Now I know how immigrants feel!!

Chloe and I  made it to Cairo and it is more than I could have ever expected!! We're experiencing culture shock, of course, but are having a great time. The first night was surreal. The lights went off at about 8 as I was in the middle of cleaning and I realized why there was a huge flashlight left in my flat! Then, laying in bed, I heard the call to prayer and that somehow calmed me down enought to fall asleep. But it was a very clear reminder that I'm not in Kansas anymore! I had my first experience hanging clothes out of our 4th story balcony and almost got killed several times crossing the street earlier in the day. I also had a very scary moment after the lights went out when I questioned the entire move. Just as I'd found the flashlight, I hear banging on my front door and a man is yelling at me in Arabic. Talk about feeling unsafe! I immediately called Dalia, one of the school secretaries/superwoman, who told me it was my boab (handyman/doorman/security guard) trying to make sure we were okay! Instant relief. I still didn't open the door, though!

All the new teachers/expats at Global Paradigm, my new school, explored a store called Carrefour last night at a mall in the center of town. It was insane!! I was a walking anxiety attack. There were just so many packed in such a huge supermarket. I heard it is 26,000 sq. feet. But we have all the little things we need around the flat like hangers, hamper, towels, clothespins, etc. And I have Internet at our flat now! After finishing up in Carrefour (I'm not sure I'm spelling that correctly), I went over to the Vodafone store and got a USB modem. I love it. I can take it everywhere with me and it was so cheap. EVERYTHING is so cheap. Since I'm the cheapest person in the universe, I am loving it!! Then after we finished, a few of us teachers went out and about trying to find food. It was after 2 a.m. at this point! Ramadan hours are different than normal. We went to a swarmi (sp?) street vendor and it was amazing! Chloe and I had the Moroccan sauce combo. For both of us it was 38 LE, which is less than $7! The sauce was very good, with a lot of curry, Then the guy behind the counter came around and gave us this waffle like dessert that was VERY good. I immediately got nervous because they told us to avoid the street vendors at first, but it looked more substantial than the vendors you see in the city wtih the rolling carts, so I settled down. Until my stomach started cramping as I was trying to get to sleep. I was so scared I was starting to get what they call Pharoah's Revenge, but my iron stomach must have fought it off because when I woke up, it was all good. One of the other teachers, Miranda, was not so lucky. Last I heard from her, she was going to the hospital with suspected food poisoning. Gulp. Scary! After we finished eating, we found ourselves in need of a taxi and none were to be found!! There were random dogs packs running around and barking everywhere and the late night and attention we were getting combined to form a very spooky event. Eventually we found a taxi that knew where to go and we made it home! Today Chloe and I ventured out by ourselves and got a taxi to take us to Road 9 to reload by cell phone and check out the Metro Market. I found some more clothes hangers and an adapter for my straightener and curler (the one I found last night at Carrefour only works on the 3 pronged plugs).

So, that's life for now. There are cats everywhere! And they beg for food!! There was also a dead cat in the middle of the sidewalk the other day that was very odd. Oh, and we visited and then joined the Ace Club, an expat club that I will be visiting often!!!