What would you do if it was 100 degrees?

You would do what I did and buy a membership to the Marriott Hotel pool, which is three blocks away. It was pure luxury.

Oh, you might also grab a couple some lotion samples from the locker room in case your landlady comes around again looking for a lotion fix.

Happy Birthday Cyrus!

Today Cyrus turned 31 years old! Once again we were apart on his birthday. But I promise you, Cyrus, that when we return I will take you to dinner at The Boathouse.

What a Guy!

Early this morning my friend Guy left Cairo and returned to New York to be with his girls - wife Advah, baby Miya, and dog Emma. Guy is one of Cyrus's cohorts in the political science department. He was in Cairo for three weeks doing research for his dissertation on the origins of the social security system in Egypt. He had some very successful meetings and interviewed some really interesting people.

With Guy left some of the only hugs that I have received since I arrived in Cairo. It was nice having a friend here to eat fried fish with, especially someone as sweet as Guy. Above is picture of him enjoying some Molikhaya - yes, I said enjoying!

Safe travels Guys and kiss your girls for me!

Tea v. Tequila

Today, my sister Kaitlin is heading off to Mexico. She is doing an eight week study on midwives in Oaxaca. Why does she get to go to Mexico for tequila and tacos, while I'm stuck in Cairo with tea and molikhaya (aka:camel snot soup)?

Have a safe trip Kait. And for God's sake don't eat the cerviche!

Dinner with my Landlady

Today I finally went to my landlady's, Omahhamada, for dinner. She has been calling me almost daily begging me to come visit her. Of course, she does not speak any English expect for "How are you?" and "Bye Bye." As you can imagine, our conversations are very limited and center mostly around food and family. Beyond that, I have no clue what she is saying. As far as I know, I probably bought a car from her today or agreed to get her a visa.

Omahhamada is a rather large, nosy, intense woman who wears a full black hijad. She reminds me very much of my grandmother, Jojo - minus the hijab. I say that affectionately of course. Although she does have a disabled hand, unlike my Jojo. Her hand, of course, did not hinder her from ripping apart a whole fish and eating the whole thing, including the bones. A disabled hand would not have hindered my Jojo either. She did a lot of sucking as well(again, just like my Jojo). She strongly encouraged me to eat the bones too. I considered the fact that if I choked on any of the bones, she probably would not know how to give me the Heimlich, so I tried my best not to eat them.

Her adult daughter who lives in the building also came up to say hello. The two of us connected over her new MP3/telephone with camera. I safely left after a two hour visit.

At this time I would like to thank my Persian family. They have trained me well in how to say "no, I couldn't possibly eat another thing," which one usually has to be repeat at least three times. This lesson, among others, served me well today.

Candy Cane Couches in Cairo

Here is a preview of my apartment in Cairo. My landlady put on the candy cane slip-covers after I moved in to make the apartment more comfortable. She was very proud of them. I would post other pictures of the apartment, but I'm afraid they might end up in some snuff film. Let's just say the apartment is pretty tired.