There’s No Place Like “Home”!!!!

Despite the initial lack of cleanliness (the school paid for a cleaning lady to make it spic and span!), our apartment is quite lovely :) It has three bedrooms, each with a massive wardrobe that makes you feel like a princess and a personal air conditioner (which is also a princess-like possession in Cairo). My room is not yet decorated, but I intend on making it cute and cozy :) I have two single beds which imply……VISITORS WELCOME! If that trick doesn’t get you on the plane, I will have to lure you in with the other apartment features.

We have two bathrooms in the apartment. One is attached to the big bedroom, which belongs to the oldest sister who can afford the additional cost and the other is shared between the younger sister and I. Our bathroom is nice, but I am still getting used to the placement of the showerhead in the middle of the tub! This is common in Egypt and I’m sure I will get used to it soon enough!

Our kitchen is spacious with lots of cupboards and sufficient counter space :) We have already delegated one cupboard as the tea cupboard and our tea collection is in progress! I hope we can find some fun types of tea here, but I am disappointed that chai tea is not available in Egypt! Even at Starbucks…you can’t get a chai tea latte! One bizarre thing about the kitchen is that the washing machine is located there! It is weird walking into the kitchen to do a load of laundry, but again, this is very common here. (Speaking of the washing machine, it takes about 2 hours to do a load of laundry and because the water tank is on the roof of the building, the water stays really warm and you can’t do any cold water loads!). Dryers are not necessary here. The balcony takes care of that part of the process in about 25 minutes. The air just drinks the water away!

Our family room and living room are in one large area. Because the apartment came furnished, we have a really pretty hutch and a beautiful dining room table placed on a lovely Egyptian rug! At the same time, because the apartment came furnished, we have a hideous Mexican style couch and hideous Mexican style chairs to match. These hideous and uncomfortable pieces of “furniture” are on an Egyptian style rug and a light fixture (decorated with windmills) illuminates the room!!! We plan on purchasing a big paper bag to place over this area when company comes over. Just kidding, we’re buying a blank and some throws…..haha.

In more positive news, the living room and dining room overlook large desert hills (you can do homework at the dining room table and admire the landscape!) and we can see the pyramids from our balcony (provided it is not too smoggy)! We are lucky that we do not have to look at a building in front of us, as most other people do! Instead, across the street there is a cemetery, an ostrich farm, an old prison and a tree farm! It’s okay though, because the tourist police live on our corner and we can spot their post from our balcony too! They can scare off any ostriches that come our way….

Now, let me describe our building to you. We are on the top floor of our apartment complex, which is the ninth floor! The way to get to the ninth floor is, obviously, the elevator. However, elevators are WEIRD here. I know that I have declared several things as “weird”….but TRULY, this is weird. Here, there are two elevators. One elevator only stops at the even floors and the other one only stops at the odd floors. However, which one goes to which is not indicated outside of the elevator and so unless you are familiar with the building, it is a surprise when you get inside and have to select a floor! The doors of the elevator are strange too. Once the door slides open, there is another set of doors that open INTO the elevator. Please note: our elevator is a small tiny BOX and the doors open IN. Squishy, squishy! Since everyone here sweats all the time, the elevator can also be termed the “sweat exchange booth”. FUNNY! At first it was gross and now it’s laughable! Back to the silly doors that open inward, they must be closed in order for the elevator to move between floors (aka if someone does not shut them, you have to take the stairs!). This has only happened to us on several occasions :)

I think I have shared most of the apartment features that will attract you to my humble abode :) If I think of any other hidden treasures, I will make you aware! Until then…..sweet dreams of my tea cupboard!