Al Iskandria!

Just last night Kate and I were having dinner in La Bodega in Zamalek (the island in the Nile) when we got a text from my coworker Michael asking if we wanted to go to Alexandria for lunch the next day. So, it was a great chance to do some touring and we took him up on it!

We set out at 9:30 this morning when the streets were clear due to Friday prayers, and drove 2.5 hours to the coast. Alexandria has quite a different feel than Cairo, still seems quite busy and sprawling, but has a wonderful corniche road that follows the coast line for several miles, and is every bit a beach town, albeit with burkas replacing bikinis. After a scenic stroll we ate lunch at a place where you choose your own fish and how you want them to cook it, a process which was much easier since our gracious Egyptian hosts were translating. Then the obligatory trip from ice cream (just pull up on the street outside it, honk your horn, and get served on the curb), check out Carrefour, and 2.5 hours back home! Turned out the "lunch" trip was from 9:30 am to 9:00 pm, but was really a wonderful day. We are really pleased to be becomming friends with Michael and Silvana, who we think we can really relate to and are such great hosts showing us our new city!

On another personal note: almost three weeks in. I've had a fair amount of logistical frustrations so far, but a lot of other things here are so easy. These last. . . three or so days I've been really anticipating an exciting and fulfilling life here.