Airbnb in New Cairo

I have been captivated by Ancient Egypt since I was a young child. In my elementary school library, there was a small section about Ancient Egypt consisting of no more than 20 books. I must have been in second or third grade when I discovered it and spent several months huddled in the corner of the library in solitary concentration as I was transported to the distant land of Egyptian gods, pharaohs and pyramids during our class’s weekly 20-minute library visits.

After I graduated from college, over 25 years ago, I realized my dream of visiting Egypt. Two of my friends and I joined a 10-day tour to Egypt. We visited the Pyramids of Giza, the Valley of the Kings, sailed in a felucca on the Nile River, happened upon a wedding party in the streets of Old Cairo, rode camels and camped under the stars in the Western Desert and took an overnight train from Cairo to Luxor and discovered the “secret of the desert”. Almost every Egyptian we met along the way used a saying, “Inshallah” in response to various situations in which the outcome was yet to be determined. For example:

Q: “Will the bus arrive on time?”
A: “Insha Allah.”

Q: “Will we see each other again?”
A: “Insha Allah.”

Q: “Will tomorrow come?”
A: “Insha Allah.”

The phrase means “God willing.” A comparable statement for an atheist might be “Who knows”, “Let’s see” or “Leave it to fate or chance” or whatever one believes determines, controls or influences the future.

When I taught Year 3 (US Grade 2) in Shanghai, my and most of my students’ favorite Social Studies unit was on Ancient Egypt. I especially loved teaching the lessons about Howard Carter and the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. Everybody, especially 7-year old kids, loves a good story with suspense, mystery, curses and treasures. I loved teaching and found that one of the best feelings in the world is opening a child’s eyes to our amazing world.

We arrived in Cairo after an overnight flight from Johannesburg and headed directly to our Airbnb in New Cairo. For those who know Shanghai, as Puxi is to Old Cairo, Pudong is to New Cairo. Old Cairo has a history that dates back over 2000 years. New Cairo is a new development area with wider streets, sidewalks and crosswalks, bigger homes and more modern amenities. During my research months ago, I searched for an Airbnb in Old Cairo, but could not find a place big enough to accommodate all of us. It turned out for the best because after experiencing the chaotic streets of Old Cairo, New Cairo is safer and more suited to our family as a base to explore the area.

We have all been looking forward to our month in Egypt because my parents and my brother, were set to join us. My mom and brother would come for the entire month and my dad would come for part of the month. To accommodate the additional people, I booked a 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom Airbnb. The layout of the apartment was perfect for us because one of the bedrooms had 2 large beds, one bed for the boys and one bed for the girls. My parents stayed in one room, my brother stayed in another room and Leo and I stayed in the last room.

The apartment had an oversized living room, open kitchen and dining area. The entire apartment looked recently renovated. The kitchen had a large center island and looked Arab chic with black and gold cabinets. The living room had multiple seating areas, lots of open floor space and a muted gray color palette with splashes of yellow. The dining table could be extended to comfortably seat all of us. Each of the bedrooms was comfortably laid out had an ensuite bathroom.

When Waipo (grandma) and JiuJiu (uncle) arrived, the kids lavished them with the hand-made gifts they made for them during our last weeks in South Africa. The gifts included creative games, art work, mini books and letters in Chinese for Waipo. They spent so much time preparing these gifts, using their creativity, time and two hands to express their love for their Waipo and JiuJiu. Homemade gifts are the best kind of gifts because they are true and sincere. Each homemade gift is a treasure that is more valuable than any present money can buy.

The location of our Airbnb gave us a taste of what it might feel like to live in an upscale neighborhood in a suburban area of Cairo. The apartment was located in a private family-owned building. We were told that each of the buildings including land, in this area is privately owned by a family. The family typically developed a building for their extended family on their plot of land. For example, the older generation might live on one floor and each of their children occupy one of the units in the building. Eventually, the units would be passed on to the grandchildren and future generations beyond that.  We were staying in one of the siblings’ apartments who lived overseas.

The apartment was situated facing a quiet residential street with the side abutting a major thoroughfare called Mohamed Najib Axis that bisects New Cairo. Across this busy thoroughfare were high-end malls and restaurants with an international feel. Ladies were dressed fashionably with heavy makeup and often big sunglasses, most wearing the hijab to cover their hair, but with colorful Western-style clothing. Men were all dressed in Western style clothing that wouldn’t seem out of place in any international city. We enjoyed a meal in one of the restaurants, Two Spoons, that specialized in huge Egyptian and Turkish-style breakfast. A highlight was the shakshuka (poached egg cooked in a tomato, bell pepper and onion sauce) served in a bread bowl. We weren’t expecting such large portions and we had enough food left over for breakfast the next morning.

Over the course of our week in Cairo, we brought the kids to a place called Kids Castle. There are separate activity rooms inside where kids can climb on a jungle gym, role play with costumes or a toy kitchen, play kinetic sand, make slime and get their face painted. EY especially loved it and asked to go back more than once.

We found out later that parents usually drop kids off while they are eating dinner. We observed that Egyptians and even children tend to eat dinner very late, from 8-10 pm, and go to bed very late. Restaurants in New Cairo opened until midnight and Kids Castle opened until 11 pm. When we were at Cloud 9, we noticed the restaurants were still packed at 10 pm with many kids playing beside their parent’s tables.

In the other direction from the apartment, it was a much more local scene. The streets were chaotic and drivers didn’t seem concerned by traffic rules. There were many more men than women. Many of the men wore the galabeya, a loose-fitting tunic for men that reached the ankles, and the women were dressed more conservatively, sometimes in the niqab, a head-to-toe covering that reveals only the eyes. The restaurants catered to a more local clientele with casual looking restaurants with a few seats and take-away options.

We happened upon a Chinese restaurant called Xiang ge li la (香格里拉) which we were all keen to try. It was run by a man from Gansu and he seemed as pleased to see us as we were to see him. We ordered dumplings with beef and green onion and Xinjiang style hand-pulled noodles in beef broth. We would normally have dumplings with a pork-based filling but pork is non-existent in Egypt because over 90% of the population is Muslim and pork is forbidden in Islam. Even with beef filling, the dumplings still tasted delicious and the meal really hit home.

We came across a grand looking restaurant that we later learned from our waiter was a Syrian restaurant. We ordered everything that our waiter suggested and enjoyed a lavish feast where every dish was extremely delicious. We had rotisserie chicken that was flavorful and tender, fried chicken with crispy skin, mixed meat platter that included kofta and kebab, stuffed grape leaves, salad, rice, Syrian pastries and even Syrian pizza.

After exhausting days of touring, thanks to the efficient delivery system through Tabalat (similar to eleme in China), we enjoyed home delivery of many local favorites like koshari, shwarma, kofta, falafel, maqluba and many others. Everywhere we go, we try to eat like the locals. The kids don’t always love it, but everybody can always find something that they like. Our family favorite in Egypt is koshari, which also happens to be Egypt’s national dish. It is a hearty dish made with a mixture of rice, pasta, lentils, chickpeas and topped with tomato sauce. My favorite part is the crispy fried onions that are used as an added topping and the dish is complete with the final drizzle of garlic vinegar and hot sauce.

We spent over a week in Cairo and were thankful to have a peaceful haven to which we could escape from the frenetic environment of the city. The huge apartment gave everybody in the family their own space to work, relax, get over jet lag and be together. Without skipping a beat,  Waipo and JiuJiu were recruited to help with the children’s learning time. This took some of the pressure off of me and Leo and plus, all of the kids love learning with Waipo and JiuJiu. During any downtime, the kids could always occupy themselves with some kind of creative play like make-believe play with figurines, drawing, making costumes, and crafting hand-made things from cardboard and other materials we could find.