top 10s

It's now been nearly six weeks since my arrival, and I'm starting to form some impressions. (I know, I know, after everything I've said about suspending judgment here we go... but it's just to keep things light as the newness melts into reality).

10 things I love about Cairo
1. THE FRUIT!!!! (mangoes, melons, dates, bananas, pomegranate, tangerines, grapes, guava, figs...)
2. the delicious felafels, fresh pitas, stuffed grape leaves, hummus, and baba ganoug etc.
3. the Metro - both the grocery store and the subway
4. the support and affection of friends (up to four greeting kisses, lots of physicality)
5. the work!!
6. the balcony on our new flat (I'll share pictures when a friend and I move in next week)
7. the rich historical sights (now de-mysticized by urban sprawl)
8. the sunny heat (I love it... particularly as I know winter is approaching in Canada)
9. the cosmopolitan scene (arts, culture, restaurants, nightlife)
10. wireless internet (that allows me to skype family and post these ramblings)

10 things I don't love about life in Cairo
1. the occasional whistling/groping (that one time)
2. the air pollution
3. the zahmah - traffic congestion everywhere!
4. the inescapable dustiness of everything
5. the inevitable confusions/limitations that result from not speaking Arabic well yet
6. the 'finders fee' attached to a new flat
7. the taxi drivers' cigarette smoke blowing back on me
8. the fire crackers exploded in our ears, or setting off car alarms
9. the water quality!!
10. the lack of personal space living in a city of 20 million

10 things that make me laugh in Cairo
1. the hairy carpet on taxi dashboards (practical: they hide the dust)
2. the sing-song doorbells and horns
3. the unique elevators (there's a range from door-less to full-service with a button-pusher)
4. the basket system - dropping down your container when the vegetable seller comes around
5. the donkeys that get the right of way (because they won't stop for anything)
6. the Arabic phrases, yani, interspersed with English in conversations
7. the ridiculously cold a.c. that makes me prefer the +30 degree heat
8. the Western fast food chains that many Egyptian friends think are the cool place to take me
9. the incessant "Welcome to Egypt" foreigners always receive regardless of how long they have been here
10. the way my Egyptian friends call me darling or my baby (translating the affectionate 'Habibi' - my love)