Friday in Maadi

The work week in Egypt is from Sunday-Thursday, so our weekend is Friday/Saturday. Which takes some getting used to. Actually, I think I could be here 10 years and still think of Sunday as Monday, if you know what I mean. Even the language reflects this, the days of the week are just the number of the day, so Monday is yom el itnayn, since itnayn means "2" in Arabic. But whenever I try to come up with the Arabic word for the day, my mind just starts numbering from Monday as 1. So I usually have to correct myself (or I just end up saying it in English, which most everybody I deal with understands).

My usual routine on Fridays is to sleep in and then head out for coffee at Cafe Greco on Road 9. Road 9 is a busy street in Maadi, it has the Metro station, and lots of Cafes, restaurants and shops. It is a 10 minute walk or a 5 pound (about 80 cents) taxi ride. I was going to take a picture of the Cafe Greco sign, but they had the umbrellas outside up and I couldn't get a good picture of it. I taxied to the cafe, but I walked home. My walk home takes me by McDonald's on Road 9:

Mike, the sociology professor I know, recently asked his students to write an essay along the lines of the "westernization" happening in Egypt (I don't know the exact assignment--sociology stuff is beyond us finance folks). Anyway, he said he was struck by the comments his students made about McDonald's. Most of them said, "We like McDonald's!" They said the appeal was that is was efficient, consistent, clean, predictable. Which most business ventures in Egypt are not! I find I generally see western things here as seeming out of place and a bit colonialist, if you know what I mean, but it was nice to hear a positive spin of what I too often see as simply crass consumerism pushed out of the US.

I turn at McDonald's and head up Road 85 (I think) in Maadi to go back to my apartment. This is a beautiful walk along quiet neighborhood streets, and it always reminds me of how lucky I am to live here. Maadi is a bit of an oasis in crowded, noisy Cairo, and it is nice to be close to but not in the midst of the city (this is a great article about Maadi: link). There are few places in Cairo like this:

Here is a picture of the gourmet eating establishment conveniently located in the bottom floor of my apartment:

I am starting to make real progress reading Arabic (hum di li lah!). The sign on the restaurant here says" domynoz bytza." There is no "p" in Arabic, so they spell things with a "b" but they will pronounce "p." I have been practicing reading Arabic, so the last time I was in there, I looked over the menu which is printed in both English and Arabic. . I still have to study each individual character to read the Arabic. So I see in English "cheesy bread" and then I try to decipher the Arabic. I'm expecting to find the Arabic word for cheese, and then Arabic for bread, right? I work out "sh" then "y" then "z" then "ee" and hey! wait a minute! It just says "cheesy bread!" Then I notice that it says "chicken wings" in English, and right below it in Arabic it says "chicken wings" spelled out phonetically in Arabic. No wonder they think we are nuts some times!

Dominoes being Dominoes, of course, they run a busy delivery business. Actually, one of the neat things about Cairo is that nearly everything can be delivered. Virtually all the restaurants will deliver, even the high class ones, and so will grocery stores and dry cleaners. The cleaners will even come pick up your laundry and then bring it back the next day. I really have not taken advantage of this because I like to get out and walk around, but I know it is possible.

Most of the deliveries are by scooter, so you see these things zipping around all the time:

It takes a certain amount of courage to drive those things in Cairo traffic, which I'm glad to say I do not possess and hopefully will continued to live the privileged life of a professor and never have the need to develop such intrepid driving skills. Those guys drive around in ways that makes me cringe, but I have never seen one in an accident, although I am sure they occur. I am also convinced that they target me as a westerner and pull off their most harrowing maneuvers when they know I'm watching, and I'm also convinced they gleefully zip by me leaving only inches to spare just to get a rise out of me.

Here is the grocery market where I do most of my shopping:

Actually, I eat out virtually 85% of the time, but when I buy groceries it is usually here.

I have been playing softball in the Cairo American Softball League. After a slow start, I have really enjoyed it. The guys are easy going and we all have a good time. It is good for this slightly middle aged man to get out and compete too. Not that I'm getting older, you understand, I'm just saying it is good for me. This really is a little slice of Americana carved out in the middle of Maadi. Here is a picture of the field:

We play the games on Friday, which is the "church" day for Muslims. (The days of the week are numbered in Arabic, as I mentioned, except for Friday, which is "el gommA," loosely translated as "mosque day.") The field backs up to a mosque, and the call to prayer and services are broadcast over a loudspeaker. Imagine a fire and brimstone preacher's Sunday morning sermon being delivered via loudspeaker through the entire neighborhood, and you will pretty much get the idea. This used to seem weird to me, but now I don't even think about it. Anyway, our games on Friday often have this going on in the background. Here is a brief video of the game with the sermon in the background.

My comments are about the extra player we picked up to fill out our 9--the league has some wonderful rules such as (1) You can get as many as 2 players out of the stands to bring your team number up to 9 so you do not have to forfeit. (2) You are allowed to pinch run once an inning for anyone at any time without having to bring that player out of the game. (3) You start batting with a count of 1 ball and 1 strike, before any pitch is thrown. This is great, because it really speeds up the game. If you let what might be a good pitch go by, and it turns out to be a strike, then you have 2 strikes, and you can't let another go by. I also like the way they call balls and strikes--they have an orange mat that fits right behind home plate and extends for maybe about a foot(?) behind it. Then it is simple--it the pitch hits the orange, it is a strike--it is doesn't, its a ball. That really makes the game go along faster and eliminates a lot of worrying about the umpires calls.

Here are some pictures of the guys at the game:

The only softball league I've ever been in where smoking between innings is a major part of the game!

Most of the players are either working at the embassy for the state department or are working for the US military. But there are several AUC folks on the team--here is a picture of Scott (political science professor) and Justin (biology professor):

And of course, the star player:

I've never hit all that well, but I've been in a real slump the last few games. So I was elated to have a well hit run scoring double to left center in this game.

A picture of Coach Charlie. He is a Vol fan, but we let him play anyway:

After the game, I met Scott and another Fulbright professor (visiting Cairo for the weekend from Alexandria) at Abu El Sid for dinner. This is a great Egyptian place very close by in Maadi. We had a lot of Egyptian food, including koshery and um ali (a dessert.)

Scott then headed home, so I met Justin and Nate at a local bar in Maadi called 55, because it is located at 55 Road 9 in Maadi. We had a few beers and listened to a local band. The band was a cheesy pop band (they played Kool & the Gang's Get Down on It, for example), but exactly what the locals in there wanted. By midnight the place was full of young Egyptians enjoying the music and dancing.

I taxied home a little after midnight. Not a bad day! Back to my grueling life as a college professor on Monday (which is really Sunday!).