Friday is the day of prayer here, so no school and 12 blessed hours of sleep. I had the morning free, so I did what anyone would do, make coffee, go for a walk, and do a little school work. My walk consisted of going around the block.  Most things were closed and it was stifling hot.  Knowing my sketchy sense of direction I thought that was enough. Here is an example of something we don't see every day.

But make no mistake, right next door was a clothing store selling very westernized wear.

At 1:30 Ramez and Ali (another history teacher at the school) picked me up to go to the Cairo Tower. Ali was the history expert and spoke in Arabic while Ramez translated. It was a good story having to do with the 1950s, Nasser and the middle finger.  (You can ask me about this when we talk).  We had tea and then drove through the city. 

Here we are at the tower.

This picture makes me laugh because it's overlooking the Pyramids, but the day is so hazy, you can't see it. 

 



After tea we drove through the city to the Khan al Khalil bazaar.  I love a good bazaar and having Ramez and Ali there paved the way with their mad negotiating skills.

I'm not talking at all in this transaction. 

Ramez and Ali then took me for a delicious Egyptian meal at a restaurant directly in the bazaar. It's like walking into another world.

 

They also had me try this soup.  I did not take a picture.  It was delicious.  I just forgot. 

Delicious Green Soup

After dinner there was more shopping. Ramez and Ali were super patient with me and my desire to find the perfect trinket. They gave me a cool history of the area as a walled city built to protect against invaders. It was built in 970 AD and changed hands many times. It has 7 gates and there is one person who is still in charge of opening and closing the gates. History is always a good story.

Here are more pictures. You can tell I really like this area.

 Me at one of the gates.

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All right.  I'm a day behind in writing, but it gives me time to get organized.