Ataba

Today was a great day.
Our friend Sonny took us to a market called Ataba. It is similar in a way to the Khan el-Khalili which I talked about before. But Ataba is a market by locals for locals. The Khan is really touristy and sells a lot of trinkets and stuff. Ataba has everything one could ever need. I walked out of thee subway station and was instantly surrounded by shops. At first it was just tables filled with random things. Like q tips and nail files and flash lights and hair brushes and socks and books. But was only the begining. Our main mission was to biy bikes so Sonny took us to the bike shop which is in the hardware section. By section I mean streets. The streets are lined with shops some actual buildings some tables most very small but really filled up. The two people I wish most that could see the hardware section are my grandpa and my brother. The streets reminded me of my grandpa's workshop. A mishmash of things but everything seemed to belong in that place. Sonny often goes to Ataba and said one can literally find anything they need there. And you can by one tool, one machine or even one screw and you can haggle it all for a lower price.
We stopped in at the bike shop and had a look around. We found bikes that interested us and decided to keep looking and come back later to make our final decisions.
Well I thought later meant in about an hour or two. Nope. When we began to explore I realized that one could not possibly see Ataba in one day. And I bet one could never see all Ataba has to offer. There are sections for bathroom things and kitchen things and electronic things and cell phone things and clothing and shoes and food and books and so much more.
the meat market.
we walked off the street and into a section off the street that resembled an alleyway. As we looked around we realized that the was raw beef hanging from the roof and raw chicken piled on wooden tables. There were clies everywhere and the grossest thing of all was what we were walking through. the meat was simply dripping off the tables and onto the ground. there were puddles of bloody chicken juice every step. And we were all wearing flip flops.
but as we thought about the meat we thought about the meat in canada and decided that even with the flies landing on it and the wooden tables that it is kept on it is probably better for us then much of the processed "fresh" chicken in canada.
After looking through the books we went back for the bikes. I knew instantly which one i wanted. it is red of course and it has a basket. all it is missing is a bell. which i will get becasue it is actually necessary here. The bike was originally 500 pounds which is not wuite 100 bucks. Not bad, but after striking a deal we got them for 485 pounds which included a lock and a basket.
I'm really excited to explore my new limits of Maadi on a bike.

Teaching

Nothing much new to report. Almost all the teachers at school are really stressed out. The kids are bad. The most annoying thing is that they stand up in the middle of teaching walk to the front of the room to ask you a question that has nothing to do with what you are talking about. I feel like all I do is yell at my kids by the end of the day. Most other teachers feel the same way. It is really frustrating. but the kids keep coming back and the mornings are usually ok.
Today I tried to do my first science experiment. It did not work. I guess I will try again tomorrow.
Tomorrow is Tuesday and it's nice becasue we get wednesday off. On wednesday I am getting together with my friend kim to plan a trip to germany for christmas. I am really looking forward to figuring out a plan and getting things booked for that. I am also getting a pedicure!
We also get a week off in November. I am not sure what I will do for that but I think maybe go away somewhere in Egypt. Something cheap so I can afford Germany.