It's 11:30 pm here in Cairo

5:30 in NYC.

Most of us have arrived; we had dinner together in the hotel restaurant. It was a salad of chopped tomatoes, cukes and onions, some horrible supposedly cream of chicken soup, some really overdone sliced beef, roasted potatoes, and veggies, and something that may have been an Egyptian form of tapioca pudding with golden raisins in it.
After dinner, we went to walk along the river (geography buff here didn't realize we were walking along the Nile, because I didn't realie the Nile flowed through Cairo). Crossing the street in Cairo is amazing. There are no stoplights or stop signs, and only some bus drivers will stop for you. Otherwise, it's like a game of chicken. Not for the faint of heart.

We went to some place called Bim Bon or something. The group, I think, wanted drinks, but this place didn't serve alcohol. Most folk got some kind of smoothie; I wanted a tonic water. I think Peter got some babaganoush; there wasn't any hummous, so I got some calamari. Was surprised to see them come in strips instead of rings, and they were served with tartar sauce. There was apparantly some confusion about the tonic water. The menu said tonic soda, and they had to clarify that. Then the guy came back and tried to have a conversation about it, but neither of us understood the other. I thought he was going off to get my tonic water. Long story short, at the end of the night I got a club soda.

On the walk back, we went past a bunch of sheep or goats in front of a halal slaughterhouse. I was gonna take a picture, but the guy wanted a dollar. I know I coulda taken it anyway, but decided that instead I'd post about how everybody in the world is just out to get your dollars.

People like to play the "I don't have change" game, and that's fine; I just won't do business with you. There's a little bodega beside the hotel; I got a bag of chips, 2 yogurts, and a 1.5 liter bottle of water for 6 Egyptian pounds, or just over 1 dollar. (There's 5.7 Egyptian Pounds to the dollar right now). Compare that to the $1.00 per bottle we paid the driver for the 16 ounce bottles on the way here. We did that because the guide told us it was cheaper to buy from the driver than in the hotel.

The shop in the lobby sells oils. I actually want to get some oil and alabaster; there was a scent called Cleopatra that really spoke to me. Not sure how I'm going to lug it all through Egypt and Israel, though. We're suppozed to go to the bazaar tomorrow. There will be an opportunity to buy lots of stuff. I brought dollars instead of opting for the ATM; people seem to be giving me a fair exchange rate so far (except for the not having change issue), so I think I'll stick with that.

One of the things that happens for me is the overcommercialization of tourism just turns me off. If everyone on every corner is simply trying to make a buck, it sorta takes the allure away and makes me not want to spend any money. I want some papyrii and some souvenirs from the Sphinx and the pyramids, but I'm here less than a day and just Soooo not feeling that hustle thing.

I met some guy in the store who started talking to me. He wanted to give me his business card, he said, so would I just come around the corner with him. I walked a minute with him, but one block became another and another -- I wasn't afraid for my safety so much (even though I had my camera out with me) as I was just resentful at somebody trying to play me. So I turned around and came back to the hotel. Too bad. I coulda used a hookup for shopping. I mean, you know you're gonna get played a little bit, but come on, Dude -- what, I'm spozed to walk into a strange neighborhood with you? I know I'm an American and all, but we're still from the African diaspora. Get real.

I'm listening to CNN and wondering how the elections will go. I got that, and some cartoon channel that has some cartoons in English. There's a Bloomberg Channel and a Pentagon channel. There's also an Al-Jazeera channel, that I hear is in English.

Should be an interesting few days.

Pics from today are here:


Tomorrow we're off to the pyramids and the Egyptian Museum.