1. Arrived in Cairo… Very very late: Dec. 15, 2022

Greetings –

The plan (up until just 5 days ago) was to head to Addis Ababa and Lalibela — in Ethiopia, and then to move on to Egypt (Cairo/ Luxor/ Aswan) and to Jordan (Amman and Petra, and one stop along the drive) and then to Israel (a few nights in Jaffa, Jerusalem, and Akko),. And then to Geneva for a very brief family visit to meet very new grandniece. But alas, plans changed by the hour. First, we decided to ditch Geneva and go in the spring—mostly because of the sheer inconvenience of having to pack for winter weather when the rest of the trip would be in the 60s; and we figured that a one-week old baby might not be as interesting as a three or four-month baby (by then I’m sure she’ll be able to chat and play with us!!) So that got changed and shortened the trip by a few days.

Then about 8 days ago I woke up with a strange “lump” on the right side of my face – kind of below the ear and above the chin—a bit like mumps; didn’t hurt at all, but it was visible and I could feel it when I touched it. I wound up in Urgent Care and the doc thought it was some kind of enlarged lymph node brought about by the fact that I had a cold for a few days (not Covid, just plain old virus coughing and sneezing). She did, however, predict that it could take two months or so to disappear. Said to take Advil. Two days later, given that we were headed to places lacking stellar medical facilities, I decided to see my own doc. She agreed with the diagnosis initially, but also felt it might be swollen salivary gland or something called parotitis, which is usually painful. I have no pain. Anyway, they did an ultrasound which came out fine; totally benign, not infected; she said it needed to take its course and that sucking lemons might be an old wives’ tale that could work. So, we were ready to leave on Monday (packing lots of lemons which we trusted TSA would not take as liquids). 

Then on Sunday, my doctor called me and said she was concerned because we had not uncovered what this was and how I got it. We talked for a long time (on a Sunday! – how’s that for a good doctor!) and she felt I should get it drained on Monday—and although it would take several days for the results—it was my call whether or not to take the trip. Again, no pain, no anything. But as it turned out, there was no way I could get in to have it “drained” on Monday; the Interventional Radiologists “have their own process” (their words) as to how the work gets scheduled. And they are totally booked, and it’s holiday season. By then we had canceled the Ethiopia part of the trip (thinking they could do the procedure Monday or Tuesday). We changed our tickets to go straight to Cairo and do the trip, just minus Ethiopia—which is unfortunate since we really wanted to go. We are now trying to see if we can go to Ethiopia in April when we will be headed to Geneva (you know just a hop, skip, and jump to another continent). 

Mike and I decided we could monitor this as well from here as from home, given that it looked like the appointment would most likely come in January (at which point I am convinced the whole thing will have disappeared – Fern — ever the optimist). And I figure that if it was an emergency, they would have figured out how to get me in right away. Enough about healthcare.

OK.. so here we are in Cairo. I’m just going to give you a feel of what entry into Cairo was like.

Our flight from SFO to Frankfurt was delayed slightly and then the flight from Frankfurt to Cairo was delayed about two hours. We were pretty beat by the time we landed in the chaos of Cairo. It was about 10:45 pm when we arrived at our hotel. Emerging from Customs at Cairo was like coming to most other developing nations—crowds everywhere and drivers and tour guides hawking to get you to come with them. We expected that, so it wasn’t a big surprise. But we had things to do at the airport – like exchange money. So we just ignored all the guys screaming for attention; we also walked past the lines and lines of drivers holding up signs with peoples’ names who had either pre-booked a taxi or driver or were joining some group or were going to meet up with a tour guide, etc. As you know we love being independent travelers wherever we are.

Got our cash – The US dollar is equal to Egyptian 24 pounds; so when you exchange money you get wads of bills. They even have a 1 Egyptian pound bill which is like 4 cents. And then we had to figure out the taxi scene. One guy was just so persistent that we discussed the fare. He said $25 US dollars, but it was also clear he didn’t have a clue where our hotel was located. Most tourists stay in Gezira, which is actually an island on the Nile and is close to most tourist sites. So naturally, we didn’t want to stay there. We did a little research and decided to stay in the El Gamaleya area right in the thick of things; a very old part of the city which is chock full of people and shops. It’s a Muslim part of the old section of Cairo. I called the hotel to have them explain the directions to the taxi guy (he wasn’t too interested in my GPS directions) and then I asked the hotel how much it should cost. They said $8 US dollars. So we negotiated with the driver and paid $12. 

Trying to get his car out of the lot where all the drivers sit while the middleman (yes they are all men) negotiates the deal, was hysterical. Took about as long to get out of the parking lot as to drive to the hotel. And the back seats of the car had seat belts but only the straps, not the little gizmo into which you have to put the strap to secure yourself in the seat. Oh well, can’t have it all.

The drive through the tiny narrow streets which were filled with cars, pedestrians cheek to jowl, tuk tuks, push carts with vendors and then sidewalks totally impassable was great. Technically these are all walking streets with no cars allowed! Anyway, we arrived at Hotel Le Riad de Charme which has about 24 rooms and a rooftop restaurant. We have a little (actually a big) suite with a living room, bedroom, bath, sitting area, and foyers large enough to be additional rooms. Each room is decorated differently and we are in the “Calligraphy Room” (appropriate!). The building is hundreds of years old, but has been updated with modern plumbing (sort of) and electrical (although lots of wires hanging about). The staff could not be friendlier and trying to be helpful, although most do not speak English (except for the reception guy who learned English on YouTube, and is thinking about moving to Capetown! )

From our little terrace (yes we have a terrace from which we can see quite a few mosques) we can see and hear the life of the city, which we will start exploring tomorrow. We dashed up to the rooftop restaurant to get some dinner; I love Cairo already since even this small restaurant was serving until midnight. My kind of town. And when we finally got to our room at about 12:30 am to settle in and unpack we could hear the crowds below us, selling every imaginable item; eating in little outdoor cafes; and strolling the streets.

And then I needed an emergency call with my IT guy… but turns out it’s just very slow Internet. 

If you get this note, then you know the Internet is working and cranking.

Take care. Will be in touch with my daily reports as close to daily as I can.

Best –

Fern