Well the first 36 hours in Maadi have been action packed… but not quite in the way that I expected them to be. It’s actually been quite reminiscent of my first few days living in Monteverde, the only difference is that I’m watching my parents go through the same culture shock that I went through 5 years ago!
I arrived in Cairo Saturday night around 7:30 and was fortunate to have Shawn, the principal of the school, pick me up at the airport. It’s always nice to have a familiar face greet you when you’re arriving in a country for the first time… well as familiar as seeing his picture once on the website can be. We drove the hour to what is now my parent’s apartment in Maadi only to find that the person who was supposed to clean and set up the apartment obviously hadn’t. Not only was it incredibly dirty, but there were no towels/sheets/dishes to be had. So at 9:00pm we made our way to the Carrefour to buy a few supplies to see me/us through the first 24 hours. I was amazed at the number of people (including babies) that were also doing their shopping between 10 and 11pm on a Saturday night (Saturday here is equivalent to our Sunday, their weekend is Fri/Sat). It makes sense that a lot of people nap so that they can go out later when it’s cooler.
Now those of you that know my mom, know she’s a bit of a clean freak. When Shawn dropped me off again armed with towels, sheets, a couple of cloths and a big bottle of cleaner, I knew I had my work cut out for me. I knew that if my mom walked into the place after travelling for 48 hours, having very little sleep, and already feeling culture shock, that it might be just a little too much. So I threw on workout clothes, cranked up the Mumford and Sons and got busy. I got rid of garbage, scrubbed bathrooms, cupboards, kitchen counters and every other surface I could until I ran out of cleaner at 2am, at which point I crashed hard (this after 36 hours of travelling with no sleep, so I was ready). It wasn’t perfect, but it was as good as it was going to get. And when they walked in at 7:30 the next morning I was definitely glad I had stayed up to clean.
I remember when I first moved to Monteverde and I had the romantic notion of what it was going to be like to live in the jungle mountaintop in Costa Rica. You have all these expectations of what it’s going to be like, but it’s based on a North American ideals. You’re not thinking about what it’s going to be like living in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language or know the culture, and where the living “norms” are different than your own. So it’s no wonder culture shock hits us when we finally arrive in the country, exhausted after tens of hours of travel and months of anticipation. I think it’s those first few days that either make-or-break the experience you’re going to have. You can either A) embrace it and look at is as part of the adventure, or B) be overwhelmed by the different-ness of it all and let it prevent you from enjoying the experience. I wasn’t quite sure which one my mom would choose… but I’m happy to say that after 24 hours, she’s gone with choice A.
Yesterday was a much-needed rest followed by more scrubbing and tidying of the apartment and unpacking. Shawn and Sherena came by in the evening to take us on a tour of Maadi… I can already tell I’m going to need more time exploring Road 9 (Lisa we even found Carlitos). We wandered around in the 42-degree heat (which isn’t as bad as I thought) for a while before retreating to air conditioning and a wonderful Lebanese meal. By the end of the day, while still exhausted, they were starting to feel more settled and ready to take on this adventure.
Today was my dad’s first day of work, so mom and I had a quick breakfast of yogurt and honey before setting out to explore her neighborhood. We are already starting to learn the streets (none of which are identified with signs so you just have to figure out a plan in advance and keep track of the number of streets that you’ve passed). We stopped for coffee and poked into a couple of stores before making our longer trek over to the Grand Mall where we hoped to find stuff for their house. A 25-minute walk wouldn’t usually intimidate me, but 25 minutes in direct sun with 41 degree heat is definitely daunting and I appreciated when we hit the air-conditioned mall. While there wasn’t a whole lot in the way of household stores, it was really interesting to see all the different clothing stores (all 6 floors of them) and what the styles are like in this area of the world.
A few hours later and it was back into the sun to walk over to the ACE club; an expat “club” that is known for their cheap alcohol (harder to come by in a Muslim country) and good food. It lived up to its reputation on both fronts and I was especially impressed with my $2 glass of wine that was filled literally to the rim. For a second I had to debate whether it was polite to sip it before lifting it up to carry to my table.
And then it was back into the sun again as we wandered our way back to Road 233. We managed to re-find a little pita bakery that we’d seen the first day, and then grabbed some creamy feta, olive oil and veggies for Greek salad from the store across the street, so dinner was a very fresh and delicious one at the apartment.
I arrived in Cairo Saturday night around 7:30 and was fortunate to have Shawn, the principal of the school, pick me up at the airport. It’s always nice to have a familiar face greet you when you’re arriving in a country for the first time… well as familiar as seeing his picture once on the website can be. We drove the hour to what is now my parent’s apartment in Maadi only to find that the person who was supposed to clean and set up the apartment obviously hadn’t. Not only was it incredibly dirty, but there were no towels/sheets/dishes to be had. So at 9:00pm we made our way to the Carrefour to buy a few supplies to see me/us through the first 24 hours. I was amazed at the number of people (including babies) that were also doing their shopping between 10 and 11pm on a Saturday night (Saturday here is equivalent to our Sunday, their weekend is Fri/Sat). It makes sense that a lot of people nap so that they can go out later when it’s cooler.
Now those of you that know my mom, know she’s a bit of a clean freak. When Shawn dropped me off again armed with towels, sheets, a couple of cloths and a big bottle of cleaner, I knew I had my work cut out for me. I knew that if my mom walked into the place after travelling for 48 hours, having very little sleep, and already feeling culture shock, that it might be just a little too much. So I threw on workout clothes, cranked up the Mumford and Sons and got busy. I got rid of garbage, scrubbed bathrooms, cupboards, kitchen counters and every other surface I could until I ran out of cleaner at 2am, at which point I crashed hard (this after 36 hours of travelling with no sleep, so I was ready). It wasn’t perfect, but it was as good as it was going to get. And when they walked in at 7:30 the next morning I was definitely glad I had stayed up to clean.
I remember when I first moved to Monteverde and I had the romantic notion of what it was going to be like to live in the jungle mountaintop in Costa Rica. You have all these expectations of what it’s going to be like, but it’s based on a North American ideals. You’re not thinking about what it’s going to be like living in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language or know the culture, and where the living “norms” are different than your own. So it’s no wonder culture shock hits us when we finally arrive in the country, exhausted after tens of hours of travel and months of anticipation. I think it’s those first few days that either make-or-break the experience you’re going to have. You can either A) embrace it and look at is as part of the adventure, or B) be overwhelmed by the different-ness of it all and let it prevent you from enjoying the experience. I wasn’t quite sure which one my mom would choose… but I’m happy to say that after 24 hours, she’s gone with choice A.
Yesterday was a much-needed rest followed by more scrubbing and tidying of the apartment and unpacking. Shawn and Sherena came by in the evening to take us on a tour of Maadi… I can already tell I’m going to need more time exploring Road 9 (Lisa we even found Carlitos). We wandered around in the 42-degree heat (which isn’t as bad as I thought) for a while before retreating to air conditioning and a wonderful Lebanese meal. By the end of the day, while still exhausted, they were starting to feel more settled and ready to take on this adventure.
Today was my dad’s first day of work, so mom and I had a quick breakfast of yogurt and honey before setting out to explore her neighborhood. We are already starting to learn the streets (none of which are identified with signs so you just have to figure out a plan in advance and keep track of the number of streets that you’ve passed). We stopped for coffee and poked into a couple of stores before making our longer trek over to the Grand Mall where we hoped to find stuff for their house. A 25-minute walk wouldn’t usually intimidate me, but 25 minutes in direct sun with 41 degree heat is definitely daunting and I appreciated when we hit the air-conditioned mall. While there wasn’t a whole lot in the way of household stores, it was really interesting to see all the different clothing stores (all 6 floors of them) and what the styles are like in this area of the world.
A few hours later and it was back into the sun to walk over to the ACE club; an expat “club” that is known for their cheap alcohol (harder to come by in a Muslim country) and good food. It lived up to its reputation on both fronts and I was especially impressed with my $2 glass of wine that was filled literally to the rim. For a second I had to debate whether it was polite to sip it before lifting it up to carry to my table.
And then it was back into the sun again as we wandered our way back to Road 233. We managed to re-find a little pita bakery that we’d seen the first day, and then grabbed some creamy feta, olive oil and veggies for Greek salad from the store across the street, so dinner was a very fresh and delicious one at the apartment.
Wandering the streets of Maadi
Tonight was more cleaning and organizing and I’m excited to say that my mom actually uttered the words “I’m so happy with this” as she looked in at the freshly washed cupboards lined with the new glasses bought today. I think this whole Egypt thing is going to be a-okay for them, and I think I’m going to have a hard time leaving… I already feel very at home here!
Tomorrow I talk to the school’s travel agent and book my couple of excursions, so hopefully my next post will have more cultural info and pictures included!
Tomorrow I talk to the school’s travel agent and book my couple of excursions, so hopefully my next post will have more cultural info and pictures included!
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