hellllloooo again from the sandy beaches of egypt...actually i am no where near any beaches, but i shall be one of these days...so as many of you already know, i love this place...the people, the food, the prices, the treacherous public transport systems, and even the dirtiness...but i have found just a few things that i don't like about this gorgeous nation...and i shall exhibit those briefly here, just so you all can have a better perspective on things...
thing one: Piasters....for those of you who dont know, piasters are what make up Egyptian pounds, the currency here...like the american penny...totally useless, cumbersome, and altogether loathed by millions, except there is one big difference here...piasters are not coins (usually), but rather paper bills...so imagine my shock when i believe that my wallet contains nearly 100 pounds (like 20 dollars worth) when in reality i have just about 75 piasters (the equivalent of about 13 cents...seriously)...that amount of money won't even buy you a gumball in the states, much less a pair of shoes on the streets of cairo...booo to piasters
thing two: grocery stores...conveniently, i live above a 24 hour grocery store called Metro...it rocks in all ways except that they have like no toiletries...in other words, todd needs razors and head to his friendly neighborhood Metro in search of them, only to find aisles of pasta and foreign cookies and fruit by the foot...i will have to hit up the "pharmacy" for anything like razors, cold medicine or contact solution...additionally, any of the comfort foods from the west are approximately 5 dollars regardless of what it is...would any of you reading this pay 5 bucks for a small box of cheez-its or frosted flakes? didn't think so...but i guess this encourages me to try egyptian foods and brands, although i really want pringles but i won't cough up the necessary 6 dollars (seriously)
thing three: pollution...when smoking a cigarette (not that i do) feels fresher than breathing the city air, i'd say there is a serious issue...i'd say a day in cairo is the equivalent of taking a dozen or so hits on the tailpipe of your mom's Suburban or minivan...when all is said and done and i leave this great country, my lungs will be blacker than my older brother, who has smoked cigarettes since he was in 8th grade, and i wish i was kidding about that...so visitors beware, driving in a taxi is already dangerous enough, but its not complete without a facefull of smog washed down by the smoke of your driver's ciagrette...i rest my case...
besides these three things though, i love this place...the culture runs circles around most i've encountered and i couldn't be happier...i shall update again soon, and tell you all the wonders of teaching sundaese refugees...perhaps the greatest experience of my life thus far...until then, ma'a salama...
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3 comments:
i feel your pain with the cigarette smoke.. i knew coming to europe would be bad in that respect, but i dont get how people can still manage to climb all the hills and steps here and smoke so much
Buying razors? I hope that doesn't mean you're shaving your beard. I was hoping you'd go the whole trip without shaving, get a real man's beard going...don't let me down buddy.
"my lungs will be blacker than my older brother"....i knew you ruffners were hiding something all these years, i just had no idea it was this monumental.....you know you could've told me about billy's twin black brother...i didn't want to find out this way
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