We have endured about a week of rainstorms and drizzle, even relaxed to the hum of thunder cracks now and again. And so I must take opportunity to expound on living in the "winter" weeks here.
The asphalt here is so poorly made, that just a bit of rain eats it away! There is absolutely no drainage system here to support any type of precipitation! For added fun, the roads are not created with a "crown" forcing water and gunk to the sides, but rather it stays evenly across the roads and hiding manholes and potholes. Even more exciting is that manholes are not "built up" when asphalt is added to the roads...when the asphalt is finished, they dig out the manholes....so there are manhole covers that are 6-12 inches BELOW the road surface itself! And lets not forget the speed bumps - the speed bumps range in...
ok WAIT! HOLD ON HERE PEOPLE!
isn't the topic something about falooca's?
Yes, Yes....take a chill pill...I must first digress!
So the speed bumps range from 2" metal rectangles to 4" of paint built up to 8" metal "ramps" installed in the asphalt to 3' (yes, THREE FOOT HIGH) built up asphalt bumps! Rest assured, plenty of cars bottom out on these even at low speeds.
Now that you have a bit of a visual.....think of the photos with all the dirt, not just the sand, but the black silt dirt in the area and add a few inches of water to that and the garbage and the piles of human and animal feces on the side of road where the 12" high sidewalk meets the road (my mom got to see humans use this for a toilet first hand at Khan el Khalili - eew! but really what else can they do?)
Now perhaps you can imagine the loss of the fresh smelling rain and instead of replacement of a new smell - a richer, sweeter (as in the comparison of cow vs pig manure) smell that doesn't allow you to ever take a deep breathe...while attempting to walk anyway in the slippery sludge with floating, hanging, dangling garbage, bugs and dead rodents.....mud slapping up the back of you, cars throwing it upon you......
as I cringe while remembering, I do believe I'm creating more wrinkles in my face! ha! My mom reads on and nods heartily in agreement. I am *very* ready for the couple weeks of winter to end!
Every day the boab will tell me in Arabic with an unhappy expression "the weather is ugly, the streets are ugly, your clothes will be ugly"
BUT NOT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH THE GLORIOUS WEATHER TODAY! The temperature has raised to 64 and the sun is almost full (few scattered clouds only). Oh how glorious!!!!!!!! So...we took our final Friday together of 4 here (me, kids, mom) to enjoy the falooca one more time!! Here are some moments captured today. Thanks for looking!!
Shaving Sherwerma - mmm!!! YUMMY!!
Vikings at Sunrise (Magic Tree House)
Wadi Delga behind the buildings - today we took a new route! I took this route at night on my birthday falooca - but today was our first glimpse this far South on the Nile during the day!
gum drops? or bushes? the jury is still out
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