So, as I said before, we were given some time off recently which I think everyone really needed. For better or for worse, so far we've spent most of that time in a pretty Western manner. After ordering in breakfast yesterday (for me - a bagel, something I hadn't had in months) and relaxing around the house on our computers, we all went off in assigned pairs to do some reflecting. Maheen and I went to a really nice cafe nearby, where we split a cheesecake and a Twix tart and I had a cappuccino as we talked about our time in Cairo so far and just life in general.
Most of the group then reconvened at City Stars, a beyond-description gigantic mall about 45 minutes from here in Heliopolis. It's 7 stories tall, with hundreds of stores, restaurants, a cinema, 2 entertainment/theme park areas - like omg extravagent. We ate at Fuddruckers, where I had my first salad since coming here (which was delicious), and then wandered vaguely upwards and around. We had gone to the mall to see a movie, but almost reconsidered even going to see it in lieu of just wandering around. But we went and saw Toy Story 3 (not before grabbing some snacks at Cinnabon) in English with Arabic subtitles, which was an amazing movie.
The whole movie experience was extremely Egyptian though. We had heard that the movie started at 9, our ticket said it started at 9:30, and the movie actually started at 10. The movie was in 3-D, so naturally we had to buy 3-D glasses - why would they be included in the ticket? And, half-way through the movie it completely stopped - there was an intermission/smoke break for the viewers. But it was fun and, like I said, the movie was great.
Most of the group then reconvened at City Stars, a beyond-description gigantic mall about 45 minutes from here in Heliopolis. It's 7 stories tall, with hundreds of stores, restaurants, a cinema, 2 entertainment/theme park areas - like omg extravagent. We ate at Fuddruckers, where I had my first salad since coming here (which was delicious), and then wandered vaguely upwards and around. We had gone to the mall to see a movie, but almost reconsidered even going to see it in lieu of just wandering around. But we went and saw Toy Story 3 (not before grabbing some snacks at Cinnabon) in English with Arabic subtitles, which was an amazing movie.
The whole movie experience was extremely Egyptian though. We had heard that the movie started at 9, our ticket said it started at 9:30, and the movie actually started at 10. The movie was in 3-D, so naturally we had to buy 3-D glasses - why would they be included in the ticket? And, half-way through the movie it completely stopped - there was an intermission/smoke break for the viewers. But it was fun and, like I said, the movie was great.
