Canal Street

Key to photos: First is a close-up of the pyramids from our window. Second is a zoomed out view of the same skyline from the window with the Nile and the pyramids very small in the middle. Third is into the courtyard below with kids playing in a blow-up kiddie pool on their balcony. Fourth is the spare bedroom/den with its balcony. Last is Rachel in the living/dining room-- tree is fake, but we're working on that.

The apartment is actually way nicer than anything we could afford in Brooklyn. It's a two bedroom apartment with a very spacious living room/dining room. We use the second bedroom as a tv room, but it is completely suitable for guests. The dining room table is turning into Zach's office, which is great because he likes to spread out his many piles of papers. The kitchen is small, but completely ample, in fact bigger than most NY kitchens, though we don't eat in it - we could squish but it's not really worth it. We have two balconies - one is really for laundry drying and the other has a very distant view of the pyramids. The furniture is Egyptian, which means quite gaudy almost rococo with gold-leaf trim, but the landlords worked hard to tone it down for western tenants. Oh, and we have a washing machine (which will, by far, be the hardest thing to give up)!

We live in a middle class projects looking complex. The buildings look a little communist in their concrete blandness. The neighbors are friendly and there are several services like dry cleaning, bodegas, and a pharmacy right in our complex.

Though it's on a subway line, the neighborhood (Maadi) is outside of central Cairo and is known for being quiet. That's not to say that cars don't honk much more than is necessary, but it's much quieter, less crowded and greener here than most parts of Cairo. In fact a street leading up to our complex is called Canal and has a very wide median full of gardens.