Cairo Adventure 2/1/09

2/1/09

This is day one of my adventure in Cairo and it started if full form ; ). I keep telling myself you are in Cairo so Insha’Allah is key to remember!

 

My flight arrived just fine, but my driver/greeter from the school did not. Now try to find a phone that works to call him since my cell doesn't work in Cairo and there were no phone kiosks to by one! Of course if you look a slight bit like" ok, what are my options now?" there is bound to be an Arab male waiting to assist you but it is hard to tell the genuine Samaritans from the sharks ; ). A young man lent me his cell phone and I discovered my driver thought I was to arrive the day before and was 1 to 1.5 hrs. away, so to the taxi stand I went. Of course a blond American is easy pry, so I had to fight through all the swarms of unofficial taxi drivers wanting to be so very helpful including my cell phone guy who offered me a "very cheap fare". As I calmly fought them all off, an official came to my rescue and escorted me to the "official taxi” line.

 

Ok, it is 3:30 am and I am on my way to the hotel and arrive at 4 am. What greets me is a very old hotel and a room that I would walk right back out of had it not been 4 am and the taxi driver gone. It had a thick layer of Cairo dust, no towels, and no sheet between a questionable blanket and me! Now I don't mind roughing it, and this is Cairo, but this room was slumming it! So I grit my teeth and slept in my clothes and plotted my escape. I came up with several options, but decided I was too hungry and tired to try most of them and took the easy way out. I checked out at 8:30 am and headed to the Marriott that I passed on the way in with fingers crossed that they had a room. If not- I knew they had food, a bank, and a lounge that I could plot my next step. Fortunately they had a room and they let me check in right away. The first thing I did was shower-boy did that feel good! I called room service for breakfast and tried to contact Nicole. Since she wasn't answering, I headed out to find a bank, water, and the bookstore at American University Cairo to get an updated map. Walking around felt great, and I found my way very easily just on memory. By the time I got back to the room Nicole had left a message for me. I called her back and we set a time to meet for dinner tonight. With her I will plot some options should the schools apartment choices be as "choice" as the hotel choice. In the meantime I will enjoy the Marriott for another day. School registration and testing is at 10 am tomorrow. I will also be introduced to possible roommates and available flats. Insha’Allah! At least I do know I will sleep well tonight!