Egypt!

We have arrived in Cairo! It is hot, bright, and full of interesting colors. And, it is a mess. That doesn’t mean I don’t like it, but that is the overwhelming impression I have gotten from being here so far. Messy! But great :).

We are staying in a friend’s apartment in what is definitely a “real” part of Cairo. Unfortunately, right before we came our friend was riding a microbus (a very cheap form of local transport that basically is an ancient metal bus that they have gutted and cram as many people as possible into it) when it got into an accident and he was pinned between the bus and the street. His whole back is road rash, ripped completely raw, and he has broken at least one hip and possibly his pelvis too (I don’t completely understand the exact details). We went to see him in a very dirty (looking, it is probably sanitary, I hope) public hospital. The surgery to repair his hips etc sounds horrific- the doctors are going to rebreak his hips/pelvis and then screw it back together with metal screws attached to a frame. Then after four weeks they will open him back up and take them out, and after he heals he will have to learn to walk again. That is how I understand it anyway, its hard not being able to speak Arabic. He seems to be a really wonderful person, and I have heard really good things about him. He is about the same age as Gabe and I are, and it was really sad to meet him for the first time while he is lying in an old metal hospital bed that looks like it should have been recycled in 1970. We are getting to know his friends and family though, and hopefully our being here at this difficult time will be a blessing for them and not an added burden.

We are also learning a lot about Egyptian style construction at the moment, because we are helping to remodel the apartment in return for staying here. Having grown up with a Dad who owns his own construction business, I feel I know enough to say that I think if there were an earthquake here the entire city of Cairo would crumble to the ground. Luckily they don’t have earthquakes very often. The building is a concrete frame, five stories tall, with one apartment on each floor. The walls are made out of sun-dried bricks made of red earth and straw, with concrete over them. I am not sure who lives on the bottom floor, our friend and his family live on the 2nd floor, we are staying on the 3rd, our friend’s brother’s family lives on the 4th, and on the 5th they keep their goats, chickens, sheep…I’m not sure how many animals live up there. On top of the fifth floor they are adding more bricks to add more stories, even though the concrete frame doesn’t go up that high. There is a bunch of very interesting cactus plants up there on the roof as well as the usual layer of dusty, sandy grit that covers everything. We are currently working together with another man who we know from Germany to redo the kitchen and the bathroom. We are smashing the tiles from the walls with a hammer and chisel, which is hard because they used concrete to stick the tiles directly onto the bricks the make up the walls, and it tends to take a lot of brick off with it. Then we have to repair the wall as best we can with more cement before we put new tiles up from floor to ceiling, with concrete again because ‘that’s how its done in Egypt.’ When we are done with that we are moving the toilet from the shower room into the next room, and putting in a counter top, as well as making a kitchen in one corner basically from scratch…yea I think you get the idea. Luckily the room we are staying in has a door, and luckily Anthony (our friend from Germany) knows what he’s doing. There is also good food for sale for .35 cents a bowl downstairs that is both relatively healthy and filling. We are really very very grateful to have such amazing friends here and to have this place to stay. The construction work is also fun!

Soon we will be meeting with more people who will help us get connected with other people who will help us find some teaching jobs. This culture takes a lot of patience, because everything revolves around relationships and friendships instead of schedules. It is very different and is taking some getting used to, but it is also a nice way to live. The people matter, conversation and friendships are real, and time can go by without too much stress over it. Especially since people here go to bed between 3 and 4 am and get up around 11 am. Good place to be a night owl!