Taxicab Confessions

Boston Time: 4:56 PM 19 May

Cairo Time: 11:56 PM 19 May

 

Most of the cab drivers I have encountered have not been fluent enough in English, or humorous enough to withstand my Arabic, to have any sort of conversation. It also does not help that I have not yet learned the address of our hotel in either language.  Today I learned how to say “turn left” but promptly forgot after stepping out of the taxicab. 

Jean, 43, who drove us to the zoo, was born in Egypt. He has been driving a taxi in Cairo for two years and acknowledged the polar driving styles of Egyptian and American drivers, as he merged with buses, honked, and avoided fearless pedestrians.

He lived in Sacramento, California for eight years as a cashier and doing accounting for an Indian casino. He has two boys, 6 and 9, who were born while Jean and his wife, who is from Morocco still lived in the States. “California was very interesting,” he said. “Not expensive, different from New York.” 

When asked about how well he does driving his cab and making a living in Cairo, he did not give a unique response.  “Here? Now? One job is not enough,” said Jean who has a second job doing accounting of government taxes when he is not driving his cab. 

Very willing to answer our questions about his life, Jean proved to be a caring individual. “When you go in the zoo, don’t touch the animals…They may be dirty,” he warned us.

But Jean’s caring disposition was not limited to hosting tourists or other clientele. Jean felt obliged to return to Cairo to care for his mother who is 89 years old. “I have a green card [from the United States], but I am waiting for my mother. She is very sick.”

Two Weeks

Boston Time: 11:22 AM 17 May
Cairo Time: 6:22 PM 17 May

It’s hard to believe we have been in Egypt only two weeks. There is so much to absorb and experience here in this desert country that the end of the day always feels more like tomorrow and the morning more like yesterday. At the same time, it is another thing to consider that I still have five more weeks in the Middle East and away from my American home. The threshold of longest period away has now been reached and about to drastically increase. Damascus and Doha should pass more quickly given the shorter sum of days we are spending in each location. When we return to Cairo after Alexandria I will be ready to go home and return to the normal grind. I am already thinking about my next adventure.

The weather is finally performing according to what we were told to expect (and dread.)
“How hot was it today?” I asked, looking for the day’s temperature reading.
“It was ridiculously hot today,” answered Christina Petrucci, a Northeastern University student currently studying in Cairo. Practicing my Arabic and knowledge of the Celsius scale in the taxi to which my body was adhering itself, I fanned myself and jokingly complained to our driver that it was khamseen(50) degrees. The cabby replied, La, arba’een (40). Never mind the details, that still throws the mercury over 100° Fahrenheit for those of us unfamiliar with metrics. We have been exceedingly lucky with relatively cool temperatures thus far, but now its time for the real deal. And it is only getting hotter—Qatar should be around 110° F.