moving day again

The contract on my apartment was up yesterday (July 1), so that means the last few days have been a blur of packing and moving. I am now relocated to a few floors below me, staying with some friends (actually, many friends: several other guests in addition to me mean that there are currently six people staying in three bedrooms and on a couch).

Leaving the apartment was a little bittersweet. I know my landlord (well, I suppose he is more like the manager, but he is the one who collects the rent and who I deal with), Mr. Adil, likes me because I speak Arabic and am nicer to him than other roommates who shall remain nameless (or, in this case, initial-less). He calls me "Miss Leeza" and said he was sad I was leaving (I said I was sad as well...even leaving the landlord is hard!). We kept the apartment in good shape (and with considerably more stuff than it came with), and he told me that he would keep the rent at the same level if we wanted to stay (we can't), or if we knew someone else who wanted the place (we don't). When he came to collect the keys, he was teasing us and joking. Initially he said to me "enti mushkila" (you're a problem), and when I got mock-offended he smiled and said, "la', ana araf. Naas kwayyesin, naas kwayyesin." ("No, I know. Good people, good people.") Saying someone is from good people is a very high compliment in Egypt, so that made me really happy. the building I live in is famous for having lots of foreigners and some people feel it is not an "authentic" Egyptian experience, but I have really enjoyed living there.

Packing was interesting: I have been trying to avoid needing to ship a package home, and luckily I was able to ditch some stuff here. I am donating some things to a local refugee service in Cairo (serving mostly Sudanese, Somali, Ethiopian and Iraqi refugees, I believe), and threw away some other things. Let's just say that Cairo's dusty streets, a lack of paved sidewalks and many other things have conspired to kill all but 1 1/2 pairs of my jeans, and nearly all my shoes. I get a pedicure, and by the end of the week my feet are gross again. Suffice it to say that some things were not even worth donating. So I have one large suitcase containing winter clothing, sweatshirts and other items I will not be needing in the next three weeks, and I intend to leave it closed and ready to go. The other one I am living out of, in addition to a duffel bag that I can use for travel. Hopefully this foresight will also make it easier (and faster) to actually pack when it is time for me to leave in three weeks.

Today was my last day of work. I have been saying goodbye to people this week, and although I am looking forward to the traveling I am doing in the next few weeks, I am still sad to leave. I helped select my replacement and feel that I am leaving the magazine I edit in good hands, and I guess that helps, but not a lot. I have begun applying for jobs back in the US already, and am hoping to at least have a few interviews lined up for when I go back. In the meantime, I guess this means that, freelance work aside, I am temporarily unemployed as of 6 pm tonight. Uh-oh!

and then i got locked in the bathroom

Here's an embarrassing/funny story about something that happened to me yesterday. First, you should know that my apartment, though I love it, has (or rather, had) a distinct doorknob problem, in that many of them were missing. Actually, not missing; it's not like we had them and then lost them, it's that we rent an apartment with a doorknob deficit. We could have gotten them fixed, but...we're lazy. Or we kept forgetting, either way. Anyway, the missing ones included the outside doorknob to the bathroom (solution: when you exit, leave the door open behind you so the next person can get in. This was never a problem for us), and the inside part of the front door. I know you're thinking that if we had no way to open the door from the inside it would be difficult to exit the apartment, but A2 is quite handy and he made a makeshift doorknob out of tape and maybe something else (don't ask), and it has been working fine for almost four months.

So yesterday morning I took a shower before going to work. As I went to exit the bathroom, the remaining doorknob (the one on the inside of the bathroom door) literally broke off in my hand. And if you'll recall, there is no doorknob on the outside, meaning it would be tricky for someone to come let me out. Problem. I tried to fix/reattach, but McGuyver I am not, and it didn't really work. Luckily, there is a small window above the shower that opens into a small courtyard-ish thing, where other apartments also have bathroom windows. Sometimes we can hear other people chatting or the radio, etc.

I opened the window, and then realized that I have no idea how to say "help" in Arabic. It's up there with useful words I should have learned, like "fork" or "towel" but never did. Anyway, I managed to get out, "Hello, is anyone there? I have a problem. I am in the bathroom and the door won't open." Someone heard, asked which apartment I was in, and said she would send up security. Sure enough, I soon heard someone ringing the front doorbell repeatedly. The following conversation then took place:

Me: That's the right apartment, I hear the doorbell.
Girl upstairs: Why don't you go let him in?
Me: ....stuck in the bathroom. Can't get out.
Girl upstairs: Oh right. And you can't get out at all?
Me: No. That's why I need help.
Girl upstairs: Can you call the police?
Me: I don't have a phone in the bathroom. And I would rather not.
Girl upstairs: OK, one minute. [Yells in Arabic with someone else for a minute.] We will get a locksmith. Wait there.
Me: Still not going anywhere.

Anyway, there is a locksmith on the first floor of my building. So they must have gone to get him, and soon after that he came up, unscrewed the lock on the front door, and came and rescued me from the bathroom. After sharing a nice laugh with the very amused bowab (doorman) who accompanied him, they went ahead and replaced all the doorknobs that were missing/broken. Total time spent locked in bathroom: about 30 minutes. I am not too traumatized, and on the bright side we now have all working doorknobs in our apartment. For now.

january is boring

For some reason, Egypt has the best fruits and vegetables in the winter. You can't really find things out of season like you can in the US, so sometimes you just can't get certain produce. Metro (the market we go to) has a small but mostly reliable section, so things like onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, apples and bananas are available year-round. But ever since I got back from traveling in January, they have magical things like avocados, strawberries (we have been buying these by the kilo), mandarins/clementines, and more.

This might not sound all that exciting to you, but this comes from shopping at a supermarket where finding tortillas, refrigerated milk or basil are causes for celebration. Normally when someone cooks they make enough for multiple people, operating under the assumption that someone else will show up to help eat. Or that if you are too tired/lazy/etc. to cook you can show up at someone else's place and be fed. Or sometimes just make plans to cook together. So we all tend to buy more or less similar things, just because there is not a huge selection. Anyway, there's not a whole lot of opportunity to branch out, which is why more choices make me happy. Also, they had tortillas, which I don't think I have seen since I got here (please see earlier complaints about finding Mexican food), so that was pretty exciting also.

In other news, this past weekend, A1, A2 and I finally inaugurated (see what I did there?) our apartment with a belated housewarming party. We had a fun theme of Hollywood/Bollywood (Cairo loves a good themed party), and overall had a good time being good host/esses. It was a good excuse to have everyone over because, let's face it... January is boring.

and now for a weather report

I am in love with my space heater. It keeps my room warm and toasty and makes comforting noises and everyone is jealous. Winter in Cairo is not really so bad, especially compared to Chicago. On a good day I can still wear flip-flops, and on a windy day a fleece and scarf are a good idea. But no extra-puffy down jackets, no snow (not even any rain, so far), and definitely no below-zero temperatures (even in Celsius!).

The main problem I guess is that because the winters are mild, almost no buildings are heated. That might not seem like such a big deal, but it essentially means that the temperatures outside stays the same inside. So if it's a cold day (or more likely, a cold night), there isn't really anywhere to go and warm up. In Chicago it was freezing outside, but when you came inside it would be nice and warm and you could start shedding layers. But in Cairo, if it's cold outside then it's cold inside also. My apartment's large living room/dining room/reception area gets particularly chilly -- we have been wrapping ourselves in blankets while watching TV. And so that is why I love my space heater -- just when I think I can't escape the cold, I just crawl into bed directly in front of the heater. Glorious.

In other appliance news, A1 brought a George Foreman grill for us back from the US. Extremely exciting. I have made grilled cheese several times already. We still don't have a microwave, but small steps. We've survived without one until now, but who knows -- it could still happen.

the internets have arrived!

I am writing this post from (drumroll please....) MY APARTMENT! Where I finally have internet! Internet that is actually an account that my roommates and I purchased and own legitimately! Victory!

I have been living here for six months and this is the first time I have had internet at home. If you told me when I was graduating that I was about to go without internet at home for six months, I would have laughed...and then panicked. But truth be told, it was a lot easier to adjust to than I thought. Most evenings I am out and about anyway, and I sit in front of a computer all day so not checking my e-mail at night is just not a big deal. Plus, life here in Cairo is pretty chilled out, so I don't really have many emergency e-mails that need immediate attention. I suppose I just feel much less internet-dependent than I used to be, though I am sure that will all change now that I have a connection again.

Which means, fans of blog, that you can now reach me in my very own home and not just during my work hours. Contact me via e-mail and I will pass along my AIM and skype names so we can plan video chats and skype dates and whatnot. Just let me know and I will be glad to arrange a time with you.

i love globalization

This has been a very productive week (and weekend?) for me. In addition to many getting settled things (see below), I also went to a fun party on a yacht on the Nile Friday night. They had a dance floor on the upper deck, and there was a nice breeze, and overall it was just really nice.

On Friday during the day I went to an AIESEC event, which was basically a welcome day for all the new members. They held it at the Sakkara Palm Club, which had a lovely pool and horseback riding and things like that. We used a big conference/meeting room, and the day also included a nice lunch. It was nice for me to see the AIESECers I know and also meet some other interns. Apparently there are like six interns who all work at the same place, so we exchanged numbers and hopefully will hang out.

This day was also nice because I enjoyed some of the AIESEC 101, like when they explained all the acronyms to the new members. AIESEC loves acronyms.

Trivia time! Did you know:
1. The GN (growth network) I am in is called MENA (Middle East and North Africa)
2. My LC (local committee) is CU (Cairo University)
3. I am an EP (exchange participant), though I skipped several steps in the AIESEC process, like I2A (initiation to AIESEC), TR (taking responsibility) and having an LR (leadership role)
4. If I want to help plan a conference, I could be on the OC (organizing committee), where I would work with the X (exchange) function to plan events for the interns and other AIESECers

Plus, in addition to the acronym explanation section (which was totally necessary as you can see), they also taught several role calls (I think I might hold off on those for now...) and had awkward ice breakers. I love awkward ice breakers. I think that's one of the main reasons I became a peer advisor in college.

The apartment is finally starting to look awesome. We have hung up some posters and arranged our books in a cool bookshelf-y way, not to mention some furniture rearranging and whatnot. To pick up a lot of apartment-related things we needed, we went to Spinneys (no, there is no apostrophe, and yes, that kills me) at City Stars. Spinneys is sort of like a Wal-Mart or K-Mart, in that they have appliances and cheap clothing in the same place as a large supermarket, but they still don't have quite as much variety as you might hope for.

Still, A1 and I spent a great deal of time just wandering through the aisles with our cart and admiring all the shininess. Bath mats! Cotton balls! Croissants! We were just so happy to be in a familiar environment and surrounded by Western products that we were overall just basking in the glow of globalization. And then we bought some truly unfortunate potholders that have pictures of ice cream on them, and also a spatula, tupperware, and various other things. I will try to post some apartment photos later this week.

Also, I heard (actually, read on The Daily's site) that Northwestern won the Homecoming game this weekend, meaning our record is 6-1 and we are bowl-eligible. Of course this would all happen after I graduate, but still, even in Egypt I can't help but feel a little NU pride.

where, oh where, is my absentee ballot?

The living situation has officially been finalized! A2 will move in with A1 and I, which we are excited about because he is a friend, and now we don't have to go through the trouble of screening someone from Cairo Scholars. Also, because we all have the same first initial we can now come up with a catchy name for the apartment. For example, I am pushing for "A-Team," because then we can make Mr. T jokes such as "I pity the fool who doesn't come hang out with us." But I bet my friends have more taste than I do, so I will probably be outvoted.

Other exciting things also happened! The magazine I edit celebrated its 10-year anniversary last week, so we had a big party at the Swiss Club. My boss really went all out, including hors d'oeuvres (I definitely spelled that wrong), an open bar, a live band and a DJ. It was basically a huge expat party, because that's pretty much the target audience for us, and it was cool because I actually knew a bunch of people. Plus I got to bring a lot of my friends, so that was fun as well.

Then another friend was working for a company that was sponsoring a bar opening downtown, so he invited all of us to come. Their theme for the opening was "baladi," the Egyptian word meaning "local," though it is often used in a derogatory way to mean low-class. We tend to use it to describe things that are very typical Egyptian. Anyway, this could not have been more appropriate for this bar, as it was located in a baladi downtown location surrounded by 'ahwas, they served baladi food (aka street food like kofta, ta'ameya, hummous, pita, samboussa), played baladi music, had baladi entertainment (i.e. bellydancers) and gave out baladi souvenirs (scarves and cymbals for the ladies, fez for the men). Overall, it was ridiculously over-the-top Egyptian in a fun way, plus they also had an open bar so we stuck around and had a good time.

A1 and I also decided this week that we could use a little pampering, and luckily that's cheap enough in Egypt. We went to a salon in Mohanessin not far from where I work, a place called Twins. It was just for women, though some of the hairdressers were men. It was not so much a place to get hair cut as it is to get styled -- upper class women just come in to get all done up for a big evening out. It's not a salon as you would think of one -- basically, you come and tell them what you want, and then you sit around chatting in folding chairs and people come to you. The facial-hair-removal operatives are mobile with their eyebrow threaders and mirrors, then you scoot over and the manicure-pedicure come around with large tubs of water for the feet and baskets of nail polish so you can choose your colors. We were just going to get our nails done, but on a whim decided to get our hair straightened as well.

The few times in America that I have attempted to get straight hair, it's always been an ordeal. If it was friends wielding straighteners it could take hours, and it was at the hairdresser it involved complicated products and multiple helpers. This was the easiest thing ever: all the women have thick, curly hair like mine, so it doesn't faze them at all. You just say curly or straight, they blow it out and then start styling. Mine took about an hour, which is the fastest ever. This could have been due to the hardcore straighteners they use, which are literally heated over an open flame. Then they came over to do my nails while I was getting the hair straightened (is that efficient or what?), so I felt like I was in that part of Miss Congeniality where Sandra Bullock is getting the makeover in the warehouse (aka best scene ever). Cost of everything together (manicure, pedicure, eyebrows, hair straightening): LE 80, or about $15. Awesome.

On a more serious note, I have been getting worried because I sent away for my absentee ballot more than a month ago (like seriously, in the beginning of September) and still have not received it. Nice job, state of New Jersey. According to all the other expats I know also freaking out over late ballots, I have other options. If I get it late, FedEx will mail it express back to the states FOR FREE (awesome!), and if I never get it then I can go to the U.S. Embassy and fill in an emergency write-in ballot (officially referred to as a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot, or FWAB), which they will mail in for me. I think this way I would not get to vote for the NJ stuff, but since I have not really lived in NJ for more than four years and don't plan to be back in the near future, I suppose that doesn't matter as much. I would prefer to send in my regular ballot, but if it doesn't come (I'm giving it one more week before I just go to the U.S. Embassy), at least I can still vote.

apartment!

I got a new apartment! It's very exciting -- A1 and I will be residing in a 3-bedroom apartment in Zamalek (of course), with a 3rd roommate we have not found yet. It is in the building we wanted, which is a pretty perfect location. Some of our other friends also live in this building and across the street from it, so that was a big point in its favor. Also, there are lots of shops on the ground floor of the building, including a 24-hour dry cleaner and a 24-hour market called Metro, which I suppose is the closest thing Cairo has to ShopRite/Jewel/Publix, etc. Lots of great stuff is across the street or just down the block (Cilantro and Coffee Bean, which are two great cafes, and also some good restaurants and a place to get more cell phone minutes, etc.). We are high up, so we have a Nile view (awesome); it's rather spacious, so while the furniture is not amazing, overall we think the apartment has a lot of potential.

The apartment hunt last week was kind of miserable and soul-crushing, so I am just really relieved that the whole ordeal is over. We signed a lease through the end of June, which is when my position here ends, so that actually works out really nicely. We have planned some trips to Khan el-Khaleli to get stuff to decorate, so when it looks all nice and pretty I will post some photos. The landlord said he would get us internet in like two weeks-ish, so hopefully I will soon be able to Skype with everyone. Start reserving time slots now!

We're going to be making an extra effort to get internet this time around because this apartment is more long term, so it's worth investing in. Also, we're a bit more motivated since we can't rely on internet cafes anymore. It used to be that I could just bring my computer to a cafe, order a tea and then use the internet for free. But now all these chains have started charging for internet, and I am cheap. This is like how you now have to pay for internet in Starbucks and Barnes and Noble. Why go there when it's free elsewhere? There is one really good place in Zamalek called Cafe Arabica that still has free internet (and also really delicious fiteer and smoothies), but it's not as convenient. We'd much rather have it in our house, for obvious reasons, so hopefully we will be making that happen in the very near future.

Over the weekend it was my friend H's birthday, so he threw a big party at the British Club. Photos will be up on Facebook soon-ish, hopefully. I had also planned to start packing for the move, but that never really happened since my procrastination skills are truly spectacular. Instead, I will probably pack today and move my stuff in tonight and tomorrow.

The reason there is a rush to move in the next few days is that this weekend is Eid, a holiday that comes at the end of Ramadan, and I would like to be moved in before then. I am going away with a big group of friends (like 15 people I think) to Wadi Natrun, a small desert town between Cairo and Alex. We will be staying at a Bedouin-style eco-lodge, which also has horseback riding and a pool, and food is included as it's a sort of all-inclusive thing. And we are staying in huts. Apparently some of my friends have stayed there before and said it was really cool. I'm really looking forward to the days off, and just to having a relaxing vacation with my friends.

In other news: the first issue that I was mostly in charge of will be out next week, so I look forward to seeing copies of it around Cairo. Plus working on another freelance article, and have potentially found another magazine to write for. A friend of mine who writes a column for our site recently got a promotion at the magazine she works for, so I think she is going to let me do some writing for her magazine -- a little exchange, if you will. So job stuff looks like it's going well.

Otherwise, this week is Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish new year (5769, but who's counting?). I will hopefully be going to services at the Israeli embassy in Cairo. It's a little sad not to be at home or at Hillel, but I guess it's all part of the adventure of living in Egypt.

hunting season

I spent a lot of time this weekend apartment hunting, and let me just say that I did not miss this particular activity at all. After more people needed to move around than originally thought (it's a long story), we ended up re-doing the housing situation a little, so M and H will move in with our friend K, and I will move in with A1. We know how much we want to spend and where we want to live (Zamalek is a must), so now all we have to do is...find something.

We are not overly picky, and I think our apartment wish-list is pretty reasonable.
1. mattresses (some beds come with these cot-like things...gross)
2. washing machine (there are plenty of dry cleaners in Cairo, but laundromats -- not so much)
3. air conditioning (last week in september and it is still 90+ every day. my friends claim it gets cold in the winter, but I'll believe it when I see it. and besides, I'm here through June and don't plan to move again, so it will just get hot all over again)

This does not seem unreasonable. We have called several simsars (rental agents), and some seem significantly less shady than others. One of them yesterday informed us that he had no 2-bedrooms in our price range, and then took us to see one that was about 2000 pounds over our price limit (that's like $400, also known as a ridiculous amount of money in Cairo). When we refused to pay anything near that and went to leave, he suddenly "remembered" that he actually did have something in our price range. Ohhhhh. Seeing more apartments tonight (after a company-sponsored iftar, aka FREE dinner!), so keep your fingers crossed for me.