Here's a quick run down on other things I did in the days when I didn't post.
I found a place to make lenses for my glasses and to buy a pair of frames. For $400 total, I have 4 sets of glasses with the new prescription, one of which is new frames. That's less than I paid for my last set of glasses, after insurance, in the States. Lovely!
I also purchased some Czech crystal cups which will match exactly some that my parents bought in Prague before I was born. Kind of expensive, but I care not. I got 5, each a different color. They are a different size than the ones I have, but will make my collection much more gorgeous. I had to have them. I found them in a funny little antiques store that specializes in European antiques. If the store was organized in any way, I could not perceive it. But the cups jumped out at me. As did two Syrian embroidered robes, which I am still thinking about.
Egyptians are very wonderful at fixing things. There are actually people who make a living altering and mending clothes. There is one of each of these people--the tailor is the terzie, and the mender is a rafa'a--in Manyal, and of course they both knew my father well. He always brought lots of things over for them to fix. My uncle took me to the rafa'a to get two sweaters fixed. Even with the huge hole, he says it will be unnoticeable...I can't wait. My uncle was disgusted that he couldn't get the price under LE80 ($11) but I don't care because one sweater is linen and the other is cashmere and they would cost far more to buy. The catch is that he is very slow, and one has to remind him. My uncle dropped off things to be fixed 2 weeks before and they aren't done. Which is why we went early in the visit. :-)
I also visited a lovely bookstore, which had a great deal of Arabic literature in translation (I bought 4 books, and I hope to find one of the short ones readily available in the US for book group next year!). They also had postcards and books about the revolution, so of course I had to have some of those as well.
On Sunday, I went to a boat cafe on the Nile and had juice and mille fait and amused myself by looking out the window at the river and observing the other cafe goers. And wrote thank you notes for CLICK! I think the juice made me sick, as I threw up that night. Fine now, except that I sort of ache (when I laugh or cough) from throwing up and my throat hurts. I am pretty sure it was the juice, as I started feeling funny nearly immediately but of course, I ignored it. First time sick in Egypt, but it was bound to happen as I've eaten out more than ever before.
My uncle Ibrahim (age 87) is not feeling well. That's my aunt Zizi's husband. This has meant that my cousin Mahmoud came from Alexandria to take him to the doctor last week. This week, my uncle Nabil is taking him twice. Each of these trips is approximately a 6 hour experience. I'm sorry he isn't feeling well, since his son Ahmed is coming this weekend from the states.
I am actually reasonably impressed by the Supreme Council of Antiquities website. It has big holes in it (for example, nothing about the Egyptian Textile Museum, which is listed and which my cousin mentioned). But still, it is pretty nice and informative and not even too hard to read.
I found a place to make lenses for my glasses and to buy a pair of frames. For $400 total, I have 4 sets of glasses with the new prescription, one of which is new frames. That's less than I paid for my last set of glasses, after insurance, in the States. Lovely!
I also purchased some Czech crystal cups which will match exactly some that my parents bought in Prague before I was born. Kind of expensive, but I care not. I got 5, each a different color. They are a different size than the ones I have, but will make my collection much more gorgeous. I had to have them. I found them in a funny little antiques store that specializes in European antiques. If the store was organized in any way, I could not perceive it. But the cups jumped out at me. As did two Syrian embroidered robes, which I am still thinking about.
Egyptians are very wonderful at fixing things. There are actually people who make a living altering and mending clothes. There is one of each of these people--the tailor is the terzie, and the mender is a rafa'a--in Manyal, and of course they both knew my father well. He always brought lots of things over for them to fix. My uncle took me to the rafa'a to get two sweaters fixed. Even with the huge hole, he says it will be unnoticeable...I can't wait. My uncle was disgusted that he couldn't get the price under LE80 ($11) but I don't care because one sweater is linen and the other is cashmere and they would cost far more to buy. The catch is that he is very slow, and one has to remind him. My uncle dropped off things to be fixed 2 weeks before and they aren't done. Which is why we went early in the visit. :-)
I also visited a lovely bookstore, which had a great deal of Arabic literature in translation (I bought 4 books, and I hope to find one of the short ones readily available in the US for book group next year!). They also had postcards and books about the revolution, so of course I had to have some of those as well.
On Sunday, I went to a boat cafe on the Nile and had juice and mille fait and amused myself by looking out the window at the river and observing the other cafe goers. And wrote thank you notes for CLICK! I think the juice made me sick, as I threw up that night. Fine now, except that I sort of ache (when I laugh or cough) from throwing up and my throat hurts. I am pretty sure it was the juice, as I started feeling funny nearly immediately but of course, I ignored it. First time sick in Egypt, but it was bound to happen as I've eaten out more than ever before.
My uncle Ibrahim (age 87) is not feeling well. That's my aunt Zizi's husband. This has meant that my cousin Mahmoud came from Alexandria to take him to the doctor last week. This week, my uncle Nabil is taking him twice. Each of these trips is approximately a 6 hour experience. I'm sorry he isn't feeling well, since his son Ahmed is coming this weekend from the states.
I am actually reasonably impressed by the Supreme Council of Antiquities website. It has big holes in it (for example, nothing about the Egyptian Textile Museum, which is listed and which my cousin mentioned). But still, it is pretty nice and informative and not even too hard to read.
No comments:
Post a Comment