Went to bed late last night due to my phone calls. So I slept in again today. Although I guess eight hours of sleep isn’t really sleeping in. I woke up at 10:30 and read allitle more Dune before Evan and I went down to get breakfast. Over, breakfast Evan and I discussed the places we had looked at and narrowed it down to the one located downtown for 3000 LE or the one we had seen yesterday near Garden City for 3000 LE.
We discussed the pro’s and con’s of both places. I decided that it really didn’t matter to me which place we got and left the decision up to Evan because he’ll be staying for five month more than me. I figured that it should be a place he’d want to live in after I’m gone. The discussion turned into a choice between location versus cost (extra fee’s). In the end we we’re leaning towards the place that was a bit further away. We decided to walk to it and check out the surrounding areas to make sure we liked the area.
On the way we called the guy to see if he would be willing to meet us later to discuss possibly signing a contract. We voiced our concern that it was far away. He told us that it might be in our interest to try the metro and see if that cut the time down. We thought it sounded like a good idea and went to the metro station located near the old campus and the bus stop.
At Tahriir square we descended into the cities underbelly. We continued down and came to an open area with different signs pointing us to platforms and destinations. We found the ticket center and joined the crowd surrounding the window reaching to be the one whose money is taken. It was a bit crazy wading through the ‘line’ to pay but we finally got our ticket and headed to the correct platform
We walked through the turnstiles and waited for the next metro. While we waited, we saw the north bound train arrive and leave. I could only think of sardines packed into a small can as I saw them cram as many bodies as possible into the cars. After a few minutes our train came and we pushed our way in. Luckily it was less crowded going south, but still a full train.
Two stops later we got off and found ourselves a block from the hospital near our prospective apartment. Convenient. We proceeded to walk around the area heading south. We found nice neighborhoods but little in the way of food or groceries. Feeling a little discouraged we started to walk north. Luckily, we passed a side street which we decided to take on a whim.
It led into an open air market which included many small restaurants. Having found authentic food nearby, both Evan and I felt better about the area. We called the owner who agreed to meet us in front of the building. From there we went back to the apartment and talked about the contract. We decided that it would be best for us to sign it tomorrow so that they could clean the place and make sure all was in order.
We left the apartment and took a cab back to Tahriir square so that we could gauge the price of a taxi to the bus stop. It cost us 5 LE, but both Evan and I think we could get a better price if we seriously negotiated. From Tahriir square we walked back to our hostel where Kevin was to meet us for dinner.
Kevin met us just before fattar and we decided to take him to the koshri place we found earlier in the week. It was just as good as I remembered, if not better. Afterwards we decided to walk to the nearby juice stand. For part of our walk we were following a little girl who was carrying a small box or what appeared to be trash. As she walked she threw the contents of the box over her shoulders without regard of where they landed or went. For me this just solidified the difference in culture with regards to trash and pollution.
We arrived at the juice stand and tried the sugar cane juice as suggested by Sarah A. It was good and although a bit sweet for my tastes.
We then went walked back towards Tallat al Harb and a local café called Café Riche. This café is well known because it was one of the spots that Nasr met and planned his revolution. As such it is known for being somewhat counterculture and is one of the few places that serves beer during Ramadan. Evan, Kevin, and I stopped in and had a few beers (Kevin didn’t drink because he is fasting).
After this we headed back to our hostel and fell asleep early in anticipation of orientation the next day.
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