Cairo Town

We arrived at the temporary apartment at about 7 pm. It is a groundfloor apartment with three bedrooms, beautiful tile floors and super high ceilings. BP had stocked it with some food which was great. So we had some snacks and went to bed at midnight. And we woke up at 4 am. Thus began our days of waking up super early in the morning due to jet lag. Some days it was 3 am and some days 5 am (like today). It's not too bad except that I get super tired in the afternoon and again at about 8 pm. So we go to bed early and the boys take long naps. Here is a picture of Joe and the boys watching movies on the couch:

Since we got up early on Wednesday and the boys had lots of energy, I took them to Small Talk which is a half day preschool in Maadi. They had fun playing and riding trikes. BP provides a rental car and driver for 30 days while we get settled. Our drivers name is Hesham, and he's really nice. He is actually a very conservative driver for Cairo which makes it more relaxing to be in the car. While the boys were at Small Talk I ran errands to the BP Center and the grocery store. Joe came back around noon and we picked up the boys at 12:30 pm. I can't remember what else we did of significance except nap and get our stuff organized. That night we walked to a nearby restaurant. Here is a picture of Nate and Joe walking through Maadi:

Shopping is a new experience. It's going to take a while to find all the food we're used to eating. Milk is typically bought in boxes like below. They are room temperature and only require refrigeration when opened. Luckily most items have Arabic and English writing.

On Thursday the boys went to Small Talk again. I went to the bank to withdraw money to pay for Small Talk and other things. Then I went to a large store called Carrefour. Not someplace you want to go often, but it's good to stock up on food and other items. It's like the Cairo Fred Meyer. It takes a while to get there, so I got back around noon and then Joe and I picked up Henry and Nathan. Later than afternoon we toured a house that we might want to rent. Here they are called villas. It has a large yard with grass which is unusual. Joe will initiate the contract negotiation process this morning. Then later that night, Joe went to look at a car to buy. We will soon be the owners of this 2007 Toyota Prado. It's a very nice, low mileage car that seats 8 and is all set up for desert camping. We will officially have it once the owner gets back from vacation and we get our permanent work visas. That should happen later this week.

I haven't taken lots of photos yet because 1) our cameras were all out of batteries and 2) the local police don't like to see people take photos. The Egyptian police can be suspicious of people taking photos because there are military zones and lots of embassies in the area. So I'll get some iPhone pictures for now until I get the lay of the land.