So, while our relatively easy weekend was relaxing and totally necessary, all of us were ready to do something by the time this afternoon rolled around. So while some decided to go to a movie (in Arabic this time, not just with subtitles), I was among the group that felt a little more restless and didn't want to just go and sit in some theater. So Zuri, Fernando and I decided to try to find this art gallery mentioned in one of the guidebooks that has been sitting on our dining room table.
After poring over the map a bit, we figured out generally where the gallery was and headed over, getting helpful tips from a random Egyptian who assumed we were clueless tourists trying to get to the Egyptian Museum and getting dragged into a store when some of us tried to just buy a few post cards. Poor Zuri and Fernando just put up with it - they can both pass for Egyptian, but I'm pretty sure I'm the one that gives them away. But we found all the right streets and saw a sign and figured out which stairs to go up and discovered that the gallery...
Was empty, and closed. Turns out there's not going to be another exhibit until September. As we say here, "Maalesh" - a phrase which means 'whatever' in the most positive way. An Egyptian way of saying "no biggie."
So we found some information about other exhibits around Cairo, and decided our wandering wasn't done yet. We saw some great street cafes (which are nothing like what you probably picture when you read that - I'll have to take a picture), and watched some hijabis painting near this art academy, and found some obviously pirated copies of American movies with Arabic subtitles.
But by far the best find on our walk was the mall. We were just walking down the street when I looked through one of the buildings' open doors. My initial reaction was confusion. "Is that a mall?"
Yup, it was. And oh was it Egyptian - it was 7 round stories of 90% men's clothing and shoes. Yeah, that's right. 90% of the stores were dedicated entirely to men's clothing or shoes. Talk about something you just don't see in the states. There were also 2 dollar stores (well, the Egyptian equivalent, 2 1/2 guinea stores), and a couple perfume/cologne shops or accessories shops (where else are they going to find their lighters?).
Anyway, it was pretty cool, and certainly a fun way to spend our afternoon. I recently had a conversation with Moana about travel (among other things), and one of the things I talked about was how the best way to really feel like you know a place is by getting out and just wandering around. Seeing all of the "required sites" or "places you absolutely must visit" is fine, I guess, but you're never really going to feel like you're there until you find something unexpected, or try to explain to a shopkeeper in broken Arabic that you just need to think about whether or not you want to buy that tshirt, or whatever. So hopefully these last three weeks will be filled with a few more wanderings as I get ready to leave.
After poring over the map a bit, we figured out generally where the gallery was and headed over, getting helpful tips from a random Egyptian who assumed we were clueless tourists trying to get to the Egyptian Museum and getting dragged into a store when some of us tried to just buy a few post cards. Poor Zuri and Fernando just put up with it - they can both pass for Egyptian, but I'm pretty sure I'm the one that gives them away. But we found all the right streets and saw a sign and figured out which stairs to go up and discovered that the gallery...
Was empty, and closed. Turns out there's not going to be another exhibit until September. As we say here, "Maalesh" - a phrase which means 'whatever' in the most positive way. An Egyptian way of saying "no biggie."
So we found some information about other exhibits around Cairo, and decided our wandering wasn't done yet. We saw some great street cafes (which are nothing like what you probably picture when you read that - I'll have to take a picture), and watched some hijabis painting near this art academy, and found some obviously pirated copies of American movies with Arabic subtitles.
But by far the best find on our walk was the mall. We were just walking down the street when I looked through one of the buildings' open doors. My initial reaction was confusion. "Is that a mall?"
Yup, it was. And oh was it Egyptian - it was 7 round stories of 90% men's clothing and shoes. Yeah, that's right. 90% of the stores were dedicated entirely to men's clothing or shoes. Talk about something you just don't see in the states. There were also 2 dollar stores (well, the Egyptian equivalent, 2 1/2 guinea stores), and a couple perfume/cologne shops or accessories shops (where else are they going to find their lighters?).
Anyway, it was pretty cool, and certainly a fun way to spend our afternoon. I recently had a conversation with Moana about travel (among other things), and one of the things I talked about was how the best way to really feel like you know a place is by getting out and just wandering around. Seeing all of the "required sites" or "places you absolutely must visit" is fine, I guess, but you're never really going to feel like you're there until you find something unexpected, or try to explain to a shopkeeper in broken Arabic that you just need to think about whether or not you want to buy that tshirt, or whatever. So hopefully these last three weeks will be filled with a few more wanderings as I get ready to leave.
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