Looking for a Flat (Apartment) in Qattamaya, Egypt

Guten morning!

Well, more like afternoon for us ;) 

We had an uber productive morning today - I woke up a bit early and decided to run up and down the stairs in my mom's building since she refused to let me go out running on the street here. 

I think that it would be fine running outside around here, and I have seen many Caucasians doing it since this is an expat area, but I didn't want to make her nervous, so I just annoyed her neighbours instead ;) 

Early morning mist 

We gobbled up some breakfast and then hopped in a cab that we had arranged the night before since not all of the taxi guys here know where Qattamaya is, which is where my mom's school is located, and some of them have very poor English skills and our Arabic still leaves something to be desired ;) 

The area is super lovely, with really nice white washed buildings everywhere. 

The view from the back balcony shows all of the laundry balconies and a kids  garderie next door. Super cute. 

The landlord was the sweetest lady ever, and the guy who found the place for my mom and her friend Sherri - we call him 'B' - was ridiculously helpful and translated for us. 

He have us a ride back in his BMW, and I almost wish that there had been Seatbelts. People were right when they said that you don't know crazy siring until you've driven in Cairo. He was burning rubber, for reals. Crazy cray. 

Once my Momster had settled everything for her new apartment, which they decided to move to in order to reduce their commuting time to get to work and back, she took me out to taste koshary for the first time. 

Koshary is a mixture of pasta, noodles, lentils, rice, chickpeas, tomato sauce and caramelized onions on top. It is called the cheap man's meal, and is ridiculously filling since it is carb city, but so delicious! 

I left feeling satisfied...with a selfie, obvi ;) 

We are having a bit of down time back at my Mom's flat (what they call apartments here) and then we are going to go out for a felucca - an Egyptian boat - ride on the Nile. 

He ain't goin nowhere fast

We were planning on going to a big market place in Cairo today, but Fridays tend to be the big protest day here after morning prayers so we wanted to take it a bit easy today to avoid any ruckus. 

Covers for the cars here since everything gets covered in dust. Bowaps - essentially doormen - usually wash their tenants cars daily to keep them nice and shiny. 

Fun fact: weekends here are Friday and Saturday, so there was barely anyone on the street this morning. It's hard to get used to since Saturday and Sunday are so engrained in our minds as the days of the weekend. 

Anywho, I'll let you know how the felucca ride goes this afternoon, and I pray for a safe Friday for everyone in Cairo today, Inshallah - God willing.