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.

Some stuff around the apartment

Egypt is largely a cash-based society and we rarely use our debit or credit cards. Dave cashed a $3,000.00 US check yesterday at Apache. This pile of cash is $21,000.00 LE. I feel like a gangster.

OK, can't rotate the photo but this is my disinfecting bucket. I've got eggs in there now. I use a tablespoon or two of bleach for 2 gallons of water and let soak for 15 minutes. Every vegetable gets the treatment although onions seem to be a problem. Betsy said she just scrubs hers. You then set everything out to dry and put in plastic refrigerator bags (see the red peppers below). I am too afraid of broccoli and lettuce.

Some of the products in our refrigerator. Cleaned peppers, milk, juice, honey (delicious!), water, and yogurt.

I'm having a "Cairo day"

I got a welcome package from the community center and one of the things that they try to prepare you for is what I will call a "Cairo day." I can't find the paper now to quote from it but essentially it says to be prepared for days when you will get only one-third of your projects completed because of the way things just happen, or don't happen, in Egypt. I remember reading that to Dave and thinking that was funny. Well today it happened to me.

• I had a much-needed massage scheduled at 10 am at the community center. The masseuse never showed up and while waiting for the masseuse that didn't show up, I witnessed a sad exchange between some lady (expat? employee?) who marched out of a room and said "f___ you" to someone in the room she was leaving. Wow. Seconds later the woman who had been cursed came out crying and asked if I had heard what she said. I didn't know what to do and was afraid of getting in the middle of something crazy but I nodded my head yes. She then called a manager and told her that the lady had cursed at her and used the eff word and said I was a witness. I was sitting on a couch looking dumbfounded and they all looked at me. They left and I got up and started looking for someone to help me get my massage. The same lady who had been cursed --her name is Delia and she is so nice-- helped me and because I had to rebook the appointment she reduced my fee to 200 LE ($28) instead of 300 LE ($43). I'm booked for tomorrow with another masseuse.
• I then had an appointment at 1:00 pm to look at more houses with a different realtor. They do not have an MLS system here and every realtor will have some different properties to show. I know it was scheduled for 1:00 because of my massage. She called me at 10:30 and said she would pick me up at 11:00. I said I thought it was 1:00 and she said, no, 11:00. I showered quickly and just thought of it as being in Egypt. Then my stomach started feeling funny.
• I had asked to see villas, not apartments, and lo and behold I was shown mostly apartments. Not what I wanted at all and some I had even seen before. This realtor was not very nice and her driver was fast and jerky. The other realtor (Helene, a lovely French woman) we used had a driver she called "the turtle" because she MADE him drive slowly. With each house we toured I became sicker and sicker because it was not only the driving but the fast touring pace of each apartment that contributed to my motion sickness. One apartment we went to had yellow windows--I can't explain it but the windows had a sickly yellow tint. It will make you psychotic, I'm quite certain of that. I had told her earlier about the yellow windows I had seen and didn't like. So we go to the house and it had yellow windows. I told her that I don't care for the house because it had yellow windows and I couldn't live there. She made me go through it anyway, 3 floors looking into every single room. I do not know how to deal with pushy Egyptian realtors; had David been with me I would have made him do the dirty work and say no. But that is how the Egyptians do it, they show you every room and you are expected to look into them and even walk into them or they will be offended. You also must like everything or they will be offended. I was very unhappy at this point and also very sick. After 5 stops I told her that I was sick and had to go home. She was not happy with me. Nor I with her.

One of the ground floor apartments I was shown today. Apartments are like houses--they are huge. Five bedrooms, several sitting areas, huge dining room, this one had a magnificent kitchen (unlike some homes where the kitchen is for the staff and located in the basement and crummy). There was a small yard surrounding half of the apartment. Security is tight: ornamental metal bars on all windows and large metal gate to get in. Never unlocked. They love white marble floors and this one had an exceptional marble staircase. I can't take white floors; like yellow tinted windows it would most likely lead to psychosis...

• I got home around 1:30 and had to sit for several hours to settle my stomach. Then Dave sends me an email saying that the landlines and Internet might be off for a few days beginning tomorrow because of work the telephone company is doing. That's when I knew I had enough for a blog story. Lucky for me I think my iphone will be OK because it's a different company.

The good news is that there is a house that we like very much that we found with Helene. We are going to see it again tomorrow. We are waiting to hear if the landlord will allow us a 6-month lease instead of a 1-year's lease. If we get a yes I will post photos. It's truly the most beautiful house we've seen and worth the extra money.

Just some stuff around Maadi

Here are some photos I have taken during my walks around Maadi.



The barrista at Cafe Grecco made this for me. They love it when you greet them with salam alaykem (peace upon you).

Street signs. If you are lucky. Sometimes the wooden blocks are hanging off a tree limb. This is the corner of Roads 17 and 84. Just try to guess how confusing streets with numbers are to me!

Road 84 I believe. See the dirt? We wash our feet before going to bed at night because the sand/dirt makes the sheets yellow! I couldn't believe it when I changed the sheets yesterday! Even walking around barefoot in the flat makes your feet dirty because the dust blows in every day.

This is why I won't live in an apartment building. This is typical construction. Although the outsides may have a nice coat of paint and stucco, I can see how the inside is made. I am claustrophobic and am sure these buildings will collapse one day.

Basket vendor. My friend Betsy buys from them but sprays them with bug spray before bringing into the house. I am going to get some things soon--I'd like the little shelves for my bathroom and baskets for garbage cans. 

Visited Katameya Heights Resort

Dave braved the roads on Saturday and drove us to Katameya Heights resort where everyone escapes to golf, swim, get massages, and relax. It is north of Maadi and we had to drive on the chaotic roads and highways of Cairo. I was a wreck on some parts of the roads because the traffic is claustrophobic and getting into an accident without being able to speak Arabic would have been awful. Here are some photos of the ride out and then of the resort. It's beautiful there and the air is cleaner than in Maadi.

Apartments along the way. Most people live in apartments. This seems to be a nicer once because I can see air conditioners. Notice the color of things? Everything the color of the desert sand: pale yellow and yellow-brown. They must use the sand to make the buildings and roads.

Driving on the Ring Road. This is the most frightening road. The truck to the left is piled high with diapers. Although you may see lane lines, they do not use them. I counted 6 lanes of cars in a lane meant for maybe 4 cars.

This is how close the driver was to us.

A military police section. We slowed down but they ignored is. They did pull over some other people.



Katameya Heights

Our tour guide. He was so honored that I wanted his photo and rats if I didn't forget to write down his name. Egyptians are so friendly.

Date palm trees. This is where our dates come from, dried of course. I am going to buy this fruit at the market and try it out.

Driving home, here are some sand dunes. I think that's a military installation.

Roadside vendors. There were many of them lining the road selling fruits and vegetables.

Typical rubble alongside the highway. You can see buildings and then just plain old rock/sand. There is a lot of rubble, rubbish, and sand along the roads.

Lovely Friday in Maadi

Friday and Saturdays are the weekend in Egypt and Friday is the holy day. Traffic greatly reduced and much quieter. Dave and I walked around the corner to a restaurant called Asian Corner and had a nice lunch. We ordered Indian food the other night and what I've noticed is that Indian and Chinese restaurants include both Indian and Chinese food on their menus. Dave had kung pao chicken and I had an Indian dish.
 
We then walked the streets to Cairo Kitchen, a lunch and dinner place, to pick up a whole rotisserie chicken and side dishes for dinner. Next door is a bakery named Fino's where we got some whole wheat bread and cookies. The shop owner was sitting and enjoying his lunch and said hello to us and welcome to Egypt. He knew we were new! Dave thanked him for his greeting and said that we were new and the owner said "I knew that." He went on to say that he knows everyone who comes into the shop and can tell the new ones. He was delightful and so friendly. We loved it. I asked for 3 cookies and he told the young lady behind the counter to give me 4 because he wanted Dave to have one because he is a good guy. He could tell. Egyptians are really lovely people.

We then walked to Seoudi market and got eggs, balsamic vinegar, frozen spinach, Clairol herbal essence shampoo, red onions, and ziploc bags. Honestly I think I can get everything that I want; when I find sauerkraut it will be perfect.

On Fridays the curfew is 7 pm so we have to be home by then. I want to walk some more in the neighborhood to get a feel for the place. The streets are chaotic and run both on a grid with roundabouts and then crazy cross streets. I unlocked my iphone last night and am so happy to have maps now!


My stomach is much better! I had only 3 days of mummy tummy; in June it lasted 5 days. I must be getting used to the new bugs.  

Cairo Kitchen cafe and restaurant. You can eat in or take away. They also deliver. Their menu included rotisserie chicken,  rice pilafs, hummus, stuffed eggplant, lamb, green beans, salads, cucumber-tomato salads, etc.

 

We are safe here in Maadi

As you may read about, there was a bomb blast in Nasr City that targeted Egypt’s Minister of Interior. Nasr City is far northeast of my area called Maadi. Things are calm here and we are safe.

Cairo is a huge city: "With a population of 6.76 million spread over 453 square kilometers (175 sq mi), Cairo is by far the largest city in Egypt. With an additional 10 million inhabitants just outside the city, Cairo resides at the center of the largest metropolitan area in Africa and the Arab World." (Wikipedia). I include this description so you can get an idea of how large the city is. It's easy to worry that anything happening in Cairo is happening to us directly but it is not. So please don't worry.

Apache monitors everything 24/7. If we are ever in danger they will evacuate us. We get regular security updates with what kind of travel is allowed and what is not. I feel very safe here.

But I am not going to lie. I am very concerned about the US bombing Syria--and whatever else crap they do. It's like taking a stick and hitting a hornets nest. And it makes me CRAZY to see people like Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner smiling and patting each other on the back and congratulating each other for getting the lawmakers on board. And John McCain wanting to have the options of "putting boots on the ground." Are you kidding me?? What is WRONG with him?? All of them!! It's not our business. I saw a great photo of some type of military person holding a handmade sign in front of his face that said "I didn't join the Air Force (or whatever branch) to help Al Qaeda in Syria." Well put. Because that's what it boils down to.