Giza Zoo

We went to the Zoo in Giza, you know how the Bronx Zoo is a world class zoo, well this is the polar opposite.  You know how you go to the zoo and the animals look healthy and somewhat content.  Well that's not what you will find in Egypt.  You know how the zookepeers generally look professional, well that's not exactly the case here.  We expected to see some laughing hyenas but they looked like they needed some prozac.  This is the best picture from the zoo.  I guess thats why they don't mention the zoo in the guide books for Cairo.

They did have a masjid there and we prayed Jummah prayer there, so that was nice. 

A Day at the Zoo

We went to the Giza Zoo last week. I thought it was cool, but others would beg to differ. It costs 1 pound to get in, which is like, nothing. One pound is like 20 cents, which makes it very accessible to everyone, and so everyone was there.

We went on Friday and there's a masjid inside the zoo (There's a masjid inside the zoo!), so we were able to spend all day there. It was very crowded, and near the bigger, cooler animals there was more of a crowd. Oh, you didn't know that some animals could be cooler than others? They can, just like people. Some people are dorks, some people are cool, like us, we're cool.

We saw the usual animals, the lions were a big hit, everyone crowded around  them to get a look, and they had a bunch of different kinds of monkeys. A guy showed them some candy with silvery, colorful wrappers and the monkeys went crazy. Then the guy tossed them a few pieces and they pounced at it, unwrapped and ate in quicker than any kid. One of the animals that really made an impression on me where the hyenas. I have never seen hyenas in real life before, only on the Lion King, but these were incredible. They were amazing creatures. They heads necks are so huge, and there was a real soulfulness in there eyes, it was amazing. I had a connection with them. Their cages were real prisons for them though, and you could see it in them. Some of them looked like they had just gone crazy and some of them were pitifully depressed. It would be incredible to see them in their natural environments.    

Wasta & Visas

Really the two don't have anything to do with one another but anyway.

What is wasta?  Wasta is an arabic expression that loosely translates into "who you know".  It means influence, like behind the scenes. Here in Egypt this is the best way to procure a job or really get anything done.  I don't have any, but I know someone who does : )  

We thought we would have a problem renewing our visas but it seems that it was a false alarm.  We know a few people who have renewed theirs, so inshallah it wont be a problem. We may live here foreverrr.

8 Months

We have now been here 8 months.  I am experiencing my time here in dog years.  It seems like forever. You know in this country people don't like dogs.  They hate them.  Most Egyptians are afraid of dogs.  When you walk down the street and see a dog they always look sad.  In the States they don't look like that.  You can always tell when a dog is Egyptian.  If you say Kelb, they run away.  You just have to say the word and they run.  You have to say it in Arabic though because they don't speak English. 

Last month we had our first visitors from the States.  It was Meraj and his family.  It was a lovely visit.  All the boys went to the masjid and we stayed here and then later we went to the Souq.  It was nice seeing familiar faces.  

I thought that we would have had more visitors by now but we haven't.  Alot of people said they would come but people don't always do what they say.  You know who you are.