The Fam in Cairo--End of Day 3

First published January 4, 2009

It's after 11 here and the jetlag is wearing off. I'm actually tired so this note will be rather short. We ventured out to the souk (market) today. After gesturing to the taxi driver and pointing to the Arabic word in our handy-dandy flip guide he zipped off and dropped us in the middle of a gigantic open air market. Immediately we were pushed along by local shoppers who knew exactly what they wanted and where they wanted to go. We on the other hand were wide-eyed and slow to start.

John took off in a direction and motioned for us to follow. Through the tiny little corridors where hundreds of years of ancient trade had taken place we were first greeted by Mark.

"I was born in Ohio. I come to Egypt when I am two. I speak good English. You come look at my hundred year shop." My husband smiled and told him, "Okay."

We each were given a seat in a tiny little space. He addressed Emileigh as Cleopatra, Aria as Nefertiti, John as Ramses and myself as Queen of the Nile. He was quite a showman. He began smearing a wide variety of perfumes on us and telling us that he "makes us a good deal for perfume which will not spill on plane."

He and John bartered back and forth for several minutes. We finally began our exit to declare our displeasure with his prices. He pulled John back in and within a few minutes John was the proud owner of official Egyptian perfume for his queens. : )

We continued through the alleys bobbing and weaving and dodging every possible type of mercantile item. Women carried baskets on their heads. Men used dollies to carry their burden of goods through uneven streets.

One young man struck a conversation with us. He asked the general questions most do until he began inquiring "how many years" Emileigh had. We didn't know it then, but he was preparing to offer 10,000 camels for her. Our conversation quickly ended and I gave a very good don't-even-think-about-it mother glare.

By nature my mouth is much braver than the rest of me. So while I talk about these adventures as if they are second nature to me, they really aren't. I am inclined to build a cocoon at the hotel and wait for some nice person to come show me everything. However, that's not how you assimilate so with the nudging of the rest of my adventurous family I went. I'm glad I did. I'll know next time to steer clear of "how many years" questions.

Mark, our perfume seller

We had a wild taxi ride back from the market. (Wild in a foreign country means really, really, really wild...) We rested a bit when John announced that he had made arrangments for us to go on a Nile dinner cruise. That sounded like fun. We had been originally scheduled to find an apartment, but the school employee couldn't meet us until Sunday morning. So our time opened up.

We were picked up at our door by Mahmud.

He was punctual and nicely dressed. He drove us through the downtown area of Cairo which is modern and spectacular. He escorted us to a large boat with 3 levels. It was decorated in Christmas lights. He took us right to the middle of the boat where the table was set next to some instruments.

Pretty soon a several bus loads of Asian tourists arrived and filled in all the blank spots around us. Our evening began when the band members began to sing in broken English Stevie Wonders song, "I just called to say I love you." I was singing along and having a great time. He moved on to Lionel Richie and again I knew all the words. If they had had a karaoke contest I would have totally dominated.

Dinner was announced and we went to a buffet full of salads, breads, desserts and meats. The longer I'm here the more I'm convinced I signed up for some secret weight loss program through vegan means. My husband loves the healthy lifestyle. I almost jumped out a window when I saw a Twinkies sign. We all adjust differently.

After dinner to our initial amusement and then turned horror a belly dancer appeared. Our escort made sure we had front row seats. John was doing an indepth study of the tablecloth and chandelier. In what seemed like the world's longest dance, she finally finished. We were then entertained by a little person who twirled and wore skirts. He flipped and flapped them to the oohs and aahs of all the tourists surrounding him. I wasn't sure if I should clap or be horrified. A big man came and finished out the twirling show. He came over to Aria to ask for a picture and John nodded "no" at him. He later intimated to the audience that we were flowers and John was a devil. John said that was just fine.

We thought for sure our ship was about to dock when the bellydancer came out for a final performance. Again the Nile River took on amazing fascination for all of us.

Our ship literally finally came in and we practically ran for the exit. Mahmud was signaling for us to go with him and we gave no protest. We let the rest of the tourists stay for pictures with the performers. He drove us back to our hotel and offered to take us to see the pyramids. We told him "another day." 

I believe we've had enough excitement with the "live" Egyptians for one day. We'll wait on the ancestors until later...

Whirling Dervish...well, whirling