Day 28

February 16

I got to spend today with the family of my survival Arabic teacher. This was an absolutely marvelous experience as we were able to build a real relationship with not only people who grew up in this country, but also kids who are growing up in this country. Although today we didn't get to spend much time talking about their thoughts and opinions, we did set the foundation for hopefully a long-term relationship. Both Magdha, our survival teacher, and her two boys speek impeccable English and are quite social and willing to talk to us. We got to eat a home-cooked meal and enjoy the company and a welcoming environment.
On the drive over, Magdha pointed out the place where Sadat was assassinated some 25 years ago, setting off a chain of events that eventually led them to the place Egypt is in now. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Mubarak had not taken power 25 years ago, would Egypt be a better or worse country.
Magdha lives outside of Heliopolis, a much quieter, less hectic suburb of Cairo. Although the subsurb still consisted of apartment buildings and shops rather then houses. I have yet to see an actual single-family house in Egypt yet. Unless you consider the cardboard shacks that are on the abandoned lot by AUC.
We also got to drive through the City of the Dead today. I had much about this area, a huge cemetery, where actually 1000's of poor people live amongst the tombs. Although we didn't really see much from the drive, I find the whole idea of it fascinating and worthy of more investigation.