I have adapted quickly to the change of pace in Egypt. At home I was used to things being very quiet (except for the normal kids noises). But here there is a lot of family interaction, not to mention the non-stop activity in the streets. I’m pretty comfortable with the traffic now. Driving in Egypt is a little chaotic, but the drivers seem to understand some type of protocol that is followed making for relatively safe roads. I'm not too great at crossing big streets but I’m getting there. There are no crosswalks or pedestrian lights, or right of way for that matter. You just have to go and dodge all the cars (normal speed in these areas is very slow due to the high volume of pedestrians, so it’s pretty safe).
I have found car seats and strollers to be pretty much useless here. We don’t have a car so we either walk or take the bus and the sidewalks and stores/markets are not designed for easy stroller access, so I’ve found it best to just leave it all behind. When I wanted to use the car seats on the airplane, everyone looked at me like I was crazy and it took me 20 minutes to explain to the crew what they were and their function.
The flight was pretty easy. It was 10 hours, not counting our 3 hour drive to NY and 5 hours waiting in the airport because the flight was delayed. We arrived in Cairo around noon the next day and were greeted by Mohamed, Mariam and Ahmed (Ahmed’s brother, sister and nephew). We then took a van from Cairo to Alexandria—another 4 hours. I enjoyed seeing Cairo but it got dark before we left the city so I didn’t get to see much, I look forward to going back, but not for a while. Here are a few of the pictures over the last week, I will post more later and some on facebook.
Karim and his cousin Ahmed in the van from Cairo to Alexandria
Cairo
Roqaya and Ahmed’s Uncle Saleh
Me and baby Hashim (nephew)
Karim and Uncle Mohamed (his favorite person I think, because he looks just like Baba)
Roqaya and her cousin Habibah (they are one year apart but almost the same size)
Having some ice cream by the pier in Alexandria (with the yellow car, Karim’s second favorite thing)
The Mediterranean is in the background, but it was dark
Our special dinner on Friday—barbequed fish, crabs, and salad—delicious!
Karim waiting impatiently at his school before seeing the headmaster on Monday
Karim and his Uncle Mohamed having some sugar cane juice—the juice stands are everywhere, like Starbucks in America, and they’re always packed. So far we’ve had sugar cane juice and mango juice, both were very good
The market where we went to buy Karim’s shoes and bag for school. It was hard to get a good shot because it was dark, but it was packed with people and cars and shops
Rules in Egypt are very different, there are no real laws for driving and no one uses car seats—most cars don’t have seat belts. We let Karim ‘drive’ down the small street where our apartment is, just like my dad used to do with us :)
This is the front of out building. Egyptians don’t put a lot into outward appearance, most buildings are brown like this with minimal design. The inside looks much better than the outside. I saw some buildings that looked fancy from the outside but was told the apartments inside were no good.
Ok, that’s all for now…
