Okay, it's official. I now live in the ghetto. I was talking to a Czech friend the other day, telling him that I was going to be moving soon. He asked me where I was going to be living. When I told him his eyes got really big and he said, "that's the ghetto!"
Although when you think about it, it's not really that big a difference from where I was living back in Oregon. I was showing a friend a couple of weeks ago where I used to live on Google maps. I don't think it had ever quite registered before that I was living in a trailer next to the woods. It was just home. But when someone describes it like that, it just sounds worse. :)
But don't worry. I'm not actually in a seedy neighborhood or anything like that. It's a place where most of my friends live, and it's actually a pretty cool community. It just looks a little run down from the outside. I just went and changed the locks an hour ago or so. I'm getting enough stuff from the old flat for one trip tonight, then will move the rest of my stuff tomorrow. I'll try to get some pictures of the new place posted in the next day or two.
Oh, funny thing. Midnight seems like a perfectly reasonable time to move here in Egypt. It's the only time of day that it's cool enough to carry large amounts of stuff! :)
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Finally saw it!
Hey guys,
I saw something today that I'd heard about since I got here, but hadn't actually seen before. Apparently whenever someone opens a new store or buys a new car, they slaughter a sheep and smear the blood on the front of the shop or car. I came down from my flat today and was walking down the street. I saw a guy mopping up what I thought was a huge puddle on the sidewalk. Then I got a little closer and realized that it was a puddle of blood. Then I saw the dead sheep on the sidewalk and the bloody handprints on the front of a new shoe store.
We had some friends from Cairo down for a visit this weekend. It was a great time. A bunch of guys staying in our flat. But I think one of them took my phone charger when they went home. I was trying to charge my phone today and couldn't find my charger. So, I went and bought another one. I went into a phone store and asked for a charger. They guy told me it was 45 pounds (about 8 dollars). I asked him if there was another kind, because I didn't want to pay that much for it. He said no, so I told him no thanks and started walking out of the store. He called me back as I was leaving and told me that he had another one for 15 pounds (about 2 1/2 dollars). I bought it, and it works just fine. It's funny, it seems like the only way to get a good deal here is to walk away.
I think I might be moving soon. I met a friend tonight who told me that one of his relatives has a flat in another part of town. It would be about 75 dollars a month cheaper, and much closer to where all of our friends live. I'm planning to go look at the place tomorrow. So who knows, the nomad may be moving again soon. Lets see, this would make six homes in the last twelve months (Salem, Norfolk, Maadi, Hadayek El Maadi, Siqala, and maybe the next one). Strange, huh?
Okay, I'm going to sleep. It's getting late and I've got to wake up way too soon. Nite nite . . .
I saw something today that I'd heard about since I got here, but hadn't actually seen before. Apparently whenever someone opens a new store or buys a new car, they slaughter a sheep and smear the blood on the front of the shop or car. I came down from my flat today and was walking down the street. I saw a guy mopping up what I thought was a huge puddle on the sidewalk. Then I got a little closer and realized that it was a puddle of blood. Then I saw the dead sheep on the sidewalk and the bloody handprints on the front of a new shoe store.
We had some friends from Cairo down for a visit this weekend. It was a great time. A bunch of guys staying in our flat. But I think one of them took my phone charger when they went home. I was trying to charge my phone today and couldn't find my charger. So, I went and bought another one. I went into a phone store and asked for a charger. They guy told me it was 45 pounds (about 8 dollars). I asked him if there was another kind, because I didn't want to pay that much for it. He said no, so I told him no thanks and started walking out of the store. He called me back as I was leaving and told me that he had another one for 15 pounds (about 2 1/2 dollars). I bought it, and it works just fine. It's funny, it seems like the only way to get a good deal here is to walk away.
I think I might be moving soon. I met a friend tonight who told me that one of his relatives has a flat in another part of town. It would be about 75 dollars a month cheaper, and much closer to where all of our friends live. I'm planning to go look at the place tomorrow. So who knows, the nomad may be moving again soon. Lets see, this would make six homes in the last twelve months (Salem, Norfolk, Maadi, Hadayek El Maadi, Siqala, and maybe the next one). Strange, huh?
Okay, I'm going to sleep. It's getting late and I've got to wake up way too soon. Nite nite . . .
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