..is leaving, and the view of the beautifully lit Citadel by night on the way home. I’d naively forgotten the nature of the Carrefour beast and was actually looking forward to the trip in the taxi on the way there. Initial excitement fast evaporated as I saw the ant-like hordes entering the mall and flocking towards the hypermarché. After an exhausting hour or so hunting for things for the flat – pans, knives, bins and the like – I retired to the nearest restaurant and abused their bottomless drinks, tortilla chips and salsa offers and waited for Andrea to get back with the other food items we needed. It’s difficult to explain the Carrefour madness to people who’ve never been as it’s really unlike anything I’ve experienced anywhere else. There have been times, I admit, when I have rushed to Carrefour in Alex as a safe-haven to buy some reasonable cheese and half-decent bread, but every time I go on a more concerted shopping trip the experience is somewhat soul destroying. Picture trying to do food shopping on a match day at Old Trafford, or Boxing Day sales with trolleys. I can see its appeal to middle and upper class Egyptians who can justify the inflated price tags because they can buy everything they need there, like at Tesco Express. But one of the things that I enjoy most about wandering through places like the street market on Mohammed Farid, next to our apartment, is that you can find a shop for everything. One man sells plastics, the next sells eggs. One man sells bread, the next is more of a lime specialist. I also love the way that shops group together here: on our street there are maybe six shops selling glasses and sunglasses in a row of seven. In other neighbourhoods I’ve seen stationery, kitchen supplies and even prosthetic limbs sold this way. Happily, Carrefour won’t threaten these shops too much any time soon, I suspect – with only a handful of stores it doesn’t have the presence to enjoy the stranglehold Tesco has on the UK market – but one feels it may only be a matter of time. For now though, I’m happy to enjoy buying onions and carrots from different shops.
Nouredin = Hero. Two long afternoons trailing round in mid-afternoon heat finally paid off as we found an excellent little flat 10 minutes walk from Andrea’s bus stop that is excellently air conditioned and generally very homely. It’s in a really great part of town that is very Egyptian – we live in front of a subsidised bread stand and above a makeshift coffee shop – but that is also not too far away from the trendy cafés of Tahrir. Everyone we’ve met here has been extremely friendly and welcoming and people are trying to help us with everything from the internet to the washing machine and to the sofa I broke after being in the flat a mere 3 hours. Guinness World Record anyone? I think it may be the result of 2 days of kosharee and one cheesy bites pizza.
This morning we went shopping in the local street market for some groceries and cleaning products, which I then deployed in expert fashion in a revival of my pro-lifeguarding days, “squeejee-ing” the floors with meticulous accuracy and speed. It’s looking good – I’m reluctant to upload pictures just yet as we have some work to do putting up posters, buying throws etc. but I’ll sort it ASAP. We also have plenty of space for people to stay, so Ahlan wa Sahlan!
Right, off to Carrefour to buy towels, bedding and all things nice. More soon!
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