Djoser pyramid in Saqqara

On Saturday we went to Saqqara, Egypt to visit Djoser pyramid and some tombs in the area of the pyramid. Djoser pyramid is for King Djoser and is often just referred to as Saqqara. It is a step pyramid and is the first pyramid to be constructed in Egypt in approximately 2600 B.C. The guidebook says that it also represents one of the largest and most complex monuments in Egypt. It was a 45 minute drive from Maadi, on the west side of the Nile River. We learned from our fabulous guide Abdu that the east side of the Nile was for living and the west side for the dead. (The sun rises and sets.) Thus all ancient monuments are on the west side. We live less than a mile (on the east side) of the Nile, which is sounds so exotic to me. I grew up next to the Ohio river in Louisville and now I'm living next to the Nile!
 
The more widely recognized pyramids in Egypt are in Giza, which is just across the Nile and north a bit from Maadi. The Giza pyramids are the towering ones with smooth sides that you mostly see in advertisements. We are not allowed in Giza right now so those pyramids are on our list of things to see.
 
The Djoser pyramid is a 40-acre complex that is being slowly uncovered. Excavations first began in 1975 but funds are limited and I think most work has stopped for now. The pyramid has always visible but now there are tombs and walkways and walls and rooms that you can walk through and see. It was so interesting because there are most likely many more tombs and things to be discovered. There was a great little museum on site as well with really fabulous things that had been excavated.
 
We had a wonderful driver and guide named Abdu. He is Egyptian and an historian and we learned so much from him. He liked to ask serious questions concerning the pyramids (the construction or why something was a certain way) and if we got the answer right he owed us a coca-cola. If we didn't get the answer then we owed him. I am happy to report that Dave and I are both owed a coca-cola from Abdu!
 
The funny part was the bedouins with the camels and donkeys. These lovely people make their living by selling things to tourists and because tourism has practically disappeared in Egypt they can barely afford to make a living. They also make their living by putting Arabian clothing on tourists, helping them onto camels, and heaving kids and men onto donkeys! We went with a lovely young couple named Hannah and Jeremy Mitchell. Hannah had never been on a camel so she got on first. I decided to join her. You have to have the proper head covering for such adventures and they quickly dressed us up.  Dave and Jeremy had no intention of camel or donkey riding and were hanging around taking photos. These men are FAST--before Dave knew it he too was wearing Arabian headwear AND a bedouin robe. Without waiting a second the men picked Dave up and hoisted him onto a donkey. Then the same thing happened to Jeremy. It was so funny. Everyone was so good natured about it.

We are standing outside the entrance to the pyramid. The photo below is taken from the Internet and shows the pyramid and entry way and walls. I think Abdu said that the wall would  have surrounded the pyramid.



Photo from the Internet showing the pyramid and the entrance. 

My photo of Djoser pyramid. The scaffolding is for repair work from an earthquake several years ago. I knew they had earthquakes here! That's why I won't live in an apartment building. I have seen how they are constructed.

He's so cute!! It was quite an experience when he stood up (and sat down). I think I squeezed the breath out of Hannah!

All of this was covered by sand until 1975 when discovery began. These are the walls of administrative buildings. Tons of pottery shards around--from nearly 5000 years ago!

Artwork on the walls of Maya Temple. We walked into this temple and the walls were amazing. We could touch this art from thousands of years ago (but we didn't).

Walking down into the Maya Temple (or could be Horemheb necropolis, rats I'm confused).

We are walking down a road/walkway that was used only for the king and his doctor that led to Memphis. Originally it had decorated walls and ceiling.

Entrance to a tomb. It's one of three places and I will figure it out: Maya temple, Horemheb necropolis, or Ti tomb.

 

Hannah and our helpers. The men were so nice. The guy in light blue has my hat on; we switched headgear.

Dave is hilarious and Jeremy is too! The camel was so uncomfortable and I read that's because you are essentially sitting on their spine. I could barely hang on.

Cobra sculptures on the wall.

A baby cobra.

Abdu feeding the feral dogs. I was surprised how many dogs there were out there. More dogs than people! I have become afraid of them. One or two of these poor things had flies all over them.

 

Some Egyptian food and I saw real clouds today

I'm a little funny about having things delivered because I'm not comfortable with strangers at my door. Here in Cairo everything can be delivered--you can order ONE tablet of aspirin from a pharmacy and they will deliver it--so I need to get over that. I decided to order dinner from Cairo Kitchen because Tuesday's special is an eggplant/ground beef casserole dish that I LOVE. I called at 5:03 and it arrived at 5:22. While ordering the guy asked me if I wanted the family size of eggplant or the individual. I have always walked there and been given the individual so I said family size. Three of them please cause I like to stock up. When he told me that my order would be 403 LE ($57) I thought "oops." Probably going to have a lot of the eggplant. And I do! I have three very large bowls of my favorite eggplant/beef dish and I am very happy.

Dinner from Cairo Kitchen. Front left is a traditional Egyptian dish called Koshary (spelled a variety of ways) which has an interesting history. To the right is the delicious eggplant/ground beef dish in the family size container. Behind these dishes is a baked chicken, which are small here. Rice on the left for eggplant.

Bad photo of Koshary (and upside down also but don't know how to fix that). It's mostly rice and noodles with lentils, garbanzo beans, and fried onions on top. Some come with a tomato sauce mixed in and some come with the sauce on the side. I actually like the koshary from Tom and Basals better than Cairo Kitchen.

Here is a description of koshary: "Kushari originated in the mid-19th century, during a time when Egypt was a multi-cultural country and the economy was booming. The lower-class' usually limited pantry became full with a myriad of ingredients: lentils, rice, pasta, chickpeas, tomato sauce, onions, garlic, oil, etc. At the end of the month, families would usually have a little left of everything, so families would use it up by putting it all together into a tasty, moreish dish. The pioneer that first put this dish together is unknown, but the popularity of this "end of the month" dish spread like wildfire between workers and laborers. It may be prepared at home or served at roadside stalls and restaurants all over Egypt; some restaurants specialize in kushari to the exclusion of other dishes, while others feature it as an item among many. It is most usually a vegetarian dish"

Clouds
It is hot in Cairo, 90+ every day with relentless sunshine. Although the sun shines the sky commonly has a yellowish tint to it from the dust and pollution. Its late September and I'm tired of the heat. I was thrilled today when I walked out of my physio appointment and it was just a bit cooler, windy, and cloudy!! It felt like the edge had been taken off the summer. I took a photo of course because I was so happy. The clouds didn't last but it was a nice break from the routine. The locals say that it's unusually hot for now but I think it's like the southern US--it can be hot until November. Who knows.


Real clouds. Not murky smog and dust. I might be overreacting and will discover that this is normal for the fall. But it was so lovely.

 

Cars, taxis, minibuses, bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, donkey carts, expat SUVs, small delivery vans, and this. I don't know what this little vehicle is but I've been trying to get a photo of one since I arrived. It looks like it's from India and has three wheels. 



I've seen ones festooned with all kinds of trinkets and ribbons and stuff. So cute!

 

 

 

Our crazy adventure in finding a house

Just as there are no rules for driving in Cairo there appears to be no rules for renting a house either. We lost another potential house today and the story behind this and renting houses in Cairo is interesting.
 
Remember the first house I posted photos of and said we were going to get it? The one that was a sanctuary with the fabulous orange gate? Well after two visits and meeting the owner we were told that they were going to sell the house instead of renting it. This happens elsewhere so we didn't think too much of it. It did break David's heart, however. We forgot the first rule in real estate: don't fall in love. Our realtors were very unhappy because they were close friends with the owner and it came as a surprise to them as well.
 
Our realtors were so upset at losing the first house and were super excited when they found this second house that they knew we would like--we were supposedly the first ones to view it. They knew the owner (the owner's daughter) also, who had called and asked them to find a renter. I went that very evening to look. Then Dave went the next day to look. Then we met with the daughter this morning, who supposedly was in charge of renting the house even though it belonged to her parents. She said that she needed to meet the potential renters and would be the one to sign the contract. At morning coffee today we met and agreed to start the inspection process with Apache as they have to approve everything. Two hours later we hear from the Apache HR manager that another Apache family already has a contract on the house--through the mother! Phone calls back and forth, the daughter telling our agents that we were the only ones. Our realtors are shocked and quite unhappy once again and feel very bad. It's not their fault! But we are walking away from the house because the other family was first, plain and simple. I told David that third time's a charm.
 
Here's how real estate works in Egypt, as far as renting. There is no MLS listing. Realtors hear about houses and apartments through word of mouth or contact by owners. They even learn about new places opening up by seeing other realtors going into a home with a perspective client. No one hires a realtor to sell/rent a home--its a free-for-all. Whoever gets the client in the door who wants the place gets the commission. We've used several realtors because each one will possibly have different houses to show. We saw many repeat houses this way. Dave and I prefer Helene as she has shown us the best ones so far and is easy to get along with.
 
Here's another way houses get rented: departing expats tell their friends they are leaving and one of them steps in and gets the place. That is what happened with this house; the apache family knew the guy leaving and contacted the owner. Which is what I would do if I wanted the house. So the current renter told a friend all the while the daughter contacted our agent and then we collided.
 
The house is OK, and it has some charm. But it needs updating and they are charging a lot of money (at least the daughter was going to charge us a lot of money!). We were unsure of it, to be honest. Now I feel it just wasn't meant to be. There are many expats leaving now and I think there will be more houses to choose from. The house is in a great area and has a nice pool. Here are some photos.

The charm in the house is the curved arches. This is a photo of the entryway and living room as I was standing on the stairs. The people in the photo are our real estate agents, a lovely French woman named Helene and her partner Karim.

Pool. Dave loved the back yard.

Acceptable kitchen. We were going to retile the floor and backsplash, new paint, curtains.

It's TUESDAY, not Wednesday! And I bought a giraffe

I can hardly remember what day of the week it is because Friday and Saturdays are the weekend here and Sunday is a regular work day. Dave and I are constantly trying to think what day of the week it is. The ladies say it's the Friday/Saturday and Sunday/Monday thing and some people say they never get used to it. Further, Thursday afternoon is like Friday afternoon when people start behaving like it's the weekend.

Egypt also does not observe Daylight Savings time so every evening seems so much later than it is. When we arrived on September 1 it would get dark at 7 p.m. We noticed tonight that it was closer to 6:30. It should be winter outside with that kind of darkness!!

I went into a wonderful little shop today and got a giraffe. The owner is also the artist. I love that they deliver almost anything you want.

My new terrace art. I love it.

And I'm going back for an old wooden carousel horse. I think I'm going to buy the red one. I love to imagine all the little children riding on these horses.

 

Just some more things around my neighborhood--and my bowab

Beeping and honking horns

Starting around 10 am, when the locals start their day, to late in the night when I am asleep, you hear horns beeping and honking for all kinds of reasons. I say beeping because there are short high-pitch beeps (one or two only) and honking, which is louder and usually sustained. I am certain there is a bunch of interesting rules  and reasons for honking and beeping your horn and I would love to learn about it. So far it seems to me that beeping and honking are signals to let you know that they are approaching (and maybe want to pass you)--they even beep when you're walking; to tell you to get out of the way; and to ask if you want a taxi. I have taxis beep at me nearly every time I'm trying to cross a street. Dave said they are the most fearless drivers on the road. They do whatever they want and never even look at you. Today there was a small traffic jam at the roundabout and EVERYONE was beeping and honking. It was a crowd mentality.

 

Dave went to the dentist

Dave has a crown that keeps falling out. It fell out the other day and the Maadi Dental Center was recommended. The visit was great and although we will never ever have a dentist as sweet and gentle as Dr. Wendy Swantowski in Houston, now we know where to go for dental work in Maadi. Dr. Amr Abdel Azim was so nice and his assistant was delightful. And it only cost $60.

 

Dogs

Because I am a lover of dogs I am interested in how they are treated and how they survive here. I was told that in general Muslims do not like dogs as they are considered dirty. You can google this and see all the different views. Here in Maadi I have noticed different kinds of dog situations and I don't understand them (yet).

• Street dogs. It will break your dog-loving heart to see the street dogs. Thin and parasite-ridden, they are mongrels of the best kind, sweet faces all of them. I am not afraid of them as they are slow and tired looking but I do not touch them. I believe that the government culls them when they get too numerous because of rabies and such. If you get bitten or scratched by a dog or cat, you will have to get rabies shots. A series of three but no longer in the stomach. 
• Pets. Many expat families have dogs from home and I love the surprise of a furry animal to pet even though I cry. And I would pet cats if they let me! I love animals. What I see on the street that I've been trying to figure out is the local men walking dogs. I think they are the bowabs walking the dogs for the people they work for. I always wonder how they feel about taking care of the dogs.
• Guard dogs. I've seen German Shepherd dogs on leashes stationed next to the bowab/guard buildings that are common outside of villas and apartment buildings. I suspect that this is quite possibly the most effective deterrent to crime available in Egypt as people seem to ignore the police and military. Dave and I saw a bowab/guard deliberately scare a small group of people, including children, as they walked down the street on a Saturday morning--and the dog was a golden retriever. The dog was leashed and barking and it was just strange.

This is Mohammad, our building boab (security guard). He is such a nice guy and can speak Russian and English. Today he shared photos of his vacation in Aswan and Sharm el-Sheikh. Boabs know everything going on around the building and along the street. Our building has a guard 24 hours a day. Boabs commonly sit in small huts that line the street. This little structure is much nicer than others. ‎

A cute little boab hut. I really need photography lessons...

Guess what the brown markings on this building are from. BATS! That is bat poop from huge bats!

 

A unusual building on Road 210. It is so beautiful. I need to work on my photography skills because I never seem to capture what I see. Maybe I should stand closer to things.

One of many public water stations around town, which seem to be very popular. I noticed water stations like this in Geneva and saw old stone fountains in Italy that people drink from.



I'm still trying to capture the craziness of the roads and roundabouts. It just amazes me. The lush foliage continues to amaze me as well. You would never know we live in a desert while in Maadi. Does this look like a desert?

Just a few things political

I generally do not like to talk politics but here are two things that I would like to share.

 

President Obama

I walk around a lot and shop and greet the shop keepers and sometimes have conversations with them if they seem interested. What I've learned from talking with people is that Egyptians believe--with a passion as they are passionate people--that President Obama supports the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). The MB is deeply unpopular in Egypt; I was told that MB men shave their beards now to keep from being identified as MB. The average Egyptian's belief that Obama supports the MB is in large part because of comments made by Anne Patterson, the U.S. Ambassador in Cairo in June before the ouster of Morsi. Here's a link to an article about Anne Patterson's comments.  http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/18/anne-pattersons-plight/

The good news is although I had one shopkeeper give me a dirty look when he asked where I was from, everyone else has been very friendly. I appreciate this attitude so much because I am very sensitive about being a citizen in a foreign country. I was told by a lovely shopkeeper named Ibrahim that we all “have the same hands” and that there’s very little we can do about our government’s decisions. I am so thankful that we can see each other’s humanity. Egyptians appreciate foreigners coming here to live as it helps the economy; Canadians and Australians are especially well liked.

 

An Egyptian journalist's perspective

Here's a link to an interesting article by Yasmine El Rashidi, a young female Egyptian journalist who graduated from Columbia University in New York. I hope you read it because it will give you an Egyptian's experience and perspective of recent events. It was printed in the New York Review of Books on September 26, 2013.

Egypt: The Misunderstood Agony

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/sep/26/egypt-misunderstood-agony/?pagination=false&printpage=true

Two weeks in Maadi

Tomorrow will be two weeks that we've been in Maadi. It seems strange still because we spent four months thinking about living here and now we are really living here. The sad news today is that we might not get the beautiful house we wanted as the owners might sell it instead of renting. Dave is unhappy; we both could see ourselves living there. I will start looking again tomorrow and might have to settle on a place that needs a bit of remodeling, even though I don't want to. Helene is showing me a house tomorrow morning and I am optimistic. 

I had a really good day today because I exercised for the first time since June. I had breast surgery in late June and could not exercise for 6 weeks. Funny how 6 weeks can turn into four months. I went to a spinning class taught by a delightful young lady named Astrid and lasted 30 minutes. That's OK because I felt great all day because of it. I then played bunco with a new group of women, walked to a new market called Miriam to see how it might differ from the others, and then to Cairo Kitchen for a roasted chicken and a side dish. Tomorrow is also busy: going to look at another house with Helene; meeting with the Apache nurse to talk about living in Egypt; and an Apache driver is going to take me to the Carrefour so I can shop for house things like garbage cans, plastic bins, and vegetable peelers.

Dave and I--against the advice of everyone--went to Carrefour on Friday because I needed a vacuum cleaner and we didn't have anything else to do. This photo is of Starbucks in the mall that also has the Carrefour. Carrefour is huge, like a giant Walmart. We were told to never go there on the weekends because it is mobbed. We got to Carrefour around 1:00 and I said, "this isn't too bad" and by 2:00 we couldn't take a step. I am not kidding. I have never been packed in so with so many people shopping. I got my vacuum cleaner though. I am going back on Monday to shop at a slower pace.

Dave went on a mountain bike ride to the Wadi on Saturday morning. The Wadi is a dry river bed with a lot of topography. He said it was so beautiful. I am looking forward to going there with a group of women who walk their dogs in the morning.

This is on the road to Carrefour (and Katameya) with pretty typical sights of apartments and sand and piles of stuff. Most Cairenes live in apartment buildings and I would say these are some of the nicer ones. I hate driving on this road; it is scary as h-e-doublesticks, especially when the traffic thins out and people drive faster.

I wanted to show the blowing sand of the desert on the highway. I think it gets swept up from time to time. And those are people on the side of the road waiting for a taxi or bus to stop and pick them up. The taxis and buses will also stop quite unexpectedly to drop people off too! It's dangerous to drive in the slow lane because of this. And dangerous in the fast lane.



I was wandering the streets today and found this shop named the Bedouin Bazaar (I think). I can't wait to go in there. See the horse on the right side of the window? I think that is going to belong to Sylvia.

And this might belong to Sylvia also!!! I just love it!

I went into my first Egyptian store today and this is the owner, Fathy Otalfy. He was delightful and I bought the beautiful shawl pictured below. I paid 450 LE for it and have no idea if the price is appropriate. But I liked it and I liked him.

Walked down Road 9 today

Road 9 is a popular road full of shops and if we move into the villa I described earlier we will be two blocks away. It was a 15 minute walk for me today but faster coming home because I am beginning to get my bearings and remember landmarks. The shops I noticed today included several coffee shops; cupcake and sweet shops because I was told that Egyptians love sweet things (but actually who doesn't?); rug merchants, furniture makers--which are very popular here--food shops, produce  vendors, silver shops for all kinds of silver things such as jewelry and plates and cups; pet stores; a small plumber and next to him a small hardware shop--and I mean these were closets compared to the other shops; a large and very popular McDonalds that was filled with families and a jam-packed drive-through when Dave and I walked down the street last Saturday; Kentucky Fried Chicken; Pizza Hut; Egyptian souvenir shops, a variety of restaurants including one exclusively for hot dogs; pharmacies; clothing stores, book stores, and a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop. There's more but I can't remember now.

The most important thing to remember is that all of these shops deliver, except maybe Baskin Robbins. I could be wrong about that. You can either go to the store, shop, and ask for delivery or call, place your order, and have your things delivered. All delivered within 10 minutes to an hour, until maybe 11 pm. I could be wrong about that as well! When I'm going to bed at 10 pm the streets are filled with vehicles and families and eating and shopping and living! I love it! But Sylvia goes to bed at 10...her family knows how cranky she gets, just like a baby, if it's much later.

I am not comfortable going into the trinket, rug, and furniture stores yet because of my uncertain communication skills. The expat ladies will help me with that and tell me which stores to go to and which ones to avoid. Right now I have a "newcomer" walk and uncertainty about me that I'm sure is obvious. I am getting better at navigating the streets and c-r-a-z-y roundabouts filled with honking scooters, motorcycles, cars, trucks, taxis, buses, donkey carts, and bicycle delivery people. At the Victoria median roundabout I count eight streets coming into that traffic circle! And it's like a one and-a-half traffic circle because another smaller roundabout connects to the larger one. You have to see it to believe it. I walk around it almost every day to get to the shops.

Coffee, pizza, restaurants. It's common for shops to be a half level down.

I'm really looking forward to feeling confident enough to shop in Egyptian clothing stores. My close friends and family know how much I like wearing Indian kurtas and these are similar. Such beautiful scarves too!!

Delivery motorcycles for Pizza Hut

Radio Shack and a photo shop. Photo shops are popular for printing things and having favorite photos enlarged and framed or printed on large canvases. It's very inexpensive to print and frame in Cairo.

I was surprised to see Auntie Annie's pretzels and The Body Shop. But I think the malls have a lot of Western stores; I haven't been to them yet. I heard there was a Gap store in a new mall. Not that Western stores are important to me. I am quite happy to poke around in all kinds of stores because you never know what you might find.

I think we've found the house for us

It is the most beautiful of all the apartments and flats that we viewed and the most secure. It is a sanctuary. It has three floors and a giant terrace on the roof; we would live in the first two levels. There are so many rooms I can't count. It is one of three villas carved out of one giant villa, and that's one reason why it's so secure. It will be a wonderful place to live in. Lovely views out every window and complete privacy. Every bedroom has a terrace as well. Right across the street is a roadblock with 5 or so guards stationed 24/7 for the home of the Israeli Ambassador that is two blocks away. The guards watch our villa as well; they can't help it. The guards watch all the comings and goings and know everything that is going on up and down the street. We will have our own boab who will serve as a security person and wash the cars and help bring in deliveries.

Many people get run-down flats and apartments and remodel them (at their expense and maybe with a little help from the company) but I have no interest in remodeling a home that I don't own in Cairo. There is a huge compound behind our house. It looks like a sultan owns it--I can't wait to show you photos of the pool from the terrace. The security at that house is even more than the ambassador's house. You can hardly walk in front of that place!

The address is 59 Canal Street, Maadi, Egypt. There used to be a canal there. It was filled in less than 30 years ago because it became so dirty. But before it was dirty the locals would fish and swim in it. We are still working out the details of this house but today it became a little more certain that we can get it. I sure hope so because there isn't anything out there as nice as this house.

It's has a beautiful orange door. The plants are amazing with giant ficus trees and tons of wall climbing bouganvillea.



This is the kitchen of one of the better houses we saw. The appliance below the counter by the fire extinguisher is the washing machine/dryer combo. I'm too old for that trouble. Did that in England 20 years ago.
 

This would be our kitchen! There's a nook to the left with a built-in couch and beautiful window. The bathrooms are modern as well. It's an unusually modern, non-egyptian remodeled house. Although Egyptians own the house they have lived in Los Angeles and have a more Western style.

 

There are two living areas that will have to be filled with couches and interesting furniture from the bazaars!



Dining room. Will have to get a giant table for our entertaining. Can't wait to shop! This room looks out into the other living area and then out to the backyard.

Another view of one of two living areas with the doors to the back yard. Very tall ceilings.

 

Small-ish backyard but lovely pool and wooden deck. There are retractable canopies for the deck also. The side garden wall leads to an attached villa's yard. You would have to go through another yard to get to ours. The only way into our villa is the front gate. There is a small garden in the front courtyard.