There certainly has been a lot that has happened over the past week. My flight on Turkish Airlines left on time from Chicago, and my layover in Istanbul ended up being a couple hours longer than I originally thought. It's hard to stay busy in an airport terminal for eight hours. The four dollar cup of Starbucks coffee helped a bit, but it really did get a bit boring. You can only look at the Duty Free store so long before realizing you would never go to the liquor store just to window shop, which is what it felt like.
My flight into Cairo got in about an hour late, so Jon and I didn't meet up and get headed toward his house until 3AM local time. As much as I would have loved to stay up and visit with him, I was just too exhausted after such a long trip. I fell asleep that night to the pre-sunrise call to prayer and slept until late afternoon the next day.
I really like staying at Jon's place. He lives right in the heart of downtown Cairo on the roof of an apartment building. Yes, I literally am living on a roof right now. It has a building on top which is about the size of an efficiency back home. His fridge broke down right before I came, so the landlord got him a convenience store Pepsi cooler until he can get another one. Jon has a pet turtle that has free reign over his place, and there is an absolutely great view of the city. We sit outside most mornings reading and drinking instant coffee, and most nights talking well into the early morning.
I've met a lot of people here so far, mostly through ultimate frisbee (I have played three different times since arriving five days ago). The competition is just at the level I prefer, and the exercise is very welcome. We may even play in a tournament out in the Sinai in several weeks.
Yesterday I toured the Egyptian Museum, which was overwhelming both in the amount of artifacts presented as well as the lack of labeling. Tour groups abound, and if you are a people watcher you are in for a treat. On Sunday (which is the start of their work week here) I went with two other friends to the Pyramids at Gize, Daschur, and Saqqara. What an amazing thing to see in person so many things that I have read about in the history books since being a little kid!
Tomorrow I hope to be going up to Alexandria with the two I went to the Pyramids with. It's right on the sea, and I've heard is beautiful.
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