It’s Tougher in Egypt

Day 1 May 24 – 12.10 AM – It’s Tougher in Egypt

Have not showered for three days

Normal waking hours here are 9am to 2am, with noon nap

Friday is holy day for Muslims

Got cell phone

I was talking to Mrs. ElGhobashy about differences between to the U.S. and Egypt and the main difference that she thought of was that life was easier in America. I didn’t really understand what she meant until later that day when I went got an example. I went shopping with Mr. Hussein ElGhobashy for “pattia” and a few other things. While most of the other things were pretty easy to find the “pattia” was a problem, even though is it a very common food item. From what I could figure out “pattia” is just raw bread that does not rise, like flat bread. You fold this “pattia” over ground beef and fry it. We walked all around the neighborhood asking at every food vendor if they had “pattia,” we had to ask about eight or nine different shops before we found some. Each store is about 5 foot by 11 foot open air, hole in the wall. I thought this was interesting because I’m so used to going to a huge supermarket and buying any food item I can think of. You never go to Safeway and ask for bacon, bread, or tomato soup and have them say “No, didn’t get any this week” or “no we’ve been sold out for a week.” Mrs. ElGhobashy fell and broke her hip two months ago and now has to go up five flights of stairs to get home. There is no corner drug store, no wheelchair ramps, no crosswalks, no supermarkets; I have to agree with Mrs. ElGhobashy, it’s tougher in Cairo.