Jet lag is a worthy opponent. Emily and I fell pray to its evil ways on our second night here, and were not able to sleep until almost sunrise. Day two of Cairo was practical. We let jet lag have a small victory and we slept until noon. Then we spent the day shopping for an apartment! We were picked up at our hotel by a driver named Mohamed, who was recommended to us by the owner of the hotel. He drives people around who are looking for an apartment and takes them to real estate agents and building that may have vacancies. Apparently, the way to do it in these parts is to go up to the doorman and ask if there is any available rooms in the building. Unfortunate for us, it's Ramadan, and all the doormen are asleep in the middle of the day. We headed out the Maadi (kinda pronounced like Maddie, with a long a), a neighborhood just outside of Cairo, near New Cairo where American University of Cairo is. I am in love with the neighborhood. It is the destination of many ex-Patriots (people living in Egypt having left their own country) and international culture. Living in an overwhelmingly Muslim country is not without its challenges and it's only the first week. I liked Maadi because it was a little more diverse, and I felt more comfortable there then I do here in downtown. There are also more trees, cafes, and shops. I suppose I could get used to the idea of living in suburbia. The first apartment we saw is AMAZING. It is all marble with new appliances and a quiet street. Unfortunately, it's not really near the metro which kind of defeats the purpose of living in the accessible city. Mohamed took us to two other apartments and with our limited Arabic and French and his limited English and French, we managed to get our point across, however, we did not manage to find an apartment. We made our way to Zamelek for dinner with Lauren, a friend of Emily's who works at the American embassy in Garden City. The restaurant was very chic and seemed to cater to the international crowd. We got back to the hotel and decided to tackle the errand of getting cell phones! The cell phone stores are a lot like ones in America, you take a number, wait a long time, get helped, wait some more, get your phone, follow 15 steps, pay 200EGP and the BAM you can make a call. He needed our passports to put the line in our names, but he was satisfied with just having Adam's passport, so we're now on the same cell plan. It's a big commitment, I know, but I feel better knowing that Adam's name is on all the Arabic contracts and not mine... sorry Adam... but not really. Emily's passport was accidentally left on the scanner at the Mobinil, so she and I had to hall our asses back there before they closed. It was the first time that we had been in the streets without our fearless male escort, Adam. There was a definite shift, more cat calls... which actually sound more like bird calls... ironic. I'm just confused what they think they are going to accomplish by tweeting at me. Almost all the men here are Muslim, so it's not like they can do anything before marriage, and I'm not Muslim, so it's not like they can bring me home to mom and dad. They are lacking motivation it seems, but not drive.
Today involved a bit of extra sleep so that I could feel up to par. Then we headed back out to Maadi to meet with a guy who was listing apartments over Craigslist. After initial confusion about which of the three Maadi metro stops he was at, we managed to meet up with him. The apartment was literally right across the street from the bus stop. It had a beautifully tacky white hat motif and a built-in aquarium in the shape of a fish. It's 2 bedrooms, but big enough for 3 and right near a fresh produce store and a grocery store. Craigslist guy was really helpful and got us a lower price and a 4 month lease, plus a fast delivery on a new fridge and a cleaning service. We may, however, only be looking for two people now. Zoya is thinking about moving into the dorms to be around more students. A valid point, but I'm not sure I could go back to dorm life after having the luxury of my own kitchen for the last year. The rest of today was a down day, the heat and the city has been slowly wearing us down and it was time to enjoy the comforts of our hotel. Sundown came and we headed back to the restaurant we ate at the first night here, because it was freaking delicious and we knew where it was. Adam and I went on a quest for an Egyptian soccer jersey, while Zoya and Emily played a waiting game at the phone store... they totally won. While adventuring through the streets I may or may not have slipped on some sand and may or may not have fallen directly on my ass on a relatively crowed street corner. As if being white and not in a head scarf didn't make me stand out enough. Thankfully, Adam was SUPER supportive and didn't tease me AT ALL about the situation. I'm sure it was just irony when he suggested we get ice cream because I was in need of a pick me up. Harhar Adam, Harhar.
So anyway, we have a check out time of noon tomorrow here at the hotel, but they are letting us keep our bags here until 5. Lauren has graciously let us take up her extra space in her apartment, so we're heading up to Mohadiseen to crash at her place. We've got a couple more places to look at tomorrow, and hopefully we won't impose on her for more than a night. Orientation starts in a few days, so adventures will be put on hold for "getting to know you" games and dealing with the red tape of the AUC administrative office.
Good Luck on the apartment hunting!
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