One of the most useful and annoying tools I have found in Cairo is a list serve called Cairo Scholars. With over 2,000 members who can email the entire group at any time you can imagine the absolute stupidity and absolute usefulness of the group.
I asked for a collection of blogs because when I was traveling here I found it very hard to find up to date information about living in modern Cairo. The guide books are for tourists and most Google searches turn up information about all the old stone stuff.
Here are the blogs if you are interested in what some other ex-pat type people living in Cairo get up to. I don't know these people and the blogs were not vetted. Many of them are more political, have way better photos, and not nearly as snarky as mine.
www.omraneya.net
Aggregation of blogs on Egypt/by Egyptians in English and Arabic.
http://equivocus.livejournal.com
Written in Armenian or Russian.
Have you ever seen Armenian written? It looks so cool. There are also English posts.
www.ericincairo.blogspot.com
Chronicles adventures both in and outside of Egypt.
If you keep walking forward the balcony wraps around the side of the building.
One of the best things about the building is none of our neighbors are more than one story taller than us. One of the worst things about the building is the horribly loud mosque directly behind our balcony and the other mosque somewhere close. They cannot get their call to prayer times together, seriously it is supposed to all happen at one time and not 30 minutes apart.
Looking out from the living room. We are not responsible for the curtains or furniture. If either Jasmin or I were planning on being here more than 1-2 years we might change something, but this is not the case.
Let is be said that the vast majority of Egyptians have truly wonderful sense of humor. The proof, if you doubt, can be found in the website El Koshary.
The actual dish Koshary is the delicious carbohydrate filled street food made out two types of pasta, brown lentils, rice, chickpeas, fried onions, tomato sauce, garlic sauce, and a really hot sauce. Koshary is incredibly cheap and comes in massive servings.
I once got in a friendly argument about the root of the name Koshary. My friend held that it was derived from the Jewish/Hebrew tradition/word "Kosher." I claimed it was derived from the Arabic word meaning "random" or something similar to "grab bag." Like most people do these days we Googled it and my claim had the greater number of Google hits. If we had been betting money I would have walked away richer. We were not betting money and no one in Egypt I have met can give me a 100 percent translation. The recipe is said to have been created by ancient followers of the Coptic faith (Egyptian Orthodox Christians) to eat during their fasts, when they do not eat dairy, meat, or animal products.I don't think Koshary is Kosher. Not many Rabbi's on the street corners selling food in Cairo.
The actual food is not the point, but knowing Koshary means roughly "a jumble" and that it is dirt cheap street food gives the website's title a little more depth. Read and laugh.
This video is really accurate, thanks CNN. Although I never find it that dangerous. If you are curious this is also what many of the veiled women in Cairo look like, the anchor speaks really bad Arabic, and the streets are filled with crappy cars.
To watch the CNN video on Cairo Street Crossing click here please.
Which, if you think about it, is a pretty holy stomping ground. Moses hung out here, found the commandments on a "mountain" top (I use quotes because I walked up it and it is barely a mountain), he also parted the Red Sea (I am guessing near the Taba Hilton, its the thinnest part), and various other holy figures spent who knows how much time here.
But, what really matters is that I chilled on the beach for a nice long weekend. Our small group went to Kumkum 3 aka Bakraj 3 aka Three Tea pots in Hebrew and Arabic. The days were hot and sunny, the nights were breezy and filled with random guitars and songs, and the sea was calm and cool. There are more adjectives to use and better ways to describe it, but ass usual I am at a loss. I was lazy about photos too because...
a) I tried really hard to use film
b) I have been to Kumkum 3 before, pictorial evidence here
The whole Sinai was full. Every camp was booked with Israelis, Egyptians, and a random spattering of Western and European foreigners. America was horribly underrepresented! Come on USA get it together and get to the Sinai. Its like Mexico only slightly more awesome (this is my personal and uninformed opinion I have only been to Mexico once and speak no Spanish). I was trying to celebrate the re-birthday of Jesus, wrong crowd for that humor I guess. Not my fault few people have a religious sense of humor.
The completely ironic thing is that I spent the weekend chilling, serious chilling, deep deep sea chilling, with all kinds of people. Then I wake up to go to work on Tuesday, flip on BBC news (mistake maybe?) and see that Israeli is blowing up Gaza, Palestine is thinking about declaring a state, more floods are happening, Egypt is cracking down on hash (everyone in the city is a little on edge-seriously), and generally the world is falling apart.
Ahh, I whine, I complain, I say the same stuff over and over. But man, the same problems keep happening and no solutions. Maybe the time is ripe for new chat about it all. Specifically, I am looking for people who want to chat about investing in a submarine You think I am joking. I am not. Dead serious. I believe in all 2012 hype. I can't tell you why or the logic behind it all. I like to think that I don't seem like a wacko up in the mountains who is scared of cell phones and sees green men, but to much stuff is happening and not far enough apart for something to not be going on.
