Daily Views

Friends and family have asked what my commute is like. Well, we ride in a nice, air-conditioned , 20-seater van.
It's really bumpy and the driving here is crazy...





Here are some photos of what I see each morning.


As over populated as this city is, I don't understand why there are all these half-built buildings. Tons of people sleep in makeshift, cardboard houses, while brick and cement highrises sit, unused. On some buildings, construction seems to have haulted several years ago, never to resume, and new construction starts up all the time. It's weird. Someone told me it may be because of a law that allows the government to take your land if something hasn't been built in a certain amount of time?




































This humongo billboard advertises a swanky new development that will maybe be built one day, in the luxurious middle of nowhere.






Here's where we turn off the main road and head down the street to our campus. That big tower and the wall around it has something to do with some police training campus.

That teeny van is the type we ride in. The sand actually looks kind of pretty here. It doesn't seem as colorful in "real life".


Fascinating stuff, I know.

Feild Trip Frenzy

The Wissa Wassa Community Invaded by 8th Graders

This small community was started by one man who hoped to keep alive the art of traditional Egyptain weaving and batik fabric painting. The people were very gentle, humble and gracious.

We got a tour of the grounds and their museum, which documents the history of the village and the crafts they expertly make by hand.






I'm guessing the palm shoots are put to some use? I was lucky enough to get a video of the man climbing the tall palm tree. I'll post it on my youtube site for those that are interested. It was amazing! Just a rope around his waist and his strong legs and he was at the top in about 5 seconds.













There were 3 small children checking us out, the oldest of which was quite bold. I took his picture with my digital camera and showed him the image. He seemed quite pleased with the results and starting pushing various buttons, with a big smile on his face. One of my students spotted us, and grabbed up my camera saying, "Here Ms. Maxwell, let me take your picture with him. He probably thinks you're a ghost because you're so white."
Thanks Majd.































































































































This was just inside the entrance to the museum. They had photos depicting the history as well as examples of various types of weaving and batiking. The largest woven piece took three years to complete.

The highlight of the morning (besides being called ghostly white)? A student came up to me and said, "Ms. Maxwell, there's an example of perspective and proportion! The ducks are really big in the front and the buildings are really small in the back."
Moments like that help me make it through. God bless 'em.

Felucca with ma n deb

After the sweaty, sunny trip around the pyramids we grabbed some lunch and ate during a relaxing felucca ride. Lunch consisited of some sandwhiches from an egyptian fast food joint, (fallafel or tamaya as egyptians call it, and fool sandwhiches will set you back about 20cents each). And we threw in some adult beverages from "Drinkies" as well. That's about as good as it gets here in Egypt. It was a perfect afternoon.

Pyramids n Camels

Of course, one of the most coveted spots for any foreigner visiting Egypt is "the pyramids". I doubt the camels and horses get very excited about our visits though. My first time (with my father as my readers may recall) I fretted and mumbled about the poor horse pulling our carriage the entire trip. Somehow, this time I felt less sorry for camels. They looked less stressed.

Here, notice our expert riders: such form! such confidence!

My mother threatened my life several times for even suggesting this adventure in the first place. But later, both auntie and ma admitted it was a piece of cake once you got used to it.




It was neat checking out the camels, up close and personal. Their big, blinking eyes are so beautiful. And their awkwardly moving, crookidy legs and padded feet. cool cool.

My mother was a bit less impressed (afraid, really) since Debby's camel kept tail-gating her camel, curiously sticking its face right up against my mom's thigh, looking up and blinking.
















and what a dismount! beautifully done!

Khan el Khalili with the ladies

Not too long ago I told you guys how much I enjoyed my visit to Khan El Khalili with a friend/coworker.

When I found out that my aunt and mother were visiting Egypt, I thought, "they've gotta see this place!" Khan El Khalili is so unlike anything I've ever experienced.

We went on a Sunday evening, the day it's supposedly closed. Off day or not, this outdoor market is always bustling, and the fact that it was less busy than usual was probably a good thing. They were shocked enough as it was.

Here, in this first photo, my peeps were admiring the arabic logos printed on the soda bottles when I asked them to pose next to what I gather is a wool shop.

Pictured next is a typical little shop: small and packed full of interesting objects.

There's something about the spice shops that intrigues me: the jars, the bright colors, the old scale for weighing. I would include the exotic smells, but rarely do I notice spice scents. My nose is already overwhelmed by the trademark scent of Egypt: wet mud (the nile?), freshly baked bread, a dash of urine and loads of exhaust.

Mom and Aunt Debby, Arrive in Egypt

I'm so impressed with these two. They survived a full day of travel to get to me, and then once here they remained open minded and full of curiosity. It's so much to digest in a few days, but they were pros by the end. I knew they had crossed over to comfortable when they knew the money well enough to be outraged by a 12 LE candy bar... or when making it both in and OUT of the subway turnstile.

I can't believe how much we crammed into each day, without feeling like we were cramming a thing (well, maybe once or twice). So I'll start from the beginning.

DAY ONE --
By the time they got through customs, passport control and waited on their no-show luggage, it was 1:30 pm. And because their checked bags were delayed indefinitely, shopping for clothes, rather than a relaxing felucca sail along the Nile, was the first order of business. We piled into my friend Mohamed's taxi and Aunt Debby jokingly asked, "What, you ain't got a Wal-Mart here?" and Mohamed replied, "No, The Grand Mall." But Debby, having a hard time with his Egyptian accent and with all the background noise of the street, clarifies at full volume, "What? The store is called "The Granma's?"

Oh my!!! I don't think I've laughed that hard since I arrived in Egypt!! "the grand mall"... "the grandma's"... And because my Mom couldn't hear from the backseat, I repeated it for her and we started laughing all over again!!! I think the fact that Mohamed found it funny made it even better.

So, they found clothes and headed back to my apartment, on busy Road 9. My plan was to show them a bit of the neighborhood while walking to exchange their dollars into egyptian pounds. Look at the photo above, not even 10 minutes after leaving my apt, and they already have purchases dangling from their arms. :) In their defense, this friendly gentleman and his tidy shop were hard to resist. And the prices are so reasonable in Egypt, everything seems like a bargain.


Here we are posing on my smoggy balcony. The view usually clears up by late afternoon when all the polution dissapates. Then later, it builds again from the downtown rush-hour, starting the whole smelly mess over again.


After the money exchange, we walked to Abu Said's, an upscale egyptian restaurant. We sat outside, enjoying the delicious food and the occasional wiff of strawberry-scented, second-hand shisha smoke. Shisha pipes are similar to hooka pipes, and very popular here. I often see groups of men gathered near the side of the street, having tea and shisha late into the night, sometimes gathered around a small TV or radio, cheering over a soccer match.

Just the little bit of walking around Road 9 and shopping at "Grandma's" gave them a pretty good idea of Egyptian culture and prepared them for the next few days.

We had a fantastically fun five day holiday!
Thanks for coming ladies!