The Early Morning Cairo Experience

Just returned from an early morning run along the Nile with the Navy ROTC girl on our trip, Andi. She's been running in the morning a few days a week, usually before class, and I kept saying I'd run with her but never would get to bed early enough. But this morning I woke myself up and we ran up and down along the road which borders the Nile on the Garden City side. Garden City is the neighborhood/area that's across from Zamalek (the island) and Giza (the other side of the Nile), and it's known as the real swanky area with all the Western embassies, nice hotels, and European/American ex-patriots.

It felt good to get up and get some exercise, but I unfortunately had to cut our run short. The first part was fine - we were running into the wind, and it was really lovely, even almost cool. But as soon as we turned around I immediately started feeling weird - a combination, I think, of the handful of Raisin Bran I'd had, the heat, and the smell of Cairo. I don't know how much I've talked about the pollution and trash everywhere, because most of the time it's not that big of a deal, but sometimes the smell is overwhelming and I felt it this morning. Not having run in a month probably didn't help either.

But I got out there and afterward we had a nice walk and talk, and I'll try to run again a few times a week!
Now, off to class.