here (because they don’t think you are a tourist and won’t rip you off) and sometimes it is better to be a tourist. Unbelievably, most resorts here give you 50% off rates if you are an Egyptian resident (which Joe will be in Sept). You who come to visit will benefit from his steep discount and we plan to do our Egypt travelling with you then! All said, the pricing stuff is confusing but I am making a list of suggestions and things that have worked and haven’t worked. It is good to have a working knowledge so you don’t offend anyone or pay too much.
I made an Egyptian friend a few days ago…we locked ourselves out of our apt (long story) but luckily Jenine was there to help. Cairo is so easy if you know who to call and she knew who to call. Anyway, she took Joe and the kids to Road 9 to get some chicken (fresh kill and roast-thought the kids would puke but Virginia loved it! Maybe she is a farm girl at heart?) and I waited for the locksmith. I was killing some time so I went to get an $0.18 coke and pick up a bit of Arabic (probably “why does this American hang out here all the time?”) and wandered into Hemi’s shop. Hemi is an Egyptian man who studied 4 years at AUC and did 1 year at University of Phoenix (I thought this was online school but he said he was in Phoenix???). He has lots of Virginia (the state, not the girl) memorabilia up in his store which interested me. Anyway, his English was comparatively good and he said that “he give best price” to my family and friends that come to visit. Anyway, we chatted several times and he invited Aedan to play him in chess. He basically hangs out in a store the size of our old living room (big for Cairo) or under the tree drinking an $0.18 coke. Despite being open from 10am past midnight (Cairo hours), he probably has only a few customers a week. This is typical of shopowners. They seem to get bored and are eager to make your acquaintance. They will keep you in there forever with chatting and there is absolutely no pressure to buy. Really. It is hard to believe but it is totally different here. I thought about what’s in it for them….but I think this is a very American concept. On the one hand, if I need tourist stuff, I will buy from Hemi because I am comfortable in his shop and I know his merchandise. On the other hand, I feel like we mutually like each other so even if I am not buying, I am welcome. Tomorrow, Aedan and I are bringing him sweet tea and he is making us Egyptian tea. He told Aedan “I am best in Egypt at tea and chess” so of course, Aedan couldn’t resist the challenge J Just another custom that we are getting used too….this one I actually like. Egyptians LOVE kids. Everywhere I go people just beam at them and want to touch them and hold them. I thought it was because they were American but there are a lot of Americans in Cairo and Egyptians do it with their own kids too. Very cool. Well maybe a bit annoying at the supermarket when the cashier plays peekaboo with Virginia for like 10 minutes while our cab was outside honking but still, very cool.
We went on our first sailboat down the Nile today. It was really awesome and for the price ($3 cab ride round trip and $10 for long boat ride), I feel like I want to go often. We saw the sun set over the Nile and it was remarkable. I’ll let the pictures tell the story….
I am off to watch College Road Trip with Joe which we rented from CSA. Aedan got Justice League and Virginia got Barney’s Christmas…so the usual choices here. J
Tomorrow Virginia and I have a playdate with some friends and Aedan, of course, has his chess game with Hemi.
Love,
Ashley
PS Pictures of Aedan’s school and Nile cruise coming tomorrow!
