no friends!!!

I made it out of Cairo yesterday, and my headache is almost gone already! This city is pretty intense! I'm not quite convinced about going back every month or so for work. It's a lot of hard work.

I got there a couple days before the work week to hang out and see the city. My buddie Hugeback moved there last week, so we checked out his new neighborhood (Maadi ), and started things off with a couple nights of pub hopping. I was quite impressed with the pub scene, as it's a huge upgrade from the Emirates. And a place where the locals know the words to Marley songs is always a plus.

Getting around the city is quite an experience on it's own. Out of everywhere I've been, it's most comparable to the Indian streets with Bangkok smog. I think I saw only a couple of street lights there, and they weren't being used. Most traffic is pretty slow going, as there are around 18 million people living in the city. But without traffic lights, things run a little hectic. Also, about 80% of the cars in the city are 30+ years old!! I managed to rip off a door handle off of one taxi. My buddie Umar wanted it for a souvenir.

Here's a photo I snapped of a passer-by:



While I had to work 6/8 days I was there, I still managed to make it too the pyramids and the main Egyptian Museum. A few pictures:




Exterior of the Egyptian Museum:


Here's a mummy King from something like 1300 b.c.




I stayed in Hugeback's corporate flat for a few days, and then once his visitor-lady-friend came I stayed at an old palace which is now the Nile Marriott.


There are a few tourist places that I didn't bother with on this trip, as it seems as if I'll have to go back to the hospital every month or two. The children's cancer hospital we work at is pretty righteous. They don't charge for their service, and it is offered to any kid from anywhere with cancer. The building is very modern, and the facility is top-notch. I think everyone working there is quite proud of what they are accomplishing.

tiger-hunting-internet

Got to see Tiger again at the Dubai Desert Classic this year, thanks to Hugeback's extra ticket. Friday also happened to be the first sandstorm of the year, and we weren't sure if the match was going to be held as the wind was pretty out of control. We decided to go anyway, as we hoped the crowd would be thin... we were wrong! There were WAY more people here this year than last... even on a crappy day.

Here's some photos I snagged.








I didn't follow Tiger as much this year, but did get a righteous putt on video. Unfortunately I could not upload this today, as Dubai internets have been absolute crap. You may have heard about some optic fibers at the bottom of the sea near Alexandria, Egypt being severed.

On Saturday, I went on a villa hunt, and came across a few new villas.

ramadan kareem

So it's Ramadan now, and things have changed slightly, but we're still able to have fun... here's a few fotos we've snapped recently.

Huge on his 32nd b-day... pretty old feller!


Contrary to what you may believe, he doesn't have his tongue pierced, although it appears that one would suit him well.


Turns out that at some point in the evening I lost the ability to frame peoples faces appropriately into the camera scope.


I held this pose long enough to make my face freeze in this position... only yesterday was I able to close my mouth completely.


The following fotos are from a recent hunt I went on. I've decided that a potential new hobby is to search high and low for the ugliest villa's that our beautiful city has to offer. I hope to gather some votes and have a top-eight list eventually.

a) Villa 'a' here is a personal favorite as this is the villa directly across the street from my willa. I find that the windows are not symmetrical, the colors are horrendous and that the dual-substance-diamond sends this villa to the top of the list. Also included with this villa (but not included in foto ) is a big hole in the ground where they haven't gotten around to putting a pool in yet. Roomates refer to this place as the birthday cake villa. I have to stare at this unoccupied P-O-S daily.


b) This craptastic pile of villa is also across the street from us, and thankfully just out of view from my room's window. Although I do get the pleasure of looking at it everytime i jump in my Honda Civic rental. Neither the colors or the designs make any sense, and the boxes on the fence have been there the whole 45 days I've lived here. Like villa 'a' above, 'b' here is apparently ugly enough to deem the facility un-rentable.


c) Although not in our 'hood, I could spot 'c' from about 2 miles away. Not worth additional words, I just wish a better angle was available for this shot.


d) Our first candidate that is actually kick-ass other than the color. Not a potential top-ten willa, but still worth the initial list due to the color-alone.


e)Only in the list as the 'H' is ridiculous.