So Saturday (which is the end of the weekend) a couple of friends and I went to the Cairo International book Fair. Which i have to say at first i thought would be kind of underwhelming but i was pleasantly surprised. Well it started of with trying to catch a cab/ just any means of transportation to Nasr City which is just another district of Cairo. It was fun we (Nate, Diane, and I) almost got on what the call mini buses here which are exactly what they sound like. Just they are known for incredibly cheap fares and well incredibly cramped and close quarters with anyone and everyone, When we asked the driver if he knew where we were going he just looked at us kind of said yes offered us 10 pounds each then when we looked confused he said ok 2 pounds.
we eventually just took a cab and he was a really nice guy with his little English and our little Arabic we were able to make it to the Book fair. The amount of book and the variety was just massive. I mean the newer book section felt very organized and like a regular bookstore but then the used book tents. It was crazy people haggling over prices books being sold for under a dollar. And i don't know how but books in German french and dutch were everywhere along with textbooks that i think i may have used in middle school.
It was interesting i bought a Arabic to English dictionary for 5 pounds which is less than a dollar. I should have haggled for a better price but when he said five i was thought to myself that's incredibly cheap! I probably could have gotten it for 2 or 3. Ill remember that for next time. I also met a guy when Nate and I walked into a section that had bibles in Arabic. I was thinking of getting one just for the sake of interest the same way i thought i should buy a Koran but this guy could tell we were american but i managed to actually speak to him for the most part in Arabic. Hassan was a nice guy and the first Copt i have met here. Well i might have met others but i haven't really been asking.
I keep forgetting to take pictures of these things i just dont bring my camera too many places. I feel as if it makes me really stand out as a tourist. According to some people here if i can learn a bit more Arabic i can probably pass as an Egyptian. So that is my goal this semester. Get into a cab have the driver just think im an Egyptian.
we eventually just took a cab and he was a really nice guy with his little English and our little Arabic we were able to make it to the Book fair. The amount of book and the variety was just massive. I mean the newer book section felt very organized and like a regular bookstore but then the used book tents. It was crazy people haggling over prices books being sold for under a dollar. And i don't know how but books in German french and dutch were everywhere along with textbooks that i think i may have used in middle school.
It was interesting i bought a Arabic to English dictionary for 5 pounds which is less than a dollar. I should have haggled for a better price but when he said five i was thought to myself that's incredibly cheap! I probably could have gotten it for 2 or 3. Ill remember that for next time. I also met a guy when Nate and I walked into a section that had bibles in Arabic. I was thinking of getting one just for the sake of interest the same way i thought i should buy a Koran but this guy could tell we were american but i managed to actually speak to him for the most part in Arabic. Hassan was a nice guy and the first Copt i have met here. Well i might have met others but i haven't really been asking.
I keep forgetting to take pictures of these things i just dont bring my camera too many places. I feel as if it makes me really stand out as a tourist. According to some people here if i can learn a bit more Arabic i can probably pass as an Egyptian. So that is my goal this semester. Get into a cab have the driver just think im an Egyptian.
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