Thursday, 2/19

2/19

Thursday

I’ve made a major decision- concentrate on the ECA, take what I can from MSA and get out and have some fun! I’ve studied hard and only have a week and a half left in Cairo. So I do go to ECA, have lunch at the school and walk home. Since I didn’t get the homework done for MSA as I was at the Zar show, I skipped out. The day has turned out to be quite warm, a big change from the past 2 days which were quite chilly, so it felt really good to walk. Nannette, a British woman in my ECA class, told me that she has wireless Internet for 100 EP/month from Etisalat. The store is not far from the apartment so that is first on my agenda for the afternoon.

 

Well the excitement for getting wifi at a reasonable fee slowly comes face to face with reality! Etisalat does have wifi for 150 EP/month if you purchase it for a year. It is 200 EP/month if you pre-pay by the month and you have to come back to the store and have the USB devise turned off-- and of course the USB devise is another 450 EP which you could sell to another person or keep as a souvenir ; ). So off to Mobinil since they have signs everywhere saying their 3G USB wireless is free with you service…right. Well, I am told that the 3G is “currently unavailable” but they do have the 4G. The 4G is the same deal as at Etisalat and way too much to spend for 10+ days of wireless. It looks like I will have to deal with noisy Internet cafes or jockey for a computer at the school. Well, I got out and had a walk on a nice warm day and tried to use some Arabic, how ever primitive. I also picked up a couple of DVDs so I can finish the project for Alfred and Qithara and that is what I go back to the flat to do.

 

For evening excitement, Annieck and I call out for  “Little Caesar Pizza” and a 6-pack of beer! (Yes, you can get just about anything delivered to your door here, McDonalds, pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken, local restaurants, groceries, beer… The other night at 10 PM we had gentleman that looked like a local farmer at the door delivering about a half dozen apples- he had the wrong flat. Restaurants and shops have delivery services- guys on motor scooters with a 2’x2’x2’ box on the back, I’ll have to get a picture.)  Within 30 minutes we were enjoying pizza and beer in front of the TV. I can’t get a pizza that fast at home!