Alex

As always in Egypt, I have been very busy. Let me first say that the family (Hamada and Zora Zahran) that I am staying with is very nice. As a family, they own several businesses in Alex, one of which is a chocolate factory (Swisza) and the other is a cookware company that makes the Tefal products and yes, that is Teflon for us americans.


I have been to see many things, one of which was the Gov. of Alex., Adel Labib. He was very nice to share his time and we talked about his visit to NC and our impressions of his countries. After that visit we went to Pharma which is a generic drug pharmaceutiacal company. I am facinated by large assembly machines and have been since my first visit to the Rainbow bread factory in kindergarden. Bryant got a sample of the cough syrup and foot spray that were being produced. The foot spray we though was clorseptic which could have been a horrible medical disaster if applied inappropriately.


Yesterday we toured Mr. Hamada's factories and sampled the chocolate. Today we went to the Arab Academy of Science and sat in a cargo ship simulator...pretty cool.

I cannot stress enough the amount of food that we consume after the hours of 4pm. I imagine that it has something to do with how they fast for Ramadan and the heat that is here. I mean, I don't really like to eat when it is hot outside and if you fasted during the daytime for a month each year, one could get used to the regiment. Monday's meal was an unbelievable amount of food from Ole, a restaurant owned by Zora (Mr. Hamada's wife and of the same family that I am staying with) sister. Sunday's meal was from Balba and it was the best fish I have ever had. Today we dined at the mediterrean in a former palace. The restaurant was called the Prince.

Today was the first day that I was able to walk in the streets. We are driven everywhere. I was the last off the bus (reminded me of my days on the school bus) and I asked Maghraby if I could walk home because it wasn't very far. I got my way and walked in the streets and it felt GREAT! We tour Alex tomorrow, but I imagine that it will be from a bus and just not the same for this city planner.

The ironic thing is that I haven't been given a map of anywhere we have been. I completely want a map and feel lost without one (insert funny puns and one-liners here). I've had one of my two vocational visits in Alex and Heba (who I met with) was so apologetic that she did not bring me a map as she is a planner herself. She did sketch me a quick map and that really helped establish my boundaries.

One last little thing about my stay here in Alex is that the Zahran world is very different from my own and I feel quite spoiled. I have been able to get a manicure and my eyebrows threaded here at the house and we've dined at the four seasons which is also a first for me. We ate at a restaurant called Fresca which is not named after the soda, but rather a waffer/waffle cookie sandwich with honey. It now ranks higher than fortune cookies in my favorite list.