turn that frown inside out
we're just happier, that's all.
after being frustrated and exhausted for months, and frustrated and exhausted to find that we were frustrated and exhausted (instead of sipping the bubbly of life whilst lounging on the barcalounger of contentment) we are, in Cairo of all places, kicking it old skool.
today, for example, we did not go to see the Citadel and loved it.
with much trepidation, we first went to mail a package home. we expected a multi-hour slog-fest through irrascable postal employee hell in arabic. instead, we found endless friendly egyptians gleefull to help us. they found us a better box than the one we had. they gave us good advice on how to get our stuff home cheaply. they gave me a cheese sandwich.
just, you know, 'cause they had some cheese sandwiches.
it only took half an hour get our stuff winging home (or swimming, we sent it via boat) so we decided to go check out the citadel. it's a massive mosque-fort-palace thing that you simply MUST see. when we got there, though, it was covered with tour buses like itch on a rash. so we just tooled around in the tiny little alleys nearby. looking into the one room storefronts where old bespeckled men smoked sheeshas, or women in headscarves bundled eggs, or young egyptians pounded out iron or burnished wood or just looked up, smiled back at us, and said, "hello! welcome!"
and we had shai and looked at the crumbling walls that lined the alleys -- some over two-thousand years old -- and peeked into doorways and just enjoyed being where we were. then we bought some taamiya (aka felafel) for a pound ($0.17) and tried to get lost.
we like egypt. we like cairo even if after a day of walking around we cry black tears and blow black boogies. even if crossing the street means walking into full-ahead kamakazi traffic and hoping for the best. even if the horn symphony below our hotel window gets loudest at 1:00 am. even if at last night's africa cup game the libyans rioted in the stands below us, narrowly missed me with a chunk of concrete (by about 2mm) and had to be cleared out by some of the two billions riot cops in attendance -- and libya was NOT playing. it was egypt v. morocco and there was no score.
tomorrow, squirrely in the morning we're on the bus to dahab. it's in the sinai, on the red sea, and famous as a backpacker tarpit. a place where the traveler goes and decides to stay for, well, maybe just ONE more week 'cause it's practically free and completely lov-er-ly. we figger, even if it is still a little chilly there we can milk it for a nice stretch of relaxo. and then see more pyramidal type structures.
which by the way, we saw. the pyramids. biggest tourist site in the world? been there. suckers are BIG. and heavy. i tried to lift one? no go.
so, salaam alekem my friends. i'll be at the beach. i hope things are bright and shiny with you as well.
in addendum: a big shout out to kenneth and marie who just bore a little girl named winter and to my 'rents who bought a palace on russian hill with (they seem keen on reminding us two or three times a minute) a guest room that would be perfect for us if we should happen to be near San Francisco...
Yay!
Sorry, this is like a month late but hey, I've had two Moms in a tuk-tuk to look after. Ljubljana is nice. I have friends there who are martial arts experts. It is an excellent place to get kicked in the head. All of Slovenia is gorgeous and the other best part are the Slovenians who are weirdly friendly and thus are viewed as suspect by the rest of Central Europe. The third best part is that the language super fun, especially if you hate vowels.
Glad you have beached yourself.
Mmmmm. Post office cheese.