This was the meter going too fast
As has been my Friday custom since I’ve been in Cairo, I did not leave my apartment until the ripe hour of 8:30 pm, at which point the sun was safely beyond the rim of the earth, scorching another people somewhere. I don’t know if I’m just complainy and/or high maintenance, but it sure does get hot here. I have no problem with the weather per say; I just have no desire to be out scampering around in a cauldron-like atmosphere–hence the clever avoidance strategies i.e. sleep. Since I realize the weather will get hotter and is already hotter some places in America, I will save my strongest complaints for later.
Apparently, however, I’ve been missing out on a different world. The streets, they say, are calm on Friday mornings and one might actually use the word “pleasant” to describe walking outdoors. They might as well say that unicorns pull the buggies and the nile is filled with iced tea, but so help me I will witness for myself the miracle of Friday morning next week. I might stay up all night just to wander the empty streets and eat the candy leaves of the acacia trees in the soft light of dawn, but I will do it.
On a different note, tonight we took a taxi back from our favorite hang out spot, Boursa, which is in Midtown and probably about 10-20 minutes in taxi from Doqqi, depending on the traffic. After we got into the taxi we commented, in English, that the meter was running faster than usual, much faster. It reminded me of cartoon characters’ eyes when they turn into slot machines out of extreme desire for something, the image flipping faster than you can say “hold on there one hot second, pal.” Mr. Taxi Driver noticed we were staring at the meter and talking about something in our foreign tongue, gestured to the meter and said “Expensive?” Great guess, bucko. To be fair, you had the advantage of remembering the time you took the meter to your cousin and asked him to rig it for you, so I’m not going to say you’re a genius. But we were grateful for what was, in essence, an admission of guilt, and got out as soon as we knew where the heck we were. On the bright side, we got to walk a little bit, which we hadn’t done all day. On the dark side, we had to walk in the presence of Cairo night dwellers, which aren’t always the most savory of folk. Except for us, of course.
There were protests today in Tahrir, but they were peaceful, so that’s good. I heard the number tens of thousands thrown out there, also the words “carnival atmosphere.” Tomorrow I plan on sitting at home, promptly followed by feasting on camel meat.
Also, the title to this blog post is a vague reference to 30 rock…let credit be given where credit is due.
Snotting black 