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 from an unexpected rain storm, not because of the lack of intervention of the traffic cop, who mostly just seemed to scold drivers for not yielding to pedestrians anyway). Figuring the rain would clear out fairly quickly, I waited out the storm underneath an awning, casting the occasional sympathetic look towards miserable-looking cyclists (who inevitably disobeyed the traffic light, though I’m not sure if it was in haste or out of habit) and guys on mo-peds, which seem to be quite popular here. After the winds changed direction, the terperature cooled, the thunder subsided and the rain cleared, I waited a bit longer for the water on the road to clear. Since my experience in Cairo riding only a couple kilometers in a simarly unusual rain storm, I was keen to avoid getting filthy in the same way. Another 20 minutes later, there were still puddles around, but it had mostly dried up, so I made my way slowly to the main strip and the cheap hotels. (more…)
June 25, 2009
October 21, 2007
Cats in Cairo—قطط في مصر
They are friggin’ everywhere!
At first, we thought that they were actually a different breed of cat because their heads seemed to be a different shape and they were more sleek. Then, we talked to a few people who had adopted local cats off the street and it turns out that they turn into the same lay-about tubsters as American cats when they are given a steady diet. In fact, they get even fatter. We’ve thrown around some theories about this. Maybe it’s because they were raised in an environment of scarcity and so tend to eat too much whenever there is food around. Maybe it’s because it’s hard to find anything but Cat Chow. Who knows. (more…)
