When the sun goes down...

A view of Maadi, Cairo prior to sunset

Cairo comes to life as soon as the sun goes down. Those people that spent their days indoors, in the shade, away from the uncomfortable heat of the sun emerge to do all sorts of things. Sun down is prime time to shop, to sit at an outdoor cafe, to take a fallukah on the Nile, or to go for a stroll. Business's here stay open late into the night. Certain restaurants stay open until 4am, 7 days a week. Young and old alike litter the streets and the outdoor cafes often smoking sheesha (hookah) and playing dominoes or backgammon. 


James and I don't live like this every night but with only four days of school a week we're able to feed off the cities energy at least three nights a week. On our weekend days we often find ourselves cooped up in our apartment for most of the day doing school work and house keeping things. As soon as the sun starts moving down we get moving. Walking the streets at night is peaceful, being able to sit outside comfortably with a nice breeze is rewarding, and spending time with new friends on the Nile is amazing. 
Tonight I'll head to Old Islamic Cairo with some New Friends, watching the sunset over centuries old mosques, walking the streets and feeling the nice breeze  and visiting the market to see what the day produced. 


DJM