Traffic in Cairo!

Wow!  That's how I can describe traffic in Cairo...Forget about the LA-San Diego jams you've experienced or heard about...forget about the back to back parking lot on 836 or the Palmetto....that's a small walk in the park compared to what I experienced last night......

But first, yesterday it rained all day in Cairo. A very unusual thing they tell me for this time of the year.  Yesterday was officially the first day of spring in Egypt and it rains very very rarely during this time as the weather changes and it begins to get hot now.  Of course I decide to come to Egypt and I get rain, not just a little rain...nooooooo  constant rain....enough to flood the streets and cause even more traffic jams!!  For those of you that know me and remember my travels in the past, it was an earthquake in Costa Rica when I arrive, 3 hurricanes in PR and Cayman Islands where I was vacationing on a cruise, below freezing weather during the Miami East Region L&D team meeting, Snow Blizzard in New York and now Rain, Rain, Rain in the desert in Egypt in Spring,.....I ask myself, is this a message from Mother Nature telling me not to travel or if I look at it on a positive note maybe she's telling me, "Welcome Julie, to this part of the World" and then shows her welcome by performing all these acts of nature....Hmmmmm wonder which one it is....lol...

So back to the traffic, since it rained all day and since I guess there is not a good drainage system in some areas, many streets got flooded yesterday.  So Mohammed, my new found Egyptian tour guide/driver/friend, takes me to Carrefour, a French SuperWalmart of sorts, to go grocery shopping.  I have a great time shopping and trying to make sense of the things I see and compare and relate it to the things I normally would buy.  The spices for example are very different in this part of the world, I couldn't find oregano but I found cumin, garlic, paprika which is a staple for my "Sofrito", I find Balsamic rice similar to the long grain we use for our "arroz blanco", no black beans unfortunately but I find Humus!!! Of course...all kinds, all types!....
Mohamed does a great job of translating and asking for things that I am looking for. 

So after we finish our purchases we head back to the "flat", and here is where the adventure begins. We leave about 8pm and don't get home until 11:30....Yup 3 and half hours later ...Turns out the road we were on, which is a highway of sorts and very busy got flooded, so several cars got flooded and are now blocking the street, we sit in traffic and talk about Egypt, politics, the recent revolution, the weather, his family, my family, we share pictures on our phones, our work,.......In the meantime Mohamed has now impressed me again with his driving skills, this man is the reincarnation of Mario Andretti (not sure if Mario is dead or alive but his spirit is definitely in Mohamed). He weaves through traffic in spaces that I am certain he won't fit, careens on the outside pavement, up the sidewalk, I'm so close at times to the car next to me that I can physically reach over and reach the steering wheel of the car and drive!!...a thrill ride worthy of any Universal Studios, Adventure Island ride!!!  As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to pitch this new ride to Disney and Universal Studios!

Finally we make it to the flood area and the water is about 2 feet and more in several areas.  Sure enough we see cars that didn't make it stranded on the road, and we also see "friendly Samaritans" pushing cars along that get stuck.  There are these strong willing men with their pants legs rolled up to their knees, in the water and helping to push cars along when they look like they are slowing down and not making it across...talk about ingenuity!! Our car now has become one of those James Bond cars that switch from a car to a boat, I swear! We navigate the waters with an occasional push from our "helpers" in the water and make it out of the water...I feel like I've gotten a taste of crossing the Nile River!...Mohamed doesn't break a sweat...although I do occasionally hear him say, Oh my God, Oh my God....but I figure if Allah is helping him then I'm thinking, please Mohamed continue praying.... well someone was listening whether it was Allah or my boy Jesus I don't know, but I thank both of them.  We are now speeding like crazy on the road home. 

Mohamed and I are starving by now, my groceries have been in the trunk for 3 hours and I'm hoping they are not soaking wet, so he says if I would like for him to pick up some "Take Away" dinner.  I say Yes! And he stops at a restaurant a block away from the entrance to the Sphinx (yes that Sphinx!) and picks up our dinner.  We go home and there I have my first true Egyptian meal called Koshary.  It's made with small pasta, rice, corn, garbanzo beans, lentil, meat and other spices.  It comes with a tomato and garlic sauce.  It is delicious and we eat it while laughing about our 3 and hour trip back home.....As I said before...Life is Good my friends....Can't wait to see what it brings tomorrow!...

Traveling Redheaded Lady (TRL)