7 September Update

Oops ... had to be reminded to update my blog by 3 different people ... sorry!

These first 2 photos are of school. I snapped them on the way out at 2pm on Thursday.

The corridor outside my room looking towards the junior library. The desks and chairs are for the "naughty kids". Imagine a corridor of naughty kids :-) 

Leaving school to catch a cab home. Check the rubbish on the sidewalk by the car - there is much, much worse. One day I will build up enough courage to take a photo of further up the street the school is on.

This morning Tony & I took a cab to Shara (Road) 7 which is a market area where we bought cheap vegetables. The place was bustling with stalls everywhere along the sides of the street. The stalls that took me by surprise were the butchers. There were sides of beef and chunks of meat (maybe sheep or goat) hanging out in the open and at other butchers there were wooden cages of live chickens, ducks and rabbits. Next time I go I will take my camera. I am a little wary of taking photos with the locals in them because some expect a baksheesh (tip). Found some great falafels, 5 for 2 pound, much bigger and moister than at home. Deep fried and put in a newsprint cone by the very friendly vendor.

This afternoon we went to dinner at another teacher's place - very nice apartment about 20 minutes walk from here, which overlooks the prison and the city of the dead.

This is the prison where Mubarak was put after he was ousted in 2011. The rows of olive trees are a barrier between the prison and the outside. There is a large brick wall on the other side of the road you can see in the foreground. On the horizon what looks like mountains is actually a granite quarry.

The area of low buildings is called the city of the dead which is an area of tombs that people live on top of. The people that live there look after the tombs which, mostly, belong to their ancestors. It's not a tourist area to visit but apparently there is another one in Cairo which you can go to.

Back to work tomorrow, a day of meetings and finding out where all the missing books from my class inventory are. Next weekend we might head into the museum.