Looking through the peep hole toward Zamalek

I'm going to keep things short and simple in this, my first ever, blog entry. The reason for shortness and simplicity is because my time so far in Cairo, Egypt has been just that, short and simple.  It has been 11 days since my wife and I arrived in Egypt and the majority of this time I have spent at the Marriott hotel in the neighborhood of Zamalek.

For those of you unfamiliar with Cairo, Zamalek is one of the nicer neighborhoods in the city. It has a European feel to it with narrow tree lined streets, small cafes and restaurants, and residents from all parts of the world. Although hustling and bustling in its own right, Zamalek is less intense than other inner-city Cairo neighborhoods. In a figurative sense it is an island of calm amidst a sea of chaos. In a more literal sense, it is an actual island in the middle of the Nile. Indeed, it is surround by water on all sides as any literal island should be.

At night, the Marriott hotel is our temporary home -  until we find an affordable apartment that we love (which will be soon enshallah). By day, however, the hotel room is my office. While other hotel guests are out and about during the day for visits to the bazaar and the pyramids, I remain holed up in our small hotel room, working away. For this reason, my time in Cairo, so far, has been simple. It mostly consists of days working at the Marriott, followed by early evening apartment searches in Zamalek, followed by night time at the Marriott. The Marriott is my purgatory, but I am optimistic that this state of limbo will soon come to an end.

After looking at nearly 30 apartments, we are meeting a woman this evening who we hope will be our future land lady. The place is great and price is right - we are keeping  our fingers crossed...