Life As I See It - From Egypt

Necessities and Niceties in Egypt

November 13th Today, for sure, Linda and I are going out to get my phone chip and do some shopping. The driver is to pick me up at 10:45a. This is the driver who took Ron and me around when we were here the first time, so at least I will recognize him. I go outside around 10:40a. It is now 11:00a. That’s okay, time is not exact here. I wait some more. Finally, about 11:15a Mosin arrives. Ron had given him the address of 82 Canal Street, and our address is 92 Canal Street. Talk about adding confusion to chaos! Anyway, we pick up Linda and are off to the Mobinil store. Getting the chip and 25 Egyptian pounds put on the card was a piece of cake. Then I find the chip will not work in a US phone. Well, at least I have the chip and on my way I go. Maybe Ron’s office will have an extra, unused phone to put the chip into. If not, phone shopping!! We go to the CarreFour store. It is French owned and is a competitor of Target. So, picture the biggest Target you’ve ever been in and then double it. It is attached to a large mall. Upon first entering I spy ***STARBUCK’S***. Fortunately Linda is a Brit who loves coffee and this is our first stop. Since it is lunch time, we eat there too. Wonderfully delicious. Now we are sustained and can enter the melee of shoppers in the CarreFour. I need innumerable items but first on my list is a coffee pot and then a hair dryer. They have many expensive items out and about, but the hair dryers are kept under lock and key and must be paid for separately. Go figure. I found most things on my list easily. Some of the brands I could recognize from the company logos, such as Laughing Cow Cheese or Post cereal. Many items are labeled in Arabic and English, but not all. They do take credit cards here and that is a huge advantage. Many places outside of the major tourist shopping areas do not, and cash is required. We check out, load up and quickly arrive back at the apartment. Having a driver is awesome from the standpoint that he always knows where he is going. No, he knows how to GET where he is going; there is a difference! First shopping extravaganza completed and no longer starving…. AND, a coffee pot!! It is Thursday evening, the equivalent of Friday night in the states. Ron heard about a restaurant called El Sid so that’s where we go. The ambiance was everything you would conjure up in your mind about an evening meal in Egypt. Dimmed, mostly sconce lighting; heavily plastered walls, intricately tiled floors; dark wood round tables with huge, beautifully painted, spinning metal trays in the middle of each table. Arabic music, very relaxed atmosphere. The food was great – veal with carrots and potatoes and onions and rice. They have shisha here… the flavored tobacco that is inhaled via a hookah (a water pipe). They bring out burning coals periodically to keep the tobacco burning. I have not tried this yet. But I might, just to say I have! J It is extremely common here… not so much with the women, as you can imagine. But you see the men sitting around in coffee shops smoking shisha all the time. The actual pipes can be beautiful.. some are works of art. I will find one and take a picture to send.

posted by Teresa @ 6:55 AM