Just after finishing that last post and heading out the door of the internet cafe, a torrential downpour struck Homs, quite unexpectedly. The streets flooded, the traffic cop across the way retreated into his little capsule and, amazingly, I didn’t see any wrecks (amazing because of the very slick roads …
Tag: biking
Wrong turns & chance encounters—لفات غلطة ومصادفات
We dawdled a bit on the way out of Lattakia—getting up late, having a leisurely breakfast—mostly because we thought we’d have to take care of some bureaucracy to extend our visas, which meant we would want to leave after the worst of the mid-day heat had passed anyway. It turned …
Intermodal—وصائل النقل المتعددة
The last several days have involved travel via a number of different modes of transportation. As I noted in my last post, the folks at the Jisr ash-Shughur train station were kind enough to store our bikes for us so that we could ride the train to Damascus to meet …
The Kindness of Strangers—لطف الغرباء
If ever there were a place that deserved to have this as their motto, Syria would be it. In the three days Elaina and I spent bike touring between Aleppo and Jisr ash-Shughur, we were constantly offered to share tea, eat food and stay the night. Even at grocery stores, …
New Year’s Resolutions—عزائم للعام الجديد
My apologies to those who had been following my blog and were disappointed to find that I wasn’t updating since last spring. My access to the internet over the summer while I was bopping about North America was somewhat limited and it became difficult to get back in the habit …
First bike wreck in Cairo—الحادث الأول بالعجلة في مصر
Well, I had my first real bike wreck in Cairo today. I don’t count a previous incident which involved just me, my bike, the pavement and some poorly executed fancy maneuvers to fix a loose cog on the fly. In terms actual injuries, however, this is rather less severe than …
Gridlock on Qasr Al-Aini—زحمة موصلات في شارع قصر العيني
A couple days ago I had a horrible time getting to school on Qasr Al-Aini St., my usual route to school. The road was completely gridlocked for many blocks, and I had rather a hard time getting through the tightly packed cars. I had originally thought that it had something …
Biking in Cairo, Take 2—ركوب الدراجة في القاهرة، الڤيديو الثاني
Here’s another attempt at filming my daily commute, to and from school (down Qasr Al-Eini—قصر العيني and back on the Corniche—الكورنيش). This one is not as crooked as the last, but rather more shaky. The traffic is a bit more exciting, though. More pedestrians, more wheelchairs, more crazy drivers, more …
A Video of Biking in Cairo—ڤيديو ركوب دراجة في القاهرة
This was a bit of an experiment. I decided to see what would happen if I strapped my little digital camera to the shoulder of my messenger bag. Below is evidence of what happened. The video came out alright, and you can get a sense of what it’s like biking …
Biking in Cairo—ركوب الدراجة في القاهرة
Despite not hanging out much with people, i seem to have made something of a name for myself. And it didn’t even require carrying a doll around. I’m apparently now well-known as the guy who rides his bike to school.
Food in Cairo—طعام في القاهرة
The food here is mostly pretty good. The taamaya (طعمية, what they call falafel here) is excellent. In most places, i’ve found the ful (فول, beans) to be pretty good, but it can be pretty bland in some places. We actually haven’t gone out to eat all that much.
Traffic in Cairo—الممور في القاهرة
I went a bit crazy for the short period when i wasn’t biking here in Cairo.
Cairo is like a cat—القاهرة زي قطة
Cairo can be graceful and beautiful, suprisingly friendly at some times and strikingly ornery at others. But boy is it ugly when it gets wet! Okay, this is a ridiculous metaphor, but whatever. Last night and this morning, there was some crazy weather here in Cairo: high winds, thunder and …