miscelany I

This time some disjointed images.

This is Carefour, the French-owned box store here in Cairo, a 15 min cab ride from home. Yes, we have access to retail junk of all stripes. Giant bags of snack-sized Snickers? We got 'em. In one stop we got an electric heater for the winter, Egyptian cotton sheets, a giant bottle of olive oil, potting soil, bulk spices, and frozen treats.

This is for the bike fans: I swear this was the only patch kit available. No sandpaper piece, but lots and lots of patches. Lots and lots. We've only needed one so far, but with the shape of the roads I expect we'll need more.

You're all probably used to this view from our dining room by now. Pyramids, I don't need to remind you, are on the right. This is about as close as we get to rain. Not wet, but nice all the same. The weather now is pleasant, cool enough for long sleeves at night, and even generally during the day. No sweaters or jackets yet. There was some rain in different parts of our neighborhood. We didn't see it, but friends report that there were mud waterfalls cascading off the valley walls in our favorite Thursday hiking spot (Wadi Degla). There was also about a five minute shower during the week. If you were outside, you got soaked. If you were inside, you didn't even know anything happened.

One last shot of Norway:

Rachel is standing around the corner from where my tiny apartment was, on one of many many streets forbidden to motor vehicles. While it's now cool in Cairo, wool coats are still a long way off here.