Ahlan from Cairo!

It has taken much longer than I would have liked to get this thing up and running but Mom, you were right, I sure did leave my computer power cord at the apartment. oops. So far Egypt has been amazing! The trip here was interesting. I flew first class on Air France which was insane. I was planning on getting to hear English until I got to Cairo but silly me...on Air France they speak French! Which I apparently remember much less of than I should. Sahibi and I made it through security just fine and on to the plane without any complications. The trip to Paris was 8 hours and kitty was amazingly well behaved. We tried to give him benadryl to knock him out but he didn't want any part of it. Didn't seem to need it though. I took him to the bathroom on the plane a few times so he could at least stand up and realize he was better off in the carrier because he was TERRIFIED of not being in it. hahaha. Service on Air France is unbelievable. Dinner was four courses! First a tiny little appetizer (appertif? is that right?) and wine. then a salad and lobster. LOBSTER! (and more wine) then a choice of 3 main courses (i had red snapper with Japanese vegetables) with more wine then a cheese plate and then dessert and wine! it was insane! i fell into a nice food/wine coma for about 4 hours after. We arrived in Paris at about 8am. There we were supposed to have a 7 hr layover that turned into a 10 hr layover due to tehnical issues on the plane. That was definitely the worst part. I slept in the lounge for most of the time but Sahibi was NOT happy. Every hour or so he would start meowing and trying to get out. Definitely made me feel like a horrible cat mom. But alas...we made it. The 4 hr trip from Paris to Cairo was a breeze. We both slept the whole way.

Since we didn't get into Cairo until after 11pm we were one of only 2 flights in the airport. I got my visa and made it through customs really fast. No one seemed to notice or care that I had a cat with me so that was good. Luckily they had carts (free ones) so I was able to load my 4 bags onto one. As most of you know this was my biggest fear....that I wasn't going to be able to lug my crap to a cab. So I got all my bags and went outside with the cart to find a ride home. The cab driver led me to believe he knew where I was going based on the address but that was apparently far from the truth. Thank God for Dina Shalash. I called her from the cab and she was able to give him directions. Not that that stopped him form stopping 3 times to ask for directions. Get this . . . .we stopped a McDonald's delivery driver. That's right. They have McDonald's delivery drivers who cart Big macs around on red and yellow mopeds. WHAT?! Anywho, we finally made it here, he helped me carry my bags to the door and the door guy helped me lug them all upstairs. I made it to the apartment around 3:30 am went to sleep and didn't wake up until 4:30 PM the next day!!! WHAT?! Guess I needed it...

Sarah and Dina have a friend, Theo, who lives a few blocks away. He is from Urbana and was tasked with keeping me together and entertained until Sarah gets back hahahaha. I had some issues getting my phone card to work so it was a but dramatic but he finally made his way over here yesterday evening. We went to dinner at a little delicious Lebanese place and I quickly began to remember why I love Cairo. After dinner we went to meet friends of his at a bar downtown. We walked past Tahrir Square to get there which was amazing. There are still tents set up and people speaking late into the night. I definitely teared up a bit and got goose bumps. (impressive when its like 100 degrees.) It was amazing to be in this place that I have followed from so far away for so long.

This morning I woke up determined to not stay in the apartment all day. My Arabic is a joke and so it is pretty difficult for me to get cabs, etc. But I decided to give it a go. This morning I walked to the grocery store and stocked up (Apple Fanta! Ive missed you so!!!) I left my computer power cord at home and my laptop was almost dead so i knew i needed to find an apple store. I found one fairly close to here so I grabbed my English-Arabic dictionary and ventured out into the unknown hahaha. There is a HUGE super western fancy mall called City Stars not too far from me. So i hailed a cab said "city stars?" got the "OK" nod and i was off. this mall was INSANE. Ive never seen something so huge. i had to go through a metal detector and my bag thru an x-ray just to get in! i wandered around and found the apple store and got my charger. i was happy to see that i can get my western shopping fix here though. they had starbucks, longchamp, moscato, tons and tons of high end stores mixed in with more Egyptian places. there is also a food court with Carls Jr, KFC, Pizza Hut and some other disappointing showings from the U.S.

So now here I am...emailing you all on my charged laptop drinking Apple Fanta and watching "Last Holiday" on Egyptian TV. I think I am going to be just fine here. I feel empowered, liberated and just honestly really proud of myself for getting out there today. It wasn't easy but it felt good. I haven't stopped smiling since I got out of my cab and up to my apartment.

Im off now to "shower" and go to dinner with my knight in shining armour, Theo. (the shower is a shower head connected in the sink. no tub or separate shower space. you literally just stand in the bathroom and shower and then squeegee the water down the drain in the floor. fun stuff.) My phone situation is still a bit sketchy so as soon as i figure out what my phone number is I will let you all know!!!!

I love you all and am so thankful to be surrounded by such amazing people. Please send the link to this blog to anyone you think may be interested!

love from cairo,

martha