Corn Seller

Week 1 over and I went to Zamalek and to an Italian restaurant I discovered on my last trip here.

I took this shot of the corn seller fanning the embers on the walk to the restaurant from the taxi.

It's the weekend here now and I have to get my head round the Friday Saturday weekend, which throws me every time! The Friday morning prayers and everything being closed till afternoon means that Friday is more like Sunday for me. And Sunday is busy and bustling. Wrong way round in my head - too many years of seeing Sunday as a quieter day! We always have to go into school for a few hours on Sunday too to prepare a bit for the week. We did the lesson planning session on Friday, so lesson plans need to be handed in for all lessons from Sunday. Language analysis sheets start on Tuesday. So, this and the fact that the trainees are doing language lessons in week 2 (week 1 was listening/reading and classroom management) means that it's a busy week. Oh, and the first assignment is due in on Thursday too!

This flat that we're in is surprisingly quiet for Cairo, which is good for sleeping and escaping to, but I miss the sound of the mosques. And the Nile view of course. On the upside though, it's a huge space with 3 big bedrooms (mine is really big with a separate sitting area and sofa), reception area (really another sitting room), enormous living room with a dining room just off it (more open plan than not) kitchen, two bathrooms, and a big closed in balcony. The floors are a mix of marble and wooden and high ceilings and chandeliers. In terms of furnishings, it's all a bit of a mish mash but with mainly big, heavy pieces (some really lovely and others not so!) and then the main sitting room very modern with big cream sofas and flat back tv. If anyone lived here full time and moved a few bits of furniture around to really give each space a true function and feel, it could be an amazing place to live. As it is though, with different people coming and going for months, it's a bit lacking in cohesion. I'd love to have the time and get my hands on it!! The one thing I find a bit frustrating is that all the windows are chest height and have two layers': frosted glass and then mozzie nets. The first thing I did was walk around and open as many as possible, but it's still not quite a big bright open space. The frosted windows would be first to go! My own room windows are all open and my side of the building is on a quiet street, just off Mesaha Square, which I blipped the other day. I'm keen to see if I can hear the call to prayers today, with it being Friday. There must be mosques nearby! I can hear birds though, which is lovely.

Not sure what my plans are yet, but a bit of exploring of this area in the daylight I think. It's not as old worldly as Zamalek, but still considered a very good area and just a 12 mins taxi ride to school. It feels hot already and it's only 8.40am!