After the whirlwind trip to the USA I returned back to Cairo to keep working at Square Cube Communications and keep living in Heliopolis. Well, those two things are over! I have moved down to Maadi and in with Ayman. Life simplified a great deal with one cross-town move. I am now closer to most of my friends, closer to Ayman, across the street from one of the best restaurants in Cairo (Cellar Door Bistro), two blocks away from the metro and living in an incredibly pleasant home.
Then at the beginning of October Anastasia came to visit. Luckily I had a vacation and we went out to the Sinai. Of all the people I have wanted to show the Sinia to Anastasia was number one. We stayed at the Good Life, got a little tan and chilled out. Then we went back to Cairo and I went back to work. Ana did some epic tourist activities with the help of Chrissie and a few solo. We went out together at night. Not everyone I wanted her to meet was around and I was stuck at work during the day, but she caught a glimpse of my life here. One of the best things about sister visits is that Anastasia takes amazing pictures, all the photos below were taken by her.
Red wall at the Good Life :)
Daily Nescafe
Side street downtown on the way to check out the Townhouse Gallery
A gaggle of ladies alongside the Nile
How many dirty kitties can you see?
Anastasia walking through Khan El Khalili alley ways
While Anastasia was here I interviewed and was hired for a new job. Yes, another new job. Why you may ask? Despite the correct job title and initial interest in the work my daily activity had slowed to a standstill. The account I was hired for was drying up and there was little English work to be done. In short I was being wasted and was so board I wanted to cry everyday.
I now work at Rania’s Corner, a concept boutique. We sell high-end furniture, clothing knick-knacks, jewelry and other fun things. I manage the shop and assist Rania with what ever comes up. So far I love it. We had a fun event this week, a jewelry showcase. Plus, the customers are amazing people, the environment is fun, I get to wear better clothes and I am actually being used. Even if all that was not true my new commute would make the change worthwhile.
Compare:
Old work: 30 plus pounds in cab rides daily, wait at a gross gas station, drive through around two hours of nasty traffic both ways, and arrive at workplace in a not so developed new development.
New work: Two pounds daily-plus coffee, nice walk to nearby metro station, about an hour and half both ways, metro allows for ipod listening and reading, exercise in the form of walking to and from stations, pleasant scenery and necessities nearby. WINNER!!!!
Winning at life-Anastasia and Faye.
In other news Chrissie and I launched a business. Cairo Cocktails, please become our friend on facebook. After being here for a while the two of us noticed a real gap in the service and quality of bartending at events and parties. Either you pay a ton to import fancy shmancy folks from Europe or you are stuck with cheap local bartenders who do not drink and make martinis with Martini and Rossi over ice. We are somewhere inbetween. We have great experience in customer service, bartending, are professional and passionate about bringing real cocktails to Cairo. We work with a host to prepare a specialized cocktail menu, make our own syrup infusions and have gotten a few gigs so far.
Plus, Chrissie is a networking queen and has found a few other excellent Americans with bartending experience to help us out. Hopefully we can really get things going and have more fun. People in general are enthusiastic about the idea and really supportive. We got a great write up in Quintessentially, a concierge service found in almost every major city around the world.
Jimmy and Ramez at their camp.
So life in Cairo goes well and I am fairly happy. We just had a big long vacation. I went back to the Sinai with Cairo friends and Fran (from UW-Madison), who was teaching in Tanzania and now traveling with her friend Jeffrey. They will be eating Thanksgiving Day dinner with us tonight. Yeah, life sounds pretty good right?
Far far away in the Middle East/North Africa there is a girl…
Faye, who has very many things, people and places to be thankful for. She is thankful for a family who makes her feel loved enough to do crazy stuff and takes their time and money to come visit (all of them now!), thankful for friends in Cairo who make this crazy city feel like home, thankful for business partners/best friends who put up with her, thankful for a new roommate who made his house her home and thankful for this big crazy beautiful, strange and loving world.
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