Still Learning Tricks in Cairo

Cairo is an incredible place. After being here for about 2 weeks now, we've learned some really handy tricks for survival in Cairo. Buying freshly squeezed fruit juice for about 25 cents a glass has become part of our daily, or nightly routine. Below is a picture of Tyrn pounding back some ice cold tamarind juice with pomegranate on deck. Thanks be to Josh for showing us this place.

We've spent lots of time wandering around the markets, which are everywhere, and amazing. In this one Kelsey and I are looking at some handmade pillow cases. We didn't end up buying because I'm too cheap, basically. We really like the black and white ones at the bottom, and we might go back to get them later.
Kelsey had a crazy attack of bites here. In this picture they've gone down quite a bit and she had them all up her arms and legs and on her FACE and back! At first we thought they were from fleas, but Dr. Marc says they're from mosquitos. Crazy African mosquitos! The bad spell of bites has ended and they're going down.



In university I learned about the Sufi subsect of Islam, and in particular their music and dancing. Of course the music is amazing, but doesn't catch well in a photo, so here are a couple of the dancing. This first guy spun in a circle for about half an hour and then when it was all over he stood still and bowed in 3 directions and walked offstage. I don't know how they do it.




Kelsey loves these lamps. They hang everywhere in Cairo, and are usually covered in a thick layer of smog, but still look beautiful, especially when lit up at night.

This is what most city streets look like. Notice that the pedestrians are mixed right in with the cars, which are always moving. Some of our taxi rides have felt like we were riding with Evil Keneivel but we have survived. The cabs are little decrepit clunkers that would never pass inspection in Canada, but they drive them like it's the Cairo Grand Prix every day.

Cairo should be famous for it's mannequins, because there are thousands and thousands of them. Almost all of them are blond and blue eyed, which is strange here. At night it looks kind of creepy with all of them staring out on to the grungy streets from their brightly lit ranks.

We saw this thing on a side street in a poorer section of Cairo. We think it's the predecessor to the Zipper. There were amazing things to see in this area, like furniture makers, cows, and underworked shoe polishers.

We took a couple of rides on the Nile in a sailboat with our friends. Great times!





This guy is making "Egyptian pancakes" at one of our favourite restaurants: Gad.
Mmmm, Gad is Good!

The drumming and the music here can't be resisted. I ended up buying one of these after some good shopping and bargaining. I love it! Unfortunately, I won't see it again until we get back because Josh is taking it back to Canada for me. Can't wait to show you how it sounds.




Last night we took a cruise on the Nile with Marc and Kylie, complete with buffet and belly dancing. This video goes out to Josh, who's also addicted to colour accent mode on his camera. We're also really excited to showcase our first video on the blog. Thanks Marc for showing me how to do it.



From here we're heading out into the desert with Marc and Kylie and likely won't be blogging until we find an oasis.

Ty