While the architecture and roads look like most any neighborhood in Cairo, the economy of this mostly Christian neighborhood is based on processing garbage. The organic matter was traditionally fed to pigs, until the government recently freaked out about swine flu and tried to kill them all. Everything else is recycled. Giant bags of stuff sat waiting to be processed.
Man carrying a load of some kind of recyling while chatting on his cell.
Rebecca and Walid and Rachel are standing in front of the imposing gate that marks the end of the neighborhood and the beginning of the church property. Beyond this, there was much less garbage on the ground than most places in Cairo.
Inside the smaller of two meeting halls carved into the hillside.
The ten commandments are carved huge and way up in the cliffside.
A typical Cairo moment: Before we get in the cab, the driver assures us that he knows exactly where we're going. Then after a couple of minutes he starts pulling over and asking everyone he passes where this thing is that we're looking for and he's never heard of. Everyone he asks kindly gives directions, but we get lost again after a minute and ask someone new.
Just after leaving garbage city we passed through a very posh new neighborhood near the top of the hills that overlook Cairo. At a funky old cafe on the cliffside we had a great view, unusual in a city that is mostly flat. In the foreground is a military station.
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