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Greenways in the Desert

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We live on the edge of Cairo -- actually, in Giza -- in the desert. The Alexandria Desert Road  [emphasis added] borders us to the north. Drive anywhere in this area, and what you'll see is sand instead of soil. While sand predominates just outside the walls of our apartment compound, inside is a tropical paradise. The compound is widely known for its beauty. Although the building exteriors can be a bit shabby looking and in need of repair, the walkways between them are tropical and green (see map screenshot, below). On my morning walks, I see the gardening crew watering, mowing, trimming, and grooming the extensive plantings enjoyed by the ever-present feral cats. The air is thick with birds flying from palm to palm. Sadly, I'm usually the only person walking the compound for pleasure and exercise. Out and back from our apartment, connecting all the lanes and greenways with my feet, is about 2 miles. All of these greenways are within our compound. (Google maps) Here
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Women and Dress: Going For It

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Non-Egyptian friends often ask me how Cairene women dress, I suppose because dress can be an obvious expression of the differences between cultures. When I first landed here, I attempted to surreptitiously photograph women wearing traditional clothing, but that didn't work out so well. Cairenes frequently look at me because I stand out -- tall, blue-eyed, not wearing a headscarf, clearly western -- and they notice me when I try to snap a pic. Once a pair of subjects stood up and moved away from our table at a restaurant, and I felt like a real heel. So, I stopped trying to capture the moment. Traditional, but with a personal flair. But then this (see right) happened last weekend at a local Starbuck's, and I realized that I could document it from behind without anyone noticing. Technically, this woman is traditional because she's dressed in dark colors, and has covered her legs, arms, and hair. But notice that her jacket back has splashes of cartoon graphics and colo
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Sand

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The snow was 2 feet deep in Cedar Rapids on the day we interviewed for the Cairo job. During a frigid midwestern winter, the Middle East sounds compellingly warm and exotic. Our interviewer understood that quite well, and that's why he made sure to tell us that sand was everywhere in Cairo. Then he paused for effect, looked me in the eyes, and repeated, " Everywhere ."  I've since wondered if he suspected me of being an inveterate housekeeper, and that sand would be the reason I'd eventually insist we leave Egypt. When we toured apartments on our first trip, I kept telling myself that Egyptians must have different standards of cleanliness. The place we eventually leased had a thick coating of dust on every surface, and at the time I wondered why anyone would show an apartment that hadn't been cleaned for months. I now know better. One morning's sand from the living room floor. Cairo's breezes bring not only warmth, but sand. The grains
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Welcome to Kansas to Cairo

For some years now, we've dreamed of an adventure that involved living overseas from our home in the United States. To that end, we've made career changes and stretched ourselves in other ways. The opportunity we'd been waiting for finally came in early 2019, at a teaching job fair in Iowa, when Mr. C was offered a position in Cairo, Egypt. Was that really as cool as it sounded, or were we simply swayed by the deep snow and frigid temperatures of the wintery climate around us? We hesitated a bit and worked out a backup plan -- Mr. C would try out Cairo while I (Ms. C) stayed home and continued to work full-time. If we decided we could manage such an upheaval, I'd quit my job the following spring and move to Egypt. Right now, the big move is looking promising. Even if it doesn't work out, we'll still have experienced an adventure, even if it's shorter than originally planned. I'll be writing most of the posts to this blog, but will convince Mr. C to joi
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