Maadi

Adam and Sarah live in a section of Cairo called Maadi, in practical terms it would really be a suburb of Cairo where there is a large ex-pat community. The neighborhood is quite beautiful and the streets are pretty peaceful. The apartment is within easy walking distance to the metro, shops, restaurants and many of Adam's colleagues and their friends. Last night a friend, Adrianne joined us for dinner at a nice restaurant where I was able to have a hamburger (the first beef I have had in quite awhile), it was fantastic! This morning we were accompanied by an Italian friend, Juliano and his dog to a nature preserve called Wali Degla in the middle of Cairo. Many people come to the preserve for walks, hiking and mountain biking. The scenery is all desert but quite gorgeous and we had fun climbing rocks with the dogs in tow. Following a nice walk with headed to a mall that has a huge french store, most likely compared to wal-mart in the states to stock up on some items for all the up coming visitors. So far I have spent my time outside of downtown Cairo where I feel everything looks very well-kept and quite clean. Sarah and Adam do keep reassuring me that downtown is quite dirty and more the typical Cairo, maybe a little more like the India Sara and I explored. We'll see... The pictures are of me and the flowers that Hussein, the gardener brought for me, me at Wadi Degla, and Adam and Sarah taking naps in the living room.