taxi trauma

Maybe the car was overheating because of the fur dashboard cover.

It is a relief to know that the world supply of crapped out Ladas are not rusting in Russian landfills.  They are being used as taxis here in Egypt. The black and yellow crapboxes buzz around at high speed ignoring all laws governing traffic and physics.

My first taxi ride this week was informative.  Before that I had been walking in to traffic fearlessly believing that it was in the best interest of all motorists, including taxi drivers, not to hit me.  I was disabused of this notion during a hair rising taxi ride through the city. It seems that the general technique for dealing with moving obstructions is to maintain speed and aim for a clear space around it based on a calculation of their approximate speed. This may require a slight change in trajectory.

I am now much more hesitant crossing the street.  To be fair, we were warned on the first day to use the pedestrian underpasses when crossing one of the 3 major thoroughfares in the city (Apparently a judge would say we were asking to get hit and we would never be able to sue). I should have known that it was a little dangerous already at this point.

During the ride I also learned a few things about engine maintenance.  For example, a few plastic pop bottles filled with water can be used to prop open the hood of your car while driving to prevent your engine from overheating.  The water can then be used to fill the radiator at stop lights. So clever!

There are a few tuk tuks on the streets in my

neighbourhood.  Most are the standard yellow and black.  The owner of this jazzy number was very pleased with my interest in his vehicle.

getting settled

I have been sleeping on the living room sofa in front of the air conditioner thus far, but plan to buy a floor fan this weekend.  I think if I can direct the cool air in to the front bedroom it will make it more livable in the heat. I have decided on the wooden room because of its proximity to the air-conditioner, which leaves the fancy cream and gold princess suite for visitor.

Now I am cleaning and trying to unpack a little more. It took me a while to get over being creeped out by the cockroaches, but I haven’t seen one in days and have a plan for my next spray campaign.  I was so satisfied with my pest control prowess that the rodent poo in the kitchen cupboards actually caught me by surprise.  Bleach is also on my shopping list.

My washing machine still isn’t working, but it has more water trapped in it now than it did before.  An observation that would have proven helpful before I opened the door last night.

So- what to do about laundry? Every day after work I drag some of my shirts out on an adventure to find a drycleaner to press them.  As far as hobbies go I think this is a little like geocashing meets hot yoga. The increasingly complex set of directions from the Egyptian national at work who lives in my neighbourhood has been entertaining if not informative. An iron on the shopping list as well then.

My messy bedroom

The view out of my front door.  Not a drycleaner in sight.

digging the digs

So- the other story. I live on the ground floor of a 5 story apartment building in a very posh area of town.  The building (like every other building) has a doorman called a porter who watches over the building and serves as a building super and security guard. I have been told that he does not speak English, but he can say things like “OK?” and “One minute” which I think is excellent.

I have a nice sized 2 bedroom apartment with a living room, a dining room and one bathroom with a tub/shower combination-very western. There are 10 or 11 foot ceilings with deep plaster crown moulding and all of the walls are painted varying shades of white.  The floors are wood coloured ceramic tiles.

The furniture is comfortable and plain which is, I think, an indication that my landlord is also very westernized.  It certainly is very unusual as most living spaces here have very gaudy ornate red and gold furniture, or ornate floral velvets.  I was in a coworkers apartment yesterday and he has not one, but 2 dining sets that look like they were pulled from the set of a vampire movie.  

I will post photos if I figure out how.

Arrival

It was a 20 minute drive to the airport van service, 2 hour ride to Pearson, 3 hour wait for takeoff, 7 hour to Frankfurt, 2 hour stopover, 4 hour flight to Cairo….and voila! EGYPT. Easy-peasy. I did stand on the sidewalk for a few minutes outside the terminal waiting for the school principal to arrive, but I enjoyed getting to know the local taxi drivers a little better.  Not to keep you in suspense…I did not in fact want a ride from any of the 30 or so nice men that offered.

It turns out that at that time of night Alexandria is a 3.5 hour drive from the Cairo airport.  That translates to:

·         3 H&M’s(although I have been assured that there were many more I couldn’t see from the highway) and 1 Ikea (I have been assured that this is the only location in the country). 

·         For history and geography buffs- that’s 4 pyramids and one bridge over the Nile. 

·         For the rest of us that was 2 cars and 1 motorcycle headed the wrong way on the Alexandria bound side of an 8 lane divided highway.

Things have been very busy and structured so far. My apartment is great.  My roommates(cockroaches) have been evicted and now it is just me. More to come on my apartment, but I hope that this is the last you will hear about the other subject.